May 6, 2018 League 1 Ontario--Oakville Blue Devils vs Unionville Milliken SC game review (by Rocket Robin)

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Result and details of the Sunday May 5, 2018 League 1 Ontario match between Oakville Blue Devils and Unionville Milliken SC
played at Sheridan College in Oakville at 4:00pm.

Oakville Blue Devils (all navy uniforms, white numbers)

...................27 Karman Saini
..........20 Hitesh Joshi...3 Steven Lovell...6 Victor Gallo
9 Filipa Vilela...14 Taylor McNamara (cpt)...22 Al James...10 Braden Culver...16 Khody Ellis
..............23 Anthony Novak...17 Brandon Duarte

Subs:...26 Matt George (gk)...4 Matt Monteiro...8 Carlo Difeo...12 Satsumi "Sako" Hirano
...13 Mat Santos...15 Huno Carvalho...19 Logan Podrebarac...25 Stephen Ademolu
team officials:...team head coach Brett Mosen...assistant coaches Billy Steele, Duncan Wilde, and Glenn McNamara
...manager Kim Ashton...therapist Doug McMahon

Unionville-Milliken SC (all red uniforms, white numbers)

.....................1 Lucas Birnstingl
...6 Richard Edwards (cpt)...4 Victor Berenguer...18 Dena Iazady...21 Hans-Conny Chery
..........15 Halburto Harris...14 Hassan Abdulmumini...20 Frederick Ameyaw
..........23 Joseph Di Chiara...13 Kaine-Alexander Moar...10 Tre Crosby

Subs:...2 Sean Kim...5 Michael Fayehun...7 Basel Rashrash...9 Jalen Brome...11 Jarek Brome
...19 Dena Iazady...24 Isaiah Prentice-Whyte
team officials:...team head coach Vasil Ishchak...manager Angel Berestain and Jordan Holmes
...equipment manager Tony De Thomasis

Game officials:...Referee Kuizan Weekes...referee's assistants Sean Simpson and Kim Lee
...fourth official John Vlahos...(yellow shirts, black shorts and socks)

First Half:...game starts 4:02pm...OBD defends south end on this mild but damp afternoon.
2 min...OBD Culver blasts low 25 yard roller in crowd of players up middle and wide left.
4 min...UM goalie beats OBD Duarte to smother ball wide right as OBD players long throw-in from
left is kicked through box.
6 min...OBD Joshi bashes past three players on run cutting from right and goalie dives to save
weak 8 yard shot.
8 min...UM Crosby cornerkick from right is cleared in box.
13 min...OBD Anthony Novak GOAL...Novak finds himself with another OBD player all alone in the edge of the 6 yard box and
turns and fires ball into center of net over goalie Lucas Birnstingl. The reason this play wasn't called offside
as a UM player attempted to clear the ball but he shot it off another UM player at about 15 yards and the ball deflected
back to the two players in the open.
16 min...OBD Vilela taps back pass to OBD Culver shot shoots 20 yarder down middle over net.
18 min...it starts to rain hard.
24 min...OBD Duarte cross from 25 yards on far right is over 6 yard box and out for throw-in.
28 min...OBD Ellis pass up middle finds player on left side of box. The UM goalie dives forward to stop shot from 12 yards
on left and defender clears.
30 min...OBD goalie is out to edge of box to beat UM Moar to through ball.
32 min...OBD James ends OBD pressure with 5 yard shot well high and wide right across box however it was called offside anyway.
33 min...UM Abdulmumini pops header from right on cross from right is over net from 15 yards on right.
35 min...OBD goalie is out to right to smother through ball pass ahead of UM Moar.
37 min...OBD McNamara from 30 yards on right sideline causes scramble in box but defender clears.
39 min...UM Di Chiara 33 yard freekick from left is into player wall.
42 min...OBD Ellis cross from 15 yards along right end line has defender head ball away on left post.
43 min...OBD Duarte blasts 15 yarder high and wide left of net.
44 min...OBD Joshi low 8 yard blast from righyt deflects off defender at 4 yards and is wide right for cornerkick.
44 min...OBD McNamara cornerkick from right is over players in box.
45 min...OBD Vilela slides to connect on cross from left and 6 yard shot is wide right.
46 min...half ends 4:49pm.

Second Half:...starts 5:04pm.
halftime subs:...OBD Ademolu replaces Ellis.
.............UM Fayehun replaces Chery.
.............UM Jarek Brome replaces Ameyaw.
47 min...OBD Joshi is ready to tee up cross at 3 yards but defeder clears on left post.
48 min...OBD McNamara cornerkick from left is over players in box.
49 min...OBD YELLOW card...Ademolu earns it for knocking over UM Edwards at UM 50 yard line.
50 min...UM YELLOW card...Crosby earns for tackle on OBD Ademolu at OBD 40 yard line.
54 min...OBD Novak gets by three sliding defenders on run down left winning deflection but pass is flagged offside.
55 min...OBD sub...Moteiro replaces Lovell.
56 min...UM goalie leps to catch bouncer at 15 yards in crowd of players.
57 min...UM sub...Iazady replaces Harris.
57 min...OBD Culver 15 yard shot between players on left is caught by goalie.
60 min...OBD goalie is out to left to beat UM Crosby to smother ball near left edge of 6 yard box.
62 min...UM sub...Jalen Brome replaces Abdulmumini.
64 min...OBD McNamara corcnerkick from right has nearest defender on right head ball away.
67 min...OBD Ademolu recives pass upfield and head it down to control and low 25 yard shot is hurried on right
that's smothered by diving goalie.
68 min...OBD YELLOW card...Vilela earns it for kicking ball out of endzone after offside flag was raised.
69 min...UM YELLOW card...Berenguer earns it for crashing into OBD Ademolu at UM 50 yard line.
70 min...OBD Gallo 50 yarfd shot from left is caught by goalie.
70 min...UM Di Chiara 30 yard freekick from right has 10 yarder in header in box caught by goalie.
73 min...OBD McNamarfa cornerkick from left is over players in box.
74 min...OBD Novak shot from 15 yards on left near end line after run is wide right of net.
.........UM YELLOW card...Di Chiara earns a delayed card for flattening player at UM 45 yard line earlier in play.
76 min...OBD Joshi 15 yard shot in box on right is deflected wide left.
76 min...OBD McNamara cornerkick from left has defender on left post head ball away.
77 min...OBD McNamara 40 yard freekick from right is caught by goalie on right post.
79 min...UM Edwards 55 yard freekick from right as he slips has two flicked headers forward but goalie
controls ball on right post.
80 min...UM Harris cross from 20 yards along right end line is drifted behind net.
82 min...UM sub...Rashrash replaces Crosby.
.........OBD YELLOW card...player earns it for something.
83 min...UM Di Chiara 30 yard freekick from left is cleared in box. UM Harris lofts 28 yard rebound shot up middle
wide right of post.
84 min...OBD sub ...Podrebarac replaces Duarte.
85 min...OBD James short throw-in from left has him get tapped back pass and he crosses on left end line
that drifts behind net.
86 min...UM Di Chiara 28 yard freekick down middle is just high and wdie right of top corner of goal.
87 min...OBD sub...Difeo replaces Duarte.
87 min...UM goalie catches bouncer at 15 yards in crowd of players.
87 min...UM Di Chiara chips 28 yard freekick from left and ball is just wide right of top corner of goal.
88 min...UM Berenguer recovers loose ball at 20 yards and blasts shot down middle over net.
89 min...OBD YELLOW card...Saini the ogalie earns it for time wasting.
90 min...OBD Vilela on run down right from 35 yards and 20 yard low shot is saved by diving goalie.
95 min...OBD UM Di Chiara freekick on right edge of box has players on both teams start a dust up before kick is taken.
..........UM RED card...Jalen Brome earns a direct ejection for his part in the fight.
..........UM RED card...Dena Iazady earns a direct ejection for his part in the fight.
96 min...UM Rashrash 20 yard freekick from right when finally taken hits defender in two man wall.
96 min...game ends 5:56pm.

Final Score:...Oakville Blue Devils.....1.....Unionville Milliken SC.......0.......

Attendance was about 120 on this mild but rainy day. Sheridan College has no stadium lights which means they can't hold
night games but they do play in a covered stand so after sitting in the rain last night this was a blessing for
my making notes. Even if the wind drives the rain under the roof, the seats aren't number so we can just move back
a few rows. I can't do that at BMO Field!

OBD had a strong edge in play in the first half with much of the game in the UM end.

Karman Saini earned the shutout for OBD. This was a gutsy move as on the bench was 2016 Goaltender of the Year while
with Woodbridge Matt George. George played the majority of the games last year. A league official said he expected
this Unionville-Milliken game would be the toughest one on their schedule. He had a few key stops to make but was well
shielded by his defenders and the inaccuracy of UM shooters.

Biggest surprise for me was the appearance of forward Stephen Ademolu for OBD in the second half. I thought he'd
retire for sure after OBD won the league last year. He would travel all the way from Windsor each weekend to play
for the Blue Devils. I asked OBD assistant coach Duncan Wilde after the game and the arrangement is still the same.
He ran a soccer academy in Windsor at least last year.

Fans were all over referee Kuizan Weekes on every call and non-call that went against OBD. He had outcarded OBD 6-3
in Yellows (per the league report). I must have missed a few cards from my own recap. As if to make amends he gave
out two Red cards at 96 minutes both against UM players in a bizarre dust-up inside the OBD box while waiting for
a UM freekick to the right of the box. I thought there were about 120 in attendance.

Oakville opens the season with two wins in two games. With six of the fourteen league fixtures played so far ending
in ties they are the only team with a perfect record although both their games have been at home. They held some of their
preseason in Bermuda playing against a Bermuda league all star team. For those players who could make the trip it
looks like it has helped get them off to a good start in mid season form.

Unionville-Milliken SC is a new team in the L1O Men's League although their Women's team started action last year.
Their Men's team was created by bringing in the club's youth organization (located in Markham which is directly north
of the Toronto suburb of Scarborough) and the owner of York Region Shooters of the outlawed Canadian Soccer League.
I made sure I said hello as I hadn't seen them for five years as the L1O started up in 2014 after a year's delay
(that's why I had patience with the new CanPrem League). I asked owner Tony De Thomasis if this was a sudden decision
and he answered he had been planning this since last summer. There were four players playing today I recognized from
his team in 2013. York Region Shooters won the CSL Championship last year. It must have come as a surprise as there
are still some current broken links on their website but there is no YRS operating in their league. I'm not up on the
Star Wars movie franchise of switching sides but I was thinking this was comparable to the NASL New York Cosmos suddenly
being granted an MLS team although over the years MLS has admitted a handful but Cosmos would have been biggest.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
Twitter @RocketRobin01

Oakville Blue Devils starters