August 31, 2016 League 1 Ontario--North Mississauga Panthers vs FC London (by Rocket Robin)

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Result and details of the Wednesday August 31, 2016 League 1 Ontario game between North Mississauga Panthers and FC London played at Hershey Centre 1 in Mississauga at 9:00pm.

North Mississauga Panthers (red socks and shirts, black shorts and numbers, white shoulders)

....................1 Daniel Gosciniak
22 Tristan Gayle...8 Michael Krzeminski...5 Kevin Dhillon...11 David Alva...23 Austin Bryan
........10 Jose Melo (cpt)...9 Bradley Fenton...19 Gabe Gala
...............7 Jose De Sousa...17 Johnson Amoo

Subs:...2 Brandon Wellington...-- Andres Duenas...13 Antoine Paul...3 Jordan Montoya
...6 Laith Adi...21 Shawn Brown...-- Nordo Gooden
team officials:...team head coach Rick Titus...assistant coaches Jhon Ardila and Chris Hogg

FC London (all lime green, black numbers)

.....................1 Anthony Sokalski
7 Daniel Amaya...28 Brian Pistor...15 Randy Ribeiro...6 David Gonzalez...5 Max Marsh
12 Alex Julia Franco...9 Michael Marcoccia (cpt)...8 Mohammad Reza Nafar...44 Connor Wilson
....................10 Elvir Gigolaj

Subs:...17 Jack Monyard...42 Mike Santalupo...4 Willy Kashindi...92 Benjamin Vyfschaft
team officials:...team head coach Mario Despotovic...assistant coach Phillip Miller and Goran Rosandia

Game officials:...referee Alexis Vaughan...assistant referees Nikita Amirkhanian and Armando Pereira
...fourth official Fabrizio Stasola...(yellow shirts, black shorts and socks)

1st Half:...game starts 9:01pm...NMP defends south end on this cool night that's already dark with a strong breeze from the north.
2 min...NMP Melo cornerkick from right has defender head away.
4 min...NMP goalie catches chip from 28 yards.
5 min...FCL Franco rushes up middle and passes over to right and FCL Gigolaj shoots 22 yarder well high of net.
6 min...FCL Marcoccia shoots low 25 yarder from left that diving goalie pushes wide right of post.
7 min...FCL Ribeiro cornerkick from right is over players in box and bounces wide left for goalkick.
8 min...NMP Krzeminski run up middle but cuts 22 yard roller wide right of net.
9 min...FCL Gigolaj 1 on 1 with defender has defender concede cornerkick on left with poke at 15 yards.
9 min...FCL Gigolaj conrerkick from left has defender head ball away. Another FCL player has his shot blocked.
11 min...FCL Amaya 22 yard shot from right bounces to goalie.
12 min...NMP RED card...David Alva earns a Yellow card for bumping an FCL player at 30 yards in NMP end. He then gets ejected for swearing at referee Alexis Vaughan.
13 min...FCL Randy Ribeiro GOAL...Ribeiro blasts 30 yard freekick down middle that hits head in two man wall at 20 yards, flicks up slightly and dips under bar in center of net just over goalie Daniel Gosciniak.
15 min...MNP Melo 25 yard freekick hits player in wall then his rebound is into wall and NMP Melo cuts to left end line and crosses into 6 yard box but defender clears.
20 min...NMP Krzeminski rush down right and low cross is behind MNP Melo at 12 yards in middle and ball is cleared on left.
22 min...NMP Melo flicks header with back to net from 10 yards but bounces to goalie.
23 min...FCL Franco rolls pass on right is forward to FCL Gigolaj who one tounces 15 yard shot wide left.
25 min...NMP Michael Krzeminski GOAL...Krzeminski runs downfield from FCL 40 yard line on right sideline and cuts towards goal and his cross from 22 yards on right flicks up off defender and falls behind that defender but Krzeminski stays on run and runs past another defender chesting ball down while facing goal and recovers to blast 12 yard shot from right into middle of net between goalie and short side.
27 min...NMP Amoo gets pass from right but heads ball from 12 yards away from net and ball cleared.
28 min...NMP Melo wins freekick at FCL 22 yard line on tackle against him.
29 min...NMP Jose Melo GOAL...Melo from center shoots 22 yard freekick around wall and into right side of net with goalie Anthony Sokalski frozen in middle of net.
37 min...FCL Franco pass frorward from 30 yards. FCL Gigolaj blasts 20 yarder from right that goalie bats down and FCL Reza Nafar blasts 20 yarder from right well over net.
37 min...FCL Franco rush over to right and blasts 22 yarder well over net.
39 min...FCL Wilson cornerkick from left has defnder in crowd of players head ball away at 8 yards.
40 min...FCL Amaya rush on right but shot is blocked for throw-in that deflected at 15 yards.
41 min...FCL Mohammad Reza Nafar earns Penalty kick when NMP Gabe Gala pulls him down on grab after Nafar stole ball from him at 28 yards on far right and ran into box.
42 min...FCL Elvir Gigolaj GOAL...Gigolaj blasts Penalty kick into right corner of net past diving goalie.
43 min...NMP Melo cornerkick from left has defenders clear in box.
45 min...FCL YELLOW card...Marsh earns it for tackle on NMP Krzeminski at center line near sideline injurying him and needs trainer.
47 min...NMP Melo crosses from 15 yards on right line when he runs out of space and goalie picks up ball at 8 yards in crowd of players.
47 min...half ends 9:48pm.

2nd Half:...starts 10:04pm.
halftime subs:...NMP Brown replaces Gayle.
.................MNP Paul replaces Gala.
45 min...NMP Fenton rush down middle and passes to another NMP player on left who shoots 5 yarder from left that sliding goalie stops point blank on left post.
47 min...FCL Gigolaj beats offside trap at 18 yards on right and goalie sprawls to make save on 12 yard shot.
50 min...FCL Amaya rush down right to get pass and from end line lands on top of net with player waiting on left post for tap-in.
52 min...NMP Melo receives tap back pass in crowd of players and 22 yard shot down middle is wide right.
54 min...FCL Amaya is injured in FCL box and needs trainer after pulling NMP player on top of him.
57 min...MNP Fenton wins cornerkick on cross from 15 yards on right tips off defender.
57 min...NMP Melo cornerkick from right has defender head ball away in crowd of players.
59 min...MNP YELLOW card...Brown earns it for pushing over FCL Reza Nafar on rush down left at 50 yard line.
60 min...MNP sub...Wellington replaces Krzeminski.
61 min...MNP Brown rush on right and crosses from 18 yards is just over heads of players and wide left of post.
64 min...MNP Brown holds ball at 22 yards along right end line and crosses over players in box.
65 min...MNP Melo receives centering pass from right and blasts 20 yard shot off top of bar iin center of goal.
67 min...MNP YELLOW card...Dhillon earns it for argueing calls 40 yards away from the FCL freekick.
68 min...Referee comes over to tell off NMP coach Rick Titus.
68 min...NMP Johnson Amoo GOAL...NMP Shawn Brown holds up on defender before his centering cross from right from 28 yards finds Amoo who steps around defender to blast low 20 yard shot through crowd of players into right corner of net beyond diving goalie.
71 min...FCL Gigolaj can't win Penalty kick on nudge over stretching to get to chipped ball.
72 min...FCL Wilson blasts 30 yard kick down middle well over net.
73 min...NMP Melo rush down middle and taps left for MNP De Sousa to blast 18 yard shot well high and wide right.
76 min...NMP sub...Montoya replaces De Sousa.
76 min...NMP Wellington runs from center line on right cutting to center but pushes ball out of reach.
77 min...NMP Brown cross from right near end line has MNP Melo at 10 yards near left end line head ball that goalie catches on bounce.
78 min...MNP Wellington dekes defender at 22 yards on right to break in and runs over goalie at 8 yards but goalie reaches back to grab before NMP Wellington can get up.
79 min...FCL sub...Vyfschaft replaces Amaya.
80 min...NMP Brown wins cornerkick on right after long run and defender blocks cross.
81 min...NMP Melo cornerkick from right has defender head away.
81 min...NMP Melo pass from right has MNP Wellington shoot 15 yarder from right just missing tap left corner.
82 min...NMP goalie charges out to 25 yards to clear high ball chipped in as surrounded by players.
85 min...NMP Melo rush down middle and taps pas left to NMP Montoya who blasts 20 yarder wide right of net.
86 min...NMP Melo cornerkick rom right has defenders clear on left.
87 min...FCL Gigolaj on run down middle has defender poke ball away.
87 min...FCL Ribeiro shoots 22 yarder after receiving rebound of cornerkick from right and goalie flies to palm ball wide left.
88 min...FCL Monyard replaces Wilson.
88 min...FCL Ribeiro cornerkick from left has defenders clear.
89 min...NMP Jordan Montoya GOAL...Montoya rushes on left and blasts shot from 22 yards that standing goalie gets hands to palming ball upwards but momentum carries it into right corner of net and goalie turns to chase it and crashes into net.
89 min...NMP sub...Adi replaces Fenton.
.........FCL sub...Kashindi replaces Marsh.
94 min...NMP Jose Melo wins Penalty kick when pulled down on left side of box.
95 min...NMP Jose Melo blasts Penalty kick low to left that goalie dives and pushes wide left of post.
95 min...NMP Melo cornerkick from left hits outside right post.
95 min...game ends 10:54pm.

Final Score:.......North Mississauga Panthers........4.......FC London.......2.....

Attendance was about 70 on this cool night. This game had been rescheduled from when the schedule first came out as Saturday September 24 at 9:00pm. The late start limited the number of children that were watching but I suspect a midweek game would have a late start as London is a 3+ hour drive away from this city just west of Toronto and many of the players have day jobs.

The result was a huge surprise for me. The Panthers played a man down from the 12 minute mark and the two teams looked even throughout the game. I was expecting that NMP would have to bunker down but FCL scored on the resulting freekick and NMP were behind already. After NMP took the lead I was expecting a more conservative game but the game was still wide open. FCL had brought only four subs to choose while NMP brought in five of theirs choices from halftime until the end.

I've attended 26 L1O men's games this season and I'd say so far this was the BEST MATCH OF THE YEAR! Panthers used six non-U23 starters and had two others on their bench. I've seen many of these 'older' players from my days of following the CSL until the start-up of L1O in 2014. Gabe Gala and Jose Melo even spent time on Toronto FC (MLS) right at their 2007 startup. It is nice to see L1O give a place to players still in their mid 20s along with their push for youth development. News about the Panthers I received by tweet is their U-16s are in first place so the future looks bright.

Joey Melo commanded the midfield and was getting away shots or passing off for others to get clear shots on net.

The leagues leading scorer, FCL Elvir Gigolaj scored his twentieth goal this season on a Penalty kick but could have scored more except for a few off target kicks and good pressure by defenders. He increases his lead over Sigma FC's Leaford Allen with 17 who left for the start of the NCAA season a few weeks ago.

Referee Alexis Vaughan gave four Yellows and the Red card. It was a foolish play by David Alva in compounding his Yellow card by swearing even if his back was turned to her. Vaughan had a good game in that she used the fourth official to sort out a knock down that injured NMP Michael Krzeminski just before halftime right in front of the fourth official Fabrizio Stasalo getting ready to hold up the time added board. She also acknowledged an error right in front of the stands when she pointed for a freekick while calling out the wrong team even waving at the fans who then applauded. She also ran over to get NMP head coach Rick Titus from the constant heckling from the sidelines after carding NMP Kevin Dhillon who was complaining about a FCL freekick call while 40 yards away.

Best non-scoring chances were at 37 minutes when FCL Alex Julia Franco passed forward from 30 yards and FCL Elvir Gigolaj blasted a 20 yarder from the right that the goalie batted down and FCL Mohammad Reza Nafar blasted the 20 yard rebound also on the right well over the net. First minute of the second half had NMP Bradley Fenton rush down the middle and passed over to an NMP player on the left who shot a 5 yarder that the sliding goalie stopped point blank on the left post. 47 minutes had Gigolaj beat an offside trap at 18 yards on the right and the goalie sprawled to make a save on the 12 yard shot. 65 minutes had NMP Joey Melo receive a centering pass from the right and blast a 20 yard shot off the top of the bar in the center of the net. 78 minutes had NMP Brandon Wellington deke a defender at 22 yards on the right to break in and he fell over the sprawling goalie at 8 yards but the goalie reached back to grab the ball before he could get back up. 87 minutes had FCL Randy Ribeiro recovere a rebound of his own cornerkick and fired a 22 yarder from the right that the goalie flew over to palm wide left of the post.

The win improves the Panthers record to 9 wins, 4 losses, 5 ties for 32 points in 18 games—good for third place in the eight team Western Conference.

FC London's record falls to 12 wins, 4 losses, 1 tie for 37 points in 17 games—good for second place in the West—one point behind Sigma FC who have played 19 games. Sigma has fizzled each year once their older players leave for US colleges so I expect FCL to win the West and play the championship game against the first place East team.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca

North Mississauga Panthers starters