August 20, 2017 League 1 Ontario--North Toronto Nitros vs Toronto Skillz FC (by Rocket Robin)

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Result and details of the Sunday August 20, 2017 League 1 Ontario game between
North Toronto Nitros and Toronto Skillz FC played at Esther Shiner Stadium in North York at 7:00pm.

North Toronto Nitros (red socks and shirts, black shorts, white numbers)

........................1 Stefan Dusciuc
25 Javid Hoseini...37 Jason Akoa...17 Myles Abreo...13 Nikolay Saveliev
29 Kinlay Shulman...14 Callum Fleming...15 Christian Westlaken...8 Kevin DaSilva
.............9 Kembo Kibato...10 Niklas Bauer

Subs:...30 Jayden Vernon...35 Farzan Ansan...21 Lucas Afework
team officials:...head coach Hermann Kingue...team officials Ilya Orlov, Gary Fleming, and John Bianchi

Toronto Skillz (navy socks and shirts, red shorts and sleeves, white numbers)

........................0 Lucas Birnstingl
14 Jermy Nand...12 Julio Martorano...23 Thanujan Jeyathilaka...3 Ahash Parthipan
6 Leslie Fitzpatrick...22 Liam Cox...11 Anorch Jeyathilaka...2 Justin Alvarez...5 Frantz Bill
................18 Neil Brown

Subs:...1 Tim Van Gelderen (gk)...7 Anhr El-Eidani...9 Paul Babalan...13 Mateusz Skorski
...16 Nithan Ramanathan
team officials:...team head coach Jake Doodnath...assstant coach Isiaka Onibudo...therapist Deidra Erd

Game officials:...referee John Vlahos...referee's assistants John O'Hara and Brian Lee
...fourth official Nick Vagenas...(yellow shirts, black shorts and socks)

1st Half:...game starts 7:03pm...NTN defends West end on this hot and humid evenng with a breeze from the west
and a bright sun in the north west.
15 sec...NTN DaSilva is tapped pass and 20 yard roller is saved by goalie.
2 min...NTN DaSilva bends 18 yard shot from left wide right.
4 min...NTN DaSilva low cross from through 6 yard box from left. NTN Hoseini can't turn kick on right end line.
5 min...NTN Bauer breaks TS defender's grab on him to rush on left from 40 yards and rolls 15 yarder that's stopped.
6 min...NTN Kinlay Shulman GOAL...NTN Nikolay Saveliev rushes down left side and low cross from 20 yards
along 6 yard line has charging Shulman blast 6 yard shot forward into middle of net.
9 min...NTN DaSilva run on left and ball rolled into box but defender clears at 6 yard line.
10 min...TS Fitzpatrick 35 yard freekick up middle has TS Nand rescue on right cornerflag but is checked for goalkick.
14 min...TS Jeyathilaka 55 yard freekick from left is over players and bounces to goalie.
16 min...TS Fitzpatrick 40 yard freekick from left has leaping defender at 7 yards head ball wide right.
16 min...TS Fitzpatrick cornerkick from right is cleared from the box.
17 min...TS Fitzpatrick gets ball back and cross from right has TS Alvarez nod ball wide.
17 min...TS Alvarez rolls 20 yarder wide right of post.
18 min...TS Fitzpatrick 35 yard freekick from right is over net.
19 min...TS Julio Martorano tackles NTN Niklas Bauer who was running into left side of box. Referee Joan Vlahos awards
NTN a Penalty kick and gives Martorano a Yellow card.
20 min...NTN Niklas Bauer GOAL...Bauer rolls Penalty kick to right side of net as goalie Lucas Birnstingl dives left.
21 min...NTN DaSilva cross from left has defender concede cornerkick.
23 min...NTN Kibato cornerkick from right has goaloie catch on right post and starts fast break.
24 min...TS Cox cross from 30 yards on far left has defender head away.
25 min...NTN DaSilva gets long pass and runs up left wing. He starts to cut towards goal and shoots high riight of net
from 15 yards.
25 min...TS Fitzpatrick 33 yard roller up m iddle is straight to goalie.
29 min...TS Liam Cox wins Penalty kick on sliding tackle on left side of box.
30 min...TS Leslie Fitzpatrick GOAL...Fitzpatrick blasts Penalty kick roller to right corner of net as goalie Stefan Dusciuc
is frozen in middle of goal.
34 min...NTN sub...Ansarii replaces Akoa. NTN had played short for about the last 8 minutes.
35 min...TS goalie kicks away ball before NTN DaSilva can get to it.
37 min...TS Martorano 60 yard freekick from right bounces to goalie.
37 min...TS goalie makes sliding point blank save on NTN DaSilva.
38 min...NTN DaSilva blasts 35 yard freekick from left is well high and wide left of net.
39 min...NTN Bauer 30 yard low shot from left is through players and caught by goalie on bounce.
40 min...TS Alvarez 25 yard chip from right is caught by goalie wide left of net.
41 min...TS Brown cross from 30 yards on right has TS Fitzpatrick control it at 20 yards in middle and taps pass
to TS Alvarez who shoots 20 yarder that goaolie catches.
44 min...TS Brown has 7 yard shot on rush that goalie slides for point blank save. The goalie starts a fast break
on long punt and NTN Bauer has 18 yard shot saved.
45:25 min...half ends 7:48pm.

2nd Half:...starts 8:03pm.
50 min...NTN Niklas Bauer GOAL...NTN Kevin DaSilva on left passes low centering ball to Bauer who from 12 yards controls
ball and shoots low 12 yarder into right corner of net.
51 min...TS RED card...Goalie Lukas Birnstingl earns it as the last man back for grabbing shoulder of Kevin DaSilva who was
deking by him on edge of box. Tim Van Gelderen came in to play goalie and subbed for field player Julio Matorano.
53 min...NTN Abreo 18 yard freekick from left is well over bar.
55 min...NTN Bauer on give and go with NTN Shulman has Bauer finish with shot over net on deflection but goalkick is given.
56 min...NTN Shulman blasts 15 yarder when ball is crossed and goalie bats away at 4 yards over for throw-in.
58 min...TS Fitzpatrick cornerkick from right is over players in box. TS Nand cross from right is stopped.
59 min...NTN Saveliev blasts 33 yarder between players is off bar. NTN Westlaken chips 35 yarder from right that goalie catches.
60 min...TS sub...El-Eidanii replaces Alvarez.
65 min...TS Brown cross from 28 yards after run down left has goalie step forward on right post and gets hand to bat away to break
up TS player charging to post.
66 min...NTN Bauer rescues ball on right end line and sends cross from 15 yards and NTN DaSilva has 12 yard shot is blocked by defender.
68 min...NTN Kibato is injured at TS 45 yard line.
69 min...NTN sub...Vernon replaces injured Kibato.
70 min...TS sub...Ramantathan replaces Jeyathilaka.
71 min...NTN Fleming 30 yard shot from right is wide left of net.
72 min...NTN Bauer s bumped off ball on bash up middle getting by two defenders but being stopped at 15 yards by a third.
73 min...TS Fitzpatrick cornerkick from right has NTN player jump and head ball away at 8 yards.
74 min...TS Brown receives long upfield pass and flicks header from 12 yards that hits outside of right post.
75 min...NTN YELLOW card...Hoseini earns it for holding at TS 40 yard line.
77 min...NTN Saveliev 25 yard shot from left has goalie catch at 5 yards.
79 min...NTN Saveliev blasts 45 yarder from left wide right of net.
80 min...NTN Shulman 15 yard shot from right is into outside right webbing of net.
81 min...NTN Saveliev cornerkick from right bounces through box unplay.
83 min...NTN Bauer blasts 28 yarder up mddle just wide right of post on bounce.
85 min...TS Ramanathan pushes ball too far forward at 25 yards and rolls it to goalie.
86 min...NTN Bauer flicks pass to himself and blasts 25 yarder from right is wide left of net.
87 min...NTN DaSilva can't win Penalty kick on left side of box on sliding tackle.
88 min...NTN Bauer has 15 yard shot blocked after he regains posession on 1 on 4 against 4 in box.
90 min...NTN Shulman has 15 yard shot is saved by sprwaling goalie on right post on shot from right
and rebound blas blocked by defender at 8 yards.
91 min...NTN player gets bicycle kick attempt called offside.
92:04 min...game ends 8:50pm.

Final Score:...North Toronto Nitros....3...Toronto Skillz FC..1...

Attendance was about 50 on this hot and humid evening with the bright 
sun setting in the north west. Nitros faced the east in the fiirst 
half. The section I was in had a loud section of Skillz parents—even 
louder than I remember last week at their home game against Windsor.

This is the first time this season I've been to Esther Shiner Stadium*. 
I've been to two Nitros home games at Varsity Stadium in downtown 
Toronto but now that the University of Toronto school season has 
started the team is bumped (like last year) to whatever field they 
can get. Early L1O schedule posting had their late season games 
at Downsview Park (not on the KIA Training Grounds property) but 
a move here is even closer to my home.

Referee John Vlahos gave out one Yellow card to each team, gave 
a Penalty kick to each team and gave a Red to the Skillz goalie but 
the teams were both well disciplined.

Nitros found early success running down the left side and after their 
early goal exploited that continuously the rest of the half.

Nitros played very well defensively. They limited the number of shots 
that Skillz took with timely blocks and swarming offensive players. 
The one opening was on the play that resulted in the Skillz penalty 
kick. Defender Jason Akoa had been injured and had left the field. 
Nitros weren't expecting a sub so soon and had nobody warming up. 
It took about 8 minutes to replace him. In his absence, Skillz ran 
a play up the left side and the understrength defenders pulled 
a player down. Next best chance was just before the half when 
Neil Brown had a 7 yard shot stopped point blank by the sliding 
Nitros goalie who recovered quickly and punted to start a fast 
break upfield.

Niklas Bauer scored two tonight and three last weekend (one in each
game on a Penalty kick) to zoom up to 5 goals in only four games
this season (all within the last month).  Leading scorers on Nitros 
are Mirza Custovic with 7 goals and Kyle Laborde-Agres with 6 goals 
but neither have played since June.  Bauer took delight in some great 
runs up the middle bashing by three defenders and then being stopped 
or blocked by the fourth.  

Both teams had some chances in the second half. 59 minutes had 
Nitros Nkolay Savaliev blast a 33 yarder between players off the bar. 
65 minutes had Skillz Neil Brown cross from 28 yards after a run 
down the left had the goalie step forward on the right post and got 
a hand to and bat away to break up a TS player charging to the post. 
Brown got another chance when he flicked a header from 12 yards 
after receiving a long upfield pass that hit the outside of the 
right post at 74 minutes. 80 minutes had Kinlay Shulman have 
a 15 yard shot from the right hit the outside webbing of the net. 
10 minutes later he had a 15 yard shot saved by the sprawling goalie 
on the short side right post and his 8 yard rebound blast was blocked 
by a defender.

I felt Skillz were greatly handicapped from any comeback attempt once 
they were down to ten men and I was waiting for Nitros to roll 
up the score. 

Nitros record improves to 9 wins, 5 losses, 2 ties for 29 points with 
a goals for/against of 41/24. They are in third place in the Eastern 
Division only four points behind Woodbridge Strikers who did not play 
tonight as they were in a tournament this weekend with Vaughan Strikers, 
Toronto FC III, and Juventus (Italy) U-17 team. TFC III ended 
up winning over Juventus in Penalty kicks.

This was the first game for Skillz after their first win of the season 
last Sunday against a short sided Windsor. They were scheduled to play 
a rescheduled game on Thursday night against the last team that hadn't 
won this season but that game was postponed for a second time because 
of a wet field.

Skillz record falls to 1 win, 13 losses, 0 ties for 3 points. They are 
eighth (last) in the East. Their goals for and against is 14 to 46 
so tonight's score is almost as close to a 1-3.75 to hit as close 
to their average score as possible.

* This stadium is where my regular soccer watching started in the 1988 
season when I watched North York Rockets of the "Canadian Soccer League 
(1987-1992)" [Wikipedia name to distinguish it from the later league] 
from their second year onward. That first game against the defending 
champs Vancouver 86ers where Rockets being the worst team in the 
inaugural season pulled a 3-1 upset in front of a sellout crowd—the 
stands were full and folding metal chairs were brought in to line the 
track into the endzone. I think the crowd was announced as 3000 to 3200 
and the only time I remember it ever selling out. North York mayor 
Mel Lastman gave a short speech that night (Toronto mayorship wouldn't 
come until years later and he campaigned against amalgamation!). 
My younger self often walked there and sometimes beat the then 
30-minutes-between bus service of those nights.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
twitter @RocketRobin01

North Toronto Nitros starters