May 9, 2017 League 1 Ontario Match Recap: TFC III vs Sigma FC (from League 1 Ontario website)

Match Recap: TFC III 1 - 4 Sigma FC
05/09/2017, 10:30am EDT
By League1 Ontario staff

Toronto FC III hosted Sigma FC on Sunday at Kia Training Grounds in what has become 
one of the league's top men's derbies.

In this edition, TFC III were on the wrong end of the result, with Sigma's 
Johnny Grant (32', 83') getting a brace en route to a 4-1 win.

Sigma scored early, with first half goals from Duran Lee (14') and Grant giving 
the visitors a comfortable lead to defend.

TFC's Malik Johnson (36') pulled one back before the break, but Sigma's 
Jordan Kalonji (49') and Grant registered in the second half to finish the contest 
with a scoreline that didn't tell the full tale of an on-field chess match.

"I wouldn't say it was a 4-1 game," said TFC III head coach, Danny Dichio.

"If you look at the whole game, I think the contest was a lot closer than that."

"Sigma did very well at punishing us at critical times and on the counter to that 
we got chances and we didn't put our chances away that we had."

"We had a lot of possession of the ball, Sigma defended very deep, did a good 
job tactically. The effort was there, the application was... I can't fault 
the players. It was just one of those days today where we have to take 
it on the chin and move forward. That's football for you."

Head coach Bobby Smyrniotis felt the result against TFC was a result of detailed 
preparation by the technical staff, and a near flawless execution of a the 
game-plan by the players in a match that at times became quite physical.

"We always start off with a tactical plan, and each game is a little bit 
different," he said. 

"This one is a very unique game because we're coming in here to play a team 
that is very fit and that move very well. We scouted them very well and 
I thought the game-plan in the first half, in particular, worked very well 
for us."

"At this time of the season we just try and keep our guys tactically astute 
particularly as everyone is still getting their legs back into full matches."

"Toronto FC did a good job to start the second half by putting us into our 
end and sometimes in those situations you start to go into a few more 
challenges, and both teams did," he added. 

"The one thing we do ask of our guys, and we have some more experienced guys 
out there, is to handle those time periods in the game and use them to our 
advantage when we can get going, which I think we did quite a bit in the 
second half." 

TFC III made a number of changes to the squad from their opening day 6-0 
result over FC London, which Dichio explained had everything to do with 
the club's player pipeline.

"The philosophy of the club is that if players are not playing in the 
first team, than they have to play at the USL level," he said. 

"If they are not playing there with TFC II, then they have to play 
at the TFC III level."

"That's the philosophy of the club that we adhere by, and that's why you 
saw some players brought into the team today that need minutes as part 
of their development."

"We have to rotate, especially if players are coming down from TFC II and 
have to play minutes. It's very important for their development."

TFC III next play Oakville Blue Devils on Sunday May 14 a
t Sheridan Trafalgar Campus, Oakville.

Sigma FC next play Pro Stars FC on Friday May 12 
at Terry Fox Stadium, Brampton.

back to 2017 League 1 Ontario Men's index

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