May 30, 2017 League 1 Ontario Match Recap: Toronto Skillz vs Durham United FA (from League 1 Ontario website)
Match Recap: Toronto Skillz 0 - 5 Durham United FA 05/30/2017, 9:00am EDT By League1 Ontario staff Edward Lay (14'), Christian Moncrieffe (29'), Stefan Lamanna (40') and a late Le Rohne Young (79', 80') closed the deal for Durham United FA as they downed Toronto Skillz 5-0 at Birchmount Stadium, Scarborough, on Sunday. Keeper Benjamin Cowman held the clean sheet, and Durham head coach Sanford Carabin couldn't have been happier. "Scoring five goals in any game is always good," he said. "It gives confidence to the players and I think the players came with the right attitude today. I think our guys all remembered what happened when we came here last year and we were very sleepy in the first half and we went down 3-1." "Our message to them was make sure you come out and play from the first whistle. I think they did that. It was a good reaction from the players and it's always good when you have guys that are motivated." "I think they're in a bit of groove now, we're scoring some goals, keeping clean sheets and there's really not much else you could ask for." On the other side of the coin, with such a one-sided scoreline and an early season record that has yet to find Skillz in the win column, head coach Leslie "Tiger" Fitzpatrick had a lot to be concerned about. "I think we were just poor today in all departments," he said. "We just need to understand a lot more about what it takes to be successful, what it takes to be a hard team to play against, what it takes to win individual battles and go out there and secure that." "Right now I think teams come in, we're way too soft, and they have a field day against us," he added. "Whether we play well or we play badly, teams are just getting results on us and individually everyone has to take stock of their performance and what they want out of this and make some decisions moving forward." Although Durham's game plan worked on the day, Carabin was clear that there were no assumptions made going into the match and the result was purely due to a growing focus within his team, and the right amount of preparation from the technical staff. He had words of encouragement for the opposing side. "We did our homework on Skillz and they have been in every single game they have played, except maybe the Cup game, but they're a good team when they play and they have some players that can score so there was no complacency from either the coaching staff or players," he said. "I think sometimes when you get a goal early in a game, sometimes with young players they may have a tendency to get their head down. I think maybe because we scored so early and then a second one not long after that, it might have taken some of the stuffing out of some of the younger players they have in their lineup," he added. "But that is probably a development point for them too, where they can begin to learn that the game is not over at 2-0. They did settle down and made it difficult for us at the end of the half. I think the matter of us scoring early took them out of the game, and although the final result was a bit of a surprise I know Tiger has a young group available to him and it is a process of development." Toronto Skillz will next play Masters FA Saints on Saturday June 3 at L'Amoreaux, Scarborough. Durham United FA will next play North Toronto Nitros on Sunday June 4 at Varsity Stadium, Toronto.
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