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Result of the Friday August 22nd, 2008 CSL game between Toronto Croatia and Italia Shooters played at The Hershey Centre in Mississauga at 8:00pm.
Toronto Croatia (blue socks, white shorts and numbers, red shirts)
......................1 Roy Blanche
...........3 Ante Brkic...30 Tom Granic...13 Rob Fran
16 Halberto Harris...6 Mario Kulis (cpt)...8 Hayden Fitzwilliams...23 Tonci Pirija...11 Mario Pupic
.................9 Hugo Herrera...7 Tomi Ples
Subs:...2 Sven Arapovic (def)...5 Jonatan Bustamante (mid)...10 Tihomir Maletic (fwd)...14 Mario Beljo (mid)...17 Joseph Phillip (fwd)...19 Dalibore Dospara (fwd)
team officials:...head coach Miroslav Buljan...manager Tom Granic...trainer Ivan Kulis...physio Pino Jazbec
Italia Shooters (all white, black number)
.....................00 Camilo Benzi
2 Fitzroy Christey...5 Gerrad Ladyiou...4 Rick Titus...24 Luca Zucal
22 Doug Sereti...14 Marco Termenisi...17 David DiPlacido...18 Tristan Murray
.................12 Kadian Leckie...25 Murphy Wiredu
Subs:...1 Ramon McIntosh (gk)...6 Carlos Rojas (mid)...8 Chris Turner (mid)...9 Jason DeThomasis (fwd)...15 Richard Asante (mid)...21 Branko Majstorovic (def)...23 Anthony Adur (fwd)
team officials:...assistant coach Jodi Forno...manager Luca Forno...trainer/physio Kevin Sims...club official John Pacione
Game officials:...referee Mike Lambert...referee's assistants Yusri Rudolf and Alexis Vaughan...fourth official Steve Senderovich...(neon green shirts, black shorts and socks)
1st Half:...game starts 8:11pm...TC defends south end...as there is no scoreboard, all times are converted from my wristwatch.
3 min...TC Kulis low cross from right end line has IS Titus slide to knock ball out for cornerkick.
3 min...TC player's cornerkick from right is cleared away.
4 min...TC Pupic cornerkick from left has defender clear ball.
6 min...TC Pupic cornerkick from right has TC Brkic head ball from 8 yards that goalie flies to save. TC player who boots ball into net from 3 yards is ruled offside. The fallen goalie is injured.
9 min...IS Termenisi on through ball up middle has TC Kulis slide to knock ball away.
10 min...TC Pirija gets pass back and boots 22 yarder well over net.
12 min...TC Brkic slides in on IS player and gives up freekick at 20 yards.
13 min…Shooters Kadian Leckie GOAL…Shooters Luca Zucal freekick from 20 yards through players in box has flying goalie Roy Blanche block ball in middle of goal and Leckie kicks in the 8 yard rebound over the fallen goalie.
15 min...TC Pupic cornerkick from left has leaping TC Brkic pop up header wide left of net from 8 yards.
17 min...IS goalie charges out of box to chest away through ball up middle.
20 min…Shooters Kadian Leckie GOAL…Leckie kicks in 12 yard rebound between a crowd of players to left side of net.
23 min...TC Herrera bicycle kick from 16 yards is wide left of net.
26 min...IS Leckie 25 yard shot deflects off defender for cornerkick.
28 min...IS DiPlacido cornerkick from left is cleared away.
33 min...IS player crosses through TC box from 25 yards on right.
34 min...TC YELLOW card...Granic for tackle on IS Sereti at TC 35 yards on right injurying him.
36 min...IS DiPlacido 35 yard freekick from right is cleared on edge of box.
36 min...TC Kulic 35 yard freekick from right has ball cleared.
37 min...TC YELLOW card...Fran for tackle at midfield.
38 min...IS goal is ruled offside. It was the rebound that caused the flag.
40 min...IS YELLOW card...Murray for argueing freekick call.
40 min...TC Kulis freekick from 35 yards pushed through and TC Pupic 12 yard low shot that has goalie push ball wide on right post on dive.
43 min...IS Sereti passes ball through right and IS Christey 20 yard roller wide right from right side.
44 min...IS DiPlacido 35 yard shot is wide left.
46 min...IS Leckie blast from 22 yards on pass to right is well over net.
47 min...TC Harris injured when goalie has to clear bad backpass by IS Titus and goalie picks ball deflection off TC Harris for throw-in.
49 min...half ends 8:59pm.
2nd Half:...starts 9:17pm.
Halftime subs:...TC Maletic replaces Ples.
..............TC Arapovic replaces Fran.
48 min...IS DiPlacido pushes ball to IS Leckie but goalie checks him off ball.
49 min...TC Pupic 30 yard freekick up middle is bent high over net.
50 min...TC Pupic cornerkick from right is cleared from box.
51 min...IS Leckie cross from 20 yards along left end line deflects off defender and goalie fumbles it for cornerkick.
52 min...IS player's cornerkick from left has defender pop up header through box out right side.
54 min...TC Harris cross from right is low and IS Titus boots away.
55 min...TC Maletic cornerkick from right has leaping goalie catch in crowd of players.
56 min...TC Pirija 28 yard roller from right is wide left of net.
57 min...IS goalie runs to edge of box to pick up ball ahead of TC Maletic.
58 min...IS YELLOW card...Zucal for pushing TC player over at TC 30 yard line.
63 min...TC Pupic cornerkick from right has goalie charge out and tip ball when TC forward gets foot to it at 8 yards.
64 min...TC Pupic third cornerkick within two minutes from right has leaping goalie catch.
65 min...IS Leckie gets behind defender for shot pass and boots wide right from 12 yards when he stops and shoots.
67 min...TC YELLOW card...Blanche (the goalie) for leaving box and tripping IS Wiredu who tries to check him off ball.
68 min...IS Wiredu 25 yard freekick from left deflects off players in box and goalie dives on it on line.
69 min...TC Pirija on right crosses in from 35 yards and TC Maletic one-touch kicks ball wide left from 12 yards.
70 min...IS Christey cross along right end line from 20 yards has goalie catch.
71 min...TC goalie dives right to beat IS Sereti to ball inside box.
73 min...IS DiPlacido rolls through ball between defenders but IS Leckie puts roller in net but flagged offside.
78 min...TC sub...Dospara replaces Herrera who'd just been injured in IS box. He needs help to get to the sidelines.
83 min...IS Sereti injured on run near TC box is injured on his own.
85 min...IS YELLOW card...Wiredu for kicking ball over TC net after offside whistle.
86 min...IS Sereti injured in TC end at 25 yards on clip knock-over.
87 min...IS sub...Majstorovic replaces injured Sereti.
87 min...IS Wiredu gets cross from left and 18 yard blast has diving goalie save ball on right side of net.
88 min...IS sub...Turner replaces Termenisi.
.............IS sub...DeThomasis replaces Leckie.
91 min...TC Fitzwilliams pass from left and TC Maletic blasts 20 yard shot well over net.
93 min...game ends 10:05pm.
Final Score:……Toronto Croatia…….0…………Italia Shooters………2……
Attendance was about 150 on this hot humid evening with mosquitoes flying around from the swamp on the East side. This stadium has no scoreboard. Tonight the east side fence which is the player’s entrance was still locked during the team warm-ups. Both teams had players climb the six foot fence and risk ankle injuries from landing.
Camilo Benzi earned the shutout for the Shooters and he had to be sharp on a few occasions. Best chance for Croatia all night was a 6 minutes when Mario Pupic sent in a cornerkick from the right that had Ante Brkic head from 5 yards and goalie Benzi flew over to make the save. Another Croatian player kicked in a 3 yard rebound over the fallen goalie who was injured when this player looked like he stepped on him. The goal was called back on the offside. Both teams had a few goals called back on offside calls.
Roy Blanche had to be aggressive in the Croatia goal to break up through ball passes. He picked up a Yellow card at 57 minutes when he ran out of the box and tripped Shooters Murphy Wiredu who was trying to check him off the ball.
Kadian Leckie had both of tonight’s goals. He had a few chances to get more and was called offside on most but at 56 minutes when he got behind a defender to take a short pass and booted the ball wide right from 12 yards when he stops and shoots.
Referee Mike Lambert gave out a few Yellow cards to keep the game under control. Shooters kept the ball in the Croatia end for much of the second half and really limited the Croatians attempt to comeback into the game.
The Shooters listed Jodi Forno as assistant coach and manager as Luca Forno. Head coach Carmine Isacco was behind the fence cheering his team on. He answered me later that he was serving a suspension. I’ve seen Toronto Croatia use this tactic in prior years.
I had not seen the Shooters since May but read about them winning league game after league game and beating the MLS Toronto FC Reserves team 4-0 over the months in between. There have been changes to the team since I saw them but there’s a lot of experience playing for other teams. Murphy Wiredu and Tristan Murray played for the PDL Toronto Lynx in 2007. David DiPlacido and Rick Titus played for the USL Toronto Lynx in 2006 and many years before that. Richard Assante was a Toronto FC draft choice in its inaugural year in 2007.
Robert Fran played the first half of tonight’s game for Croatia. I haven’t seen this veteran play this year but he’s been with the team for a decade.
One of the few cheers of the night for the fans was when the halftime score of the Serbian White Eagles and Portugal FC was announced. PFC held a 1-0 lead (they would eventually get a 3-2 upset win). All going well I should be at the Italia Shooters vs. Serbian White Eagles on Sunday afternoon which may well settle the International Division title as they are the leading teams.
Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
Croatia starters
Shooters starters
Croatia freekick
players in center circle
#14 Shooters Marco Termenisi tries to prevent Croatia break out
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