September 16, 2018 League 1 Ontario--Oakville Blue Devils vs Darby FC game review (by Rocket Robin)

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Result and details of the Sunday September 16, 2018 League 1 Ontario game between Oakville Blue Devils and Darby FC
played at Bronte Park in Oakville at 4:00pm.

Oakville Blue Devils (all navy, white numbers)

...................70 Lucas Birnstingl
29 Carlo Difeo...6 Victor Gallo...18 Christian Young...22 Al James
24 Tyriq Armstrong...10 Braden Culver...19 Logan Podrebarac...16 Khody Ellis
.............9 Filipe Vilela (cpt)...23 Anthony Novak

Subs:...26 Manuel Dirube (gk)...3 Shamar Wright...8 Judah Hernandez...12 Satsumi 'Sako' Hirano
...21 Marco Gennaccaro...25 Devon Heathcote...30 Rajvir Khalon
team officials:...team head coach Brett Mosen...assistant coaches Billy Steele, Duncan Wilde, and Glenn McNamara
...therapist Mark Heathcote

Darby FC (all white, navy shorts)

.....................1 Matt Zaikos
21 Michael Diriennzo...5 Taejon Mikle-Ryan...15 Cameron Brooks (cpt)...3 Vincenzo Sasso
4 Jonathan Parolini...6 Raphael Reynolds...17 Christian Moncrieffe...23 Shaun Lawson
.............9 Le Rohne Young...11 Nashon Campbell

Subs:...0 Ile Naumoski (gk)...2 Tajmir Ashraq...7 Trevon McInnis...8 Romaine Watkis
...14 Hayden Clarke...16 Michael Marioaro...18 Adrian Gallo
team head coach David Thorburn...assistant coach Billy Pachis, Eugene Alves, and Sanford Carabin
...therpaist Rich McPaul

Game officials:...referee Scott Bowman...referee's assistants Marko Ristic and Brian Novogradac
...fourth official Kim Lee...(watermelo shirts, black shorts and socks)

First Half:...game starts 4:00pm...OBD defends north end on this hot and humid afternoon with
a bright sun in the west.
1 min...OBD Podrebarac rolls 28 yard shot up middle between players wide left.
2 min...Darby Young rolls 25 yarder up middle which goalie smothers.
4 min...OBD Victor Gallo chips 40 yard freekick from left that's headed into box but whistle is blown.
6 min...Darby Mikle-Ryan almost scores an own goal when ball crossed into box but goalie catches 12 yard
shot on right post.
7 min...OBD Difeo 25 yard freekick from right is cleared from box by closest player on right.
9 min...OBD player's cornerkick from right is low and cleare on right side of box.
14 min...OBD Novak rolls 25 yard shot from right that goalie smothers.
15 min...Darby Diriennzo low cross along right end line has defenders clear for fast break out.
17 min...Darby Moncrieffe injured back on play at OBD 22 yard line.
22 min...OBD James long throw-in from left is headed away. James eventually gets call back and 25 yard cross
from left has OBD Novak jab 8 yard midair shot from middle that goalie catches in middle.
24 min...water break is called.
26 min...play resumes.
26 min...Darby Parolini chips 40 yarder from left is high and wide right.
26 min...OBD Tyriq Armstrong is not awarded Penalty kick when Darby goalie dove for ball on top right edge of box.
OBD Ellis follows up with 10 yard shot from left over empty net.
.........Darby YELLOW card...goalie Zaikos earns it for upending Armstrong on previous play.
30 min...Darby Diriennzo is injured when OBD James slides into him at OBD 50 yard sideline.
31 min...Darby Brooks 55 yard freekick from right has Darby player in crowd of player head ball wide left.
33 min...OBD James long throw-in from left has ball popped up on header and cleared.
38 min...Darby Lawson cornerkick from left has goalie swat ball away in crowd of players in middle of box.
38 min...Darby Brooks long throw-in from right has goalie leap to catch on right end line.
39 min...OBD Ellis after run on left and cuts to center and bends 22 yarder high and wide right of net.
41 min...OBD Tyriq Armstrong GOAL...OBD Felipe Vilela sends pass down right wing and Armstrong has short run
on right and shoots low 25 yarder into left corner of net beyond goalie Matt Zaikos.
44 min...Darby Lawson cornerkick from right is flick headed across box by defender. Darby Reynolds misses getting
away shot and OBD Novak is injured.
45 min...OBD Tyriq Armstrong GOAL...Armstrong has a long distance run down the right holding defender at bay
and low 25 yard shot is into low left corner of net beyond diving goalie.
48 min...half ends 4:48pm.

Halftime: The OBD players go back to the dressing room, grab a bottle of water or sports drink and go back
out to their bench to sit in the shade.

Second Half:...starts 5:03pm.
Halftime subs:...OBD Hernendez replaces Novak.
.................OBD Hirano replaces Culver.
.................OBD Khalon replaces Podrebarac.
.................Darby Clarke replaces Moncrieffe.
47 min...OBD James high cross from 22 yards near left end line drifts behind net.
48 min...Darby Clarke 35 yard freekick from right is headed down but bounces to goalie on right post.
49 min...Darby Diriennzo 55 yard freekick from right has goalie out to 15 yards to catch in front of crowd of players.
50 min...OBD Armstrong and OBD Hernandez have shots blocked on the edge of the box by defenders, then OBD Vilela
chips a 12 yard shot from the left and its wide right of the post.
51 min...Darby goalie pushes OBD Armstrong out of the way to catch popped up ball at 3 yards.
52 min...Darby sub...Ashraq replaces Diriennzo.
53 min...Darby YELLOW card...Campbell earns it for shirt grabbing OBD Hirano at OBD 35 yard line near sideline.
54 min...OBD Hernandez long run up right to through ball and cross along end line has defender concede cornerkick.
54 min...OBD Hernandez cornerkick from right has Darby defender clears on hear post for a throw-in.
57 min...OBD Judah Hernandez GOAL...Darby Vincenzo Sasso 45 yard freekick from right has Hernandez head away
in crowd of players at 18 yards. Hernandez and OBD Felipe Vilela are soon away on a 2 on 1 break from the
center line. Vilela passes to Hernandez at 20 yards and he chips shot to right side of net that flying goalie
gets hand to but pushes it just under the bar.
58 min...OBD Felipe Vilela GOAL...OBD Judah Hernandez rush down left and short pass to Vilela on left edge
of box and he runs towards middle and cuts 18 yard shot around defender and into top right corner of net.
61 min...Darby sub...Watkis replaces Brooks. Mikle-Ryan becomes captain.
61 min...Darby Clarke 55 yard freekick from left has goalie run to near edge of box to catch.
62 min...OBD YELLOW card...Victor Gallo earns it for tripping Darby Young at 15 yards on right side line.
63 min...Darby Sasso 30 yard freekick from right has Darby Young head ball down but defenders clear.
64 min...Darby sub...Adrian Gallo replaces Lawson.
66 min...OBD Victor Gallo 35 yard freekick from left is high and wide right of net.
67 min...Darby sub...Marioaro replaces Campbell.
67 min...water break is called.
69 min...play resumes.
71 min...Darby Ashraq rolls 25 yarder on run down left directly to goalie as no Darby players run for it.
71 min...Darby Sasso rush down right qnd 25 yard cross is caught by goalie.
74 min...OBD sub...Wright replaces Vilela.
.........OBD sub...Heathcote replaces James.
75 min...OBD Ellis long throw-in from left is caught by goalie.
77 min...Darby Adrian Gallo cornerkick from right drops in box unplayed and defender clears out left side.
78 min...OBD Ellis cornerkick is short from left and eventually crossed but defender clears.
79 min...OBD Armstrong is injured at Darby 22 yard line on left. OBD play short as summbed max of five players
so play short until Armstrong can return.
82 min...OBD Hirano run on right and rolls cetnering pass into box but defender clears.
83 min...Darby Adrian Gallo cuts to middle from left and low 30 yard shot is wide left.
86 min...OBD Wright has 20 yard shot blocked by defender.
87 min...Darby Clarke 25 yard shot from left deflects off defender and rolls to goalie.
91 min...OBD Difeo run for ball on right and low cross from right has defenders clear.
92 min...Darby Marioaro can't get across box on run from left running into defender's forearm and earns no call.
92 min...game ends 5:50pm.

Final Score:...Oakville Blue Devils.......4.......Darby FC........0........

Attendance was about 100 on this extremely hot and humid day. Referee Scott Bowman ordered a water break
in each half which is almost unheard of this late in the season.

The game was held at 'Bronte' because the team loses its home field at Sheridan College once school
is back in session. One advantage this facility has is it does have stadium lights (Sheridan doesn't!)
so night games are a possibility. I remember being here one night last year cowering under the clubhouse
overhang during a prematch downpour. That was the infamous 0-0 tie that let both Oakville and Woodbridge
win their conferences and play each other in the final.

This game was broken open by the two goals scored in quick succession right before halftime. They were
almost identically angled shots by Tariq Armstrong. Any comeback was thwarted by two goals in two minutes
by the Hernandez and Vilela combo trading goals and assists.

Filipe Vilela played Friday night for George Brown College scoring twice for his school. He answered
me before the game that he was glad of a day's rest in between because of today's hot weather. Yes,
last week he scored for OBD on Saturday night then scored for GBC on Sunday afternoon!

The shutout was earned by Lucas Birnstingl who had a few key saves to make including some catches
made while staring into the sun. This makes six shutouts in eight games since taking over goaltending
duties. He's allowed only two goals against and a GAA of 0.25. That's actually half of OBD's previous
goalie Matt George's 0.50 GAA before being 'traded' to Vaughan.

Anthony Novak was a surprise sub off at halftime. He is L1O's leading scorer with 18 league goals
and leads by five over FC London's Connor Wilson.

This was the fifth game and first start for Tyriq Armstrong (he's a year 2000 and was with OBDII
ie their U-21 team earlier this season). His first game for their L1O team was exactly one month ago).
He played the full 90 minutes. Old records show that he played five games for Sanjaxx Lions in 2016
(the only win was in Oakville against the Blue Devils). He played for the Gold medal winning
Team Ontario at the Canada games last summer. That bio lists his hometown as Oakville. He was
injured at 79 minutes and was helped off the field but because OBD had used their five subs they
would have played short but he eventually returned to the game.

Best non-scoring chances were at 6 minutes when Darby Taejon Mikle-Ryan almost scored an own goal
when a ball crossed into the box had him get his foot down but it turned into a 12 yard shot dow
the middle that the goalie caught on the right post. 22 minutes had OBD Al James cross a ball
from 25 yards from the left that OBD Anthony Novak jabbed an 8 yard mid-air shot down the middle
that the goalie caught without having to move. 26 minutes was a bit of confusion when the Darby
goalie dove out to the top right edge of the box and upended OBD Tyriq Anderson who was not awarded
a Penalty kick. The ball flew over to OBD Khody Ellis who was caught off balance and shot
a 10 yarder over the empty net. Fine, there's your chance but it looked like the Darby goalie
was given a Yellow card. 50 minutes had at least two OBD players have their shots blocked on the
edge of the box then OBD Filipe Vilela chipped a 12 yard shot just wide of the post.

This was a huge win for Oakville because although they clinched a playoff spot many weeks ago,
the encouragement of finishing higher up the table results in more home games when the teams
that qualify are broken into two four team groups with one game against each team on the three
weekends after the season finishes next week. The winner of each group play in a one game
final on October 20.

This was Oakville's final game of the regular season. They finish with a record of 10 win,
1 loss, and 5 ties for 35 points. They jump to a tie for second place with FC London who have
one more win and one more game to play next weekend.

Darby hold on to a tie for eighth place with Unionville-Milliken with a record of 5 wins,
5 losses, and 5 ties for 20 points. They have one game left when they host first place
Sigma FC on Wednesday night. Since FC London could still finish first, Sigma will not
be taking it easy. If Darby do make the playoffs they would have three road games
in their group.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
twitter @RocketRobin01

Oakville Blue Devils starters