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Result of the CSL game of Sunday May 15th, 2011 between Toronto Croatia and St Catharines Wolves played at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke at 8:00pm.

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

......................1 Sandi Matika
7 Halburto Harris...4 Sven Arapovic...5 Thomas Skara...15 Ainsley Deer
10 Tihomir Maletic (cpt)...23 Tonci Pirija...8 Hayden Fitzwilliams...14 Augustin De Medina
..............18 Dani Jankovic...11 Boris Tomac

Subs:...12 Antonio Ilio (gk)...9 Hugo Herrera (fwd)...16 Tomislav Leko (mid)...19 Niko Pesa (fwd)...20 Tomislav Ples (fwd)
...21 Joseph Filipic (mid)...22 Lee Hagerdon (def)
team officials:...head coach Velimir Crljan...manager Ivan Kulis...assistant manager Perica Arapovic...physician Rachel Leroux

St Catharines Wolves (all black, white numbers)

......................1 Claudio Perri (cpt)
2 Danny Gallagher...12 Geoffrey Attard...3 Matthew Waddington...4 Matthew Dimaria
18 Rucy Pikuzinski...14 Matthew Cain...13 Scott MacLennan...5 Tony Mermigas
..............8 Dana Heimbecker...17 Matthew Fantino

Subs:...6 Joe Conte (def)...9 Aaron Vanvelzen (fwd)...11 Stefan Kamendy (mid)...19 William Janetos (def)...20 Matthew Stedman (fwd)
team officials:...head coach Carlos Arghittu...assistant coach Joe Conte...manager Armand DiFruscio...equipment manager Angelo Pizzacalla ...massage therapist Stacey Gough

Game officials:...referee Ljubisa Vrlies...referee assistants Dave Ashfield and Jeff Fearnall...fourth official Hassane Rifai

1st Half:...game starts 8:08pm...TC defend south end on this cool and rainy evening.
3 min...W Cain 20 yard roller from right is well left out of box.
5 min...TC goalie dives right to block freekick from 40 yards.
6 min...W Fontino 20 yard shot through defender down middle is saved by sprawling at 6 yards goalie. W Cain blasts 20 yard rebound that prone goalie saves up the middle.
9 min...W goalie catches 30 yard shot from right.
10 min...TC Tihomir Maletic GOAL...Maletic shoots in 16 yard shot from right into left side of net with open man at 15 yards on left keeping goalie Claudio Perri trapped in position.
11 min...W YELLOW card...Waddington earns it for tackle on TC Maletic at W 25 yards.
14 min...W Mermigas 35 yard chip down middle over crowd of players wide left.
15 min...TC Tomac blasts 20 yard shot from left is just high and wide left of top corner.
16 min...W Gallagher boots ball over own net defending 3 on 1 at 15 yards.
17 min...TC De Medina cornerkick from left has nodded header from right one-bounced from 8 yards to goalie to catch.
18 min...Wolves Rudy Pikuzinski GOAL...Pikuzinski intercepts bad clearance at 22 yards and takes shot down middle into top right corner of net.
23 min...W Cain chips cross from 12 yards on left that defender prevents W Fontino from getting 3 yard tap in on right.
27 min...W Fontino 35 yard freekick blast down middle is well over net.
28 min...TC Maletic cornerkick from right has goalie punch ball away and ball is cleared out of W end.
30 min...TC De Medina cornerkick from left has TC Maletic header try pushed in back in box but no call is given and ball is cleared. TC Tomac is injured at W 25 yards in middle on kick. TC play a man short for a few minutes.
34 min...W YELLOW card...MacLennan earns it for injurying TC Jankovic(?) on sideline.
35 min...TC De Medina 30 yard freekick has TC Arapovic in crowd of players heads ball over net from 7 yards.
36 min...TC sub...Ples finally replaces the injured Tomac who is now back in the dressing room.
36 min...TC Ples 30 yard shot from left is saved. TC Maletic is injured at W 50 yards getting away pass on the sideline.
40 min...TC YELLOW card...Pirija earns it for grabbing W Heimbecker at TC 50 yards on run for ball.
43 min...TC Arapovic short cornerkick from left has TC Deer shot from 25 yards deflect for throw-in.
43 min...W Heimbecker low cross from right has W Fontino 5 yard shot is deflect off defender wide right for cornerkick.
44 min...W MacLennan cornerkick from right has defender on right post head ball behind net.
44 min...W MacLennan cornerkick from right has ball knocked around but no shot is taken.
45 min...TC Deer 40 yard cross from left is caught by goalie stepping in front of players.
48 min...W Waddington pops up header from 20 yards that catches under bar.
48 min...half ends 8:56pm.

2nd Half:...starts 9:12pm.
46 min...TC Ples run to right for through pass and tap over to TC Jankovic who blasts 10 yarder well high wide right.
48 min...TC YELLOW card...Arapovic earns if for knock over of W Fontino near center line sideline.
49 min...TC Ples 18 yard shot down middle is cleared.
50 min...TC Jankovic rush on right on 3 on 2 but shot is low and wide left from 15 yards near end line.
54 min...TC YELLOW card...De Medina earns it for bump on W Fontino at center line.
55 min...Wolves Matthew Fontino GOAL...Wolves Dana Heimbecker cross from 12 yards on left and Fontino bicycle kicks ball over goalie
Sandi Matika at 3 yards and ball drops just under bar.
60 min...TC Maletic cornerkick from right has TC Fitzwilliams skip and connect foot at 3 yards on left just wide high left of net.
60 min...TC sub...Hagerdon replaces Arapovic.
61 min...W Cain midair kick of cross wins cornerkick on deflection.
61 min...W player's cornerkick from right ball cleared.
62 min...TC Hagerdon cross from right is caught by goalie.
64 min...W YELLOW card...Cain earns it for trip on TC Hagerdon.
64 min...TC Maletic 35 yard freekick is cleared from box on right.
65 min...TC De Medina cornerkick from right has defenders clear.
67 min...W Gallagher is injured on block of shot on end line. TC team earns the cornerkick on that play on left.
68 min...TC De Medina cornerkick from left has W Fontino heads ball away and clear.
70 min...TC Fitzwilliams rush on left and rolls ball between defender and goalie on left post and sliding TC Jankovic misses connecting at 3 yards into open net.
74 min...TC Hagerdon at 3 yards has W goalie grab ball off his head to end TC pressure.
75 min...W sub...Kamendy replaces Cain.
75 min...TC Maletic cornerkick from right has defenders clear.
77 min...W Fontino flick heads long throw-in from right from 15 yards that goalie catches.
79 min...TC Harris 25 yard cross from right is partially cleared and TC Maletic blasts 16 yarder down middle that goalie palms over net.
79 min...TC Maletic cornerkick from right is cleared.
82 min...TC sub...Herrera replaces Jankovic.
82 min...TC Maletic blasts 12 yard shot from left that goalie bats wide left.
83 min...TC Fitzwilliams rush on left but 15 yard shot is into webbing of net.
84 min...TC Hagerdon 16 yard shot over net when tapped over pass from TC Pirija.
87 min...TC Fitzwilliams cross from left has TC Tomac sidekick 15 yarder down middle well wide right.
88 min...W sub...VAnvelzen replaces Heimbecker.
88 min...TC YELLOW card...Skara earns it for his part on a rough play.
.........W YELLOW card...Vanvelzen for not giving 10 yards on a TC freekick.
.........TC Pirija 40 yard freekick has TC Vanvelzen take scissor kick from 12 yard that's well over net.
93 min...Wolves RED card...Matthew Waddington earns his second Yellow card for a tackle.
95 min...Wolves RED card...Stefan Kamendy earns direct ejection for a tackle at W 30 yards.
96 min...game ends 10:03pm.

Final Score:.....Toronto Croatia......1..........St Catharines Wolves.........2......

Attendance was about 80 on this cold and wet night. It had rained all day and kept raining the whole game (think the Toronto FC second half last night). When the crowd is that small, everybody can be sheltered by the canopy of the press box above.

This game was very rough with referee Ljubisa Vrlies giving out ten cards during the game—six to the Wolves—not for sliding tackles as might be expected on wet field turf but most for bumps and kicks.

Worst spell was for Croatia with injuries within a six minute span starting at 30 minutes. Boris Tomac was hurt when he was kicked in the ankle or lower leg while at the W 25 yard line and the team played short as no one was warming up. At 34 minutes Wolves Scott MacLennan picked up a Yellow card for injurying TC Niko Pesa along the sideline. At 36 minutes Tomislav Ples finally came in as a substitute. Before that minute was up, TC Tihomir Maletic was injured at the W 50 yards getting away a pass on the sideline.

Wolves were hanging on, as they admitted after the game, for the last 25 minutes but the Toronto team couldn't score an equalizer.

Best non scoring chances were at 6 minutes when Wolves Matthew Fontino took a 20 yard shot through a defender down the middle that was saved by the sprawling goalie at 6 yards and Matthew Cain then blasted the 20 yard rebound down the middle that was saved by the prone goalie. At 22 minutes, Cain chipped a cross from 12 yards on the left that a defender prevented Fontino from getting a 3 yard tap-in on the right. At 60 minutes TC Tihomir Maletic took a cornerkick from the right that had Hayden Fitzwilliams jump and connect a foot to at 3 yards on the left post sending the ball high and wide left of the net. At 70 minutes Fitzwilliams rushed on the left and rolled a ball between a defender and the goalie on the left post and a sliding Dani Jankovic missed connecting at 3 yards into the open net. At 79 minutes, TC Halburto Harris sent in a cross from 25 yards from the right that was partially cleared and Maletic blasted a 16 yarder down the middle that the goalie palmed over the net. Three minutes later, Maletic blasted a 12 yard shot from the left that the goalie batted wide left of the net. Two minutes after that TC Lee Hagerdon took a 16 yard shot over the net when tapped over a pass from Tonci Pirija. At 88 minutes, TC Hugo Herrera took a scissor kick from 12 yards that flew over the net. Finally at 94 minutes, Hagerdon headed an 8 yarder up the middle that the goalie palmed up in the air and a defender headed the ball away.

I got rained on enough in the press box that my notes started to run. The windows are tinted and show reflections of the light in the room if they're on. I didn't even see the goal at 18 minutes. In order to see the field and players, the windows must be open far enough to stick your head out. The driving rain did its damage.

Toronto Croatia's coach this year is Velimir Crljan who was a TC striker and who I've seen coach the team in prior years (but not 2010).

The Wolves scored only 19 goals in 24 games and won only four games last year to finish last in the league. This year they are wearing all black with white numbers.

New Wolves head coach is Carlos Arghittu who was a forward on the team for many years and I remember watching on the 1999 Toronto Lynx. The last year or so he was most likely to come into games as a late substitute and is now 36. He invited me in to the dressing room so I could say hello to everyone. Defender Geoffrey Attard is back with the team on defence after missing last year for family commitments. One player showed his teammates where he got punched in the face. Players were laughing about how the coach will have to fill the team because of suspensions.

Note: I don't expect there to be any pictures of the game on my web page as somewhere after the game I lost my camera. Ironically earlier in the day, I was at the Henry's Camera Show within a few km of the stadium and picking up brochures of the newest models. I lost my claim tag for my own camera but had no trouble passing through security on the way out when I showed them how beat up my case was. They don't make that model of camera anymore! Let's hope the stadium has a lost and found.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca

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