September 14, 2013 CSL--Brampton City United vs Toronto Croatia (by Rocket Robin)

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Result and details of the Saturday September 14th, 2013 CSL game between Brampton City United and Toronto Croatia played at Victoria Park Stadium in Brampton at 5:30pm.

Brampton City United (all white, gold numbers, blue trim)

....................1 Camilo Benzi
18 Reisandri Fernandez-Cervantes...3 Mirko Medic (cpt)...4 Mark Jankovic...2 Thomas McLean
5 Quante Abbott-Hill-Smith...16 Cameron Medwin...11 Oscar Cordon...8 Stephen Mark Hall
...............9 Marcos Nunes...7 Milos Scepanovic

Subs:...00 Euloge Awitor Kodzo (gk)...12 Kevin McIntosh (def)...17 Mohamed Diaby (def)...19 Olamilekan Jhon Fatoki (mid)...20 Diego Benzi (def)
...21 Leaford Allen (fwd)...23 Michael Odhomor (def)
team officials:...manager Michael DiMatteo...assistant coach Juan J Barreto

Toronto Croatia (all black, gold numbers)

...................12 Antonio Ilic
21 Daniel Niksic...7 Halburto Harris...3 Josip Keran...15 Ainsley Deer
.......20 David Alva...18 Boze Poljak...8 Hayden Fitzwilliams
.......11 Jarek Whiteman...10 Tihomir Maletic (cpt)...9 Kresimir Prgomet

Subs:...1 Maleo Sulic (gk)...5 Roberto Galle (mid)...6 Hrvoje Perkovic (def)...14 Augustin DeMedina (mid)...19 Petar Mingon (mid)
...23 Nikola Brtan (def)...25 Joseph Filipic (mid)
team officials:...head coach Velimir Crljan...assistant coach Miodrag Akmadzic...manager Ivan Kulis...assistant manager Perica Arapovic
...physio Amanda Liddle

Game officials:...referee Yusri Rudolf...referee's assistants Pierre Acouri and Vladimir Makarov...fourth official Sean Hornsby
...(neon yellow shirts, black shorts and socks)

1st Half:...game starts 5:35pm...BCU defends west end on this mild early evening with a bright sun in the north west.
2 min...TC Poljak 40 yard freekick from right is low and bounces to goalie.
4 min...BCU goalie runs out of box to 28 yards to head away ball.
5 min...BCU goalie catches 30 yard shot from left.
7 min...BCU sub...Diego Benzi replaces Nunes.
8 min...TC Alva 35 yard freekick from left has TC Whiteman and BCU goalie leap and crash together at 8 yards but offside flag was up.
11 min...BCU McLean 35 yard freekick in middle is blasted into player wall.
15 min...BCU Hall charge up middle for loose ball and blasts 30 yarder high and wide right of net.
(the stadium clock stops working for the rest of the night so all times are converted from my wristwatch).
17 min...TC Maletic cornerkick from right has goalie palm ball wide left of net.
18 min...TFC Alva cornerkick from left has defender head ball away and whistle blown. BCU goalie is down inside the net with a face injury.
20 min...BCU YELLOW card...McLean earns it for tackle on TC Niksic at TC 40 yards. A player fight upfield against BCU McLean has to be prevented.
21 min...TC Alva blasts 20 yard shot through traffic of players and ball is stopped.
22 min...Croatia Kresimir Prgomet GOAL...TC Daniel Niksic takes long throw-in from right that BCU Milos Scepanovic flies over to head ball down in box in clearance attempt but ball is perfectly set up for Prgomet to blast 8 yard shot into net.
24 min...BCU Scepanovic slides to get kick from 20 yards down middle but shot is high and wide left.
25 min...BCU McLean long throw-in from left has BCU Abbott-Hall-Smith head ball across box but defender clears.
26 min...BCU YELLOW card...Hall earns if for sliding tackle on TC Niksic at BCU 45 yard line.
28 min...Croatia Ainsley Deer GOAL...Deer receives ball pushed forward to him and he blasts 12 yard shot from left into right side of net.
29 min...BCU Hall pass from left finds BCU Scepanovic who turns and shoots 18 yarder wide right of net.
30 min...BCU Diego Benzi 30 yard blast from right is wide left of net.
31 min...BCU Fernadez-Cervantes is injured on TC end line in which BCU wins cornerkick.
32 min...BCU Scepanovic cornerkick from right has defender head ball for throw-in.
33 min...TC Fitzwilliams is injured on throw-in into TC box.
34 min...BCU sub...Fatoki replaces injured Ferandez-Cervantes.
35 min...TC YELLOW card...Poljak earns it for tackle at TC 45 yards.
36 min...BCU YELLOW card...Fatoki earns it for injurying TC Poljak at TC 50 yards.
37 min...TC Maletic rolls pass forward on left for TC Fitzwilliams but he's checked inside left side of box without getting a shot.
39 min...TC Deer is injured as he ran up right sideline at 35 yard line.
41 min...TC Niksic rolls pass from 30 yards forward too far and goalie charges to 15 yards to smother.
42 min...BCU McLean 35 yard freekick from left has goalie catch as BCU Hall charging at 6 yards just a step behind.
43 min...TC Maletic gets pass from TC Fitzwilliams on left.
44 min...Croatia Jarek Whiteman GOAL...TC Tihomir Maletic runs down middle from 50 yards to 35 yards and pushes pass through defenders for Whiteman on right at 25 yards. Whiteman continues run to 15 yards then takes shot around goalie Camilo Benzi at 8 yards and into short right side of net.
45 min...BCU Diego Benzi long throw-in from right is caught by goalie.
47 min...TC Maletic intercepts defender at 50 yards and is pulled down on run but TC Whiteman can't make anything out of his pass.
48 min...BCU Cordon gets 80 yard pass on right from BCU Jankovic from left and rolls 25 yard shot that diving goalie smothers.
48 min...half ends 6:23pm.

2nd Half:...starts 6:40pm.
46 min...BCU goalie almost loses ball when he dribbles out of box.
48 min...TC Whiteman long cross from 35 yards on right has TC Fitzwilliams knock it down at 20 yards on left but rolls into center unplayed.
50 min...TC Niksic 45 yard shot from right is stopped.
51 min...TC defender checks BCU Cordon off ball as he dribbles up middle to 25 yards.
52 min...BCU Cordon low cross from 25 yards on left has defender clear ball for throw-in.
53 min...BCU Cordon 30 yard shot from left deflects off defender at 25 yards and flies just wide right of net.
54 min...BCU Scepanovic cornerkick from right has defender head ball away.
56 min...TC sub...Mingon replaces Poljak.
57 min...TC Maletic dribbles along right and 15 yard cross along end line is into outside webbing of net for goalkick.
59 min...BCU McLean 50 yard freekick from left is caught by leaping goalie with offside flag already up.
59 min...TC Prgomet chips 30 yard shot around goalie on far right and ball is wide left on tough angle. Play took place with a TC player down injured.
60 min...TC sub...DeMedina replaces Alva.
61 min...BCU Hall chips 25 yard from left is through crowd of players and is caught by goalie.
62 min...TC Deer low cross from 22 yards on far left has defender concede freekick.
64 min...Croatia Josip Keran GOAL...TC Augustin DeMedina takes cornerkick from left that goalie swats through box towards right but ball bounces off chest of Keran at 5 yards standing near right post and ball deflects into net.
67 min...TC sub...Galle replaces Prgomet.
68 min...BCU Scepanovic has shot from 25 yards blocked. BCU Diego Benzi midair rebound from 30 yards is sky balled to left cornerflag.
68 min...BCU sub...Diaby replaces Medwin.
69 min...BCU Cordon shanks 22 yard shot from right on run is well wide right of net.
70 min...BCU Hall cornerkick from left has TC Maletic head ball away.
71 min...BCU Jankovic 40 yard low shot up middle is through traffic and bounces wide right.
72 min...TC DeMedina rush down right and cross from 25 yards is caught by goalie on edge of box.
74 min...BCU Hall 40 yard freekick from left is cleared in player wall before it enters box.
75 min...BCU Scepanovic 30 yard freekick down middle bends just wide right of post.
76 min...TC sub...Perkovic replaces Niksic.
81 min...TC sub...Filipic replaces Fitzwilliams.
82 min...TC Maletic charges down left to get to long clearance and at 25 yards on left chips goalie at 10 yards but ball is over bar.
83 min...TC DeMedina 30 yard cross frrom right is caught by goalie in crowd of players.
84 min...BCU YELLOW card...Diego Benzi earns it for tackle on TC Mingon rushing across center line.
85 min...BCU Medic 18 yard shot from right lands on top of net.
89 min...BCU Hall can't draw Penalty kick on run into TC box.
90 min...TC Maletic cornerkick from right is caught by goalie.
91 min...game ends 7:26pm.

Final Score:......Brampton City United........0..................Toronto Croatia..........4...........

Attendance was about 200 on this warm day with a bright sun in the north west. The crowd was about split in their support.

This was a really rough game with some tackles meant to injure. Referee Yusri Rudolf got control of the game by giving out five Yellow cards in total, with four going to the rougher and frustrated BCU. Their first two were earned in a game of "Let's hurt Daniel Niksic". BCU Thomas McLean sported a huge bandage over his cheek before the first half ended.

The game didn't play out like a regular game. While Croatia warmed up like BCU, they didn't come out in time for the national anthem and didn't provide a game sheet to the announcer. The announcer's microphone wasn't working (although that's happened before). The stadium clock conked out at 15 minutes then in the second half it couldn't be seen because of the reflection of the setting sun but it turned out not to matter because by the time the sun's angle wasn't a factor, the scoreboard clock was still not working. It took almost until the end of the game for them to update the fourth goal. Croatia wore their alternate all-black with gold number kits for this game which made them look identical to the Astros Vasas FC alternate kits which were worn here two weekends ago when the Astros won a stunning 2-1 upset. That makes two games in row (three in total as I wasn't here for last week's loss) where the DJ has not played Queen's "We Are The Champions".

Camilo Benzi returned to the BCU net after a long suspension. He tried to pick up the team by venturing well out of the net as if he was a sweeper and was caught a few times but Croatia couldn't get the long chips and shots into the abandoned net.

The Croatia defence of Daniel Niksic, Halburto Harris, Josip Keran, and Ainsley Deer played strong in helping goalie Antonio Ilic earn the shutout. There were a few times where they actually ran back to catch speedy BCU forwards Milos Scepanovic and Oscar Cordon on through balls without them getting away a shot on net.

The fourth goal was initially reported to the league office as an own goal but after talking after the game to the referee and Croatia officials (and what I remembered when I saw the play) I phoned the PA announcer who'd phoned in the report to make the correction. The league office was on voice mail.

The win for Toronto Croatia moves them into a 1st place tie with Kingston FC for at least one day with a record of 12 wins, 2 losses, 4 ties although they have played two more games then Kingston. BCU record falls to 12 wins, 6 losses, 0 ties and they stay in 4th place with an 11 point advantage over SC Waterloo who lead the second tier of teams battling for the last four playoff places.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca

Brampton City United starters (Toronto Croatia players did not come in time for the national anthem)