September 22, 2018 League 1 Ontario--Aurora FC vs Ottawa South Union Force game review (by Rocket Robin)

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Result and details of the Saturday September 22, 2018 League 1 Ontario game between Aurora FC vs Ottawa South United Force
played at Stewart Burnett Park in Aurora at 4:00pm.

Aurora FC (yellow socks and shirts, black shorts and numbers)

..................1 Sunny Dhaliwal
3 Morey Doner (cpt)...4 Michael Globocki...5 Scott McGrouther...2 Petros Vasilos
6 Abbas Ajibade...10 Pampreet Singh...15 Hashmatullah Sultanpoory...16 Nicholas Rallis
..............9 Maximillian Ferrari...18 Jordale Byers

Subs:...12 Benjamin Kleiser...7 Paolo Migotto...8 Jonathan Worthy...11 Basel Rashrash
...13 Matthew McGrouther...14 Michael Pellegrini...20 Aaron Simpson
team offiials:...team head coach Derek O'Keeffe...assistant coaches Ali Sozeri, Dave Diplacido*, Don Ferguson, and Marco Ciampa
...manager Mike Scanlon...therapist Milad Mohib

* Dave Diplacido wasn't here as I watched him play for the York 9 Celebrity All-Stars team down the street an hour earlier.
suspended list: Dylan Rennie

Ottawa South United Force (all white, black numbers)

......................1 Jared St Thomas
12 Kirk Moody...23 Nicolas Diberardino...3 Julian White...4 Max Izzat
19 Dakota Boal...18 Barou Junior Mbuyamba (cpt)...5 Mohamed Maadani...17 Naufal El Mansari
..............10 Kaweke Sophas...7 Daniel Assaf

Subs:...20 Zachary McFarlane (gk)...6 Sahal Arwo...15 David Sloane...21 Julian Terris
...22 Aiden Zabukovec
team head coach Peter Mapendere...assistant coach Jay Bhindi...manager Hassane Osama

Game officials:...referee Nick Piperno...referee's assistant Phil Benevides and Anthony Dimambro
...fourth official Kevin McEleney...(watermelon shirts, black shorts and socks)

First Half:...starts 3:59pm...Aurora defend south end and this mild afternoon with a bright sun in the west.
1 min...OSUF Assaf 20 yard low shot down middle is caught by goalie in middle of goal.
3 min...AFC Byers low 18 yard kick is is smothered by goalie.
6 min...OSUF Assaf 22 yard roller from left is smothered by goalie on left post.
8 min...AFC Ferrari pushes ball to AFC Sultanpoory and 15 yard shot on tough angle on right is saved by diving goalie.
10 min...OSUF Mbuyamba taps freekick and OSUF Sophas chips 30 yard cross that goaoie catches on near post.
10 min...AFC Doner on right near end line rolls ball back to AFC Sultanpoory and rolls 20 yarder down middle that
goalie easily stops.
11 min...AFC Ajibade chips 35 yarder down middle just over bar with goalie at 6 yards.
12 min...AFC Ferrari 25 yarder between players up middle is caught by goalie.
15 min...OSUF Mbuyamba is injured on sliding tackle judged as 'all ball' but lands on his leg at AFC 28 yard line
injurying it and needing trainer.
18 min...AFC Vasilos rescues ball on AFC Singh pass to left end line and cross has defender concede cornerkick with header.
19 min...AFC Singh cornerkick from left is cleared out right.
19 min...AFC Vasilos 30 yard kick from left is caught by goalie.
21 min...AFC Nicholas Rallis GOAL...AFC Maximillian Ferrari cross from 20 yards near right end line has ball sail over
defender and AFC player in middle of box and Rallis alone on left side of net chests ball down and takes low 10 yard
shot is into right side of net past goalie Jared St Thomas.
24 min...AFC Singh in middle passes to AFC Sultanpoory on right and 15 yard shot is high and wide left.
25 min...AFC Singh 30 yard freekick hits a head in player wall and eventually an AFC player's blasts up middle is saved
at 12 yards and deflected for cornerkick on left.
31 min...AFC Sultanpoory 20 yard kick up middle is caught by diving goalie on right post.
34 min...AFC Scott McGrouther and AFC goalie team up to keep OSUF Assaf off ball at AFC 22 yard line.
35 min...OSUF sub...Zabukovec replaces Mbuyamba. Assaf now becomes captain.
35 min...AFC Vasilos 28 yard cross from left end line is caught by goalie just right of post.
37 min...OSUF Boal low cross from 25 yards on right has defender clear.
38 min...AFC Singh cornerkick from right has OSUF Zabukovec head ball away in crowd of players.
38 min...AFC Vasilos 30 yard cross from left is caught by goalie on right post.
39 min...AFC YELLOW card...Ferrari earns it for his second foul within one minute at AFC 50 yard line.
40 min...OSUF Diberardino long throw-in from left and OSUF Assaf bumps over defender for AFC freekick from box.
42 min...AFC Globocki gets back to jolt OSUF Sophas off ball on long run up middle to inside box.
43 min...OSUF Maadani pushes pass forward to OSUF Sophas who blasts 18 yarder high wide right of goal.
44 min...AFC Ferrari 25 yard shot from right is wide left of net.
47 min...Half ends 4:46pm.

Halftime: the players and referee's stay on the field rather than walk 300 yards to the change rooms in the hockey arena.

Second Half:...starts 5:02pm.
50 min...OSUF Assaf cross from left end line has AFC Vasilos hook 5 yard ball on right post back for goalie to catch.
51 min...OSUF Zabukovec low 15 yard cross from left has AFC Globocki make huge clearance inside 6 yard box.
53 min...OSUF Assaf is again caught offside. That happened a few times already in this half.
54 min...AFC Ferrari cross from 15 yards on right has goalie catch on left side.
55 min...AFC Vasilos low cross from 20 yards on left is cleared by defender inside box.
55 min...AFC Petros Vasilos GOAL...Vasilos blasts 30 yarder down middle into right corner of net.
58 min...OSUF sub...Slane replaces Boal.
59 min...AFC Singh cornerkick from right has AFC Byers leap and pop header from right is over box.
60 min...AFC Singh 28 yard freekick on extreme left wasted on pass around that never makes box.
61 min...AFC Doner rush down right and rolls centering pass into box and AFC Ferrari sides and
shoots 8 yarder well over bar from slight right.
63 min...AFC Rallis low 22 yard freekick from near right is between two charging forward one step
away in 6 yard box.
63 min...AFC Ferrari cuts to middle and blasts 22 yarder down middle that goalie catches just under bar.
66 min...AFC Singh cornerkick from left is over players in box and AFC Ajibade nods 6 yard header on right
wide right of post.
67 min...OSUF Assaf blasts 22 yarder between players up middle that goalie bats down.
68 min...OSUF Sophas 30 yard off balance shot down middle is well wide left.
68 min...OSUF sub...Arwo replaces Maadani.
70 min...OSUF DiBerardino 35 yard freekick down middle is over net and back fence!
72 min...AFC Doner cross from 25 yards on far right has AFC Byers head 10 yarder from left wide left of net.
73 min...OSUF Sophas cornerkick from right is missed by players in box. OSUF Moody 20 yard shot is blocked
and rebound is caught by goalie on deflection.
75 min...OSUF sub...Terris replaces Moody.
77 min...AFC Doner long run down right, AFC Sultanpoory is given pass on right and he passes 20 yarder just
a step ahead of AFC Byers at 3 yards on left post.
81 min...AFC Ferrari 25 yard shot from left is caught by goalie.
82 min...AFC Singh and AFC Rallis mess up another cornerkick from right and are checked off ball for fast break
up sideline.
83 min...AFC Rallis 22 yard roller from left is just wide right of net.
83 min...AFC Doner dives to head ball back to goalie at 10 yards to beat OSUF Terris to ball.
86 min...AFC sub...Matthew McGrouther replaces Sultanpoory.
87 min...OSUF Sophas has AFC Scott McGrouther make huge stop at 10 yards on right preventing run or shot.
88 min...AFC Matthew MGrouther can't win Penalty kick on bump over by OSUF Izzat in box.
89 min...OSUF YELLOW card...Assaf earns it for studs up tackle on AFC Ferrari at AFC 35 yard line and needs trainer.
91 min...OSUF Assaf 33 yard freekick up middle is low and into player wall and second line of defenders clear.
92 min...OSUF Sloane 35 yard shot from right is caught by goalie.
92 min...game ends 5:49pm.

Final Score:...Aurora FC.......2........Ottawa South United Force........0........

Attendance was about 40 on this mild afternoon with a bright sun in the west. I'm not sure how many in the crowd were
siphoned off by the Aurora FC Alumni game that just finished up the street against the York 9 Celebrity All Stars.
I had enough time to get between those games but the Alumni game ended with a barbecue and a meet and greet with
the Stars (former Canadian Men's team players and soccer TV personalities) that started right after the game ended
and was expected to carry on into the night with a U-17 game thrown in.

There were problems with the scoreboard at different times during the game with it stopping or turning off and having
to be reset. Some of my times were converted from my wristwatch.

Aurora had long periods of domination in this game. AFC Morey Doner was continuously beating OSUF Max Izzat down
the right side setting in all kinds of crosses.

Aurora took both Yellow cards of the day from referee Nick Piperno.

Both teams fielded young teams. Aurora had 12 of 18 players on today's roster listed
as being born 2000 or younger. OSUF had 12 of 16. Both teams knew they wouldn't qualify for the playoffs
a few weeks ago.

Sunny Dhaliwal (2000) earned the shutout for Aurora in only his second game of the season.

Aurora had a full bench but only used one sub and that wasn't until 86 minutes, long after they'd scored
an insurance goal.

Best scoring chances were at 8 minutes when AFC Maximillian Ferrari pushed a ball to AFC Kaweke Sophas and he took
a 15 yard shot on a though angle on the right that was saved by a diving goalie. 11 minutes had AFC Abbas Ajibade
chip a 35 yarder down the middle just over the bar with the goalie caught out at 6 yards. 63 minutes had
AFC Nicholas Rallis take a low 22 yard freekick from the near right that went between two charging forwards one step
away in the 6 yard box. The same minute Ferrari cut to the middle and blasted a 22 yarder down the middle that
the goalie caught just under the bar. 66 minutes had AFC Parmpreet Singh take a cornerkick from the left over
players in the box and AFC Abbas Ajibade nodded a 6 yard header on the right wide right of the post.

Since I'm given copies of the game sheets which I find more reliable than the game programs given by some teams
to fans, I get more details. I noticed two players with the same surname and same year of birth and consecutive
OSA numbers. Hmm “Are you guys twins?” I asked one of them. Yes Matthew McGrouther is two minutes older
than brother Scott.

My standard greeting for the staff of the OSUF team is “Five hour bus ride to get here?”. They agreed. The Leduc
charter bus they came in was the what I'd call half size—one which would shuttle you from a hotel to an airport.
The driver said he thought he could make it home in four and a half hours. I asked if he would be driving a full
size bus on Wednesday to carry the USL Ottawa Fury to downtown Toronto. He didn't know. [Late news, it was
a full size Leduc charter bus that brought the Fury to Lamport Stadium and it turned out he was the driver!]
The full size bus had trouble pulling into the stadium as some car was straddling the driveway.

This is the last weekend of the regular season of L1O play. Aurora win today means they finish the year at 3 wins,
10 losses, and 3 ties for 12 points. They finish fifteenth in the seventeen team league. I had expected them
to pass OSUF with today's result but it took me until I got home to find the league had changed a previously
cancelled game and awarded another 'win' to OSUF's record.

The loss left OSUF with a 3 win, 9 loss, 4 tie record for 13 points and they finish in a tie with North Mississauga
for thirteenth place. (spoiler alert: I drove from here to watch North Miss play Unionville Milliken and lose
so they hold at 13 points. N Miss also finish with 3-9-4 but have a better GF/GA of -15 vs -31).

Now it took me until Sunday afternoon when I asked L1O commissioner Dino Rossi what happened with that game
previously listed as 'Cancelled' in last week's standings to now read OSUF as 3-0 winner over Windsor. This game
was supposed to be played at a neutral site—the Ontario Soccer Centre. It would be a ten hour drive between Ottawa
and Windsor so as was done last season, the game would be played in the GTA which would mean only a five hour drive.
The night before the game the league learned that Windsor would not be fielding a team so OSUF was told not to start
their long bus ride. Only this weekend the standings were updated as a 3-0 forfeit. Windsor is the wooden spoon
winner so taking points from them wouldn't matter. It's league business what happens next but I know TFC III head
coach Danny Dichio told me that if TFC III hadn't played their final game against Vaughan last Tuesday (even though
TFC have left the L1O league for the USSDA), the league would have fined them $5000.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
twitter @RocketRobin01

Aurora FC starters