June 19, 2017 League 1 Ontario--Match Recap: Oakville Blue Devils vs OSU Force (from League 1 Ontario)

  
Match Recap: Oakville Blue Devils 4 - 2 OSU Force
06/19/2017, 10:45pm EDT
By League1 Ontario staff

Oakville Blue Devils continue to hold top spot in the west division after a 4-2 win over 
a determined OSU Force side in Matchweek Eight.

OSU's Gabriel Bitar (4') got the visitors started with a goal that caught Oakville napping, 
but the shock just served to wake up the Blue Devils.

"We got caught I think, just a little lack of concentration, which is strange for us this 
season and I think it took us fifteen to twenty minutes to regain our composure, game 
rhythm and shape," said Oakville head coach, Duncan Wilde.

"Once we did that, I don't think we really looked back." 

Felipe Vilela (25'), Mathew Santos (28') and Anthony Novak (59') all struck for the Devils 
before the hour mark to give a two goal lead to the home side, but OSU still wasn't out 
of the match.  

Within a minute of Oakville's third goal, George Anthony El-Asmar (60') hit a fantastic shot 
from distance for the Ottawa side, and gave hope to OSU that a comeback could be in the cards.

"Even when they scored I didn't think the game was in doubt," said Oakville's Wilde. "We always 
seemed to have that next gear to come back and get that next goal. It's exciting to watch, 
and the boys fully deserve the three points, but credit to Ottawa - they put on a good 
fighting display today." 

"I told our players at half-time if we didn't stay with the gameplan, we would change it and
add offensively, which is what we did. We added some pace up top and I think it got us 
in about four or five times in a short space of time."

Oakville's Taylor Mcnamara (86') put that idea to bed with a stunner of a strike of his own 
just ahead of regular time, and the Devils took home all three points on the first of their 
cross-divisional match-ups.

"We're into the cross-divisional now and looking at the schedules I believe those results are 
going to be critical for teams challenging," said Wilde. 

"We have to get as many points as possible in these cross-divisional games and then get back 
to taking care of business in the western conference, which is not going to be an easy challenge."

After a promising start to the season, OSU Force have struggled to get results of late, 
but against the Devils the Ottawa-based team showed much greater awareness of team dynamics 
and how to manage their opponent while out of possession. On the break, the Ottawans always 
seemed to have real goal-threat.

"I think it was a good match," said OSU head coach, Traian Matheas. 

"It had all the elements of attacking, defending, transition. For our team at least, we had 
the strategy to defend and we did well in that respect. The attacking team had to figure out 
first how to go about it."

"I would say we had some late chances and one that hit the post," he added.

"I am happy with the performance considering that we have been going through a tough time. 
I think going forward the players will get used to a specific way of defending, counter-attacking, 
and from there if the opponent is showing signs of technical or tactical weakness we can open 
up a bit more." 

Oakville Blue Devils will next play North Toronto Nitros on June 25 
at University of Toronto Varsity Stadium, Toronto.

OSU Force will next play Pro Stars FC on June 24 at Terry Fox South, Ottawa.

back to 2017 League 1 Ontario Men's index

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