May 23, 2012 PDL--Toronto Lynx vs Hamilton FC Rage (by Rocket Robin)

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Result of the Wednesday May 23, 2012 PDL game between Toronto Lynx and Hamilton FC Rage played at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke at 11:00am.

Toronto Lynx (all white, black numbers)

...................1 Matthew Silva
2 Callum Home...5 Konner McNamara (cpt)...6 Eric Crawford...17 Jadon Bingham
............11 Andrew Dehrayeh...8 Aaron McKenna...18 Randy Ribero
...........7 Macca Wilde (cpt)...12 Danny Ianoccini...15 James Galvani

Subs:...00 Kerry Ashton (gk)...3 Al James (def)...9 Jon Costa (fwd)...10 Anthony Doran (mid)...19 Ryan McLeod (mid) ...23 Justin Gordon (--)...24 Cameron Eisses (def)
team officials:...head coach Duncan Wilde...assistant coach Billy Steele

Hamilton Rage (all navy, white numbers)

.....................1 Conor Hurley
2 Stevie Powell...12 Chris Karafilov...5 Garret McConville...20 Adam Camillo
14 Leis Ellis...6 Shane Keely...4 Jack Warburton...10 Will Grocott
.............8 Scott McCoubrey (cpt)...15 Miro Cabrillo

Subs:...25 Stefan Avramovic (gk)...7 Josh Bennett (--)...9 Mark Reilly (--)...11 Adam Bond (--)...16 Chris Brown (--) ...21 Khody Ellis (--)...23 Andrew Ferguson (--)
team officials:...head coach Brett Mosen

Game officials:...referee Mike Bradley...referee's assistants Amando Pereira and Alex Themistocleous...no fourth official ...(neon yellow shirt, black shorts and socks)

1st Half:...game starts 10:59pm...Lynx defend south end on this hot day with a hazy sun in the south. The scoreboard isn't working until well into the second half so times until then are converted from my wristwatch.
5 min...Lynx Galvani low 20 yard shot from right is smotherd by goalie.
6 min...Rage Grocott 22 yard freekick from far left is over players on bounce and wide right for goalkick.
13 min...Rage defender slides in to stop Lynx Galvani rush down left and cuts towards goal at 8 yards.
14 min...Lynx cornerkick from the left is over the players in the box and Lynx Home takes a 12 yard header that is caught by the goalie.
18 min...Lynx McKenna tap over to Lynx Wilde for 40 yard blast down middle that leaping goalie at 5 yards palms over net.
19 min...Lynx Ribero cornerkick from right has Lynx McNamara on left head ball wide left from 10 yards.
20 min...Lynx Ribero rolls cross from 12 yards but defender breaks up pass.
21 min...Rage Grocott takes a 25 yard freekick from the right that is low and just a half-step ahead of the charging Rage Keely at 5 yards and the ball bounced just wide left of the post.
22 min...Lynx James Galvani GOAL...TL Aaron McKenna cross from right has Galvani shoot 10 yarder that is past goalie Conor Hurley and saved and cleared one yard behind end line by defender.
30 min...Lynx Galvani races to pass up left but pushes ball over end line as he's shadowed by defender.
31 min...Lynx goalie charges to edge of box to clear through ball cross from right.
33 min...Rage Grocott cornerkick from left has Rage McConville head ball at 18 yards but defender heads away at 15 yards.
34 min...Lynx Bingham cross on rush to left from 25 yards near cornerflag is caught by goalie on left post.
35 min...Rage Grocott 40 yard freekick from right has charging Lynx goalie punch ball away at 10 yards on left.
39 min...Lynx Ianoccini 45 yard freekick from right sideline has Rage defender at 18 yards on left edge of box head ball wide left for throw-in.
43 min...Lynx Ribero rush on the left and crosses over a Lynx player and a defender in the center of the box but Lynx Macca Wilde chests the ball down on the right and shoots from 10 yards that the sliding goalie blocks on the right post and deflects for a cornerkick.
43 min...Lynx player's cornerkick from right has Lynx Home touch ball on edge of box but defender clears.
44 min...Lynx Galvani receives a breakaway pass at 45 yards on the right and he charges in to 12 yards and shoots just wide left of the post.
46 min...Rage Lewis Ellis GOAL...Ellis jabs at ball at 7 yards and defender makes mid-air clearance one yard behind line with goalie at 5 yards who could not catch ball.
47 min...half ends 11:46pm.

2nd Half:...starts 12:00pm. The weather is unchanged.
47 min...Lynx Wilde 22 yard freekick from right taps to Lynx Ribero who runs along 18 yard line but can't get away shot.
50 min...Lynx Wilde 30 yard freekick from left is over player and goalie knocks ball down as he falls and offside flag goes up.
54 min...Lynx player heads ball back to goalie at 25 yards to prevent a Rage through ball break.
55 min...Lynx Wilde cornerkick from right has nearest defender head ball away.
57 min...Rage Grocott cornerkick from right is over head of Rage Karafilov on left at 12 yards. Rage Lewis Ellis then crosses back in but called offside.
58 min...Rage Warburton long run on right sends in low cross that Rage McCoubrey jabs at 7 yards on right and goalie smothers on right post.
59 min...Lynx Wilde 22 yard freekick from the left has the ball dip and land on the top of the net.
60 min...Rage Grocott cornerkick from left has defender at 5 yards head ball wide right of net for cornerkick.
60 min...Rage Grocott cornerkick from right has Rage McConville head that's wide right up the middle from 8 yards.
62 min...Rage Grocott blasts partially cleared freekick from 35 yards down the middle but over the net.
64 min...Rage sub...Bond replaces Cabrillo.
.........Rage sub...Reilly replaces Lewis Ellis.
65 min...Rage defender kicks ball back to goalie to prevent through ball to Lynx Galvani.
66 min...Lynx sub...James replaces Home.
67 min...Rage Mark Reilly GOAL...Rage Will Grocott rushes on right and from 20 yards sends cross through box to open Reilly for kick in from 5 yards to open net with goalie Matthew Silva guarding the right post.
70 min...Rage Grocott holds off a defender when he receives a cross from the left and gets away a 10 yard shot when he cuts around him and hits the outside of the left post.
71 min...Lynx Galvani bends in a cross from 22 yards on the right and the goalie leaps to palm the ball wide left of the top corner of the net.
74 min...Lynx goalie punches up ball to prevent Rage Reilly from connecting to ball in box.
77 min...Lynx sub...Eisses replaces Dehrayeh.
78 min...Rage sub...Khody Ellis replaces Warburton.
80 min...Rage goalie survives Rage Camillo crashing into him when Lynx player run into box and goalie catches ball.
82 min...Lynx sub...Costa replaces Bingham.
83 min...Rage sub...Ferguson replaces McCoubrey.
84 min...Rage Camillo cross from 25 yards on far left has defender head ball away in box.
87 min...Lynx Wilde cornerkick from right has Lynx McNamara head from 10 yards that deflects away from the goal starts the Rage on a fast break out.
88 min...Rage Mark Reilly GOAL...Reilly on breakaway from 50 yards runs down middle and from 20 yards taps ball under sprawling goalie at 16 yards.
89 min...Rage Reilly pulls up lame before play resumes.
.........Rage sub...Bennett replaces Reilly.
90 min...Lynx Wilde 45 yard freekikc down middle has defender in box head ball away.
91 min...Rage Bond on 1 on 1 rush against Lynx James shoots ball wide left of goal from 20 yards.
93:44 min...game ends 12:48pm.

Final Score:....Toronto Lynx.....1.......Hamilton FC Rage.....3.....

Attendance was about 75 on this hot day with a hazy sun in the south. While in prior years this would have been organized as a school day game, there were very few children in the crowd.

Referee Mike Bradley had his job made easier by assistants Amando Pereira and Alex Themistocleous both being in the right spot to see a goal each just barely crossing the end line. I didn't see him give out one Yellow card but the official game report lists one card each in the last two minutes of the game but that lists the final goal scored 13 minutes earlier than my time.

Rage subbing of goal scorer Lewis Ellis at 64 minutes with Mark Reilly was very efficient as Reilly scored within three minutes of entering the game.

Lynx looked like the better team for the first 45 minutes but then let in the injury time goal. They still looked good until 60 minutes but got few chances after that and Rage dominated after that as the Lynx had to open up left themselves open to counterattack.

Best non-scoring chances were at 14 minutes when Lynx had a cornerkick from the left that was over the players in the box but Lynx Callum Home took a 12 yard header that was caught by the goalie. 21 minutes had Rage Will Grocott take a 25 yard freekick from the right that was low and just a half-step ahead of the charging Rage Shane Keely at 5 yards and the ball bounced just wide left of the post. 43 minutes had Lynx Randy Ribero rush on the left and cross over a Lynx player and a defender in the center of the box but Lynx Macca Wilde chested the ball down on the right and shot from 10 yards that the sliding goalie blocked on the right post and deflect for a cornerkick. One minute later Lynx James Galvani received a breakaway pass at 45 yards on the right and he charged in to 12 yards and shot just wide left of the post. (what a difference to the game either of these missed chances would have made if even one had been converted). 59 minutes had Macca Wilde take a 22 yard freekick from the left that had the ball dip and land on the top of the net. A minute later Rage Will Grocott took a cornerkick from the right that had Rage Garret McConville head that was wide right up the middle from 8 yards. 70 minutes had Grocott hold off a defender when he received a cross from the left and got away a 10 yard shot when he cut around him and hit the outside of the left post. 71 minutes had Lynx Galvani bend in a cross from 22 yards on the right and the goalie leapt to palm the ball wide left of the top corner of the net. 87 minutes had Lynx Wilde cornerkick from right that had Lynx Konner McNamara head from 10 yards that deflected away from the goal and that started the Rage on their breakaway goal.

About today's low attendance, head coach/team owner Duncan Wilde said the team booked this time for "stadium availability" as they can't always get the times they wanted. He said the team will have a kids' day in the summer when they'll have children from day camps in attendance. Today's daytime game was fine with me as I had a ticket for the Amway Canadian Championship Final game at BMO Field later tonight. The Lynx schedule has no clashes with Toronto FC home games. (I knew what mood he was in having come by the change room five minutes earlier and hearing him tearing into his team--so no tactical questions today).

Lynx had two armband wearing captains today with Macca Wilde and Konner McNamara at the coin toss.

Lynx open their season at 0-2 (they beat Hamilton in their second home game last year). They now have three road games against FC London and the two Chicago teams. Their next home game is on Thursday June 7th at 7:00pm against Michigan Bucks who last year beat them twice by 4-0 scores.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca

Lynx starters