September 2, 2012 CSL--Toronto Croatia vs Niagara United (by Rocket Robin)

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Result of the Sunday September 2, 2012 CSL game between Toronto Croatia and Niagara United 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...23 Tonci Pirija...24 Marin Vucemilovic Grgic...8 Hayden Fitzwilliams
..............10 Tihomir Maletic (cpt)...14 Andelo Srzentic

Subs:...1 Panagiotis Kaumoulas (gk)...11 Boris Tomac (mid)...16 Daniel Niksic (mid)...18 Beozenko Lesina (fwd)...21 Dino Buljan (mid)
team officials:...head coach Velimir Crljan...assistant caoch Miodrag Akmadzic...manager Ivan Kulis...assistant manager Perica Arapovic
...physio Michael Robinson

Niagara United (white socks and shirts, navy shorts, sky blue numbers)

......................40 John DeLuca
26 Nicholas Goddard...2 Matthew Waddington (cpt)...4 Anthony Fruci...19 Christopher Harrington
11 Rudy Pikzinski...15 Anthony Mermigas...21 Marco Stencel...17 Derek Peterson
.................34 Ben N'Goran...10 Jason Devonish

Subs:...20 Bradley Gemmell (gk)...9 Lucas Folino (mid)...12 Michael Palomba (def)...14 Matthew Cain (mid)...22 Mohammed Mohammed (fwd)
...27 Colin Dougan (mid)...38 Malcolm Mings (def)
team officials...head coach James McGillivray...assistant coaches Michael Lapoyda and Michael Folino...manager Tony Visca...assistant manager Steve Flanagan

Game officials:...referee Marie Soleil Beaudoin...referee's assistants Scott Milliguet and Jesseca Dalton...fourth official Matt Arduini
...(all black uniforms, neon yellow trim)

1st Half:...game starts 8:02pm...TC defends south end on this hot and humid night.
1 min...TC Maletic cornerkick from right has goalie fist ball down and smother on the right post.
3 min...TC Vucemilovic Grgic rushes on left and crosses and defender heads ball down and clears from box.
5 min...TC Marin Vucemilovic Grgic GOAL...Vucemilovic Grgic recovers loose ball that a defender had stopped just inside the NU box and he kicks in 15 yarder up middle past goalie John DeLuca.
5 min...TC YELLOW card...Vucemilovic Grgic then earns a Yellow card for pulling off his shirt and running over to the stands to salute the crowd.
6 min...TC player rolls 20 yarder on right over end line.
8 min...NU N'Goran pokes ball past goalie at 18 yards on right but defender clears at 15 yards.
9 min...NU Waddington 30 yard low shot is caught by goalie.
10 min...TC Srzentic 30 yard freekicik up middle is blasted over net.
12 min...NU Rudy Pikzinski GOAL...NU Jason Devonish takes a 45 yard freekick from the left that he sends high to the right and NU Matthew Waddington heads ball across box from 18 yards and Pikzinski shoots a low 18 yarder up the middle into the right side of the net past goalie Antonio Ilic.
13 min...TC Fitzwilliams rushes in alone to get to a through ball and shoots a low 20 yarder up the middle that rolls wide right of the post.
14 min...TC Fitzwilliams can't draw Penalty kick on through ball pass rolled up the middle.
15 min...NU Stencel blasts 25 yard shot well over net on shot down the middle.
18 min...NU Stencel long throw-in from left has defender leap over NU player on edge of box to head ball away.
20 min...NU Peterson 25 yard shot from far left deflects high off bar.
23 min...TC Marin Vucemilovic Grgic GOAL...TC Tonci Pirija on the right crosses to the middle for TC Tihomir Maletic and with a defender in front of him he taps back pass for Vucemilovic Grgic to roll 15 yarder up the middle under the sprawling goalie.
24 min...TC Fitzwilliams on left shoots 15 yarder that hits outside of left post and deflects for goalkick.
26 min...TC Maletic 40 yard freekick is chip forward and TC Srzentic flicks 15 yard header wide right of net.
27 min...TC Maletic rush on left and 15 yard cross has NU Goddard heads cross over end line for cornerkick.
28 min...TC Vucemilovic Grgic cornerkick from left has NU defender on right heads ball out of box.
31 min...TC Maletic long run up right has him cut towards goal at 20 yards but defender checks him off ball as he was trying to freeze goalie.
32 min...Vucemilovic Grgic takes a cornerkick from the left that the goalie punches away but TC Srzentic turns at 12 yards and shoots a ball that deflects off a defender for a cornerkick.
33 min...TC Maletic takes cornerkick from the right that has the ball headed down and cleared before a TC player could take an 8 yard shot.
34 min...NU Stencel long throw-in from left has TC Arapovic heads ball away.
35 min...NU YELLOW card...Pikzinski earns it for check at NU 40 yards.
37 min...NU N'Goran rush on left and low 22 yard shot has diving goalie get hand to ball at 12 yards and defender clears it away.
38 min...TC Vucemilovic Grgic rush on left and 22 yard shot on far left is cleared.
39 min...NU Peterson has sliding defender knock away ball for cornerkick on left from 15 yards.
39 min...NU Stencel cornerkick from left is over players in box.
40 min...NU player's short cornerkick from left has TC Harris head ball for cornerkick.
41 min...NU player's short cornerkick from left has NU player cross over players in box.
42 min...NU Waddington 30 yard shot from right is over net.
44 min...TC Maletic cornerkick from right is cleared.
45 min...NU YELLOW card...Harrington earns it for check on NU 10 yard line on far left.
46 min...TC Vucemilovic Grgic freekick from 25 yards on far left has TC Srzentic on right heads 5 yarder over net.
47 min...half ends 9:50pm.

2nd Half:...starts 9:06pm.
47 min...TC Vucemilovic Grgic cornerkick from left is cleared from box and TC Mingon kicks 30 yarder over net.
50 min...NU YELLOW card....Harrington earns it for tripping up player at NU 40 yards.
52 min...TC Vucemilvic Grgic works up short freekick from NU 40 yards and rush to 15 yards on left and cross is cleared.
53 min...TC Maletic blasts 30 yard shot up middle low and goalie sprawls to save and smother.
54 min...NU goalie dives to left to smother ball ahead of charging TC Fitzwilliams at 20 yards.
55 min...NU Devonish sails 45 yard freekick from left over player and end line on right.
58 min...TC goalie smothers ball on dive in front of NU Peterson on left.
61 min...TC Maletic 40 yard freekick from right has defender head ball away at 6 yards.
61 min...TC Deer cross from 20 yards and TC Fitzwilliams is not quite able to turn a 7 yard header up the middle.
61 min...NU RED card...Jason Devonish earns a direct ejection for a two footed challenge at TC 50 yards on TC Ainsley Deer.
63 min...NU sub...Mohammed replaces someone.
........TC sub...Tomac replaces Srzentic.
65 min...TC Maletic rolls 15 yard shot from right that sliding goalie stops at 8 yards.
66 min...NU sub...Cain replaces someone.
69 min...NU sub...Mings replaces Goddard (?).
70 min...TC Harris 25 yard cross from near right corner flag is headed away.
71 min...TC Tomac 40 yard freekick low hits heel of TC player at 20 yards and clears itself.
72 min...NU Pikzinski 45 yard freekick from left has ball bounce through players wide right. TC Fitzwilliams is injured on play.
74 min...TC Keran heads away NU player's long throw-in from right into box.
75 min...TC YELLOW card...Arapovic earns it for interence on NU player running up left at TC 40 yards.
76 min...NU Pikzinski 45 yard freekick from left is caught by goalie in crowd of players.
76 min...TC Vucemilovic Grgic cornerkick from left has leaping goalie punch ball away.
77 min...NU N'Goran slides to roll cross from 20 yards from right has defender clear.
78 min...TC Marin Vucemilovic Grgic GOAL...TC Tihomir Maletic rushes up middle on 2 on 1 rush from 40 yards and rolls pass to Vucemilovic Grgic in middle and he shoots 15 yarder low into open right side of net.
80 min...TC sub...Buljan replaces Fitzwilliams.
83 min...NU Pikzinski 30 yard freekick from left has defender head ball away.
85 min...NU sub...Palomba replaces Goddard. (? or did he come off at 69 minutes?)
86 min...TC Maletic rush up middle and goalie slides under him to save at 18 yards. TC Maletic and NU goalie are both injured on the play.
88 min...NU sub...Gemmell replaces injured DeLuca as goalie. (TC Maletic finishes the game).
89 min...NU Cain low 25 yard shot up middle is picked up by goalie near left post.
91 min...TC Pirija 25 yard cross near right end line is over box.
92 min...TC Tomac rolls a 20 yarder from the right near the end line that TC Maletic can't turn on a 6 yard kick and the ball rolls right through the box.

Final Score:.......Toronto Croatia......3......Niagara United........1........

Attendance was about 150 on this hot and humid night.

Maric Vucemilovic Grgic scored all three goals for Toronto Croatia. He was inspired for this game. Before the game a moment of silence was held for a 20 year old fan, Marko Misic, who was piloting a small Cesna plane and he and three passengers were killed when the plane crashed north of Kitchener on August 24th. He was only something like 18 hours from earning his qualifications as a commercial pilot. His family was in attendance tonight. Grgic pulled his red #24 shirt off after the first goal and revealed a red #28 shirt with the number showing on the chest. I only found out after the game that this was the actual #28 shirt of Misic when he played high school soccer. Grgic had dedicated his game to Misic and that's why the gestures to the crowd after the first goal. This is the kind of legend that Babe Ruth the baseball player accomplished when he promised an injured boy that he'd hit a home run for him but to score three goals in a soccer game is much harder to pull off.

Niagara played well in the game but eventually wore out playing a man down from 61 minutes and were burned on a counter attack for the third goal that put the game away. Niagara head coach James McGillivray said after the game that there was no contact on the Red card but Croatia manager Ivan Kulis said it was Ainsley Deer who was slid into.

The officiating crew improvised when referee Matt Arduini was whisked away to a hospital (for either himself or a relative). Marie Soleil Beaudoin moved up from fourth official to referee the game. Nothing was amiss except it made it difficult to figure out who was subbing in or how much injury time there'd be. I counted three Yellows and one Red card for Niagara and two Yellows for Croatia.

Best non-scoring chances were at 13 minutes when TC Hayden Fitzwilliams rushed in alone to get to a through ball and shot a low 20 yarder up the middle that rolled wide right of the post. 32 minutes had Vucemilovic Grgic take a cornerkick from the left that the goalie punched away but TC Andelo Srzentic turned at 12 yards and shot a ball that deflected off a defender for a cornerkick. Maletic took the cornerkick from the right that had the ball headed down and cleared before a TC player could take an 8 yard shot. 61 minutes had TC Ainsley Deer cross from 20 yards and Fitzwilliams was not quite able to turn a 7 yard header up the middle. 92 minutes had TC Boris Tomac roll a 20 yarder from the right near the end line that Maletic couldn't turn on a 6 yard kick and the ball rolled right through the box.

Toronto Croatia increases their hold on 1st place to four points with a now 11-1-5 record. Niagara stays in 13th place at 5-8-3 and are seven points out of the last playoff spot with only six games to go.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca

Toronto Croatia starters