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Result of the Sunday October 3rd, 2010 CSL game between Toronto Croatia and Brampton Lions played at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke at 8:15pm.

Toronto Croatia (blue socks, white shorts and numbers, red shirts)

...................1 Sandi Matika
4 Sven Arapovic...6 Ante Zurak...3 Robert Fran...7 Halburto Harris
21 Braeden Krampert...23 Tonci Pirija...16 Boris Tomac...8 Hayden Fitzwilliams
..............10 Tihomir Maletic...11 Ivan Zgela (cpt)

Subs:...12 Antonio Ilic (gk)...5 Jonathan Bustamante (mid)...14 Diego Gonzalez (mid)...15 Ainsley Deer (def)...18 Dani Jankovic (fwd)... 19 Niko Pesa (fwd)...25 Lukas Pesa (mid)
team officials:...head coach Alen Vukobrad...assistant coach Velimir Crljan...managers Ivan Kulis and Perica Arapovic...therapist Rachel Leroux

Brampton Lions (white socks and numbers, blue shirts and shorts)

...................1 Roy Blanche
17 Kevin McIntosh...5 Giovanni Annisi...20 Mohamed Karanouh...18 David Ferreira
13 Blazej Skoczylas...23 Andrew Da Silva (cpt)...9 Daniel Nascimento...11 Kevin Omokhua
.............10 Judah Hernandez...22 Oswald Adu

Subs:...00 Kodzo Awitor (gk)...19 Jeremy Shepherd (fwd)...6 Nikolas Poku (def)...8 LaTwayne Anderson (mid)...7 Jonathan Singh (mid)...4 Avian Singh (--)
head coach Armando Costa...assistant coach Pernell Mason...manager Phil Ionadi...club official Mike Dimattou

Game officials:...referee Johnny Facchini...referee's assistants Claude Henoud and Assaku Kahn...fourth official Ken Van Dyke...(black socks and shorts, yellow shirts)

1st Half:...game starts 8:17pm...TC defend south end on this cold night.
2 min...BL YELLOW card...Nascimento earns it for injurying TC Zgela TC 40 yards.
4 min...TC Maletic 25 yard freeekick from right near end line has TC Fitzwilliams head 5 yarder from middle wide right of net.
7 min...BL Da Silva 40 yard freekick from right is caught by goalie.
8 min...BL Karanouh and TC Zgela are injured in crash at BL 27 yard line and TC is awarded a freekick.
9 min...TC Maletic 27 yard freekick up middle hits head in player wall and pops up for the goalie to catch.
10 min...BL goalie charges to edge of box to catch cross in front of TC Zgela.
12 min...Lions Kevin Omokua GOAL...Omokua gets pass on left at 30 yards and runs down left side and cuts in on TC defender Sven Arapovic to get shot from 18 yards on tough angle into right side of net.
14 min...BL McIntosh cornerkick cross after tap on right is low and cleared by defenders.
15 min...BL Skoczylas 45 yard chip down middle bounces to goalie when no BL players chase it.
16 min...TC Zgela steals ball off defender at 35 yards and rolls it to TC Maletic in middle who rolls 15 yarder wide right of post.
17 min...TC Krampert rushes on right and cross from 25 yards is caught by goalie in front of charging players at 8 yards.
20 min...TC Fitzwilliams cross from 20 yards on end line is through box and TC Krampert cross from 12 yards on right endline is deflected for cornerkick.
21 min...TC Zurak heads ball back into BL box on left after high cornerkick from right has ball cleared.
21 min...TC Maletic 30 yard freekick from right has goalie punch ball forward out of box.
27 min...BL Ferreira is injured on hip check when TC Krampert turned to shield ball at BL 45 yards.
29 min...TC Zgela and TC Maletic miss chances on ball crossed down through BL box.
30 min...TC Fitzwilliams gets to loose ball on left and 22 yard cross is caught by BL goalie as center had fallen before they got in.
35 min...BL Hernandez cross from 30 yards on right sideline is caught by goalie.
36 min...BL Ferreira 40 yard low shot is smothered by goalie as pressured by two offside BL players (the flag was up).
36 min...BL Hernandez on right after run rolls cross from 15 yards but defender clears ball.
40 min...TC Zurak throw-in from 3 yard line on left bounces over heads of players standing near line and out right side of box.
41 min...BL Omokhua on left crosses from 20 yards has leaping BL Adu not able to connect on header from 7 yards on right with leap for ball.
42 min...BL Nascimento is hurt near center line.
46 min...TC Krampert flicks ball through defenders and BL wins freekick when BL player is pushed out of way.
47 min...half ends 9:04pm.

2nd Half:...starts 9:20pm.
45 min...TC Fitzwilliams cross from 35 yards from right has TC Maletic chest ball down but he falls over too easy and can't draw a Penalty kick.
49 min...TC player's 50 yard freekick from left has shot off target at 8 yards but play was offside anyway.
51 min...TC Arapovic 55 yard cross from left bounces to goalie wide left of net.
52 min...BL Karanouh 35 yard freekick from right is blasted over net. Fans give him the "Argos" football chant because the ball passed over the football goalposts.
53 min...TC Harris cross from right 35 yards has BL McIntosh head ball away. McIntosh does the same heading play ten seconds later on another cross.
55 min...TC Fitzwilliams cornerkick from right is flubbed and bounced into short side webbing of net.
56 min...TC Fran injured on jump for ball at TC 40 yards in crash with BL Ferreira.
58 min...TC YELLOW card...Zgela earns it for tackle from behind at TC 50 yards.
59 min...BL Karanouh 55 yard freekick from left has goalie catch ball over head of BL players at 3 yards on right.
61 min...TC YELLOW card...Tomac earns it for high foot to BL Nascimento injurying him going for header.
62 min...BL Hernandez 35 yard freekick hits player in wall at 25 yards.
63 min...TC sub...Lukas Pesa replaces Fran.
64 min...Lions Daniel Nascimento GOAL...Nascimento takes a 30 yard freekick from the left that bends into the top left side of the net beyond goalie Sandi Matika.
65 min...TC Maletic cornerkick from right is headed through box past TC player.
66 min...TC Harris 50 yard freekick from right is blocked and TC Arapovic blasts 50 yard shot is wide of net.
68 min...BL YELLOW card...Lions goalie Roy Blanche is called for tackle on TC Ivan Sgela running into right side of the box to get ball past him. Referee Johnny Facchini also awards TC a Penalty kick.
69 min...Croatia Tihomir Maletic GOAL...Maletic blasts Penalty kick into left side of net as goalie flies right.
72 min...BL Adu cornerkick from right has BL player head from left but ball is cleared.
72 min...BL Nascimento 35 yard blast from left is well over net wide right.
75 min...BL Omokhua 40 yard freekick from right is partially blacked. BL Nascimento blasts 30 yarder from left is well over net.
76 min...TC sub...Niko Pesa replaces Fitzwilliams.
77 min...BL Da Silva is tapped over pass and 30 yard shot down middle is well high and wide right of net.
79 min...TC goalie slides to kick away loose ball from BL Hernandez before he can get to it.
82 min...BL Omokhua injured near right cornerflag but can't win cornerkick for his team.
83 min...TC Jankovic (?)(when did he come into game?) cross from 30 yards on right. TC Maletic and BL goalie crash together with goalie flipping over at 8 yards on right. Both players were injured.
The game resumes at 88 minutes.
88 min...TC Deer 55 yard cross from left is caught by goalie.
90 min...BL sub...Avian Singh replaces Omokhua.
91 min...Croatia Halburto Harris 50 yard freekick cross from right has goalie punch ball forward from left in crowd of players and TC Boris Tomac cross from inside of box hits hand of defender at 6 yards. The referee calls another Penalty kick.
92 min...Croatia Tihomir Maletic GOAL...Maletic blasts Penalty kick to left and goalie gets hand to it but only tips ball into top of the net.
95 min...BL players 55 yard freekick from left is caught by goalie just under bar.
96 min...TC Zgela is injured but when down at TC 30 yards a pushing incident is started. I'm not sure if some players got carded.
97 min...TC sub...Bustamante replaces Zgela.
98 min...BL YELLOW card...a player gets it for complaing about a freekick call at TC 45 yards.
99.25 min...game ends. Maletic and Blanche had crashed together inside the box with the goalie flipping over him at 8 yards and both players were injured. The game ticked away from 83 minutes to 88 minutes before play could be resumed. That was only one of many injuries...plus no ball boys and a lot of Lions timewasting with the lead and so the extra time was valid.

Final Score:.....Toronto Croatia......2.........Brampton Lions......2............

Attendance was about 90 on this cold night with a majority of Toronto Croatia fans.

Before Maletic's goals he had been having a rough night. He was the leading scorer in the league with 13 goals up to tonight. At 16 minutes TC Ivan Zgela stole the ball off a defender at 35 yards and rolled a pass to Maletic in the middle who rolled a 15 yard shot wide right of the post. At 29 minutes both he and Zgela missed chances to a low ball crossed through the box. Both teams were called on a lot of offsides. Maletic with 15 goals now is 3 goals ahead for the scoring title.

Tonight's game was the most important game of the year for both teams. Lions had climbed to within a game of a playoff spot going 7 wins, 3 losses, 6 ties since a horrible 0-6-1 start to the season. Toronto Croatia had been staggered badly trying to make up a lot of games in hand. They had been 2-5-1 in their last 8 games and that included to a win they were awarded for a partially played game many weeks earlier that the league decided in their favour.

The tie clinches the 8th and final playoff spot for Toronto Croatia and keeps them one point ahead of the Lions who have now played all 24 of their games. They also pass the idle Montreal Impact Academy who finished their schedule last week. It was possible that Toronto Croatia could have lost this game and then won one of their two remaining games to then pass the Lions for that last spot but now that's not necessary.

It just happens that Toronto Croatia's last game of the season (after a Wednesday night game against London City) will be Friday against York Region Shooters (currently in first place) which will likely be their first round playoff opponent in a two-game quarterfinal.

That completes seven games in six days for me. Tuesday's TFC vs Real Salt Lake CONCACAF game, Wednesday Serbian White Eagles vs St Catharines, Thursday Canada vs China international, Friday Portugal FC vs London, Saturday North York vs Hamilton Croatia, and Sunday TFC Academy vs York Region Shooters in the afternoon and then this game. It always seems to happen twice a year but I couldn't keep this pace going for long and keep my day job.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca


Toronto Croatia starters


Lions starters


Lions Daniel Nascimento in the midfield.


Lions Kevin McIntosh takes throw-in.


Croatia defender heads ball away


Lions freekick


TC Tihomir Maletic's first penalty kick.


TC Tihomir Maletic's second penalty kick. This knocked Lions out of the playoffs.

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