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Result of the Saturday October 7th, 2006 CSL Semi-Final game between Toronto Croatia and Italia Shooters played at Esther Shiner Stadium in North York at 1:00pm.
Toronto Croatia (blue socks, white shorts and numbers, red shirts)
........................1 George Azcurra (cpt)
...............5 Antonio Zupan...4 Domagoj Sain...16 Halburto Harris
6 Mario Kulis...22 Boris Tomac...11 Velmie Crljen...17 Goran Grubesic...8 Hayden Fitzwilliams
...................9 Peter Curic...19 Boris Maric
Subs:...12 Mate Jurkin (gk)...3 Jonatan Bustamante (mid)...10 Leo Laurito (fwd)...13 Zvjezdan Kresic (mid)...20 Tommy Ples (fwd)...21 Rudy Spajic (fwd)...30 Tom Granic (def)
team officials:...head coach Velemir Crljen...assistant coach Milodrag Akmadzic...goalkeeper coach Kruno Culjak...manager Vlado Manjerovic...equipment manager Nedo Radman...sports trainer Nino Sonsini
Italia Shooters (white socks and shirts, black shorts and numbers)
........................00 Camilo Benzi
2 Angelo Pollastrone (cpt)...19 Desi Humphrey...18 Bill Androutsos...11 Fitzroy Christey
25 Sean Myers...5 Stalin Cardnas...13 Frank Bruno...14 Remone Metyas
..................24 Anthony Adur...9 Jason De Thomasis
Subs:...1 Pablo Alvarado (gk)...3 Joshua Lemos (sw/gk)...10 Josue Jaramillo (mid)...15 Alvaro Yaques (mid)...20 Rob Black (fwd)...21 Luca Forno (mid)...23 Aundrae Rollins (fwd)
team officials:...head coach Tony De Thomasis...assistant caoch John Pacione...manager Elio Scarcello...doctor Mike Chivers SPC...trainer Felipe Bento...assistant manager Carlos Dos Santos
Game officials:...referee Silviu Petrescu...referee's assistants Dan Popescu and Leif Maitland...fourth official Andreas Helmer...match observer Walter Kirchner...(neon green shirts, black shorts and socks)
1st Half:...game starts 1:13pm...TC defend west end on this mild day with the sun in the south.
3 min...TC goalie catches deflection off IS DeThomasis head by defender.
6 min...TC Fizwilliams injured in own end.
7 min...TC Grubesic 30 yard blast from left is low and wide right ahead of charging forwards.
9 min...TC Curic hurt near sideline.
10 min...IS DeThomasis 26 yard freekick up middle blocked low in wall. IS DeThomasis blasts rebound low and wide left from 24 yards.
11 min...IS goalie beats TC DeThomasis to through ball.
12 min...TC Fitzwilliams 35 yard cross from left is caught by goalie.
16 min...IS Pollastrone 35 yard kick over crowd of players after receiving crossed freekick roller is sent over net.
20 min...TC Fitzwilliams cornerkick from right has defender head away and TC Tomac blasts partially cleared rebound from 33 yards wide right.
21 min...TC Crljen 35 yard balst up middle is high and wide left.
24 min...TC Zupan pushes pass to TC Tomac in middle and 18 yard roller stopped by sprawling goalie.
25 min...TC Kulis injured at own 40 yard line.
A series of end to end rushes are carried out by each team but no shots are taken.
28 min...IS Myers cross through box after rush for ball on right is blocked by TC Zupan.
30 min...IS Bruno flubs 15 yard shot in box after IS DeThomasis dummied a shot from left and pushes ball to him. Defender saves ball about 5 yards off line.
31 min...IS Cardenos cuts back 12 yard shot wide right roller while running to left and is injured on play.
36 min...IS DeThomasis cornerkick from left has nearest defender head away.
37 min...IS Cardenos 30 yard cross from right has leaping defender head ball wide left for cornerkick.
37 min...TS DeThomasis cornerkick from left is well over players in box.
38 min...TC Harris keeps ball on left on run and he crosses but defender chests down and clears.
39 min...TC Sain pops up ball to prevent IS Metyas being all alone when DeThomasis sprun him. Goalie catches ball.
40 min...IS goalie catches 45 yard freekick cross from right.
41 min...TC Fitzwilliams cornerkick from right has too far over everybody.
42 min...TC Maric 25 yard freekick has defender head pop up, TC Curic pops header backwards wide of net.
43 min...IS sub...Yaques replaces Metyas.
44 min...IS Cardenas 45 yard freekick is caught by goalie wide left.
45 min...IS Cardenas on right 45 yard cross into box caught on bounce by goalie wide left bumped by IS DeThomasis but he hung on.
48 min...half ends 2:01pm.
2nd Half:...starts 2:19pm.
halftime sub...IS Jaramillos replaces DeThomasis.
46 min...TC Harris rolls cross through box but TC Tomac misses.
46 min...TC Tomac pops 16 yard shot in middle well over net wide left.
51 min...TC Tomac run on right cuts to middle and he takes 22 yard shot that's wide right.
53 min...IS Humphrey shadows TC DeThomasis so goalie can dive for ball on run up right.
54 min...IS Bruno 30 yard shot up middle just over net.
56 min...TC sub...Bustamante replaces Crljen.
59 min...IS DeThomasis 40 yard freeekick from right has defender head away on edge of box.
60 min...TC Bustamante cornerkick from right has defender head away. TC Tomac 28 yard blast blocked in box by defender.
62 min...TC Maric injured near sideline in IS end.
63 min...TC Grubesic 35 yard freekick from left has defender block.
66 min...TC goalie beats IS forwards to through ball.
67 min...TC Bustamante 35 yard shot up middle is wide right.
67 min...TC sub...Ples replaces Maric.
69 min...IS Adur gets cross on left near end line, run back to elude defender but shot blocked.
70 min...TC YELLOW card...Zupan for incident well behind play.
71 min...IS DeThomasis long throw-in from left has ball popped up in box and defender clear off line.
71 min...IS Yaques cornerkick from left is caught by leaping goalie in crowd of players.
72 min...TC Fitzwilliams on run up left has 25 yard shot that's wide right.
73 min...TC sub...Laurito replaces Curic.
74 min...TC YELLOW card...Sain for tackle on sideline in TC end at 40 yard line.
74 min...IS player's freekick from 39 yard shideline has TC Sain pop up header and goalie palm ball over net.
75 min...IS Yaques cornerkick from left has defender pop up header and clear.
75 min...IS DeThomasis long throw-in has defender clear.
77 min...IS sub...Rollins replaces Adur.
78 min...TC Tomac 30 yard shot through crowd of players has flying goalie push ball wide right.
79 min...TC player's cornerkick from right has TC Grubesic blast partial clearance high from 30 yards.
80 min...IS Yaques pushes pass up middle but defender blocks shot.
81 min...TC goalie dives to take ball off IS Rollins who was fed ball up middle at 10 yards.
83 min...Shooters Jason DeThomasis GOAL...IS Bill Androutsos run on left sideline has him stop at 30 yards when he’s blocked by defender. He rolls ball to his right to IS Josue Jaramillo who passes to center to DeThomasis who sends 20 yard roller into left of net with goalie George Azcurra charging out to try to block shot.
84 min...TC Zupan 30 yard kick has TC Tomac pop up 7 yard header and goalie catch.
86 min...IS defender pops up header on TC cross from left and concedes cornerkick.
87 min...IS sub...Black replaces Bruno.
88 min...TC Grubesic 35 yard freekick blast from left has goalie punch ball forward and TC player get foot to it to knock ball wide left from 5 yards.
90 min...TC Grubesic cornerkick from left has goalie swat ball away from box.
90 min...IS DeThomasis hurt in center circle but it takes awhile for play to be whistled down.
92 min...IS sub...Forno replaces injured DeThomasis before play resumes.
92 min...TC Ples diving header from 5 yartds from 5 yards not quite turned on 30 yard shot from left.
94 min...IS goalie leaps wide left to catch bouncer into box.
95 min...TC Bustamante 60 yard kick into IS box is caught by goalie.
95:30min...game ends 3:09pm.
Final Score:...Toronto Croatia.........0..............Italia Shooters.........1............
Attendance was about 300 people on this mild sunny day. Security was tight with a pat down from a private security firm for all who came inside. Scheduling the next semi-final game for two hours after this game was to end and ensuring the stadium was cleared between games prevented the Croatia fans and the Serbian fans (the five o’clock game) from meeting up with each other.
The North York Astros are the hosts of these finals and this year did not insist on any kind of ‘wild card’ entry into the tournament. The only glitz was the appearance of Corporation Azul dj services for the music (they haven’t been booked for every game this year). For this game the ceremonial kick-off was taken by Toronto councillor Peter LoPreti and O Canada was sung by Natalie Ursini. There were six cheerleaders called The Chicas Astros (who I’d never seen at Astros games).
The shutout was earned by Shooters goalie Camilo Benzi who had a few tough saves to make for the win. Referee Silviu Petrescu kept the game in check.
Non scoring highlights included the TC goalie catching a deflection from a defender that hit the head of IS Jason DeThomasis at 3 minutes. At 10 minutes, DeThomasis blasted a 26 yard freekick up the middle that was blocked low in the wall and his rebound shot is low and wide left from 24 yards. At 24 minutes TC Antonio Zupan pushes a pass to TC Boris Tomac in middle and his 18 yard roller is stopped by the sprawling goalie. At 30 minutes, IS DeThomasis dummied a shot from 15 yards and touched pass over to IS Frank Bruno who flubbed the clear shot but had the ball saved by a defender about five yards off the goalline. A minutes later IS Stalin Cardenas cuts back a 12 yard shot wide right while running to his left and he was injured on the play. TC defenders then headed away a few crosses and cornerkicks and defender TC Domagoj Sain making a crucial block and a 2 on 1 break. At 42 minutes, TC Boris Maric took a 25 yard freekick that had a defender pop up the ball with his head and TC Peter Curic pop up a headed shot backwards just wide of net.
The second half had DeThomasis take a long throw-in at 71 minutes that had the ball popped up in the TC box and a defender clear off the line. Within a minute IS Alvaro Yaques’s cornerkick from the left was caught by the leaping goalie in a crowd of players. At 74 minutes, an IS freekick from the 39 yard sideline had TC Domagoj Sain pop up a header the goalie palm the ball over the net. At 78 minutes, TC Boris Tomac 30 yard shot through crowd of players has the IS goalie fly over and push the gall wide right. At 81 minutes, the TC goalie dived to take the ball off the foot of IS Aundrae Rollins at 10 yards who was fed the ball up the middle.
After the goal it was TC pressing. TC Zupan had a 30 yard kick that TC Tomac popped up from 7 yards on a header that the goalie caught. At 87 minutes, TC Jonatan Bustamante’s cornerkick from the left had the goalie catch in front of a crowd of players in the box. One minute later TC Goran Grubesic’s 35 yard freekick blast from the left and the goalie punch the ball forward and a TC player get their foot to it to knock ball wide left from 5 yards. At 90 minutes, Grubesic’s cornerkick from the left and the goalie swat the ball away from the box. Play carried on as no one noticed IS DeThomasis had been injured up field until an IS forward came back to tell the referee. DeThomasis needed to be replaced before the play resumed. At 92 minutes TC Tommy Ples had a diving header from 5 yards that he couldn’t quite turn on a 30 yard shot from the left.
Result of the game gave CSL officials a big sigh of relief as Italia Shooters just aren’t a hated rival for anybody in this league. As soon as the game was over, they could broadcast that the final will be held at Esther Shiner Stadium Sunday October 15th at 5:00pm. This saves the league from renting Lamport Stadium with its East and West stands to separate the Serbian and Croatia fans.
This will be the fourth year in a row that Italia/York Region/Vaughan Shooters have been in the championship final. They’ve lost each of those previous three games.
Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
Italia Shooters starters
Toronto Croatia starters
Shooters Jason DeThomasis is helped off the field a few minutes after scoring the winning goal.
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