July 16, 2017 League 1 Ontario--Windsor TFC Stars vs Ottawa South United Force (by Rocket Robin)

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Result and details of the Sunday July 16, 2017 League 1 Ontario between
Windsor TFC Stars and Ottawa South United Force played at Vaughan Grove in Woodbridge at 1:00pm.

Windsor TFC Stars (all red, white numbers)

..................1 Kyle Vizirakis (cpt)
19 Damon Johnson-Holder...8 Stefan Zastavnikovic...12 Jamar Kelly...7 Noah Pio
2 Anthony Pollock...11 Bryce Phillips...10 Celso Carapau...15 Christopher Al-Youssef
...........9 Miguel Fontecha...13 Kyle Ruggaber

Subs:...48 Shervin Mollahassani (gk)...3 Michael Jonathon Brait...20 Dredon Kelly
...16 Erik Cirovski
team officials:...team head coach Zabby Piatkiewicz...manager Vancho Cirovski

Ottawa South United Force (all white, blue numbers)

...................99 Cameron Cappelli
54 Daniel Saladn...23 Julian White...5 Rowen Martin-Hoilett...16 Muicahit Elevli
24 Kwabena Bempong...14 Ibrahim Soukary (cpt)...52 Ricky Comba...11 Ali Ercan
.........12 Abdulrahman Akinwande...7 Gabriel Bitar

Subs:...1 Thomas Hatch (gk)...3 Andres Sanchez Caicedo...8 Stefan Andjelic...20 Myles Cornwall
...21 George-Anthony El-Asmar
team officials:...team head coach Traian Mateas...assistant coach Raz El-Asmar...manager Darren Levere

Game officials:...referee Armando Pereira...referee's assistants Bradley Douborough and Anthony Diambria
fourth official Pawel Horoszczak...(all black uniforms)

1st Half:...game starts 1:02pm...W defends south end on this hot and humid afternoon with a hazy sun
after a pre-game rain.
2 min...OSUF Akinwande run on right wing but runs ball over end line.
7 min...W goalie flies to top rght to palm ball wide rght on 22 yard shot from left.
7 min...W Fontecha cornerkick from right has leaping W Jamar Kelly at 10 yards on left head ball wide left.
9 min...W Carapau 25 yard freekick from right hits head in OSUF player wall.
10 min...W Pollock long chip from center line downfield on right has W Ruggaber roll 12 yard shot from far
right that goalie smothers on right post.
11 min...OSUF goalie clears poor backpass off W Jamar Kelly and ball deflects wide of goal.
12 min...W Fotecha cornerkick from right has W Pio head 8 yarder down middle just over bar.
13 min...OSUF YELLOW card...White earns it for bump on second W player after he bumped over W Ruggaber
at 25 yards and got away with it.
14 min...W Pio 30 yard freekick from left hits head in player wall and is cleared on right.
16 min...OSUF Bitar rolls ball from 25 yards and goalie beats OSUF forward to pick up ball at 15 yards.
17 min...W Johnson-Holder shoots low 25 yarder along right endline has goale smother on right post.
18 min...W Zastavnkovic clears off W goal line for cornerkick when retreating after OSUF Bitar runs up left
and rolls cross from 20 yards that OSUF Soukary was just a step from getting to.
18 min...OSUF Bitar cornerkick from left is over players in box.
20 min...W Pio 28 yard freekick blast from left is well over net.
21 min...W Al-Youssef blasts 40 yarder down middle over crowd of players but it's cleared.
23 min...W Zastavnikovic cornerkick from right is cleared and W Carapau 20 yard shot is caught by goalie
under bar.
25 min...W Fontecha on run down right has defender poke ball away for cornerkick.
26 min...W Fontecha cornerkick from right has W Jamar Kelly pop header from 12 yards on left that goalie palms
wide right. A quick and short follow up cornerkick from right has goalie catch low cross.
27 min...OSUF Bitar fastbreak on left and low 15 yard shot has goalie do the splits at 6 yards to deflect ball
to right for defender to clear.
29 min...OSUF YELLOW card...Bitar earns it for tackle from behind on W Pollock at W 25 yard line.
32 min...W Fontecha cross from 25 yards on right is over players in box.
33 min...OSUF Ercan low 35 yard freeekick from riight rolls to goalie.
34 min...OSUF YELLOW card..Martino-Hoilett earns it. WS Noah Pio makes long run down left and eludes goalie
but OSUF defender Rowan Martino-Hoilett stops him in the box. The referee gives Martino-Hoilett a Yellow card
for elbowing and awards WS a Penalty kick.
35 min...WS Noah Pio shoots Penalty kick low to right and diving goalie Cameron Cappelli
pushes ball wide right of post.
35 min...W Fontecha cornerkick from right is whistled down in box.
37 min...OSUF sub...Jeanty replaces Saladini who was injured at W 35 yard line.
39 min...W Carapau 40 yard freekick down mddle has defender head ball away at 15 yards.
41 min...W Carapau 30 yard freekick from left is cleared in box.
44 min...OSUF Bitar chips pass from 30 yards on left has goalie out to catch bouncer ahead of OSUF Soukary.
45 min...OSUF Bitar 30 yard freekick from right is wide right of net.
47 min...half ends 1:49pm.

The OSUF players stay our by their bench for the length of halftime rather than return to the locker room.

2nd Half:...starts 2:03pm. It's now raining harder than before.
Halftime subs:...OSUF Cornwall replaces Elevu.
.............OSUF Andjelic replaces Bempong.
.............OSUF El-Asmar replaces Ercan.
48 min...W Ruggaber rush on right but he runs it over end line.
50 min...W Fontecha rush to rght end loine and rolls cross through 6 yard box unplayed because W players
didn't make run into box.
51 min...OSUF Cornwall rush on right beats defender and cross is over players in box.
52 min...W Phillips rolls 22 yarder from left through box unplayed.
54 min...W Fontecha on long run on right has defender slide into him and deflect ball over end line
for cornerkick.
.........OSUF YELLOW card...Comba earns it for his part in last play.
55 min...W players short cornerkick from right is wasted as ball doesn't get crossed into box.
56 min...OSUF Bitar is touched pass at 22 yards up middle but his first touch is too far up field and rolls
for goalie to smother ball at 12 yards.
59 min...OSUF Cornwall gets ball in open at 12 yards and rolls shot from left wide right of post.
60 min...OSUF have offside headed goal called back.
61 min...W Phillips recovers blocked shot at 12 yards but pushes pass too far forward and goalie smothers.
It has now stopped raining.
62 min...OSUF Andjelic rolls 25 yard shot down middle for goalie to make easy save.
64 min...OSUF Abdulrahmjan Akinwande GOAL...OSUF Stefan Andjelic rolls ball from 35 yards in middle
over to charging Akinwande on the left who runs in from 25 yards and rolls 18 yarder into right corner of net past goalie Kyle Vizirakis.
65 min...OSUF Cornwall short forward pass to right and OSUF Soukary runs ball over end line trying to get
around goalie.
66 min...OSUF sub...Sanchez-Caicedo replaces Comba.
68 min...OSUF Soukary long run up left and low 20 yard shot is saved by sliding goalie at 12 yards on left.
70 min...OSUF Cornwall beats W Zastavnikovic on two sliding tackles for run up right but runs off ball near
end line by another defender.
74 min...W sub...Cirovski replaces Zastavnikovic.
74 min...OSUF El-Asmar 25 yard freekick from right has goalie bat ball away from top left corner of net.
78 min...OSUF RED card...Julian White earns his second Yellow card of the game for sliding tackle
on WS Kyle Ruggaber at OSUF 35 yard line injuring him.
80 min...W Pio 38 yard freekick from right has W Cirovski flick 10 yard header down middle over net but offside
flag was up.
81 min...W Pollock 40 yard shot down middle deflects over net and back fence.
82 min...W Pio cornerkick from rght has OSUF defender head ball away.
84 min...W YELLOW card...Cirovski earns it for sliding tackle on OSUF El-Asmar injurying him at OSUF 35 yard line.
86 min...OSUF Bitar rush up left nad 15 yard shot that flying goalie pushes to right. OSUF Soukary could have
had a tap-in but just watches it.
86 min...OSUF El-Asmar cornerkick from right has ball cleared on left side of box.
87 min...W Pio low cross from 30 yards on far left has W Al-Youssef roll weak 10 yarder that diving goalie saves
on right post.
88 min...W sub...Dredon Kelly replaces Ruggaber.
90 min...W YELLOW card...Jamar Kelly earns it for knocking down OSUF Bitar at center line.
92 min...OSUF Bitar 22 yard shot is deflected toward wide right for cornerkick.
93 min...OSUF players waste time in the W end with a series of a short cornerkick and two short throw-ins.
95 min...OSUF El-Asmar 20 yard shot has goalie catch.
96 min...OSUF goalie is injured in collision with own player beating W Pio to the ball. After that he lets OSUF El-Asmar
take the goalkicks.
97 min...W player 30 yard cross from right has ball fly high and wide right.
99 min...W Cirovski receives long chip in middle and tips ball at 22 yards between two defenders but forward
for OSUF goalie.
99 min...game ends 2:55pm.

Final Score:...Windsor TFC Stars...0..Ottawa South United Force...1...

Attendance was only about 15 which does set a new low point fan-wise 
but both these teams play their home games in their cities more than 
five hours away. There were a few GTA teams playing home games 
at near the same time and the clouds were threatening rain besides 
actually having a pre game rain and periods of rain during the game.

Both teams were in the Toronto area yesterday to play local teams 
yesterday afternoon and it's the only time a L1O game will involve 
a team playing two days in a row. This game was scheduled like this 
at the start of the season. These two teams are the greatest distance 
apart in the whole league--probably at least ten hours apart—from 
the borders of Michigan and Quebec. It's one reason they have a Western 
and Eastern conference even though most of the teams are in the GTA. 
Toronto was the perfect location for this game in respect to travel.

Both teams had played at the same time yesterday so it could be said 
that they were just as tired. Windsor had beaten Aurora 6-1 and 
Ottawa had lost to Sigma 4-1. This wasn't a comment on the strength 
of Windsor vs Ottawa but of the caliber of the GTA opposition with 
Sigma still undefeated in league play. The records of Ottawa and 
Windsor are similar with both teams having won four times this season 
up to today.

The game played out somewhat like I thought when I saw the rosters. 
Windsor had only four possible subs including a back up goalie while 
OSUF had six. I figured Windsor would have to score early as they 
would tire as the game wore on and could be out-subbed (five in this 
league). OSUF played this masterfully bringing three new guys 
in at halftime to go along with one at 37 minutes because 
of an injury. With the action end to end counterattacking, this wore 
out the Windsor players late in the game.

Windsor's best chance was of course the Penalty shot in the first 
half—score that and a more defensive approach may have worked. 
Windsor didn't make their first sub until 74 minutes when they 
brought in Erik Cirovski wearing a face mask protecting his nose.  
They made one more change at 88 minutes which gives me the idea that 
their bench was really thin. They were given a boost when 
OSUF Julian White drew his second Yellow.

OSUF played a masterful job of hanging on from the time they went 
shorthanded. They survived what (my wristwatch time) looked like 
nine minutes of injury time. A series involving a short cornerkick 
in the WS corner followed by at least two short throw-ins just ate 
into the time. The OSUF goalie was injured in a collision with his 
own player during injury time and that allowed midfielder 
George-Anthony El-Asmar to run back from sometimes 40 yards away 
to take subsequent goalkicks because of the goalie's limp although 
he did punt one downfield without a problem.

Cameron Cappelli earned the shutout for OSUF with a few key saves. 
Best save was at 26 minutes when WS Miguel Fontecha took 
a cornerkick from the right that WS Jamar Kelly headed from 12 yards 
on the left that the goalie palmed wide right of the net then 
survived a quick short cornerkick that Celso Carapau crossed 
in low and he was able to catch it on the post. 87 minutes had 
WS Noah Pio send a low cross from 30 yards on the far left and 
WS Christopher Al-Youssef rolled a weak 10 yarder that the diving 
goalie saved on the right post. Last injury time play had 
WS Erik Cirovski get to a long chip at 22 yards between two 
defenders but he rolled it forward for the goalie to smother.

The game got rough at times with referee Armando Pereira giving 
out seven Yellow cards (five to OSUF and two of those to the 
same player) besides awarding the Penalty kick. Players had 
to get used to a sliding tackle from eight yards away on the 
wet grass would carry enough force to bowl a player over. Weeee!  
With so few fans it was easy to here him direct players to make 
clean challenges and reasons why he wasn't giving out even 
more cards. 

I could see weather troubles coming so asked pregame to stand 
under the fourth official's canopy. Then I could step in and out 
for photos and writing on my notebook (that's not my computer but 
real pen and paper folks!). There was some overlap when it was 
raining yet the sun was out. The weather couldn't have been 
as bad as Oakville where the game was delayed while being played 
because of lightning then eventually cancelled with Woodbridge 
holding a 1-0 lead.

OSUF has a medium size rental bus to get back home whereas 
Windsor players arrived by car pool I confirmed with a player 
after the game. I suppose both teams will feel it wasn't 
a disaster as they both went one win, one loss over the weekend.

Windsor's record (this was a 'home' game for them) falls 
to four wins, five losses, four ties for 16 points and are 
fifth of eight in the Western Conference.

OSUF's record improves to five wins, five losses, one tie 
for 16 points and are sixth in the East.

Both teams are not well represented at the midweek All-Star 
game with L1O against the Quebec league. OSUF had defender 
Justin Earle named to the second team but the coach confirmed 
with yesterday that he'd already left the team for school. 
Windsor defender Jamar Kelly (who did play today) was also named 
to the second team. With 11 players on the first team 
and 23 listed to the second team, it would not surprise me that 
Jamar Kelly won't make the ten hour round trip.

The All-Star game is scheduled for Wednesday night at 7:30pm 
at the Ontario Soccer Centre which is only about the length 
of three soccer fields away from today's venue. Canadian Premier 
League exec Paul Beirne has promised to attend so every player 
will want to show well to impress to move up to this new league next year.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
twitter RocketRobin01

Windsor TFC Stars starters