June 5, 2011 CSL--Toronto Croatia vs Brantford Galaxy (by Rocket Robin)

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Result of the Sunday June 5th, 2011 CSL game between Toronto Croatia and Brantford Galaxy played at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke at 8:00pm.

Toronto Croatia (all navy, white numbers)

...................12 Sandi Matika
7 Halburto Harris...4 Sven Arapovic...6 Thomas Skara...15 Ainsley Deer
21 Lee Hagerdon...14 Augustin De Medina...23 Tonci Pirija...8 Hayden Fitzwilliams
..............22 Tomislav Ples...10 Tihomir Maletic (cpt)

Subs:...1 Ivan Skoko (gk)...3 Mario Kulis (def)...9 Hugo Herrera (fwd)...16 Tomislav Leko (mid)...18 Dani Jankovic (fwd)
...19 Niko Pesa (fwd)...20 Daniel Niksic (mid)
team officials:...head coach Velimir Crljan...assistant coach Miodrag Akmadzic...manager Ivan Kulis...assistant manager Perica Arapovic
...massage therapist Rachel Leroux

Brantford Galaxy (red socks, white shorts and shirts, black numbers)

.........................1 Vladimir Markotic
6 Rade Novkovic...4 Zachary Tait...10 Zvonko Bakula...3 Stanko Karacic
2 Raphael Goldemann...8 Ferid Idrizovic...27 Stefan Dancetovic...15 Nenad Begovic
................25 Ranko Golijanin (cpt)...14 Mark Reilly

Subs:...0 Cameron McKay (gk)...9 Nevan Vujinovic (mid)...12 Robert Turnbull (def)...13 Papa Amoah (fwd)...20 Marc Bijman (def)
team officials:...head coach Lazo Dzepina...assistant coach Tomislav Dancetovic...manager Jim Turnbull

Game officials:...referee Yusri Rudolph...referee's assistants Marie-Soleil Beaudoin and Mack Meloche...fourth official Mike Izzo...(neon yellow shirts, black shorts and socks)

1st Half:...game starts 8:03pm...TC defends north end...the sun is in the north west on this mild evening.
1 min...Tor Croatia Tihomir Maletic GOAL...TC Hayden Fitzwilliams runs to left end line and his 10 yard centering pass found Maletic for him to take low 6 yard shot into the right side of the net.
4 min...TC Tihomir Maletic cornerkick from right had a TC player on left post pushed over end line by defender so he couldn't get a 5 yard header along line. Referee Yusri Rudolph called for a Penalty kick.
6 min...Tor Croatia Tihomir Maletic GOAL...Maletic shot low Penalty kick to left side of net as goalie Vladimir Markotic crumples to the right.
7 min...TC Hagerdon runs down right and 22 yard kick is high wide right of net.
8 min...TC YELLOW card...Pirija earns it for tackle at TC 40 yards.
8 min...BG Begovic 40 yard freekick up middle has defender head ball away.
9 min...BG Begovic cornerkick from left has defender head ball away.
12 min...TC Deer 10 yard shot on rush has sliding defender deflect ball for cornerkick.
14 min...TC De Medina cornerkick from left has TC player head ball over net.
14 min...TC De Medina is injured at TC 52 yards when BG Karacic checks him.
16 min...TC Maletic taps ball back from 5 yards in crowd of players and TC Pirija kicks over net.
22 min...BG Reilly on 2 on 1 overruns ball at 25 yards rolls pass to BG Golijanin who flubs 15 yard shot which rolls to goalie.
23 min...BG Karacic 30 yard freekick from left has BG Idrizovic head 8 yarder down middle has flying goalie catch ball on right post.
23 min...TC Fitzwilliams is injured at BG 32 yards.
25 min...TC De Medina kicks low freekick down middle just wide left of net after TC Maletic faked kick.
26 min...TC goalie charges out to dive on through ball on right ahead of BG Goldemann at 15 yards.
27 min...TC Fitzwilliams cross from 25 yards near left end line after rush has leaping goalie catch in front of TC Maletic.
29 min...BG Goldemann pops up 10 yard header after freekick play that bounces to goalie.
31 min...TC Fitzwilliams rush down left and low pass has TC Ples knock down but TC Maletic takes 12 yard shot down middle that goalie dives on.
32 min...TC Fitzwilliams on left cross into box and TC Maletic 10 yard shot is blocked by defender.
34 min...TC Arapovic is injured at TC 25 yards.
37 min...TC De Medina cornerkick from left is headed through right side of box for TC throw-in.
38 min...TC Hagerdon throw-in from 20 yard line has defender clear then win foul call.
40 min...TC Maletic rush on left and low cross deflects off defender's foot at 10 yards and pop up for goalie to catch.
41 min...TC Hagerdon on breakaway from 30 yards has 18 yard shot saved by sprawling goalie at 12 yards. TC player's 20 yard rebound is saved by defender at 10 yards.
44 min...TC Ples gets cross and heads 10 yarder that's caught by goalie.
45 min...BG Golijanin checked up middle but pushes ball to BG Reilly whose 15 yard shot is deflected for cornerkick.
45 min...BG Dancetovic cornerkick from right has TC Maletic as nearest man boot ball away.
48 min...TC Maletic cornerkick from right has TC player on left heads ball across box and another TC player with back to goal hook 7 yard shot over his head and wide right of post.
48 min...half ends 8:51pm.

2nd Half:...starts 9:07pm.
halftime sub:...BG Turnbull replaces Tait.
46 min...TC De Medina cornerkick from left has whistle blown in box.
49 min...TC Deer on rush on left pushes ball over end line.
51 min...TC Harris 35 yard shot from right is over players and wide left.
53 min...BG Goldemann 45 yard cross from right is caught on bounce by goalie near edge of box.
55 min...Tor Croatia Tomislav Ples GOAL...TC Augustin De Medina crossed from near the right corner flag had Ples head 8 yarder into right corner of net beyond flying goalie.
55 min...TC sub...Herrera replaces Ples.
56 min...TC Herrera receives cross and heads 6 yarder off that bar and defenders clear.
56 min...TC Maletic low 27 yard freekick down middle around wall but wide left of post.
59 min...BG sub...Vujinovic replaces Reilly.
61 min...BG YELLOW card...Vujinovic earns it for knocking over TC Arapovic on left sideline at TC 40 yards.
62 min...TC sub...Niksic replaces Hagerdon.
68 min...TC sub...Jankovic replaces Fitzwilliams.
68 min...BG Begovic is injured at TC 45 yards. BG Vujinovic is later checked off ball at 10 yards by defender.
70 min...BG sub...Bijman replaces injured Begovic before play resumes.
72 min...TC Harris gets back to 15 yards in time to boot away BG players 2 on 1 break.
74 min...TC Deer cross from 25 yard left sideline has TC Jankovic twist 12 yard header from right well wide right of net.
75 min...Galaxy RED card...Raphael Goldemann earns the direct ejection by knocking over TC Hugo Herrera at 6 yards on his rush down the middle. The referee also awarded a Penalty kick.
77 min...Tor Croatia Hugo Herrera GOAL...Herrera takes low Penalty kick to left corner of net with goalie crumpling in middle.
79 min...TC Niksic low cross from right 20 yards has defender clear.
79 min...TC sub...Leko replaces Pirija.
80 min...TC Harris 30 yard roller is wide right of net.
81 min...TC sub...Kulis replaces De Medina.
.........BG sub...Amoah replaces Golijanin.
82 min...TC Leko 20 yard shot down middle pops up off defender and goalie catches on bounce.
83 min...BG Turnbull kicks ball over end net when TC Niksic crosses and TC player hops over ball at 5 yards and TC Herrera waiting for play.
84 min...BG YELLOW card...Danetovic earns it for studs up slide on TC Harris at BG 35 yards.
86 min...TC Kulis 40 yard freekick from right is low and is cleared on edge of box by defender.
87 min...TC Deer rushes for pass on left and cross from 20 yards is caught by goalie.
88 min...TC Kulis cornerkick from left is knocked around partially cleared and crossed back ends with TC Leko heading ball over net from 6 yards.
92 min...BG Idrizovic 35 yard freekick from right has defender clear away ball on left.
93 min...TC YELLOW card...Kulis earns it for hip check on TC Fitzwilliams at TC 31 yards.
93 min...BG Idrizovic 31 yard freekick down middle is well over net.
94 min...TC Jankovic 25 yard cross from right bounces to goalie when no one charges for it.
94 min...game ends 9:56pm.

Final Score:.........Toronto Croatia........4.............Brantford Galaxy.........0........

Attendance was about 175 on this mild evening with the sun still in the north west for the first half.

Toronto Croatia put this game away early with two goals so soon. They caught the Galaxy defence unprepared for a quick start. Last Sunday night they had a lead at 10 minutes that they held onto for a game against Serbian White Eagles called at halftime because of lightning and counted in the standings as per the rules of this league so if a lesson was learned, it's try to get an early lead. On Friday night the Galaxy played at this same stadium and were beaten by the White Eagles 2-1 so this has not been a good weekend for the team.

Galaxy manager Jim Turnbull was talking about the differences between this year's team and the 2010 edition which won the CSL Championship. He said last year's team had eastern Europeans on it who were very helpful to the young Canadian players playing on their Reserve team but this year's group of imports are more to themselves and stick together including their on field passing. Also this year's team has a core of nine regular players and nine reserves (so the CSL Second Division is a true feeder system for their team) and some of them had to play three games this weekend despite injuries as the reserve team had to play on Saturday. Their reserve team beat Prospect FC 2-1.

The game went perfectly for Toronto Croatia. Sandi Matika earned the shutout in net by making a few key saves. The fans only concern was some were shouting for Maletic to take the second Penalty kick to earn his third goal of the night. He and Hugo Herrera were in the box discussing it and since it was Herrera who was knocked over, Maletic let him take the kick.

Referee Yusri Rudolph had to give out a few cards besides the Red to keep things under control. Both teams cleared their benches of subs in the second half especially near the end to get everyone in the game. I've heard this year's limit is five of the seven subs can be brought into the game.

Among the best non-scoring chances were at 23 minutes when BG's Stanko Karacic took a 30 yard freekick from the left that had BG Ferid Idrizovic head an 8 yarder down the middle that had the flying goalie catch on the right post. At 41 minutes TC Lee Hagerdon was in on a breakaway from 30 yards and took an 18 yard shot that was saved by the sprawling goalie at 12 yards and then a defender save a 20 yard rebound. At 88 minutes TC Mario Kulis took a cornerkick from the left that was knocked around and partially cleared but crossed back into the box and TC Niko Pesa headed the ball over the net from 6 yards.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca

Croatia starters