July 9, 2017 League 1 Ontario--Match Recap: OSU Force vs FC London (from League 1 Ontario)

Match Recap: OSU Force 3 - 3 FC London
07/09/2017, 10:15pm EDT
By League1 Ontario staff

OSU Force had the lead three times over visitors FC London on Matchweek 11 but couldn't 
make it count after the proceedings at Carleton University's MNP Stadium ended all square 
in a 3-3 draw. 

"I was definitely happy with the second half - not only with ball retention, but creating 
chances too," said OSU Force head coach, Traian Matheas. "It paid off."

"But to concede on the the last kick of the game is just not acceptable, especially from 
a set play," he added. "I'm really not happy with the marking." 

Ibrahim Soukary (9') struck first for the Force on the night, before London's 
Daniel Oshana (14') equalized within five minutes.

Ottawa's Marco Natoli (21', 85') got his first goal of a brace to give the home side 
the lead going into the interval, but 2016 League1 Ontario Golden Boot winner 
Elvir Gigolaj (51') struck just after the break to level the score again. 

"First twenty minutes we played the way we want to play and created a lot of chances 
and if we scored in this earlier phase it would have been a different game.," 
explained FC London assistant coach, Eduard Schmidt.

"The opponent was quite strong, their striker in particular on the counter, and they 
were always dangerous. Usually our counter-pressing was quite good but there were 
moments when they could play in behind quite easily and we had problems then." 

"You could see in the second half that we changed tactics a little bit and played the 
game we wanted to play. Some of our guys were quite fatigued from the travel and some 
had played with the U21, but you could see the character in the end and we are proud 
of the team." 

Natoli's second of the night appeared to seal the deal for Ottawa as it came minutes 
before the full-time whistle, but London's Connor Wilson (90') grabbed the last-gasp 
equalizer after a successful corner kick routine that involved every player, 
including keeper Anthony Sokalaski.

"Our keeper Anthony is quite a big guy, and we knew that [OSU] had some difficulty 
with corners," said Schmidt. 

"We told the players that in certain situations when the ball comes around the area 
that Anthony was in that the opponent will have problems there and he would just 
need to touch it on and there would be space at second post."

"However, when you are so dead at that point it is more about who can still walk, 
but we could see that this thinking finally helped us in the end."  

OSU Force will next play Sigma FC on July 15 at Hershey Centre, Mississauga.

FC London will next play Durham United FA on July 15 at Kinsmen Park, Pickering.

back to 2017 League 1 Ontario Men's index

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