Sat May 7, 2016 League 1 Ontario--ProStars FC vs North Mississaauga Panthers (from League 1 Ontario website)

Pro Stars And North Miss Battle Earns Both Teams A Point
05/08/2016, 12:00pm EDT
By League1 Ontario staff

Pro Stars FC were the first to get on the board in their back-and-forth 2-2 hard-fought home 
draw with North Mississauga SC.

Reafe Anderson (39') put the home side ahead before half-time, with Pro Stars appearing 
to start the more assertive of the two teams after a difficult 3-0 loss in Windsor 
on opening weekend.

"It’s my first year coaching this team, I am looking to impose my personality onto the team 
and for us to have an identity," said Pro Stars head coach, Omar Jbaihi.   

"I felt today we had more of a physical presence and that doesn’t mean playing dirty, 
it means having a physical presence is a big difference. And I think that we matched 
their intensity. Last week at Windsor we weren’t ready for the speed of the game 
or the intensity of the game."

"[Windsor] was the first game for some of the players, this week we knew what to expect 
and I felt like we matched them for the most part though the game. I think that was 
the main difference, I think our knowledge of how the game was going to be played, 
the speed, the intensity, I think we were ready for this week."

North Miss seemed content to maintain defensive shape in the first half, perhaps 
also wary after giving up five goals to Sigma the week before.

"I think in the first half the guys were a bit tentative about going forward," said 
North Miss head coach, Rick Titus. "We tried to play a little bit defensively just 
to make sure we are not giving up goals early."

"I had to make a couple adjustments, so made a couple changes and it worked out 
in our favor. The guys started playing with a little more security and going forward 
in areas that were a bit more complementary."

Half-time North Miss sub Bradley Fenton (57') pulled the visitors level before 
and hour and set the stage for an exciting late phase of the match, with both sides 
straining to break the deadlock.

North Miss' Lee-Victor Massunda (83') must have thought he had completed the comeback 
after scoring the go-ahead goal with under ten minutes left in the match. 

However Pro Stars Michael Fayehum (89') made sure Pro Stars would take a point 
at least with his late match equalizer.

At 2-2 both teams walked away with a first point in their 2016 campaigns.

"We were down 2-1 with 5 minutes to go, and there is no pride in losing 2-1 
so we pushed a couple of the guys forward for the last five minutes to try and 
pull a goal back," explained Pro Stars head coach, Omar Jbaihi.  

"I wouldn’t mind losing the game 3-1, trying to tie the game 2-2 or even winning 
the game 3-2. For the corner that went in we left our centre-back one v one 
on the halfway line, and the guy that scored we actually told him to go into 
the box and he did so - fortunately he won the header and scored."

back to 2016 League 1 Ontario Men's index

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