June 21, 2014 League 1 Ontario--Kingston Cataraqui Clippers vs Durham United FC (from League 1 Ontario website)

  
Kingston Cataraqui Clippers 0 - Durham United FC 0
. Tue Jun 24 
Written By: Fletcher, Alex  

It was a game of missed opportunities, one where both teams left two points on the field.

Kingston's Mayor, Mark Gerretsen, was on hand at the game, and took part in the opening 
coin toss between the Cataraqui Clippers and Durham United FC.

The game started brightly as there was an early chance in the second minute for 
the Clippers. Antonios Assaad fired in a low cross toward Timothy Campos that Eugene Alves 
was able to clear away as the two players slid for the ball. A couple of minutes later, 
Thomas Daechsel was called into action as he blocked a low shot to his right from 
Shaquille Agard, who came streaking down the left wing of the field.

As the game began to open up, most of the Clippers' chances came down their left flank, 
with Assaad getting the better of Ethan Saimovici, while the DUFC attack funnelled along 
their own left flank as Agard found himself in a battle with Maxime El-Asmar, pitting his 
speed against El-Asmar's positional savvy.

In the twenty-third minute, a hard foul against Emile Saimovici left him in pain on the 
field and forced the game official, Vladamir Makarov, into having to put his game management 
skills into action. The result of that tackle eventually led DUFC's coach Tony La Ferrara 
into substituting Saimovici for Davinder Johal in the forty-second minute.

Oliver Coren had a gold-plated chance in the twenty-ninth minute as he beat DUFC's captain 
Nicholas Goddard with a flick and turn move, getting in alone on Alves. But Alves proved 
he was equal to the task, palming the ball away to keep the 0-0 scoreline intact.

The half finished without a goal from either team, not much of a surprise with the limited 
opportunities from either side. In fact, with both teams packing the midfield with identical 
4-2-3-1 formations, the game was so tightly congested that the first, and only, offside call 
of the half was made in the thirty-fifth minute.

Clippers made a substitution to start the second half, removing Stephane Emard and replacing 
him with Luke Phye in the left back position.

The second half started a lot more open than the first half, as both teams pressed to try 
to get an early advantage: Clippers' Campos forced Alves into a diving save to his right 
in the fiftieth, while DUFC's Jordon Dover cut through the Clippers' defense before being 
stymied by defensive midfielder Jason Massie. Massie's clearance led to an immediate 
opportunity at the other end, with Assaad firing a shot just wide of Alves' post.

The game was becoming furious in its pace, with chances coming at both ends and the defenses 
and goalkeepers equal to the task. Few moments were better than Daechsel's leap and palming 
of the ball just over the bar on a strong header from Ethan Saimovici after a pinpoint cross 
from Agard.

By this point, it was becoming evident that Goddard was the lynchpin of DUFC's defense, 
as he was involved in defending almost every attack Clippers made, whether by getting 
a calculated tackle in, or by a desperation last-second clearance before a shot could 
be taken.

Clippers made their second sub of the game in the sixty-fifth, bringing Campos off and replacing 
him with Andrew Martin. The game continued on the same lines until an enforced stoppage 
in the seventy-third as Coren and Alves collided in the area. Ethan Saimovici went down 
injured moments later, and DUFC were forced into their second change, bringing on Erick Leal 
in his place.

Three more changes were made in the seventy-ninth, with Clippers bringing Tommy Hong off for 
Joel Zelt, and DUFC taking Jordan Hargrave off for Colin Francis, and Agard off for Kyle Laborde. 
The changes almost paid off immediately for DUFC as Le Rohne Young got in tight before laying 
the ball off to Laborde. Dylan Kirk pulled out of a potential foul, allowing Laborde 
in on Daechsel who toe-poked the ball away from danger.

As time began to wind down, Greg Simmons replaced Assaad in the eighty-fourth minute for 
the Clippers. Just over a minute later, Leal fouled Zelt, earning the first caution 
of the game. A minute later, Massie almost joined him in the book for his own tackle.

A couple of corner kicks and free kicks in the dying minutes for either team led to nothing, 
and the teams shared the spoils of the first 0-0 draw in League1 Ontario history.

Durham United's coach, Tony La Ferrara felt that it was a good, evenly played game and 
a fair result, while Chris Eveleigh, Clippers coach was disappointed for the first time 
this season, saying, "we absolutely dominated the game, and these are the games 
we need to win."

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