July 26, 2015 League 1 Ontario--Sanjaxx Lions vs Durham United FC (by Rocket Robin)

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

Results and details from the Sunday July 26, 2015 League 1 Ontario game between Sanjaxx Lions and Durham United FC played at Esther Shiner Stadium in North York at 9:00pm.

Sanjaxx Lions (white socks and shirts, navy short and numbers)

.....................0 Matthew Zaikos (cpt)
4 Yan Mone...20 Darren Billy...5 Mohammed Diaby...3 Joshua Bowyer
14 David Tavares...6 Frantz Bill...15 Aidan Cooper Zuccatti...12 Stefan Nikolic
..............21 Fabio Vilaca...19 Zef Kraja

Subs:...1 Tayjon Campbell (gk)...7 Dawit Tekie...16 Tyler Moretti...10 Lael Daniel...18 Jacob Kulpa...17 Shaquore Rousse
...2 Yosias Kibreab...8 Abdirahman Ibrahim
team officials:...head coach Patrick Lowe...team officials Nicoletta Bonafede, Gavin Harvey, Devon Porter, Maureen Van Wart, and Ramon McIntosh

Durham United FC (amber socks, shorts, and backs, black & amber striped chests, black numbers)

......................1 Ben Cowman
5 Joe Zupo (cpt)...15 Jordan Dover...4 Hameez Farrell...12 Bruce Cullen
14 Kristian Lee-him...7 Christian Moncrieffe...6 Matt Stowell...8 Miguel Oliveira
...............19 Jordan Roberts...16 Kashiff De Jonge

Subs:...00 Peter Katasaras (gk)...11 Zakariae Mahrady...3 Jacob Sooklal...9 Le Rohne Young...10 Mark Tarazhi...18 Justin Gordon
team officials:...head coach Sanford Carabin...team officials Ron Clarke, Eugene Alves, Corrado Roccasalva, Connor Schmitt, and Dr Alex Hawkins

Game officials:...referee Scott Decker...referee's assistants Jason Vaillancourt and Joey Filipic...fourth official Adam Devenyi
...(teal shirts, black shorts and socks)

1st Half:...game starts 9:00pm...Lions defend east end. The weather is still hot and humid but cooler than it was this afternoon.
3 min...DUFC Lee-him blasts 15 yard shot from left high and wide right of top corner of net.
4 min...Lions goalie stops 18 yard shot down middle on right post.
7 min...DUFC Oliveira cornerkick from left has nearest defender on left head ball away.
7 min...Lions Vilaca blasts 25 yarder just high of top left corner of net.
9 min...DUFC De Jonge is tapped pass and his 28 yard shot down middle is through crowd of players and over net.
10 min...DUFC Zupo makes key block of pass in DUFC box to prevent Lions player from getting shot.
11 min...Lions Nikolic is given pass to left and 20 yard blast has goalie push ball wide left of post.
12 min...Lions Nikolic cornerkick from left has Lions Kraja blast 20 yard shot from right that deflects wide right for cornerkick.
14 min...Lions YELLOW card...Kraja earns it for complaining about DUFC freekick at Lions 45 yard line.
15 min...DUFC Moncrieffe 50 yard freekick from right is caught by goalie between crowd of players.
16 min...Lions Tavares puts Lions Nikolic offside with chip pass at 20 yards rather then taking own shot.
17 min...Lions Mone rush for long pass near right sideline and crosses into outside webbing of net from 20 yards.
19 min...Lions Vilaca feeds pass from 30 yards too far forward for Lions Kraja to get to and ball rolls for goalkick.
22 min...Lions Mone is injured when DUFC player's follow through of block kick connects at Lions 18 yard line.
24 min...Lions Vilaca 60 yard kick to restart after injury almost catches goalie off line but he retreats to make catch.
25 min...Lions Mone is reinjured.
26 min...DUFC Dover wins cornerkick on right along end line on deflection.
27 min...DUFC Cullen cornerkick from right wins another cornerkick.
27 min...Lions sub...Tekie replaces Mone.
27 min...DUFC Cullen cornerkick from right has DUFC De Jonge jump and head 6 yarder wide left of post.
29 min...Lions Tavares freekick from 40 yards on right has Lions player at 20 yards have his shot blocked.
32 min...DUFC Stowell turns and fires 28 yarder down middle high and wide left.
34 min...DUFC Roberts cross from right has DUFC De Jonge head 10 yarder to left but ball cleared.
34 min...Lions goalie 80 yard freekick has DUFC goalie catch ball on bounce.
39 min...DUFC Cullen cross from 20 yards on left has DUFC Roberts head 8 yarder that goalie palms over net.
39 min...DUFC Oliveira cornerkick from left has DUFC De Jonge charge but not fully connect on 7 yard header.
44 min...DUFC Cullen 30 yard cross from left sideline is well high and wide left of net.
45 min...DUFC Oliveira cornerkick from left deflects through and DUFC Moncrieffe blasts 15 yarder up middle well over net.
46 min...half ends 9:46pm.

Lions have been caught offside often on their few chances in the first half.

2nd Half:...starts 10:02pm.
45 min...DUFC De Jonge cross from 25 yards on right is over players charging into box.
47 min...DUFC Lee-him blasts 18 yard shot over net.
49 min...DUFC De Jonge throw-in from right to DUFC Dover who turns at 25 yards and runs but pushes the ball too far forward and goalie makes the grab.
51 min...Lions player's cornerkick from right has ball popped on header out left side of box.
51 min...Lions Nikolic 28 yard freekick from left has Lions Kraja head 8 yarder from left over bar.
52 min...DUFC Oliveira low cornerkick from right has nearest defender clear ball on right.
53 min...DUFC De Jonge spins and can't fully connect on 10 yard shot up middle.
53 min...Lions Draja cross from 20 yards near end line that's caught by goalie.
54 min...DUFC De Jonge continues run on deflection and pass to DUFC Lee-him who shoots 7 yarder that goalie dives to block and also saves 4 yard shot of Lee-him on right post while still down on ground.
57 min...DUFC Joe Zupo GOAL...DUFC Bruce Cullen 30 yard freekick from right is low and a DUFC player jumps over it as a decoy at 10 yards and the ball deflects off a defender and to the left and Zupo blasts an 8 yard shot into the right side of the net past goalie Matthew Zaikos.
59 min...Lions sub...Ibrahim replaces Tekie.
61 min...Lions Kraja 35 yard shot from right is over net but he wins freekick as he's pushed over.
62 min...Lions player's 40 yard freekick from right has ball headed away in box and Lions Vilaca shoots 12 yarder from left well over net.
62 min...DUFC sub...Young replaces De Jonge.
65 min...DUFC Young short pass from left after beating check on sideline has DUFC Cullen blast 18 yard shot from left that goalie palms over net.
65 min...DUFC Oliveira low cornerkick from left is kicked away.
67 min...DUFC sub...Gordon replaces Oliveira.
70 min...Lions Billy 40 yard freekici down middle is wide left of net.
71 min...DUFC goalie goal kick bounces over defenders. DUFC Gordon gets charge to ball and 10 yard shot along left end line is saved by goalie.
72 min...Lions sub...Daniel replacces Bill.
73 min...DUFC Moncrieffe 28 yard freekick near right cornerflag has DUFC Zupo head 8 yarder just over bar.
77 min...Lions sub...Moretti replaces Nikolic.
78 min...DUFC Dover 30 yard shot from right deflects off defender at 20 yards and deflects to goalie who drops ball but recovers to it up at 6 yards.
80 min...DUFC sub...Sooklal replaces Dover.
81 min...Lions YELLOW card...Vilaca earns it for knocking over DUFC Lee-him at DUFC 30 yard line.
83 min...DUFC sub...Mahrady replaces Roberts.
85 min...Lions Vilaca shoots from 20 yards up the middle that the goalie went down but bobbled the ball and Vilaca got the 7 yard rebound while holding off a defender but it was saved and another defender dribbled it away to clear the danger.
86 min...Lions Tavares 30 yard freekick from right has ball eventually clear on left side of box.
87 min...Lions Diaby 40 yard freekick from left has ball cleared in box and recross has Lions players not able to get away shot.
91 min...DUFC Zupo rush down left and 15 yard shot on sharp angle is stopped by goalie.
92 min...Lions sub...Rousse replaces Tavares.
93 min...Lions Daniel 35 yard cross from left has Lions Vilaca in open blasts 15 yard kick high and wide left of net.
93 min...game ends 10:50pm.

Final score:........Sanjaxx Lions........0.........Durham United FC........1........

Attendance was about 50 on this very hot and humid evening but at least by this time of the night, the sun was down.

Ben Cowman earned the shutout for DUFC by making a few good saves. Matthew Zaikos for Lions had much more to do to keep the game close.

Referee Scott Decker gave out two Yellow cards that I counted (both to Lions) in a game that never got rough.

Best non-scoring chances were at 11 minutes when Lions Stefan Nikolic was given a pass to the left and his 20 yard blast had the goalie push the ball wide left of the post. 27 minutes had DUFC Bruce Cullen send in a cornerkick from the right and DUFC Kashiff De Jonge jumped and headed a 6 yarder wide left of the post. 39 minutes had Cullen cross from 20 yards on the left and DUFC Jordan Roberts head an 8 yarder that the goalie palmed over the net. 51 minutes had Nikolic take a 28 yard freekick from the left that had Lions Zef Kraja head an 8 yarder from left over the bar. Three minutes later DUFC De Jonge continued on a run after a deflection and passes to DUFC Kristian Lee-him who shot a 7 yarder that the goalie dove to block and also saved a 4 yard shot on the right post by Lee-him while still on the ground. 65 minutes had DUFC Le Rohne Young make a short pass from the left and eluding a check on the sideline and found Cullen who blasted an 18 yard shot from the left that the goalie palmed over the net. 73 minutes had DUFC Christian Moncrieffe take a 28 yard freekick near the right cornerflag and DUFC Joe Zupo headed an 8 yarder just over the bar. 85 minutes had Lions Fabio Vilaca shoot from 20 yards up the middle that the goalie went down but bobbled the ball and Vilaca got the 7 yard rebound while holding off a defender but it was saved and another defender dribbled it away to clear the danger.

Injury time had Lions Lael Daniel cross from 35 yards on the left and Lions Vilaca in the open blasted a 15 yard kick high and wide left of the goal. That play sums up the Sanjaxx season so far. They have only scored 5 goals in 14 league games and 1 goal in two Cup games. They've tightened up their defence (there last home game was only a 2-0 loss to the then undefeated Oakville Blue Devils.) but their lack of scoring is still a major problem. Their forwards would often be caught offside by not waiting the split second before rushing for a through ball pass and their accuracy was lacking. An example was at 16 minutes when David Tavares put Stefan Nikolic offside with a chip pass over the defenders at 20 yards rather than taking a clear shot between those defenders a few yards away.

Matt Stowell whom I watched last year on the League champions Toronto FC Academy team is this year playing for Durham United FC after recovering from a long injury. He is from the Durham region so travelling is certainly easier. He will be trying out for some English teams in a few months. He's of English parentage.

The loss drops Sanjaxx to a record of 1 win, 0 ties, 13 losses for 3 points. They are tied for eleventh place with Master's FA who earned a tie last night to crawl their way from being alone in the basement. Durham improves to 7 wins, 2 ties, 4 losses and are in fifth place. Durham's next game is a League Cup semi-final game on Wednesday.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca

Sanjaxx Lions starters