May 8, 2015 League 1 Ontario--Durham United FC vs Sanjaxx Lions (by Rocket Robin)

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Results and details of the Friday May 8, 2015 League 1 Ontario game between Durham United FC and Sanjaxx Lions played at The Pickering Soccer Centre in Pickering at 8:00pm.

Durham United FC (navy socks and shirts, red & black striped chests, red shorts, yellow numbers)

...................1 Ben Cowman
3 Jacob Sooklal...5 Joseph Zupo...13 Le Shaun Young...12 Bruce Cullen
10 Martinho Dumevski...8 Taylor Lord (cpt)...17 Joseph Roccasalva...19 Marcus Lees
............18 Kyle Laborde...9 Le Rohne Young

Subs:...0 Nicholas Miller (gk)...4 Hameez Farrell...7 Christian Moncrieffe...14 Tristan Grant
team officials:...team head coach Sanford Carabin...assistant coach Ronald Clarke...manager Corrado Roccasalva
...equipment manager Connor Schmitt...therapist Alex Hawkins

Sanjaxx Lions (yellow socks and shirts, navy shorts, white numbers)

....................1 Danny Grant
13 Tony Montalbano...19 Rizwan Thawyer...16 Joseph Ikhuiwu...2 Remberto Zuniga
.........15 Frank Brown (cpt)...17 Joel Anderson...5 Mohammed Diaby
..........8 Frantz Bill...22 Nordo Gooden...9 Mickey Yared

Subs:...01 Tayjon Campbell (gk)...4 Joshua Bowyer...7 Shervon Jack...10 Lael Daniel...12 Stefan Nikolic
...20 Qudir Adolph...21 Tajai Simms
team officials:...team head coach Patrick Lowe...manager Nicoletta Bonafede

Game Officials:...referee Alexis Vaughan...referee's assistants Sharon Welsby and Jessica Patton...fourth official Miryam Jabali
...teal shirts, black shorts and socks)

1st Half:...game starts 8:04pm...DUFC defend east end in this indoor facility.
2 min...DUFC Dumevski rolls 25 yard shot up middle through crowd of players that goalie picks up.
3 min...DUFC Dumevski 25 yard freekick from right has defender head ball for cornerkick.
3 min...DUFC Dumevski cornerkick from right has defender head ball away.
4 min...Lions Gooden rush on left and DUFC Lord gets back to check him off ball.
4 min...Lions Bill cornerkick from left is high and bounces out of box.
5 min...DUFC Laborde cross from left end line is over box.
7 min...Lions player's cornerkick from left has defender head ball away to clear.
8 min...DUFC goalie catches 40 yard chip.
13 min...Lions Gooden rush on right and shoots low 25 yarder wide left of net.
13 min...DUFC Sooklal quick freekick from 35 yards on right as Lions only gave 5 yards on wall. A cross pass to DUFC who blasts 30 yarder up middle that sliding goalie blocks and rebound is cleared.
16 min...DUFC Lees rush down left and cross is over players in box. DUFC Laborde in on right shoots 10 yarder over net.
17 min...Lions YELLOW card...Ikhuiwu earns it for tackle at Lions 25 yards on left.
17 min...DUFC Roccasalva 25 yard freekick from left has goalie palm ball over net.
18 min...DUFC Roccasalva cornerkick from left has DUFC players can't turn header.
19 min...DUFC Dumevski 22 yard shot is well over net.
21 min...DUFC Marcus Lees GOAL...DUFC Kyle Laborde rolls pass from right at 20 yards and Lees shoots low 12 yard shot up middle under sprawling goalie Danny Grant at 5 yards into center of net.
23 min...DUFC Lord 35 yard blast up middle has flying goalie push ball onto post and bounce wide right for cornerkick.
25 min...DUFC Roccasalva cornerkick from left has Lions player head ball away. Roccasalva gets ball back and shoots 25 yarder on left well over net.
26 min...DUFC Laborde blasts 25 yard shot high and wide right of net.
28 min...Lions Diaby pinpoint 40 yard pass from left has Lions Gooden one-touch pop up at 10 yards and goalie beats him to left to catch ball near post.
32 min...DUFC Dumevski cross pass from 40 yards on right and DUFC player shoots 15 yarder wide left.
33 min...Lions YELLOW card...Anderson earns it for not giving 10 yards on freekick from 40 yards in middle.
34 min...DUFC Lees has 12 yard blast blocked by defender and ball deflects for cornerkick.
35 min...DUFC Dumevski gets partially cleared cornerkick from left and bends 25 yarder from right through crowd of players that's caught by goalie.
36 min...DUFC Lord blasts 30 yarder down middle just wide left of post.
37 min...Lions Gooden is injured at DUFC 30 yard line but play carries on as he clutches his ankle.
39 min...Lions Brown is injured at DUFC 35 yards near sideline and needs help off the field.
41 min...DUFC defenders get back to check Lions Gooden off ball at DUFC 22 yard line.
42 min...Lions sub...Jack replaces injured Brown.
44 min...DUFC Cullen 22 yard low cross from left deflects through box for cornerkick.
46 min...DUFC Roccasalva ends prolonged DUFC pressure with cross from 25 yards on left is over players in box and cleared.
47 min...half ends 8:51pm.

2nd Half:...starts 9:04pm...they can't get the scoreboard clock to start so all times in the second half are converted from my wristwatch.
46 min...DUFC Dumevski cornerkick from right has DUFC Zupo charge forward and deflects 10 yard ball over net.
47 min...DUFC Cullen cross from 45 yards on left flies behind players waiting upfield.
49 min...DUFC Martinho Dumevski GOAL...DUFC Marcus Lees low cross from 25 yards on left has Dumevski blast 10 yard shot up middle into net.
51 min...DUFC Le Rohne Young rush up left wing and 20 yard blast is stopped by goalie on left post.
51 min...Lions Zuniga needs help to get off field with injury.
52 min...DUFC Lees flicks header from 20 yards well wide right of net.
53 min...Lions sub...Bowyer replaces injured Zuniga.
54 min...DUFC Marcus Lees GOAL...Lees receives ball from player on chip pass from 70 yards at 55 yards and he races in on left and rounds goalie on edge of box and rolls ball into empty net.
55 min...DUFC Marinho Dumevski GOAL...Dumevski gets to pass from DUFC Le Rohne Young at 28 yards on left side and rushes forward and shoots to open right corner of net.
58 min...DUFC Cullen blasts 20 yard shot well over net.
58 min...Lions sub...Nikolic replaces Yared.
.........Lions sub...Daniel replaces Ikhuiwu.
67 min...DUFC goalie beats Lions Gooden to edge of box to beat through ball pass to smother.
69 min...Lions Nikolic cross from 15 yard on right is caught over head by goalie.
70 min...DUFC player's cornerkick from left is over players in box and bounces for throw-in.
72 min...DUFC Laborde receives short pass and 15 yard shot is stopped at 12 yards by sliding goalie.
73 min...DUFC Laborde rush down left and cuts along edge of box but can't get away clear shot.
73 min...DUFC sub...Moncrieffe replaces Laborde.
74 min...DUFC Le Shaun Young makes sliding poke check on Lions Jack conceding cornerkick on right on deflection.
76 min...Lions Gooden gets pass at Lions 50 yard line and rushes to 22 yards on 1 vs 2 and shoots wide right of net.
80 min...DUFC sub...Tristan Grant replaces Dumevski.
.........Lions sub...Campbell replaces Danny Grant in goal.
80 min...DUFC Roccasalva cornerkick from left has goalie leap to catch in crowd of players and is injured landing on his side.
82 min...DUFC sub...Farrell replaces Cullen.
83 min...DUFC Tristan Grant receives cross from right and flicks header from 12 yards that's wide left of net.
84 min...DUFC Farrell rush on left and rolls cross from near end line and defender concedes cornerkick.
84 min...DUFC Roccasalva cornerkick from left is over players in box.
86 min...Lions Daniel rolls pass forward to DUFC 45 yards and Lions Gooden charges with defender and low 22 yard shot is saved by sprawling goalie at 6 yards.
87 min...Lions YELLOW card...Diaby earns it for tripping player at Lions 40 yard line.
89 min...DUFC Le Rohne Young run up middle and blasts 25 yard shot that bends wide right of post.
90 min...DUFC player cornerkick from left is short and DUFC is checked off ball.
92 min...DUFC Lees run up middle and 30 yard shot is wide left.
94 min...DUFC Roccasalva shoots bender around defender at 22 yards and wide right of net.
94 min...game ends 9:53pm.

Final Score:......Durham United FC........4......Sanjaxx Lions.......0.......

Attendance was about 70 on this game moved on a week's notice from Kinsmen's Park as that field is in bad shape recovering from the long, cold winter (according to a team official). Tonight's venue, Pickering Soccer Centre, is an indoor facility last used by the league for the deciding game of the Interprovincial Cup between Toronto FC Academy and Quebec's CS Longueuil. Fans were 'protected' from stray balls on the sidelines by long fish nets draped from the roof. This made photography difficult and watching the game like staring through a birdcage although I'd staked out an opening near the player exit near the center line.

Referee Alexis Vaughan gave out four Yellow cards during the game (three to Sanjaxx) in a game that never got rough.

DUFC goalie Ben Cowman earned the shutout without having much to do as the defence of Jacob Sooklal, Joseph Zupo, Le Shaun Young, and Bruce Cullen kept most of the Sanjaxx shot takers well away from the box and worked the offside trap effectively. Deep midfielder Taylor Lord distributed the ball effectively and got in some long bombs that needed to be saved.

Lions used Danny Grant in their goal as Matthew Zaikos had been red carded in their opener last weekend against Oakville Blue Devils. Grant kept them in the game in the first half with some key saves. They brought in another goalie at 80 minutes with Tayjon Campbell whose first action was to catch a cornerkick and be flattened by charging DUFC players bumping him.

DUFC had only four subs listed which I found unusual for the second game of the year and a Home game too but wasn't given a real answer from team officials when I asked. The team goes to a 2-0-0 record.

Lions' record falls to 0-2-0 previously losing 5-0 against Oakville although three goals were scored after they went down to ten men with 15 minutes to go. This game was similarly blown open with three goals in six minutes. They are a new team this year. I don't recognize any players except lone forward Nordo Gooden who played for a few CPSL teams in past years. What I didn't like about their team as a whole was their uniforms which had white numbers on yellow shirts which were about impossible to see and no numbers on their navy shorts to help me even with my binoculars. I had to piece together their yellow cards after the game by asking the referee.

Lions play their first home game this Sunday night against Windsor Stars at Esther Shiner Stadium in North York. They will have Canadian national team player Dwayne DeRosario do the ceremonial kickoff. I'll be at the BMO Stadium reopening downtown that night watching DeRosario's old team (in two stints!) Toronto FC of MLS play their home opener.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca

Durham United FC starters