August 16, 2015 League 1 Ontario--Vaughan Azzurri vs Master's FA Saints (by Rocket Robin)

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Result and details of the Sunday August 16, 2015 League 1 Ontario game between Vaughan Azzurri and Master's FA Saints played at McNaughton Field in Maple at 2:00pm.

Vaughan Azzurri (all navy, white numbers, red trim)

...................1 Andrew D'Souza
5 Daniel Gogarty...7 Matthew Arnone...14 Stefan Popovic...16 Malcolm Loukides
19 Alon Badat...6 Kyle Crichton...9 Dena Iezady...17 Benjamin Futoriansky...11 Joey Cicchillo
..................25 Mario Kovacevic

Subs:...12 Michael Uccello (gk)...3 Joseph Amato...4 Arthur Casupanan...10 Domenic Gullo...18 Edward Lay
...22 Adam Le Franco...15 Maurizio Ragone
team officials:...head ooach Carmine Isacco...team officials Patrice Gheisar, Luca Forno, Tony De Palma, and Andy Choi

Master's FA Saints (all red, white numbers and shoulders)

...................00 Shane Lopez (cpt)
16 Aayrn Massy...15 Michael Valenti...14 Darryn Commissiong...19 Addison Clarke
6 Darnell Peterkin...11 Kamden Holder...2 Christian Inchima...4 Terrell Spencer
.................17 Devonte Brown...10 Jean-Paul Ajala-Alexis

Subs:...99 Alex Jakma (gk)...5 Zachary Dimartino...7 Nima Najafi...9 Jevon Alleyne...30 Kamran Salehi
...20 Jalen Jackson...8 Levonte Johnson
team officials:...head coach Andrey Salvez...team coach Junior Groves...manager Stephen Blackburn

Game officials:...referee Timothy Wong...assistant referee's Mario Simon and Afshin Behpour...fourth official Kevin C Read
...(teal shirts,black shorts and socks)

1st Half:...game starts 2:00pm...VA defends north end on this very hot and humid afternoon with a bright sun in the south west. The scoreboard is not workiing so all times are converted from my wristwatch.
2 min...VA Cicchillo cornerkick from left has VA Kovacevic boot up on left post and win another cornerkick.
2 min...VA Cicchillo cornerkick from left has defender head away.
3 min...Master's Kamden Holder GOAL...Holder shoves defender VA Kyle Crichton over at VA 25 yard line and at 22 yards up middle chips shot over goalie Andrew D'Souza who was off his line awaiting a whistle and ball drops into the net.
4 min...MFA goalie catches 25 yard shot from left.
8 min...VA Kovacevic flicks 10 yard header wide right on bounce on cross sent in from left.
9 min...VA Cicchillo cornerkick from left is headed away VA Arnone chips 20 yarder that goalie catches on left post.
11 min...MFA Clarke cross from far left is over players in box. Play is whistled down on cross from right.
13 min...VA Loukides low cross from 30 yards on left and VA Kovacevic redirects from 15 yards up middle that goalie dives left to smother. 17 min...MFA Inchima steals ball off VA Arnone at 22 yards and runs in and low 15 yard shot is stopped point blank by sprawling goalie and he also stops rebound from same distance. The goalie grabs the ball as Inchima falls over him.
19 min...VA Cicchillo long run up left and dribbles by defenders and cuts along edge of box to center and taps ball to VA Kovacevic whose shot is caught by goalie.
19 min...VA Futoriansky 25 yard shot is caught by goalie.
21 min...MFA Ajala-Alexis runs to right end line and cross is over box and out left side.
22 min...VA Gogarty cross from 25 yards on right has VA Kovacevic twist header.
23 min...VA Joey Cicchillo GOAL...VA Mario Kovacevic is given through ball on left and defenders stop. Kovacevic runs to near left end line and rolls centering pass with goalie Shane Lopez trapped on the left post and Cicchillo kicks 7 yarder low into the empty net.
24 min...a two minute water break is called after the goal.
27 min...MFA Holder 45 yard freekick from right has defender head away ball at 15 yards.
29 min...VA Gogarty cross from 30 yards on right has VA Kovacevic at 15 yards on right flick header backwards with back to goal and ball bounces just wide left just a step ahead of charging VA Cicchillo on post.
31 min...VA Kovacevic rush on left and cuts towards center near end line and wins cornerkick on deflection.
31 min...VA Cicchillo cornerkick from left has VA Badat flick header from 10 yards on left just over net.
32 min...MFA sub...Najafi replaces Brown.
33 min...VA Futoriansky on give and go with VA Kovacevic but sliding defender gives up cornerkick preventing shot at 12 yards.
33 min...VA Cicchillo cornerkick from left is cleared by defender.
35 min...VA Iezady low 25 yard shot up middle is pushed wide right by diving goalie.
36 min...VA Futoriansky cornerkick from right is cleared by defender.
37 min...VA Iezady 20 yard freekick in middle when given tapped pass and deflects off defender and right post.
38 min...VA Cicchillo cornerkick from right wins another cornerkick.
38 min...VA player's cornerkick from right has goalie punch away in crowd, VA Cichillo cross from right has VA Arnone flick header wide left of post.
40 min...MFA sub...Alleyne replaces Spencer.
40 min...VA Cicchillo 20 yard freekick dips just over bar.
42 min...VA Alon Badat GOAL...VA Joey Cicchillo rushes down left and low cross from 15 yards has Badat jam in 7 yard shot forward between defender and left post.
43 min...VA Joey Cicchillo GOAL...VA Mario Kovacevic pushes through ball from 20 yards up middle and charging Cicchillo shoots in low 8 yarder to left side of net.
44 min...VA Kovacevic blasts 20 yarder down middle that goalie saves. VA Crichton boots 15 yard rebound wide right of top corner.
47 min...MFA goalie beats VA 19 to pick up through ball pass on right edge of box.
48 min...MFA Ajala-Alexis pushes ball forward on left and MFA Inchima player shoots low 15 yarder from left that diving goalie pushes wide right of post. No MFA player pursues and ball rolls over end line.
49 min...MFA players cornerkick from right is cleared.
49 min...half ends 2:49pm.

2nd Half:...starts 3:06pm. The weather is unchanged.
halftime subs:...MFA sub...Salehi replaces Commissiong.
.................VA sub...Lay replaces Arnone.
.................VA sub...Casupanan replaces Futoriansky.
.................VA sub...Lo Franco replaces Crichton.
45 min...VA Iezady low 25 yard shot up middle is smothered by goalie.
47 min...VA Badat and VA Kovacevic on give and go has Badat checked off ball on right end line.
49 min...VA Iezady rolls pass forward and VA Badat shoots 12 yarder that goalie bats away.
50 min...VA Popovic heads 12 yarder from cornerkick on left that goalie catches low on right post.
50 min...VA Lo Franco wins cornerkick on cross on left end line.
51 min...VA Cicchillo cornerkick from left is over players in box and MFA Inchima hips ball back to goalie.
52 min...MFA Najafi shakes defender and 25 yard shot is wide right of net.
53 min...VA Joey Cicchillo GOAL...Cicchillo taps pass back to VA Mario Kovacevic who gets ball in open at 15 yards then closed down and switches foot and gets to his own blocked shot by jumping over sliding player and his 10 yard shot deflects off another sliding defender and pops up for Cicchillo to charge forward to duck to head in 1 yarder to left side of net.
58 min...VA sub...Ragone replaces Cicchillo.
59 min...MFA Salehi gets to ball on 1 on 2 and with no one to pass to chips 40 yard shot down middle that hits scoreboard behind net.
60 min...VA Iezady passes to right and VA Ragone charges forward andlow 20 yard shot near end line is smothered by goalie.
62 min...MFA Inchima is injured near center line. Players use the opportunity to take a water break.
65 min...MFA sub...Johnson replaces injured MFA Inchima.
.........VA sub...Amato replaces Iezady.
66 min...VA Ragone taps ball forward and VA Lo Franco squeezed off ball but gets away 15 yard shot that's caught by goalie.
69 min...VA player's cornerkick from left is short and worked around side of box but wasted.
70 min...VA Ragone shot from left end line at 15 yards is wide right of top corner of net.
71 min...a water break is called.
75 min...MFA sub...Dimartino replaces Massy.
76 min...MFA Alleyne cornerkick from right has MFA Johnson in crowd of players head 15 yarder from left that goalie catches on bounce on left post.
77 min...VA player's freekick from left is short and worked over to VA Gogarty who shoots 22 yarder from left wide right of net.
80 min...VA Lay chips 30 yarder from left that goalie catches before VA Ragone can get to it at 6 yards on right.
81 min...VA Loukides cross from 25 yards on left has VA Ragone tip ball with foot wide right of post from 7 yards.
82 min...VA Lo Franco taps pass on right over to VA Casupanan and he shoots 20 yarder from right over net.
85 min...VA Ragone recovers being tripped and rolls pass from 22 yards on right and VA Badat shoots 18 yarder down middle over net.
87 min...VA Edward Lay GOAL...VA Stefan Popovic dribbles from center line through a few check attempts and taps centering pass from right for Lay to shoot low 15 yarder to left corner of net.
89 min...MFA Johnson can't redirect ball on cross from right. MFA Alleyne chips 28 yard shot from left that goalie leaps at 7 yards to catch.
90 min...VA Ragone spins to get away low 12 yard shot from right is stopped.
90 min...MFA Najafi rolls 22 yard shot from right that diving goalie smothers on left post.
92 min...VA Amato blasts 28 yarder from right over net.
93 min...VA Alon Badat GOAL...VA Arthur Casupanan rolls ball forward from 45 yards on right and Badat blasts 25 yarder from right into top left corner of net.
93 min...game ends 3:54pm.

Final Score:......Vaughan Azzurri........6.......Master's FA Saints.......1......

Attendance was about 40 on this very hot and humid day with a burning sun in the west (not in either team's eyes on this field's north-south alignment). The referee called a water break at 24 and 71 minutes.

The scoreboard wasn't working today—now that's worse than last night's game at Victoria Park Stadium where the clock froze at 58:59. At least we got 2/3s through that game.

About two thirds of the crowd arrived late (mostly Saints fans) and were surprized when told by fellow fans that Saints had scored—it was only their eleventh goal in fifteen league games. They let out a collective groan when Vaughan exploded just before the end of the first half with two quick goals to take the lead. A few times MFA players stopped running, maybe expecting a whistle that didn't come. (Vaughan learned their lesson after being burned on the first goal). Saints have not won a league game this season.

Referee Tim Wong answered me after the game that he didn't give out any cards. I was fooled twice when he raised his arm and I saw his yellow coloured whistle. The game wasn't rough but there were a few injuries on clumsy tackles. The PA guy announced there'd be one minute of added time in the second half but that dragged on more like three for Vaughan to score their final goal.

The turning point in this game was actually at 17 minutes when MFA Christian Inchima blocked VA Matthew Arnone's clearance and was in alone for a low 15 yard shot that goalie Andrew D'Souza sprawled and stopped point blank and he also stopped Inchima's rebound from the same spot then reached over to smother the ball as Inchima fell over him. A goal there would have given the Saints a 2-0 lead and a tremendous boost of confidence for this struggling team and further rattled the Vaughan team's rather slow start.

Vaughan's Joey Cicchillo scored three goals today to bring his total up to 16 for the season. This closes him in on ANB Futbol's Adonijah Reid with 17 and who I'd expect would be playing later tonight. Cicchillo was subbed out at 58 minutes. With his York University team getting their season started at the end of this week we figured Vaughan head coach Carmen Isacco (who also is the coach of York U) was managing his playing time.

The win improves Vaughan's record to 9 wins, 6 draws, 1 loss for 33 points and a second place tie with Sigma FC who won yesterday although Vaughan is lower because they've played one more game. It's a good recovery from last Sunday when they suffered their first loss of the season against Durham United with coach Carman Isacco away coaching the Vaughan Azzurri Women in the League 1 Ontario Cup final (a busy man!--he also coaches York U's women's team).

Master's record falls to 0 wins, 3 draws, 12 losses for 3 points and a tie for eleventh place with Sanjaxx Lions in the twelve team league although the Saint's have played one less game.

I've received some promotion/relegation retweets on League 1 Ontario chair Dino Rossi Jr's twitter account. The league only has twelve teams but with rapid expansion I could see them creating more than one division because the bottom three teams have only won 4 out of 24 games.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca

Vaughan Azzurri starters