May 24, 2015 League 1 Ontario--Sanjaxx Lions vs ANB Futbol (by Rocket Robin)

......................

Results and details of the Sunday May 24, 2015 League 1 Ontario game between Sanjaxx Lions and ANB Futbol played at Esther Shiner Stadium in North York at 9:00pm.

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

........................1 Matthew Zaikos
2 Dawit Tekie...19 Rizwan Thawyer...21 Tajas Simms...4 Joshua Bowyer
14 Tyler Moretti...17 Joel Anderson...8 Frantz Bill...9 Mickey Yared
..............10 Lael Daniel...15 Frank Brown

Subs:...1 Tayjon Campbell (gk)...7 Shaqore Rouse...12 Stefan Nikolic...13 Tony Montalbano...16 Joseph Ikhuiwu
...20 Remberto Zuniga...22 Nordo Gooden
team officials:...team head coach Patrick Lowe...assistant coaches Devon Porter, Gavin Harvey, and Remberto Luna
...manager Nicoletta Bonafede...therapist Maureen Vanwart

ANB Futbol (all white, blue numbers)

...................1 Adam Hewitt
33 Patricio Gonzalez...2 Shiquan Lowe...5 Michael Calder...4 Moshee Kelyana
10 Brandon Mills...8 Jackson Tooke...6 Kristofer Michael...7 Jahsua Mills
...........9 Jason Mills (cpt)...11 Belrum Vartanian

Subs:...99 Amir Jomehri (gk)...14 Sam Atashin...27 David Bertolo...23 Blake Jones...21 Lucas Gesualdi
...46 Matthew Calder...13 Daniel Iannacito
team officials:...head coach Bassam Naim...assistant coach Wayne Mills...team officials Marcelo Almeida and Matthew Sposito

Game officials:...referee Ben Jacobs...referee's assistants Sharon Welsby and Jon Leuser...fourth officials Afshen Benpour
...(all black uniforms)

1st Half:...game starts 9:01pm...SJ defends west end on this overcast and windy night. It was not quite dark yet.
4 min...ANB Brandon Mills 25 yard freekick from left has goalie leap to palm over net.
4 min...ANB Brandon Mills cornerkick from left has ANB Michael chest ball down but it tips off defender for cornerkick.
5 min...ANB Brandon Mills cornerkick from left has ANB Michael not able to turn header from 8 yards and ball is wide right for a goalkick.
8 min...ANB Vartanian pushes pass forward for ANB Jason Mills and 12 yard point blank shot is saved by goalie. ANB Brandon Mills blasts 25 yard partial clearance on right wide left on a deflection off a sliding defender.
9 min...ANB Brandon Mills cornerkick from left is caught by leaping goalie.
11 min...SJ Anderson fed low through ball up niddle and low 15 yard shot is blocked by sliding goalie at 10 yards. SJ Anderson shoots midair rebound well over net.
12 min...SJ Tekie is injured on 30 yard sideline.
15 min...SJ Brown blasts 25 yard freekick into player wall and then shoots rebound well over net.
16 min...ANB Jahsua Mills rush on left side and cross into box from 20 yards near end line that goalie dives forward to bat down then smother.
17 min...ANB player dribbles up middle from 45 yards and rolls 18 yard shot wide left of post.
21 min...ANB Jason Mills rush on right and rolls shot into box but behind charging player.
21 min...ANB Belrum Vartanian GOAL...Vartanian rushes on right from 30 yard line and from 18 yards on right blasts low shot that finds open left corner of net beyond goalie Matthew Zaikos.
27 min...SJ Brown is given through ball pass on own side of center and races to 35 yards up middle and shoots low shot that slidng goalie tips at 28 yards and defender retreats to prevent cornerkick on left.
28 min...ANB Vartanian can't control ball on rush up middle and rolls ball to goalie.
30 min...ANB Brandon Mills cornerkick from left has ANB Lowe head ball from 6 yards on left back to ANB Brandon Mills then cross is cleared.
31 min...ANB Jason Mills gets long crossed pass from 40 yards on right at 15 yards and can't win Penalty kick when pushed over.
32 min...ANB Jason Mills GOAL...Mills is given a pass forward on left at 30 yards from ANB Jackson Tooke and runs by defender, with goalie coming out to cut down angle, he shoots low shot from 10 yards into the right side of the net.
34 min...ANB goalie fumbles catch attempt from right at 15 yards and SJ Anderson gets open shot but shoots wide left from 18 yards.
35 min...SJ Brown recovers deflection and alone at 15 yards rolls shot wide left of net.
36 min...SJ Brown 25 yard freekick from left is over wall and caught by goalie diving forward.
38 min...ANB Gonzalez is injured blocking cross near cornerflag in ANB end.
39 min...SJ Bowyer high cross from near left cornerflag drifts behind net.
40 min...ANB Jahsua Mills rush on left wing and 20 yard shot from near left line is wide left.
41 min...SJ sub...Montalbano replaces Thawyer.
42 min...SJ sub...Nikolic replaces Brown.
45 min...ANB Brandon Mills 35 yard freekick from left is blocked in player wall.
47 min...ANB Jahsua Mills 28 yard freekick from far right is caught by goalie in front of two ANB players waiting on post.
47 min...half ends 9:48pm.

2nd Half:...starts 10:05pm.
47 min...SJ Tekie is injured near center line sideline.
50 min...SJ goalie beats ANB Vartanian to clear back pass.
50 min...ANB Tooke cuts towards middle from left and taps back pass to ANB Vartanian to blast 25 yarder well over net.
54 min...ANB Tooke rush towards middle from left and 30 yard blast is over net.
57 min...SJ Moretti is injured at SJ 35 yard line and needs help limping off field.
59 min...SJ sub...Rouse replaces injured Moretti.
61 min...ANB Brandon Mills 40 yard freekick from right has ANB Vartanian head 10 yarder on left post that goalie smothers at 2 yards after ball rolled loose on his first attempt.
63 min...ANB Jason Mills dribbles up middle and rolls pass to left for ANB Jahsua Mills to blast 20 yarder that sprawling goalie saves and defender clears from box.
65 min...ANB Michael is injured at SJ 35 yard line.
66 min...ANB sub...Gesualdi replaces injured Michael.
67 min...SJ goalie to edge of box to make through ball clearance.
68 min...SJ Daniel on left rolls through ball to SJ Bill in middle and low 12 yard shot is saved point blank by diving goalie.
69 min...ANB YELLOW card...Jahsua Mills earns it for tackle from behind on SJ Tekie near sideline at ANB 35 yard line.
70 min...SJ Tekie 40 yard freekick from right has SJ Moretti head ball from 8 yards on left wide left of net.
71 min...ANB sub...Jones replaces Vartanian.
72 min...ANB Tooke 30 yard freekick from left deflects for goalie to catch.
73 min...ANB goalie beats SJ Daniel to clear through ball.
74 min...SJ Simms 35 yard freekick from left is caught by goalie on left side of goal.
75 min...ANB Jason Mills rescues through ball with backheel on left end line with goalie out. ANB Jahsua Mills following up rolls ball through 6 yard box and defender clears.
79 min...ANB Jason Mills rolls pass to ANB Gonzalez who is checked off ball at 8 yards on right by three defenders.
80 min...SJ defender makes important sliding tackle at 10 yards to poke ball away from ANB player in box.
81 min...SJ sub...Ikhuiwu replaces Yared.
83 min...SJ Nikolic 40 yard freekick from left is blasted well over net.
85 min...SJ Nikolic wins throw-in call when defender gets back to poke ball away.
86 min...SJ YELLOW card...Ikhuiwu earns it for knock near center line sideline.
87 min...ANB Jahsua Mills cornerkick from left has ANB Lowe at 6 yards pop up header that's cleared.
87 min...SJ Daniel gets clear 35 yard shot up middle off deflection and goalie catches.
92 min...ANB Blake Jones GOAL...ANB Lucas Gesualdi pokes ball forward through defenders from 22 yards and Jones at 12 yards in middle redirects ball into right side of net beyond sprawling goalie.
93 min...game ends 10:53pm.

Final Score:....Sanjaxx Lions.........0........ANB Futbol........3......

Attendance was about 80 on this warm, humid night with a feel that rain would fall anytime but it was dry the whole game.

Adam Hewitt earned the shutout for ANB. It was his first start. Regular goalie Ali Ghazanfari was injured in one of ANB's academy games. That is the same circumstance as 15 year old Adonijah Reid who scored in their first two League 1 games.

Both teams had many opportunities to score. Lions had a few breakaways set up by bad clearance deflections but their players had a problem accurately shooting on net, be called offside, or had fast ANB defenders retreating and catching their forwards before they had a chance to shoot. ANB forwards had good rushing skills but often had the last defender break up their play or shoot off target themselves.

Ben Jacobs gave out only one Yellow card to each team in a game that did have some rough and clumsy challenges.

Best non-scoring chances were at 8 minutes when ANB Belrum Vartainian pushed a pass forward for ANB Jason Mills and his 12 yard poiknt blank shot was saved by the goalie. ANB Brandon Mills blasted the partial clearance from 25 yards on the right wide left on a deflection off a sliding defender. 11 minutes had Lions Joel Anderson fed a low through ball up the middle and he had a low 15 yard shot blocked by the sliding goalie at 10 yards. Anderson then blasted the midair rebound well over the net. 27 minutes had Lions Frank Brown given a through ball pass on his own side of the center line and he raced to 35 yards up the middle and shot low and the sliding goalie tipped the ball at 28 yards and a retreating defender got back to prevent a cornerkick call. 34 minutes had the ANB goalie goalie fumble a catch attempt from the right at 15 yards and Anderson shot wide left of the open net from 18 yards. One minute later Lions Brown recovered a deflected ball and alone at 15 yards rolled his shot wide left of the post. 61 minutes had ANB Brandon Mills take a 40 yard freekick from the right that had ANB Vartanian head a 10 yarder even with the left post that the goalie smothered at 2 yards after the ball rolled loose after his first save. 68 minutes had Lions Lael Daniel on the left roll a through ball to Frantz Bill in the middle and his low 12 yard shot was saved point blank by the diving goalie.

Sanjaxx are playing seven of their home games at Esther Shiner Stadium in North York while their others are at Monarch Park on the eastern edge of downtown Toronto. They have their own DJ who spun R&B and Rap hits. It made a change from hearing the common FIFA fanfare music at every game to instead have Coolio's 'Gangster's Paradise' playing as the teams marched out to start the game. The only problem I had was Sanjaxx wearing yellow shirts with white numbers which were hard to see. I identified them by their hairstyles or the colour of their shoes as well as my binoculars. Navy coloured numbers to match their shorts would have been a natural.

Sanjaxx has now lost all five games they've played only scoring twice and letting in 16 goals. ANB improves to 2 wins, 1 tie, 0 losses after tonight.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca

Sanjaxx Lions starters