Result of the Thursday August 16th, 2004 A-League game between Toronto Lynx and Edmonton FC played at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke at 7:30pm.
Toronto Lynx (all white, black names and numbers, yellow trim)
.....................25 Brian Rowland
.............6 Aaron Steele...4 Joe Mattacchione...14 Tyler Hughes
8 Rumba Munthali...13 Jamie Dodds...5 Shawn Faria...17 Darren Baxter...15 Edmilson De Carvalho
............18 Vinicius Brito...19 Ali Gerba
Subs:...22 Bryheem Hancock (gk)...3 Lewis Blois (def)...7 Edgar Bartolomeu (mid)...9 David DiPlacido (mid)...11 Igor Prostran (mid)...16 Josue Mayard (def)...21 Charles Gbeke (fwd)
team officials:...head coach Duncan Wilde...assistant coach Billy Steele...goalkeeper coach John Moreira...medical co-ordinator Dr Robert Gringmuth
Edmonton FC (black socks, navy shorts, red shirts, white numbers and trim)
.....................1 Nicola Stankov
..........18 Simon Kassaye...11 Kurt Borch...5 Liam DeSilva
20 Desmond Tackie...13 Eric Munoz...14 Fred Akok...28 Gordon Chin...3 Robin Hart
................. 7 Sean Fraser...10 Sipho Sibiya
Subs:...0 Robert Stankov (gk)...2 Chris Devlin (fwd)...8 Carmalo Rago (mid)...17 Daniel Drummond (fwd)
team officials:...head coach Ross Ongaro
Game officials:...referee Tiger Liu...referee's assistants Zoran Kristo and Domenic Rosato...fourth official Mike Lambert...(all black uniforms)
1st Half:...game starts 7:27pm on this warm wet humid evening...Lynx defend south end.
1 min 40 sec...Lynx Vinicius 22 yard shot deflected high.
2 min...Lynx Dodds cornerkick from left, Lynx Mattacchione can't quite turn header in box.
3 min...Lynx Baxter rush on left and cross bounced through box.
4 min...Lynx player's cornerkick from right, Lynx Joe Mattacchione rushes in and 25 yard shot is blasted just over net.
5 min...EFC Akok 15 yard shot deflects off defender wide right.
7 min...Lynx Dodds rush on right and low cross blocked by defender.
8 min...Lynx Gerba 10 yard shot on right stopped by sliding goalie.
9 min...Lynx Edmilson 15 yard shot deflected high by defender and pops ball up to goalie.
9 min...EFC goalie catches long 40 yard cross from right before Lynx Gerba header.
10 min...Lynx Edmilson dekes around defender and 12 yard shot caught by goalie.
14 min...Lynx Gerba gets through ball at 50 yards on right and rush with goalie charging out results in 25 yard bouncer wide left.
16 min...Lynx Baxter cornerkick from right is over players in box.
18 min...EFC Tackie gets cross to him on right and 20 yard shot curves wide left.
23 min...Lynx Vinicius 15 yard shot is deflected off defender wide left.
26 min...Lynx Vinicius Brito GOAL...Lynx Ali Gerba pass deflects off defender to Brito from 15 yards and his 12 yard shot is low to left corner of net.
28 min...EFC goalie picks up ball rolled into box in crowd of players.
29 min...EFC Fraser runs up middle and shot deflects off defender for cornerkick from 15 yards.
30 min...EFC players has ball rolled to left near post but play whistled offside.
32 min...EFC Fraser given through ball by EFC Borch but play flagged offside.
33 min...EFC Sibiya 15 yard blast from right but goalie catches although may have been into side of net.
35 min...Lynx Hughes cross from 30 yards on left is punched away by goalie.
37 min...EFC Akok given cross and 25 yard shot just wide left.
38 min...Lynx Gerba gets ball chested down and passes forward to Lynx Vinicius who runs on left and 12 yard shot from left is high wide right.
39 min...Lynx Faria 25 yard shot through crowd is caught by goalie.
41 min...EFC Chin gets cornerkick shot and his 20 yard shot from left is well over net.
42 min...Lynx Baxter lobs 25 yard shot that goalie palms over net.
43 min...The Lynx players are guarding the edge of the box and there were always enough to head away through ball attempts.
46 min...half ends 8:13pm.
2nd Half:...starts 8:29pm.
player subs:...EFC Devlin replaces Kassaye.
...........Lynx Blois replaces Edmilson.
.........Lynx Gbeke replaces Vinicius.
47 min...EFC Fraser rush up run through left eludes two defenders and goalie makes sliding goalie before Fraser can get control.
48 min...Lynx goalie rushes out to boot away through ball.
49 min...Lynx Gbeke rush on right and cross along line has goalie bobble ball over end line.
50 min...EFC YELLOW card...Borch for complaining after Lynx cornerkick from right was whistled down in box.
52 min...EFC Sibiya rush on left into short side of net on cross from end line.
52 min...Lynx sub...Bartolomeu replaces Hughes.
54 min...Lynx sub...Mayard replaces Munthali.
55 min...EFC YELLOW card...Hart for sliding tackle on retaliataion for being knocked down in Lynx end. A pushing match between several players ensues.
58 min...Lynx Gerba 12 yard blast from left has goalie deflect to right, Lynx Gbeke bicycle kick from 10 yards has ball crossed through players in box. Lynx Bartolomeu was injured on the play.
60 min...Lynx Charles Gbeke GOAL...Lynx Joe Mattacchione flicks short pass over players at center line sets up 2 on 0 rush with Gbeke running in with Lynx Ali Gerba as a decoy and he runs around sliding goalie Nicola Stankov well outside box and slides 10 yard shot into left corner of empty net.
61 min...Lynx sub...DiPlacido replaces injured Bartolomeu.
64 min...Lynx Gerba on rush down left blasts 15 yard roller just wide right.
66 min...Lynx Shawn Faria GOAL...Lynx Jamie Dodds has shot from center that goalie blocks. Faria follow up on big rebound and his 12 yard shot is banked off the right goalpost.
68 min...EFC Munoz 20 yard freekick from left has defender head ball down and EFC player's follow up shot cleared.
69 min...Lynx Mayard gets flying shot from 5 yards after cornerkick from left and defender blocks ball popped up and goalie swats ball forward out of box.
71 min...EFC Drummond replaces Borch.
72 min...Lynx Mayard rushes and pushes ball forward to Lynx Dodds for him to take a 15 yard shot.
73 min...EFC YELLOW card...Munoz for tackle just outside center circle.
74 min...EFC Gordon Chin GOAL...EFC Sipho Sibiya on 2 on 1 pushes ball forward to Chin who kicks in 12 yard shot over sprawling goalie Brian Rowland.
77 min...Lynx goalie rushes forward to catch 40 yard cross from right.
79 min...Lynx Gerba gets cross from left and 12 yard blast is blocked by goalie.
80 min...Lynx Baxter is injured near center line.
82 min...EFC Munoz 22 yard blast through players has flying goalie push ball wide right.
83 min...EFC Devlin gets good sliding tackle in to break up Lynx Gerba long rush on right to edge of EFC box.
85 min...Lynx Baxter freekick from right 20 yards has Lynx DiPlacido leap and send 7 yard header over net.
87 min...Lynx Gbeke in box gets loose ball and cuts 5 yard shot that goalie slides to knock away.
89 min...EFC Sibiya 22 yard freekick from left blast after ball touched to him hits crossbar near right post and stays in play.
91 min...EFC Kassaye crosses from left wide right of net from 15 yards.
92 min...Lynx Dodds 18 yard blast from left is saved by goalie.
93 min...game ends 9:17pm.
Final Score:...........Toronto Lynx...........3............Edmonton FC................1............
Attendance was announced as 2075 on this hot wet humid evening.
The Lynx played with Ali Gerba and Vinicius Brito as forwards for the first half of the game. Once again the Brazilians only played one half as this time both Brito and Edmilson De Carvalho were subbed at halftime. The Lynx goalie tonight was Brian Rowland and he had to be sharp to keep the Lynx in the lead. The defenders would keep out many of the Edmonton headed crosses but some passes did get through. Sipho Sibiya almost scored at 89 minutes with a 22 yard freekick blast on a freekick that rattled off the crossbar and stayed in play. Edmonton's goalie Nicola Stankov had to sharp to block repeated chances from Ali Gerba and Charles Gbeke.
The second half brought the Lynx striker Charles Gbeke into the game where he could face his former CPSL Ottawa Wizards teammate midfielder Robin Hart. Hart said he was at the Edmonton training camp at the beginning of the season and was brought into their lineup halfway through the season. The Edmonton team brought only four substitutes for this game. The Edmonton team was named the Aviators and was an expansion club but a few months ago the A-League had to take the club over and it's played as Edmonton FC since then. This reminds me of last year when the Lynx played a late season game against Team Calgary because the Calgary Storm had folded earlier in the year later to become the Calgary Mustangs at the start of this season. Edmonton team stats for goal scoring aren't too impressive but their three leading scorers were not part of tonight's game as starters nor subs.
Lynx second goal with a two man break was one of the few times they get a through ball without having a player called offside.
Before the game on this evening's theme "Fan Appreciation Night", awards were given out to Lynx players.
1. Public Relations Award presented by Guy Bradbury from the Ontario Soccer Association given to Rumba Munthali. This was for community appearances at schools and camps.
2. Fan Award presented by Drew Kelis of the Lynx Supporters Club given to Shawn Faria. I was surprised because Faria missed much of the beginning of the season.
3. Best Defensive Player presented by James Sharman of The Score television network given to goaltender Bryheem Hancock. I thought that was a good choice.
4. Best Offensive Player presented by Lynx head coach Duncan Wilde given to Darren Baxter. This was a fan choice award.
5. Most Valuable Player which was a Media Award presented by broadcaster Dick Howard given to Ali Gerba. No surprise here as he broke the team record for most goals scored in a season. I voted for Darren Baxter a few games ago as I felt Ali Gerba didn't convert enough of his chances that were given to him while Baxter set up so many chances with crosses, passes and cornerkicks.
The Lynx have two more road games this weekend to finish out their season. I'll probably post an editorial to my web site in the next two weeks summarizing my thoughts on their season. Another season of me taking in every home game. That makes it eight years in a row since the team's inception in 1997.
Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
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