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Result of the Sunday September 11, 2011 CSL game between North York Astros and Toronto Croatia played at Esther Shiner Stadium in North York at 7:00pm.
North York Astros (all orange, black numbers)
...........................1 Enea Perego
3 John Jung...14 Kurt Ramsey (cpt)...6 Diego Benzi...2 Anthony Valentine
8 Francisco Mendez...16 Michael Tischer...9 Rei Ishikawa...4 Brown Konguavi
.................13 Nordo Gooden...15 Diego Maradona
Subs:...20 Damon Naghavi (gk)...7 Mikateko Zwane (fwd)...11 Raoof Zamanifar (mid)...12 Ahjton Roberts (def)...17 Steven Craig (def)
...18 Allan Cordon (mid)
team officials:...coach Gerardo Lezcano...assistant coaches Gabriel Lezcano and Gerardo Lezcano Sr...sporting director Jorge Collazo...
general manager Bruno Ierullo
Toronto Croatia (blue socks, white shorts and numbers, red shirts)
...........................13 Antonio Ilic
7 Halburto Harris...4 Sven Arapovic...3 Josip Keran...15 Ainsley Deer
11 Marin Vucemilovic Grgic...5 Jonatan Bustamante...22 Daniel Niksic...8 Hayden Fitzwilliams
.................10 Tihomir Maletic (cpt)...18 Bozenko Lesina
Subs:...1 Sandi Matika (gk)...6 Mario Kulis (def)...9 Hugo Herrera (fwd)...19 Niko Pesa (fwd)...21 Nicholas Goddard (def)
...24 Carlos Rojas (mid)
team officials:...head coach Velimir Crljan...assistant coach Miodrag Akmadzic...manager Ivan Kulis...assistant manager Perica Arapovic
...physio Michael Robinson
Game officials:...referee Rich Oliveira...referee's assistants Alex Hearn and Jason Hanley...fourth official Armando Pereira...(neon yellow shirts, black shorts and socks)
1st Half:...game starts 7:06pm. (the game had been delayed because there were no cornerflags!) Astros defend east end.
2 min...TC Fitzwilliams 25 yard chip from left is well high and wide left of net.
4 min...TC Maletic blasts 35 yard freekick from left wwell high and wide left of net.
5 min...TC Lesina 12 yard shot after cross shot is blocked by Astros player and deflects to right for cornerkick.
6 min...TC Fitzwilliams low 18 yard shot is saved by sliding defender.
8 min...Astros Benzi 45 yard freekick from left has defender clear on edge of box.
9 min...TC Maletic splits defence down middle and goalie dives on ball at 15 yards when pushed too far forward.
10 min...TC Vucemilovic Grgic 35 yard freekici from left has defender stop ball in box.
10 min...Astros Gooden charges to save through ball pass on right end line and crosses as he falls is through box but no Astros player in box.
13 min...TC Fitzwilliams pushes pass forward for TC Lesina who shoots low shot from 10 yards and sliding goalie saves.
15 min...TC Vucemilovic Grgic rush on right and low cross is through box too far forward for charging TC Maletic.
21 min...Astros Gooden stops forward pass to 28 yards, turns and fires 28 yarder well over net.
21 min...TC Maletic gets pass on left and low 18 yard shot is smothered by goalie.
23 min...TC Fitzwilliams cross from 25 yards on left is caught by goalie.
24 min...TC Maletic 35 yard freekick has Astros Benzi in crowd of players leap and head ball away.
25 min...TC Fitzwilliams cross intercepts defender pass and rush play.
25 min...Astros defender Anthony Valentine slides and trips up TC Halburto Harris on right side of box. Referee Rich Oliviera calls
a Penalty kick.
26 min...TC Tihomir Maletic GOAL...Maletic blasts Penalty kick low to right corner of net beyond dive of goalie Enea Perego
who guessed correctly.
27 min...Astros Maradona low 25 yard shot has goalie dive to left cordner of net and fumble ball wide for cornerkick.
28 min...Astros Diego Benzi GOAL...Astros Diego Maradona cornerkick from the left has defenders clear from box. Benzi blasts the partial clearance
from 40 yards on right that bends into top left corner of net beyond goalie Antonio Ilic.
31 min...TC Niksic rush on right crosses near end line and defenders clear.
32 min...TC Maletic cornerkick from right has goalie punch ball away. TC player's rebound shot deflects for cornerkick.
33 min...TC Maletic cornerkick from right is headed away.
33 min...Astros Ishikawa heads TC cross from right over two TC players waiting to play ball near left post.
35 min...Astros RED card...Goalie Enea Perego earns a direct ejection from referee Rich Oliveira when he ran out of his box to try to clear a through
ball and hip checked TC Bozenko Lesina who poked the ball by him. Lesina is injured on the play. The result is only a 22 yard freekick.
36 min...Astros sub...Naghavi replaces ejected Perego. Defender Konguavi is subbed off so back up goalie can come into the game.
37 min...TC Vucemilovic Grgic 25 yard freeekick chip from left is caught by goalie.
39 min...TC Lesina rush on left and 20 yard cross through box and TC Vucemilovic Grgic has 12 yard low shot stopped by goalie.
40 min...TC Keran 35 yard blast through crowd of players from left is caught by goalie.
42 min...Astros Maradona 35 yard freekick down middle is just high and wide right of net.
46 min...Astros Mendez has 13 yard shot is blocked point blank by defender.
46 min...half ends 7:52pm.
2nd Half:...starts 8:10pm.
46 min...Astros Maradona cornerkick from right has defender head ball away and Astros Tischer chips 40 yarder that goalie stops.
48 min...TC Harris cross from 25 yards on right has TC player on left line is popped up header wide left of net.
52 min...TC Deer cross from 35 yards on left has TC Maletic pop 10 yard header over net.
53 min...TC Maletic cornerkick from right has defender pop up header.
53 min...TC Marin Vucemilovic Grgic GOAL...Grgic scores directly from a cornerkick on left as it bends over crowd of players to right
side of net.
57 min...Astros Maradona blasts 35 yard freekick down middle well over net.
58 min...TC sub...Herrera replaces Lesina.
62 min...TC Vucemilovic Grgic cross from 25 yards on far right has goalie bobble save over head at 5 yards near left post and defender kicks ball
behind end line.
64 min...Astros Ishikawa blasts 30 yard shot through crowd down middle that goalie catches.
66 min...TC sub...Rojas replaces Bustamante.
66 min...Astros Gooden 20 yard blast from right deflects for cornerkick.
67 min...Astros Benzi cornerkick from right has Astros Maradona flocks header from 6 yards wide left of net.
67 min...TC Herrera 25 yards shot misses open net down middle and bounces wide right.
74 min...TC Vucemilofic Grgic 40 yard freekick from left sideline is blocked by nearest defender.
76 min...TC Marin Vucemilovic Grgic cross near right end line has Astros Diego Benzi have ball hit his hand at 5 yards. This infraction was signalled
by the referee's assistant as it was from a tough angle.
77 min...TC Tihomir Maletic GOAL...Maletic blasts Penalty kick to right side of net halfway up beyond goalie.
79 min...Astros sub...Cordon replaces Mendez.
80 min...Astros YELLOW card...Mendez earns it for battle with TC Maletic.
.........TC YELLOW card...Maletic earns it for battle with Astros Mendez.
81 min...TC player's 30 yard freekick has TC player's header ruled offside.
81 min...TC Vucemilovic Grgic cornerkick from left has TC Keran heads ball across box from right and defender clears.
83 min...TC sub...Pesa replaces Maletic.
84 min...TC sub...Kulis replaces Niksic.
85 min...TC Hugo Herrera GOAL...TC Niko Pesa passes to Herrera who taps in 8 yarder into open net after goalie was out of position making
a previous play.
86 min...Astros sub...Zwane replaces Maradona.
.........TC sub...Goddard replaces Fitzwilliams.
88 min...TC Deer 22 yard shot from left is smothered by goalie.
90 min...Astros Gooden rush dribbles on right pushes ball forward but cleared.
90 min...Astros sub...Zamanifar replaces Benzi.
91 min...TC Hugo Herrera GOAL...Herrera dribbling zig zag down the middle and chips 22 yarder over the goalie in crowd of players at 15 yards
and into the middle of the open net.
92:09 min...game ends 8:58pm.
Final Score:........North York Astros........1.........Toronto Croatia.........5............
Attendance was about 70 on this mild evening but the temperature was dropping rapidly in the night air. Fans—it's time to put those summer shorts away and bring a jacket for these night games in September.
The scoreline was deceptive (think Canada vs St Lucia) as this game was in doubt until the late second half when Croatia pulled away. [I know. It's the third time this weekend I've used the same comparison between the World Cup qualifier but scoreline surfers just look at the linescores and think teams win in the first ten minutes.] Of course knowing that the Astros haven't won a game this season in 19 tries until tonight, their first win looked in doubt from the moment their goalie was Red carded.
Tihomir Maletic scores two goals although both on Penalty kicks to go with the four he earned on Friday's game. Richard West had scored one game earlier in the day for Brampton City United to bring his total up to 17 for the season. Maletic moves up to 16 with tonight's effort.
Diego Benzi scores a Goal-of-the-Year candidate with his 40 yard strike for the Astros. I don't think anyone could duplicate it. I watched teammate Diego Maradona line up for two freekicks from closer distance and sail them well over the net. Actually this weekend I saw Eris Tafaj take one of the best freekicks of the year in a goal for London City earlier today and Camilo Benzi (he's Diego Benzi's brother) had the best Penalty kick save-of-the-year for York Region Shooters yesterday.
Playing a man up for the last hour of the game it wasn't noticeable if Toronto Croatia were tired after a hard fought victory over Montreal Impact Academy on Friday night. Tonight's win lifts their record to 15-2-4 and second place four points behind SC Toronto who also won tonight against Mississauga Eagles. They gain ground on Capital City FC who were 'held' to a 0-0 tie game against St Catharines Wolves and nature as the game was called at halftime because of a thunderstorm. Croatia is four points ahead of the team from Ottawa and have two games in hand. Astros record falls to 0-14-6.
Note: Earlier in the day a special tribute game was played in memory of Jason Arnone at St Joan of Arc Field in Maple. From the flyer I read “Play for Jay—A soccer tribute in memory of Jason Arnone—We invite you to attend a soccer memorial fundraiser being held in honour of Jason and his passion for soccer, as we approach the first anniversary. Since Jason was called to heaven we feel a void in our lives, but will never forget. The day will consist of an opening ceremony, and a soccer match made up of Jason and Matthew's (Jason brother) teammates. The group consists of ex TFC academy players, current TFC players, and Canadian National Team players. Through this event, as Jason's friend's and family gather we are keeping his memory alive and hope that he is smiling down on us. All proceeds from the entry fee, BBQ , and raffles will be donated to Sunnybrook's Trauma Emergency and Critical Care foundation.....Entry Fee: Minimum $7.00 donation per person (Jason's jersey #) Family of 4-$20.00, Children under 12-free....”.
The letter paper size flyer had a small picture of Jason in the top right corner and the Sunnybrook (hospital) logo at the bottom.
Now I only mention this as CSL PA announcer Ennio says he's never seen St Joan of Arc so packed and estimates there were 1000 people there. I don't know much about the man except he died of injuries in an auto accident and was on Seneca (College) Sting soccer team and that his brother went through TFC Academy and York Region Shooters. I realize that most people were there because of the event not the level of play or the soccer game itself but that's the biggest GTA crowd I've seen this year at a CSL game. Now after today being to games with 100 and 70 fans and never seeing any outside-the-website advertising for the CSL, I wonder if the league could do something publicity wise (let's not be ghoulish) to tap into the casual soccer fan.
Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
Astros starters
Croatia starters
Astros Diego Maradona (15) and Nordo Gooden (13) take opening kickoff.
TC Marin Vucemilovic Grgic (11) decoys and Tihomir Maletic (10) blasts freekick.
TC Ainsley Deer cross.
TC Ainsley Deer chased by Astros Diego Maradona.
TC Tihomir Maletic scores on his first Penalty kick.
TC Tihomir Maletic scores on his second Penalty kick.
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