May 6, 2012--CSL York Region Shooters vs Brantford Galaxy (by Rocket Robin)

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Result of the CSL game of Sunday May 6, 2012 between York Region Shooters and Brantford Galaxy played at St Joan of Arc CHS in Vaughan at 6:30pm.

York Region Shooters (all white, blue numbers and trim)

.........................1 Camilo Benzi
3 Ricky Herron...77 Desmond Humphrey (cpt)...5 Alex Trujillo...6 Fitzroy Christey
...........13 Aundrae Rollins...99 Ryan Dummett...7 Matt O'Connor
............9 Jason DeThomasis...17 Goncalo Almeida...21 Darryl Gomez

Subs:...00 Emanuele Ameltonis (gk)...2 Andre Stewart (def)...4 Marcelo Capozzolo (def)...18 Shezan Singh (mid)...20 Jalen Brome (mid) ...22 Julian Uccello (fwd)
team officials:...head coach Tony DeThomasis...assistant coaches Americo Tanteb and Carlos Rivas...manager John Pacione..trainer/physio Gio

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

...........................1 Melford James Jr (cpt)
3 Robert Turnbull...5 Zoran Maletic...2 Kyle Grooteboer...4 Logan Alexander
7 Marco Machado...10 Damion Scott...8 Christopher Leko...18 Braeden Krampert
..................9 Jeremy Shepherd...15 Preston Corporal

Subs:...01 Jeff Martins (gk)...6 Erwin Uzunovic (fwd)...11 Yan Ilic (mid)...16 Geoffrey Smith (def)...17 Stefan Dancetovic (mid) ...21 Trevor Schein (def)...23 Cameron Stephan (mid)
team officials:...head coach Ron Davidson...assistant coach Trevor Dancetovic...director Bosko Borjan

1st Half:...game starts 6:35pm...YRS defends south end.
40 sec...YRS goalie punts ball upfield and YRS Almeida tries cross from left but BG Grooteboer gives up cornerkick.
1 min...YRS Gomez cornerkick from left is low and cleared by nearest defender on left post.
6 min...BG Corporal 25 yard shot up middle is low and wide right of net.
9 min...YRS Aundrae Rollins GOAL...YRS Desmond Humphrey sends over a centering pass from the left that Rollins receives, turns quickly, and blasts 22 yard shot into the top right corner of the net beyond the flying goalie Melford James Jr.
10 min...BG goalie beats YRS Almeida to through ball.
11 min...YRS O'Connor corner kick from the right is over players in the box but a YRS player crosses back into the box from the left and YRS Rollins leaps and heads a 5 yarder from the right post over the net.
17 min...BG Alexander rush up left and from 25 yards crosses behind net.
18 min...YRS Christey rush towards goal from left and taps pass over to YRS DeThomasis who blasts 15 yarder down middle well over net.
19 min...BG Leko blocks defender's clearance at 25 yards but YRS Humphrey pokes midair ball away from him without giving up a shot on net.
20 min...BG Machado on give and go freekick up right has his 22 yard shot fly well over net.
21 min...YRS player's cornerkick from left has defender clear ball on left post.
25 min...BG Machado rushes along 22 yards towards center from right and blasts roller that goalie smothers easily.
26 min...BG Shepherd rush on right crosses near end line and hits side of net.
28 min...YRS Dummett blasts low 30 yarder up middle through crowd of players that's smothered by goalie.
31 min...BG Scott 35 yard freekick from right has YRS O'Connor rush to block at 12 yards to prevent shot.
32 min...BG Leko jabs foot at header coming down for landing and shoots high from 20 yards.
35 min...BG Turnbull chips 30 yard cross from right sideline is over net.
39 min...BG Scott is given short centering pass and his 25 yard shot from right is caught by goalie.
43 min...YRS goalie is injured charging out of box to prevent BG Krampert from getting through ball. The goalie is awarded a freekick in the collision.
46 min...half ends 7:20pm.

2nd Half:...starts 7:37pm.
halftime sub:...YRS Uccello replaces either Almeida or Gomez.
46 min...YRS goalie catches 15 yard shot poked over from right.
47 min...YRS DeThomasis pass from 45 yards on right is just step ahead of YRS Uccello for goalie to pick up on edge of BG box.
50 min...YRS Rollins 30 yard shot from right is well high and wide right of net.
51 min...YRS Humphrey cornerkick from right has leaping defender head ball through box and out left side.
51 min...YRS Uccello midair whiff on 12 yard kick up middle bounces to goalie.
52 min...YRS Rollins gets high pass on right and blasts shot from 22 yards high and wide right.
53 min...YRS sub...Brome replaces Rollins.
54 min...BG Turnbull blasts 30 yard shot from right is well wide left of net.
54 min...BG Krampert rush on left and pass from 30 yards has BG Shepherd just miss controlling ball in middle at 15 yards.
60 min...BG Krampert rush on left and 30 yard cross is behind net.
63 min...BG Corporal sidesteps defender at 28 yards on left but blasts low shot wide left of goal.
65 min...YRS Humphrey intercepts a pass and steps up and takes a 25 yard low shot that the diving goalie blocks. YRS Uccello recovers the ball on the left end line at 12 yards and rolls an unplayed ball through the 6 yard box.
66 min...YRS Uccello pushes ball over BG end line on left when he gets pass but can't control.
69 min...BG Corporal wins freekick from YRS Trujillo pushes him over on run for ball.
69 min...BG Scott freekick from near right cornerflag is headed away from box.
71 min...YRS goalie charges out of box to head away through ball before BG Leko can get to it at 25 yards.
72 min...YRS Herron charges on the right and crosses into the box where YRS Uccello heads over the net from 6 yards.
73 min...YRS Gomez at 30 yards on the right sends a low cross and YRS Uccello blasts a one-touch shot just over the net from 12 yards.
74 min...YRS goalie dives to catch 22 yard kick.
75 min...BG player's cornerkick from right is short and checked away by defender before getting into box.
76 min...BG Damion Scott 35 yard freekick from the right has BG Corporal heads a low 15 yarder down the middle that the YRS goalie was able to smother.
80 min...YRS DeThomasis 35 yard freekick from left after tap back pass has him blast shot well over net.
83 min...BG Krampert cross from 30 yards on left has flying BG Turnbull head while facing backwards from 10 yards on right wide right of net.
84 min...YRS Herron is injured in collision with BG Corporal at BG 50 yards.
86 min...YRS player takes a freekick from near the left corner flag has the Galaxy goalie punch the ball forward in a crowd of players in the box. YRS Fitzroy Christey blasts the rebound from 35 yards that the goalie flies to the left post to bat down.
89 min...YRS Stewart (when did he come into game?) makes key pop up header back to goalie of 25 yards.
90 min...YRS sub...Singh replaces DeThomasis.
90 min...YRS Singh can't get away 22 yard header on net.
91 min...BG Scott 45 yard freekick from left has goalie drift right into crowd of players to punch ball away.
91 min...game ends 8:23pm.

Final Score:......York Region Shooters.........1.............Brampton Galaxy............0.........

Attendance was a constant 200 on this warm and sunny day for this home opener for the Shooters. The crowd was already 'here' as there was a game of two Shooters Academy teams that finished just before this game started. These were a group of Under 17 teams I found out later. I've seen games in other season with crowds like this for 9 year olds and as soon as the game is over, Mommy and Daddy take their young family home right away. This was different as the players were only two years away from playing for the pros.

The official CSL Second Division game between Shooters B and Mississauga Eagles FC B teams started right after the pro game ended. The only folks who seemed to leave were those not dressed warm enough as the temperature fell.

Camilo Benzi earned the shutout for the Shooters. He had to be sharp but cut down on some dangerous changes by coming out of his box to clear some through balls with punts, headers and a few chested balls.

Shooters didn't lay back but really did try to get an insurance goal right until the end but because they couldn't convert, the Galaxy were always in the game and could have won.

Best non-scoring chances in the game were at 11 minutes when YRS Matt O'Connor took a corner kick from the right that was over the players in the box but a YRS player crossed back into the box from the left and Aundrae Rollins leaped and headed a 5 yarder from the right post over the net. 65 minutes had YRS Desmond Humphrey intercept a pass and step up and take a 25 yard low shot that the diving goalie blocked. YRS Julian Uccello (halftime sub) recovered the ball on the left end line at 12 yards and rolled an unplayed ball through the 6 yard box. At 72 minutes YRS Ricky Herron charged on the right and crossed into the box where Uccello headed over the net from 6 yards. One minute later, YRS Darryl Gomez at 30 yards on the right sent a low cross and Uccello blasted a one-touch shot just over the net from 12 yards. At 76 minutes Galaxy Damion Scott took a 35 yard freekick from the right that had Preston Corporal head a low 15 yarder down the middle that the YRS goalie was able to smother. 86 minutes had a YRS player take a freekick from near the left corner flag has the Galaxy goalie punch the ball forward in a crowd of players in the box. YRS Fitzroy Christey blasted the rebound from 35 yards that the goalie flew to the left post to bat down.

Many of the formations for both teams had rushes of two or three players against five or six defenders. Lots of offside flags were shown or those forwards were caught from behind as they tried to get by those defenders.

Justin Tasev was today's referee and controlled the game without having to give out any Yellow cards.

Galaxy had turned their roster over from last season but many names looked familiar. There aren't any of the eastern Europeans playing for them this year confirmed club official Jim Turnbull. Only three starters were on last year's team. Defenders Robert Turnbull and Zoran Maletic and midfielder Kyle Grooteboer. The others were mostly CSL players from different squads from last year. Jeremy Shepherd played for Brampton City United, Damion Scott from Mississauga Eagles, goalie Melford James Jr from Mississauga Eagles (and Hamilton Croatia two years ago), Preston Corporal from Hamilton Croatia—also head coach Ron Davidson who coached Hamilton Croatia their only year in the CSL and last year coached youth players in Hamilton. Christopher Leko and Braeden Krampert both played for last year's CSL champs Toronto Croatia. Defender Logan Alexander is from Bermuda proving that country has more than just Reggie Lambe (from MLS Toronto FC). Six of the seven bench players were from last year's Galaxy team. [Thanks to Jim Turnbull and coach Ron Davidson for filling out what I'd missed.] These Galaxy officials said they were quite confident in their team as they'd only had this lineup training together for the last two weeks.

Shooters will have more offensive firepower soon. Captain Kadian Lecky said he will be finished a league suspension carried over from last year by next weekend. Another forward, Diego Maradona (yeah nephew of that Argentinian hero) said he was three weeks into recovering from a torn quad and may be back as soon as next week. Both watched the game from the stands.

This is the only game these two teams will play against each other in the regular season this year (16 teams playing 22 games each) although both look good enough to make the playoffs.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca

YRS starters