August 26, 2012 CSL--Toronto Croatia vs London City (by Rocket Robin)

...........................

Result of the Sunday August 26, 2012 CSL game between Toronto Croatia and London City played at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke at 8:00pm.

Toronto Croatia (black socks, white shorts and numbers, red shirts)

....................12 Antonio Ilic
7 Halburto Harris...4 Sven Arapovic...3 Josip Keran...15 Ainsley Deer
.........19 Petar Mingon...21 Dino Buljan...8 Hayden Fitzwilliams
.........14 Andelo Srzentic...24 Marin Vucemilovic Grgic...10 Tihomir Maletic (cpt)

Subs:...1 Panagiotis Koumoulas (gk)...9 Daniel Niksic (mid)...11 Boris Tomace (mid)...16 Luke Sperr (def)...18 Bozenko Lesina (fwd)
...20 Martin Artale (fwd)...23 Tonci Pirija (mid)
team officials:...head coach Velimir Crljan...assistant coach Miodrag Akmadzic...manager Ivan Kulis...assistant manager Perica Arapovic ...physio Micahel Robinson

London City (all black, white numbers)

......................1 Vladimir Markotic
21 Nikola Stanojevic...4 Rade Novkovic...14 Nenad Nikolic...5 Zvonko Bakula (cpt)
8 Gent Miftari...11 Mahir Hadeiresic...10 Micahel Marcoccia...19 Tasmin Halkic
...............7 Boban Stojanovic...17 Younan Samra

Subs:...2 Mustafa Mohammad (def)...15 Nenad Begovic (mid)...18 Manu Odurwa (fwd)...23 Dalibor Mitrovic (fwd)
team officials:...assistant coach Jasmin Halkic...manager Manuel Hernandez

Game officials:...referee Arthur Korbiel...referee's assistnat Matt Arduini and Michael Anthony Izzo...fourth official Brian Butler
(neon yellow shirt, black shorts and socks)

1st Half:...TC defend south end...game starts 8:02pm on this mild evening.
2 min...TC Vucemilovic Grgic cornerkick from left is blocked, his recross has TC Arapovic head 8 yarder wide left.
4 min...Lon player's long throw-in from right bounces over right end line for goalkick.
7 min...TC player's cross from left is popped over Lon net.
7 min...TC Vucemilovic Grgic cornerkick from left is over box and TC Keran pops up header but cleared.
8 min...Lon Stojanovic 50 yard freekick from left bounces to goalie.
11 min...Lon Hadeiresic 22 yard blast of loose ball hits goalie on chest and TC Arapovic clears rebound at 8 yards.
14 min...Lon Nikolic 55 yard chip down middle is over players and bounces to goalie.
14 min...Lon YELLOW card...Nikolic earns it for pull down of player at Lon 30 yards.
15 min...TC Keran blasts 35 yard freekick from left that hits player in Lon wall. TC Buljan takes low 25 yard shot up middle that's smothered by goalie.
17 min...TC Srzentic is injured at TC 20 yards away from play.
19 min...TC Vucemilovic Grgic cornerkick from left has goalie make catch.
19 min...TC Vucemilovic Grgic makes a low pass from the left that finds TC Srzentic at 12 yards on the right and he shoots wide left of net.
23 min...TC Srzentic carries on rush (after TC 8 was clipped on rush and was injured) and takes 15 yard shot from left that lands on top of net.
26 min...TC Maletic on rush on right passes forward to TC Srzentic who crosses low from 20 yards.
27 min...City RED card...Zvonko Bakula is shown a direct Red card by referee Arthur Kobeil for pushing TC Petar Mingon over from behind at the TC 45 yard line. Mingon rolled over and over like a log for about four revolutions but was able to return to the game a few minutes later.
30 min...TC Fitzwilliams is injured at center line.
32 min...Vucemilovic Grgic passes forward up right for TC Srzentic who rushes in and whose cross from 20 yards deflected off a defender at 7 yards and off the right goalpost before being cleared.
33 min...TC Mingon 35 yard shot up middle is wide right of net.
38 min...Lon Stojanovic 35 yard freekick is blasted low from right is stopped.
39 min...TC Fitzwilliams rush on left and cross from 22 yards has TC Srzentic heads ball over net from 7 yards down middle.
41 min...TC goalie rushes out of box up middle to head ball away from rushing Lon player.
42 min...Lon YELLOW card...Samra earns it for trip on TC Stojanovic near center line.
44 min...Lon Novkovic 55 yard freekick down middle has Lon Hadeiresic pops up header at 12 yards near end line and goalie catches.
46 min...TC YELLOW card...Arapovic earns it for trip up of Lon Nikolic at Lon 45 yards.
48 min...Lon Stanojevic long throw-in from right is headed out of box by defender.
49 min...Lon Samra blasts 35 yarder from left is well over net.
50 min...TC YELLOW card...Fitzwilliams earns it for pushing over Lon player at TC 30 yards.
51 min...Lon Stojanovic blasts 32 yard freekick that goalie pushes wide left of post.
52 min...Lon Stojanovic cornerkick from left is over players in box and bends wide right for goalkick.
52 min...half ends 8:54pm.

2nd Half:...starts 9:08pm.
halftime sub...TC Pirija replaces Buljan.
46 min...TC Pirija feeds ball down middle for TC Vucemilovic Grgic at 20 yards and cuts to left but 15 yard shot is blocked by sliding goalie at 10 yards.
51 min...TC Srzentic passes left from 22 yards to TC Deer on left and he shanks cross from 25 yards well behind end line.
53 min...Lon sub...Begovic replaces Samra.
........Lon sub...Mitrovic replaces Marcoccia.
56 min...TC Maletic 28 yard freekick from right has defender head ball over box and out left side.
58 min...TC Angelo Srzentic GOAL...TC Josip Keran chips a pass from 60 yards on the left over to Srzentic at 40 yards on the right and he runs down the wing and blasts a 25 yard shot over goalie Vladimir Markotic at 5 yards and the ball dips under the bar.
59 min...Lon Stojanovic 45 yard freekick from left bounces to goalie.
60 min...TC Mingon on left stops and cuts 25 yard shot well wide right.
64 min...TC Harris rush down right and crosses over box. TC Fitzwilliams rescues ball on left end line but then pushes it over line.
68 min...Lon Stojanovic cross from 25 yard is over box and cleared.
69 min...TC sub...Tomac replaces Srzentic.
69 min...TC Maletic taps pass from 30 yards over to charging TC Fitzwillliams who shoots 20 yard roller wide right.
71 min...LC Miftari blasts 22 yard shot down the middle that is stopped by the flying goalie.
72 min...Lon Begovic 30 yard cross from left bounces wide right for goalkick.
72 min...TC Maletic fed centering rolling pass and flubs 15 yard shot that's saved by sliding goalie.
73 min...TC Tihomir Maletic GOAL...TC Halburto Harris rushes on right and sends low cross from 20 yards near end line to Maletic who shoot in 5 yarder over sprawling goalie to center of net.
76 min...TC sub...Lesina replaces Fitzwilliams.
76 min...TC Maletic 35 yard freekick from right has defender in crowd of charging players heads ball wide left from 5 yards for cornerkick.
77 min...TC Vucemilovic Grgic cornerkick from left has goalie bat ball to make forward clearance.
79 min...Lon sub...Odurwa replaces Halkic.
82 min...TC Boris Tomac GOAL...TC Marin Vucemilovic Grgic rushes on the left well ahead of trailing teammates up middle but instead of passing back rolls cross from 15 yards on left to center and charging Tomac splits defenders before getting to ball to shoot in 7 yarder.
82 min...Lon Begovic 35 yard cross from right has defender head ball over left end line.
83 min...Lon Stojanovic cornerkick from left has goalie pick up ball after Lon Mitrovic heads it down at 7 yards in crowd of players.
84 min...TC Deer pulls up injured.
85 min...TC Vucemilovic Grgic cornerkick from left has TC Lesina on left post heads ball across box and has it cleared.
87 min...TC sub...Niksic replaces the still injured Deer.
88 min...TC Lesina 25 yard shot deflects over net for cornerkick.
89 min...TC Maletic cornerkick from right has defender heads away.
90 min...TC Vucemilovic Grgic rush on left and centers pass to TC Pirija to take shot off target.
91 min...TC sub...Sperr replaces Arapovic.
92:15 min...game ends 9:56pm.

Final Score:.....Toronto Croatia......3......London City.......0.......

Attendance was about 150 on this warm night. The home team had ball boys and girls from the Mississauga Croatia soccer team which meant the balls were put back into play quicker and ensured a fan base of parents and families.

The Red card was senseless as the Croatian player was at his own 45 yard line and chasing a ball headed for the sidelines. The card to Zvonko Bakula denied London their captain and a defender. It did take Croatia a very long time to exploit their man advantage as they were constantly being flagged offside especially veteran Hayden Fitzwilliams.

Arthur Korbiel also refereed the Friday game I saw but was listed as Archie. It is the same guy.

Antonio Ilic earned the shutout for Toronto Croatia. He didn't have a lot of work to do but made some key saves.

London brought only four subs for tonight's game and they all eventually saw action.

Fans didn't like the offside calls nor the London roster in general. A quick internet search revealed at least six playing tonight were Serbian so the emotions were almost as high as a game against the White Eagles.

Centennial Stadium still has the south end pole of lights (at about the 10 yard line) not working so that leaves a dark end. It's unlikely this will be repaired by the end of the season.

This was the 34th CSL game I've attended this season and the first time I've seen London City in 2012 in the post Gauss family ownership era. I've seen many of these players before as Michael Marcoccia and Younan Samra played for them last year and Vladimir Markotic, Rade Novkovic, Nenad Nikolic, Nikola Stanojevic, and Nenad Begovic all played for the Brantford Galaxy in 2011 (not part of the Galaxy team roster that imploded last month). With another team in the league this year, each playing four less games this season, my own commitments to Toronto FC, Toronto Lynx, and Toronto Lady Lynx, this will probably be the only time I see them this year.

Tonight, Toronto Croatia's snazzy new kits were unveiled provided by Lika Sports. Same colours except the socks are now black rather than blue. I would have liked numbers on their shorts as it helped make the London players easier to identify.

Best non-scoring chances were at 19 minutes when TC Marin Vucemilovic Grgic made a low pass from the left finding TC Andelo Srzentic at 12 yards on the right and he shot wide left. 32 minutes had Grgic pass forward up right for Srzentic who rushed in and whose cross from 20 yards deflected off a defender at 7 yards and off the right goalpost before being cleared. 71 minutes had LC Gent Miftari blast a 22 yarder down the middle that was stopped by the flying goalie.

Tonight's win moves Croatia back into 1st place by one point with a 10-1-5 record over SC Toronto who lost their game on Friday night.

London is in a three way tie for 10th place with tonight's loss after winning a home game on Friday night. Their record is 5-7-6.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca

Toronto Croatia starters