September 30, 2018 League 1 Ontario--Oakville Blue Devils vs Unionville Milliken SC playoff game review (by Rocket Robin)

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Result and details of the Sunday September 30, 2018 League 1 Ontario game between Oakville Blue Devils and Unionville Milliken SC
played at Bronte Park in Oakville at 4:00pm. This was the first game for both teams in their Group B playoff round
(four teams, three games each. Think World Cup bracket where only the winner advances to play the Group A winner).

Oakville Blue Devils (all navy, white numbers)

................70 Lucas Birnstingl
20 Hitesh Joshi...6 Victor Gallo...5 Victor Gallo...21 Marco Gennaccaro
..........24 Tyriq Armstrong...14 Taylor McNamara (cpt)...16 Khody Ellis
..........10 Braden Culver...23 Anthony Novak...30 Rajvir Khalon

Subs:...27 Michael Costanzo (gk)...3 Hamar Wright...17 Spencer Barber...8 Judah Hernandez
...9 Filipe Vilela...12 Satsumi "Sako" Hirano...25 Matthew Roberts
team officials:...team head coach Brett Mosen...assistant coaches Billy Steele, Duncan Wilde, and Glenn McNamara
...therapist Mark Heathcote

Unionville Milliken SC (white socks and numbers, red shorts and shirts)

.......................1 Adrian Ibanez (cpt)
15 Halburto Harris...23 Nathan Brown...5 Camaal Reid...9 Jalen Brome
10 Tre Crosby...6 Richard Edwards...22 Duwayne Ewart...17 Isaiah-Prentice Whyte
..............7 Kiril Dimitrov...20 Khubalb Mahboubullah

Subs:...0 Alessio Carbone (gk)...2 Dominique Modeste...4 Lucas Teixeira...8 Bojan Zoranovic
...11 Marc Jankovic...14 Hassan Abdulmumini...24 Odain Simpson
team officials:...team head coach Vasil Ishchak...manager Jordan Holmes...equipment amanger Tony De Thomasis

Game officials:...referee Brian Butler...referee's assistants John-Morgan Pizzuti and Kim Lee
...fourth official Kuizan Weekes...(yellow shirts, black shorts and socks)

Frist Half:...starts 3:59pm...OBD defends north end on this overcast cool afternoon with no wind.
3 min...UM Brown clearance at 20 yards deflects off UM Brown up middle bounces back for goalie.
6 min...UM goalie is out to edge of box to catch through ball.
8 min...OBD Khalon cornerkick from right has UM Reid pop up header in box and ball is cleared.
9 min...UM Dimitrov rolls pass from 40 yards on right forward to UM Mahboubullah and his 20 yard shot
is into short side mesh of net.
9 min...OBD Taylor McNamara 30 yard shot down middle on partial clearance is wide right of net.
11 min...OBD Khalon cornerkick from left is through box and UM Reid on right heads out for throw-in.
11 min...OBD Joshi long throw-in from right is tipped header that's bounced to goalie.
14 min...OBD Armstrong on right rolls pass to OBD Culver who has his 15 yard shot tipped for a cornerkick.
14 min...OBD Khalon cornerkick from right is low and defender clears.
15 min...OBD Armstrong run down right anad 20 yard shot from sharp angle is wide left.
16 min...UM Dimitrov cross from right is into box has UM Whyte head 8 yarder that's caught by goalie in middle.
17 min...OBD Armstrong low 22 yard shot from right has sliding goalie save at 15 yards.
18 min...OBD Taylor McNamara 50 yard freekick down middle has leaping OBD Novak head ball wide left from 15 yards.
24 min...OBD Khalon 30 yard freekick from right side near sideline is well high and wide left.
25 min...OBD Culver is given centering pass from left and hs shoots 22 yarder down middle well over net.
26 min...OBD Culver is injured at 22 yards in middle.
28 min...OBD Armstrong recevies OBD Khalon throw-in from right after tip and shoots 22 yarder over net.
30 min...UM Mahboubullah is injured in collision and draws freekick.
31 min...UM Crosby 35 yard freekick down middle has OBD Culver head ball away to left to start a breakout.
32 min...UM YELLOW card...Brome earns it for flatting OBD Culver on sideline run at UM 50 yard line.
33 min...UM Dimitrov cornerkick from right is low and defender in center of box clears.
34 min...UM YELLOW card...Edwards earns it for tackle on OBD Ellis to break up rush at UM 50 yard line.
36 min...OBD goalie is out to 22 yards on right to clear through ball pass before UM Mahboubullah can get to it.
38 min...OBD Taylor McNamara 45 yard freekick 45 yard freekick from left is caught by goalie wide right of post.
41 min...OBD players multipass paly ends up with an offside call in the UM box.
44 min...OBD Gennaccaro 45 yard shot from left is over players and caught by goalie.
46 min...half ends 4:45pm.

Halftime Entertainment:...Ari the regular PA announcer is not here so the DJ finally puts on Billy Steele's
song 'When The Sun Comes Out In Norwich' which is usually played before the game.

Second Half:...starts 5:00pm.
halftime subs:...OBD Hernandez replaces Culver.
.................OBD Vilela replaces Armstrong.
.................UM Abdulmumini replaces Crosby.
47 min...OBD Khody Ellis GOAL...OBD Anthony Novak at 22 yards on far left sends low centering pass across box for Ellis
in crowd of players in box and he shoots 8 yarder up middle between sprawling goalie Adrian Ibanez's legs.
49 min...UM Dimitrov shoots 40 yarder from right high and wide left.
50 min...OBD Joshi throw-in from right is headed around in box and OBD Ellis shoots down middle but well high of net.
51 min...OBD Khalon and UM Whyte are both injured as play moved across to right side of box and both need trainers.
It was a head to head collision I found out later. Khalon later returned to the game with a bandaged head.
53 min...OBD Joshi throw-in from right has ball headed down and OBD Hernandez shot up middle is deflected off defender's foot
and tipped over net.
54 min...OBD players work out quick short cornerkick from right and OBD Hernandez cross in from 25 yards has goalie catch
in front of OBD player at 6 yards.
55 min...UM Dimitrov 50 yard freekick from right is over to left at 10 yards but knocked for goalie to pick up on end line.
56 min...UM Reid 40 yard blast up middle is over net.
57 min...UM sub...Simpson replaces Brome.
58 min...UM Ewart is injured in collision with OBD Taylor McNamara at OBD 50 yard line.
61 min...OBD Joshi cross from 20 yards on right of box is through 6 yard box and under the foot of OBD Vilela and out
right side.
63 min...UM Ewart is injured again at OBD 45 yard line.
64 min...US sub...Zoranovicc replaces injured Ewart.
65 min...UM YELLOW card...Mahboubullah earns it for clipping OBD Ellis at UM 35 yard line near sideline.
65 min...OBD Hernandez 40 yard freekick has ball headed away just inside box.
66 min...OBD Gennaccaro 45 yard cross from left is caught by goalie.
67 min...UM Whyte cross from 25 yards on right has defender clear ball in box.
68 min...OBD Vilela gets to pass from left in center and shoots low 15 yarder wide let of post.
69 min...OBD sub...Hirano replaces Khalon.
70 min...OBD Gallo pops up header in crowd of players at 15 yards down middle and goalie catches.
71 min...OBD Hernandez 33 yard freekick from left sideline is headed away on 6 yard box.
73 min...It looked like a UM player was given at the center line for something but no card appears on the league website.
75 min...UM sub...Modeste replaces Whyte.
75 min...OBD Hernandez crosses 35 yard freekick from left which goalie catches in crowd of players.
76 min...UM Abdulmumini low creoss off defender has goalie dive left but can't keep it in.
76 min...UM Edwards cornerkick from left has goalie swat through ball through box overhead but play is whistled down.
80 min...UM Abdulmumini cross from near left cornerflag has ball set down but OBD Gallo clears it from box.
81 min...UM Simpson makes key clearance kick to break up 2 on 1 on left side of box. Simpson then makes another block
on right post.
81 min...OBD YELLOW card...Novak earns if to kick at UM player near right side of UM box.
83 min...UM YELLOW card...Dimitrov earns it for dissent of offside call.
84 min...OBD Hernandez 33 yard freekick on right is sent wide left but defenders clear.
85 min...UM Reid 33 yard freekick on right is sent wide left but defenders clear.
87 min...UM Dimitrov passes down left for UM Zoranovic who crosses high from 10 yard line on far left and is out right
side of box.
88 min...UM player's cross is just over foot up and by UM Zoranovic at 12 yards and goalie catches ball on bounce.
89 min...OBD YELLOW card...Gennaccaro earns it for timewasting on throw-in at center line.
90 min...UM RED card...Richard Edwards earns his second Yellow card (his first was at 34 minutes) for pushing an OBD player
in a crowd of players just outside left side of UM box.
92 min...OBD Hernandez wasted freekick from left edge of UM box with a pass around.
93 min...OBD Filipe Vilela passes to OBD Khody Ellis in middle and goalie saves 7 yard shot point blank. Ellis chases ball
down with defender on right side of box and goalie follows both of them and pushes him over. Referee Brian Butler
calls a Penalty kick.
94 min...OBD Anthony Novak GOAL...Novak blasts Penalty kick to right as goalie dives left.
95 min...UM Adulmumini 25 yard shot from slight left is well over net.
96 min...game ends 5:51pm.

Final Score:....Oakville Blue Devils......2......Unionville Milliken SC.......0.......

Attendance was about 100 people at this facility used at this time of year because the covered Sheridan College stands
are not available once school starts. It was cool and overcast the entire afternoon but just a few drops of rain fell.

This was a rough game with seven Yellow cards given out plus the Red. Unionville picked up more 5-2. 51 minutes had
OBD Rajvir Khalon and UM Isaiah-Prentice Whyte both injured in a collision and needed their trainers. Khalon returned
to the game with a bandage wrapped around his head and was still wearing it after the game. 58 minutes had
UM Duwayne Ewart injured in a collision with OBD Taylor McNamara. He was injured again five minutes later and was
subbed off right away. There were a lot of close checks and other injuries in the game. Fans of the hometown team
didn't like the way the officiating went against their team and an official from UM didn't like how calls went against
his team, so in a tiebreaker I'd say Brian Butler did pretty well in a thankless job.

Lucas Birnstingl had the shutout for OBD. This is three shutouts in a row! He had four in a row earlier this season.
Including playoffs that's only two goals allowed in nine games. The L1O site continues to list one game or half game
wonders with 0.00 goals against as the leaders in this category.

Best scoring chances in the game were at 9 minutes when UM Kiril Dimitrov rolled a pass from 40 yards on the right
forward to UM Khubalb Mahboubullah and his 20 yard shot was into the short side outside mesh of the net. 16 minutes
had Dimitrov cross from the right into the box and UM Isaiah-Prentice Whyte headed an 8 yarder down the middle that
was caught by the goalie. The next minute had OBD Tyriq Armstrong in alone take a low 22 yard shot from the right
that the sliding goalie saved at 15 yards. 53 minutes had OBD Hitesh Joshi throw-in from the right into the UM box
and the ball was headed down and OBD Judah Hernandez shot up the middle was deflected off a defender's foot and tipped
over the bar. The resulting quickly taken cornerkick was short and two OBD players worked it out from the right
and Hernandez crossed the ball in from 25 yards and the goalie caught it in front of a waiting OBD player at 6 yards.
75 minutes had Hernandez cross in a 35 yard freekick from the left when the goalie caught in a crowd of players.
80 minutes had UM Mahboubullah cross from near the left cornerflag and the ball was set down but OBD Victor Gallo
was able to clear it from the box. The next minute UM Odain Simpson made a key clearance to break up a 2 on 1 on the
left side of the UM box. Simpson then ran to the right post and blocked another shot. 88 minutes had a UM player
cross that was just above the upraised foot of UM Bojan Zoranovic at 12 yards and the goalie caught it on the bounce.

An OBD insurance goal much sooner would have made players and the fan base less anxious.

I reminded today's OBD PK scorer Anthony Novak that he scored in their league game against UM (every team played
every other team just once during the season) in their 1-0 game on May 6th (I had to look that up). I didn't realize
until I got home that I had been at that game. As this was my fifty-first L1O men's game this year I guess they
are blending together.

Basel Rashrash was not here today with Unionville. He had gone to Laval Quebec for the second city out of seven
to hold tryouts for the new Canadian Premier League. He made it through Thursday the first day of the camp where
they whittled down 200 trialists down to 58 but was cut the next day when they finished with 28 who will be invited
to a specific team's training camp.

I did get to talk to Unionville forward Kiril Dimitrov who went to the first city tryouts in Halifax and survived
the cuts both days to guarantee a spot at a training camp. (He said he knows which training camp he's invited
to but he's not supposed to say so I didn't press him on it). It is not a secret that he is also the player coach
of the Scarborough FC in the CSL. He said they had a playoff game yesterday and he said he did not play in it
as he said it would be an easy game and they beat the Hamilton team 4-1 without him. He answered me he travelled
to Halifax rather than waiting until the trials hit Hamilton and Toronto because that week was the only time
he could be away. I said I'd watched him play for Serbian White Eagles for years (well at least until L1O started
in 2014). We each agreed that we don't know how much money/budget the league has for salaries. He said he was born
in Bulgaria but married a Canadian and has Canadian citizenship.

I said I would try to correct his Wikipedia page. They have him as age 37. (ie. January 21, 1981).
The L1O gamesheets they give me before the matches have him younger. He confirmed his birthday is January 21, 1985
so he's really 33). I don't know how to amend Wikipedia myself but a guy named 'shotgun pete' and I have
an agreement that he can use anything from my webpages. Wikipedia lists my page as being linked 335 times
to their pages. Wikipedia lists his first CSL game was in 2009 and links with my site. Yikes teammate
Marc Jankovic was a teammate then and was an unused sub today for Unionville Milliken. Jankovic was warming
up in a Serbian White Eagles jacket.

A different UM team official (then the one I talked to a few weeks ago) said the CSL is a better league than
the L1O because they have older and more serious (European trained) players. He does realize the L1O is a league
for young Canadians. The older players on UM played last year for the CSL 2017 champion York Region Shooters.

For those armchair analysts who think players should only play for one team, I can top this. Oakville's Filipe Vilela
came into play at halftime as a substitute. I asked him then if he had played yesterday for George Brown College
and he answered 'Yes'. I came home and looked that up. The school played an away game against Cambrian College
in Sudbury and won 5-0. Now that must be an eight hour drive each way. Good thing it was an afternoon game.
The GBC website news and twitter feed is a bit sketchy but Vilela leads the team (and possibly the league) with
a least 10 goals.

That second goal may prove important for Oakville at the end of group play. They are +2 in goal differential,
the same as Woodbridge who beat Sigma 3-1 in what must be considered an upset.

Woodbridge comes to play Oakville at Bronte Field next Saturday at 4:00pm for what may decide which team advances
to the championship game.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
twitter @RocketRobin01

Oakville Blue Devils starters