Hitmen tops in CPSL Western Conference
July 27, 2003 Author: Soccer Online - It's Called Futbol
July 27, Brampton
Kurt Mella scored a dramatic goal with three minutes remaining in a fiercely contested CPSL league match Sunday night at Victoria Park to give the Brampton Hitmen a 3-2 victory over the visiting St.. Catharines Roma Wolves.
The victory, which pushed the Hitmen into top spot in the Western Conference was all the more impressive considering the home team played a man short for more than half the game after Maximiliano Andrada was ejected for receiving a second yellow card.
Mella’s decisive strike was engineered by his veteran teammate Phil Ionadi. Roma Wolves striker, Carlo Arghittu charged through the middle of the field with the ball but was smoothly dispossessed by the wily Ionadi. The Brampton midfielder quickly played the ball forward to forward Kurt Mella who one-timed a header to Alvaro Yaques. The diminutive wing-back surged down the right flank with the ball and then crossed an exquisite chip pass into the penalty box to Mella. The Brampton forward nodded the ball past a flailing Claudio Perri in the Roma Wolves’ goal, and the 300 fans in the bleachers at Victoria Park roared with delight.
Despite missing several key players, the Roma Wolves will likely regret having left Brampton without a point, especially after playing the majority of the match with a man advantage. Prolific striker Carlo Arghittu, in particular, had a difficult night. Even before losing the ball to Ionadi, Arghittu had fallen prey to the Hitmen offside trap countless times and had been stripped of the ball on several occasions by Brampton’s tenacious stoppers, Daniel Cerros and Sean Roberts.
Brampton opened the scoring in the14th minute. Hugo Herrera – playing in only his second game for the Hitmen -- deked past a Roma Wolves defender and placed a 15-foot shot into the far corner of the net, past Perri.
The Roma Wolves tied the score a few minutes later on a defensive miscue by the Hitmen. A Brampton player kicked the ball against the arm of a teammate and the referee immediately signaled for a St. Catharines penalty kick. Brampton’s goalkeeper, Roy Blanche, was beaten by Roma Wolves sweeper Joe Carbonara.
The Roma Wolves player/coach, Lucio Ianiero, then scored what may qualify as the goal of the season. His 30-yard volley in the 34th minute nestled into the right top corner of the net after Blanche was able to touch the ball but unable to parry it wide.
Herrera scored again to tie the game eight minutes before the end of the first half. Once more, the forward found himself alone at the top of the Roma Wolves’ penalty area with the ball at his feet. He struck a low blast that Perri could only watch enter the goal.
A few moments later, referee Calin Pintea sent Andrada off, after cautioning several players on each team for a wide variety of offenses.
In the second half, a clearly frustrated Arghittu continued to run afoul of the linesmen and ended up getting booked in the 55th minute for dissent.
When the Roma Wolves should have been concerned with pressing their player advantage, they turned their attention to agitating the officials. Minutes after Arghittu’s caution, Perri was booked for screaming at the referee’s assistant for a late offside call as Herrera attempted to break through alone. A minute later, Ianiero was given a yellow card for wasting time on a throw-in.
While the Roma Wolves concentrated on the officials, the Hitmen took control of the game. Herrera, recently arrived from the Chilean second division, dribbled through the St Catharines defence with deceptive speed but was unable to pull the trigger on a shot before Perri smothered the ball.
The Roma Wolves had brought on Patrick Kelman in the second half to bolster their attack, but he had a quite 45 minutes and failed to have an impact on the match. The game appeared to be headed for a draw until Mella’s triumphant tally.
The victory leaves the Hitmen tied for first with Hamilton (but ahead on goal differential) and undefeated at home after five games. Both the Thunder and the Hitmen have 4-1-3 won-lost-tied records. St. Catharines lies in fifth spot in the Western Conference with a 3-4-1 record.
“The soccer gods are on our side,” said a beaming Steve Nijjar after the match. The Hitmen owner/head coach has also been pleased to see a young, enthusiastic crowd regularly attending his team’s home games.
The Hitmen are drawing spectators from the youth clubs of Brampton, and these young supporters have selected a couple players for some special attention. New starting goalkeeper, Roy Blanche, receives shrieks and screams from the young female Hitmen fans whenever he touches the ball.
The most recent arrival to the team, Herrera, is expected to dazzle the Victoria Park faithful each time he touches the ball – and so far he has rarely failed to disappoint. The South American striker has now scored four goals in two games for Brampton.
“It’s very important for me to be here,” Herrera said through an interpreter at the conclusion of the game. “I’m very happy with the people. I didn’t think they would be cheering me like this.”
After the match, the Roma Wolves were attempting not to place too much emphasis on the result. “We were having trouble with our midfield,” admitted Mark Mulholland, who played a strong game as a left wing-back. “We were fitting in some new players tonight. We had a lot of guys away today because of weddings and vacations. It made a big difference.”
Match Rating: 5 out of 5.
This game simply had everything a soccer fan could desire. Skillful players: Herrera, Ianiero, Ionadi, Arghittu take a bow, even though the latter was below par. Tough players: Carbonara and Cerros led their respective teams with gritty performances. Solid goalkeeping was shown at both ends of the park, particularly from Blanche.
The game could have swung either way right up until the 90th minute. When the final whistle blew, most of the fans flooded out onto the field to congratulate the Hitmen and request autographs. Kudos to Steve Nijjar and co. for creating an excellent soccer atmosphere for the entire local soccer community. Nobody left this game early.
Futnotes: Both the Hitmen and the Roma Wolves have important league matches coming up. St. Catharines hosts the North York Astros on Wednesday at Club Roma and the team that wins this game will take sole possession of third place in the Western Conference. Brampton plays a crucial match against the Hamilton for first position on August 7th, although the Thunder tackle the bottom-dwelling Toronto Croatia in the interim, which could break the existing points deadlock at the top of the table.
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