October 13, 2018 League 1 Ontario--Alliance United vs Darby FC playoff game review (by Rocket Robin)

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Result and details of the Saturday October 13, 2018 League 1 Ontario match between Alliance United and Darby FC
played at Centennial College Stadium in Scarborough at 3:30pm. This was the final game of Group A playoff play.

Alliance United (orange socks and shirts, black shorts and numbers)

..................1 Mark Rogal
5 David Colelli...11 Russell Rodrigues...4 Dante Lyte...13 Farrell Francis
9 Bogadna Poliakhov...14 Oswald Adu...15 Connor McFall (cpt)...3 Devon Bowyer
..............7 Nirunthan Sivananthan...16 Djimi Guedei

Subs:...30 Tristan Martino (gk)...10 Jesse Assing...12 Vasyl Matviishyn
team officials:...team head coach Ilay Orlov...assistant coaches Denys Rylskyi,
Julian Carr, Richard Alexander, and Roman Rashchuk

suspended player Lukas MacNaughton

Darby FC (navy socks, shorts, and numbers, white shirts)

................1 Matt Zaikos (cpt)
16 Michael Diriennzo...17 Christian Moncrieffe...12 Cale Loughrey...3 Vicenzo Sasso
11 Nashon Campbell...14 Hayden Clarke...23 Shaun Lawson...18 Adrian Gallo
..................9 Le Rohne Young

Subs:...0 Ile Naumoski (gk)...4 Cameron Brooks...7 Trevon McInnis...8 Troy Moulton
...10 Michael Marioaro...19 Nicholas Spittle...22 David Reilly
team officials:...team head coach Clint Da Silva...assistant coach Bart Herdsman
...equipment amanger Beill Sidsworth

Game officials:...referee Marco Ristic...referee's assistants Phil Benevitis and Nick Vagenis
...fourth official Brian Butler...(all black uniforms)

First Half:...game starts 3:34pm...AU defends south end.
9 min...Darby Diriennzo cross along right end line is already over line.
10 min...AU McFall 30 yard freekick from far right has goalie catch behind crowd of players on left post
and he wins freekick on push.
12 min...Darby Lawson rush to right end line and 20 yard cross has defenders clear in 6 yard box.
12 min...AU Poliakhov 25 yard roller from right is between players and smothered by goalie.
14 min...Darby Young run down left and cutsd towards middle and 25 yard shot misses top right corner.
15 min...Darby YELLOW card...Loughrey earns it in own end for a tackle.
16 min...AU Poliakhov 28 yard freekick from right has AU Francis heads 6 yarder down middle over bar missing
top right corner.
17 min...AU McFall cornerkick from right is whistled down in box for jostling between players.
.........Darby YELLOW card...McInnis earns it for roughing or dissent on last play. Darby takes the freekick.
19 min...AU Bowyer leaves game to change room after he concedes cornerkick and must have hurt himself. Bowyer goes
to dressing rooms in west and eventually comes back with knee in icepack.
20 min...Darby cornerkickc from right is partially cleared and eventual recross pass is whistled down.
22 min...AU sub...Matviishyn replaces injured Bowyer.
28 min...AU Lyte makes key headed clearance of cross into box from left.
29 min...AU goalie is out of box to 20 yards to boot long pass upfield before Darby Paul can get to it.
31 min...AU McFall cornerkick from right has goalie catch in crowd of players and jostle with AU Lyte when trying
to clear quickly.
33 min...Darby Paul run down left and low 20 yard shot from tough angle is smothered by goalie.
35 min...AU Poliakhov pass on 2 on 1 to AU Guedei but retreating defender catches him stripping him of ball without
giving up a shot.
36 min...Darby Campbell boots 15 yarder over net after Darby Diriennzo slides on right end line to keep ball in play
and pass gets Campbell in open.
38 min...AU Guedei had slipped in Darby box so when ball was crossed through box from right he couldn't make play.
39 min...Darby YELLOW card...Young earns it for delay of game after his check at AU 35 yard line.
41 min...AU Poliakhov 35 yard freekick from right has AU Colelli in crowd of players duck and twist 8 yard header
wide right.
41 min...Darby Clarke through ball pass through crowd of players to Darby Paul but goalie beats him at 15 yards
to pick up ball.
44 min...AU Adu ends AU pressure with 22 yard chip from right wide left of net.
46 min...half ends 4:20pm.

Halftime: There's a strong win from the west. The sun sometimes comes out for 2 minutes then the sky darkens again.
The Darby subs stay out to warm up.

2nd Half:...starts 4:39pm.
47 min...AU YELLOW card...McFall earns it for sliding tackle on Darby Diriennzo at Darby 40 yard line injurying him
and needs trainer.
52 min...Darby Diriennzo returns to game.
53 min...AU Francis taps to AU Adu who shoots 25 yarder down middle wide right.
54 min...Darby Campbell is given pass from middle and 20 yard low shot from far right is behind net.
55 min...AU Sivananthan in middle rolls pass to AU Poliakhov on right and 12 yard shot has sprawling goalie save
and defender heads away.
56 min...Darby Clarke cornerkick from right has goalie punch away in crowd of players. Darby Young gets 8 yard header
that flying goalie pushes wide of right corner.
57 min...AU sub...Assing replaces Guedei.
57 min...Darby goalie bats down 22 yard shot from left.
60 min...AU sub...Martino replaces Rogal in net.
61 min...Darby Diriennzo chicks AU Assing off ball on left side of Darby box.
62 min...AU Poliakhov 28 yard freekick near right corner flag has defender flick header through box and out left side of box.
66 min...Darby sub...Marioaro replaces Paul.
67 min...AU Assing taps ball over and AU Frncis lofts 20 yarder up middle that goalie palms over bar.
68 min...Darby sub...Spittle replaces Diriennzo.
68 min...Alliance Farrell Francis GOAL...AU Bogdan Poliakhov cornerkick from right is over crowd of players in box
and goalie Marr Zaikos to Francis who heads in 6 yarder just under bar on left side of net.
70 min...Darby Sasso cross from far left has defender bicycle kick clearance off line in front of Darby Young looking
for tap-in.
70 min...AU YELLOW card...Lyte earns it for something.
71 min...Darby Gallo cornerkick from right is over players in box and bends out of box.
74 min...Darby Marioaro 30 yard freekick from left has AU Rodrigues make dangerous deflection at 6 yards wide left of post.
75 min...Darby Marioaro cornerkick from left has Darby Lawson blast 25 yarder from right well wide left of net.
79 min...Darby Lawson cross from left has two header attempts not fully connect. A long clearance has defender ensure
AU Sivananthan doesn't get to ball on edge of box.
80 min...Darby YELLOW card...Clarke earns it for trip on AU Francis at AU 40 yard line. AU Sivananthan and AU Adu both
go down with leg cramps and need the trainer.
80 min...Darby sub...Reilly replaces Clarke.
84 min...Darby Loughrey 20 yard shot along left end line lands on top of net.
84 min...Darby sub...McInnis replaces Campbell.
........Darby YELLOW card...Campbell earns it for delaying the game on his slowness on leaving the field.
86 min...AU YELLOW card...Rodrigues earns it for timewasting on delay of throw-in at own corner flag.
88 min...AU Adu steals clearance between defenders and rolls 15 yard shot from left wide right of net as he appeals for
Penalty kick.
90 min...Darby Trevon McInnis GOAL...McInnis gets 10 yard shot into net past goalie substitute goalie Tristan Martino
after recovering deflection.
92 min...Darby Young wins cornerkick from left.
93 min...Darby Trevon McInnis GOAL...DFC Adrian Gallo sends in quickly taken cornerkick from left that McInnis
gets 8 yarder header into short side of net.
95 min...game ends 5:29pm.

Final Score:...Alliance Union........1.......Darby FC.......2.......

Attendance was about 30 on this cold afternoon with the temperature falling by halftime and the wind from the west
blowing gusting in. Parkas were worn by all spectators. I kept putting my mittens on between taking photos
and making notes.

Darby's Trevon McInnis (born 2001) came on at the 84 minute mark and changed the result with those two bang bang goals.
I hadn't seen him before so looked through the L1O website stats. This was only his third game (his second playoff
game) since getting in his first game less than a month ago. Always a substitute. Even including today, he's only
played a total of 14 minutes all season! Today one of the parents commented “Why didn't they bring him on earlier?”

I didn't really expect to see defender Taejon Mikle Ryan or midfielder La'el Daniel playing for Darby FC today.
They had both completed the gruelling two day Canadian Premier League tryouts at the Ontario Soccer Centre in Vaughan
on Thursday and Friday. I figured with the 8 v 8s on the first day and full sided games on Friday with 20 to 30 minute
halves they may have played the equivalent of three or four full 90 minute games. They weren't on the field nor bench
but they listed a full bench.

It was Alliance who were short with a bench of only 14 including back up goalie. They had to make the game's first
substitute when defensive anchor Devon Bowyer was injured at just 22 minutes. The dressing room was across on the
near side of the field and he returned later to watch the rest of the game on the bench with a huge bag of ice
on his knee. Later they switched starting goalie Mark Rogal with Tristan Martino at exactly the 60 minute mark for
no apparent reason (no injury, still a shutout game) so it looked like it was prearranged.

Referee Marco Ristic gave out four Yellow cards to each team. This game wasn't what I'd call rough including what
looked like at least two for time-wasting. Strange that one looked like it was to Darby who were behind at the
time 1-0 but Darby's Nashon Campbell was slow making his way off the field for a substitute. I was more upset that
the halftime break was almost 20 minutes and we fans were shaking in the cold. Last laugh was on me groaning that
there'd be four minutes of added time but then having that exciting finish that turned the game around.

Best chances of the game were at 16 minutes when AU Bogdan Poliakhov took a 28 yard freekick from the right that
had AU Farrell Francis head a 6 yarder down the middle over the bar missing the top right corner. (ooh practice
for later in the game). 35 minutes had Poliakhov pass while on a 2 on 1 break to AU Djimi Guedei but a retreating
defender caught time stripping of the ball without getting a shot away in the box. Next minute had a Darby player
save the ball on the right end line with a slide that sent a perfect pass over to Nashon Campbell who booted
a 15 yarder over the net. 41 minutes had AU Poliakhov take a 35 yard freekick from the right that had
AU David Colelli in a crowd of players duck and twist an 8 yard header wide right. 55 minutes had
AU Nirunthan Sivananthan in the middle roll a pass to Poliakhov on the right and his 12 yard shot had the sprawling
goalie Matt Zaikos save and a defender headed the ball away. 56 minutes had Darby Oswald Adu take a cornerkick
from the right that had the goalie punch away in a crowd of players and Darby Le Rhone Young get an 8 yard header
that the goalie flew over and pushed wide of the right corner of the net. 67 minutes had AU Jessie Assing tap over
a pass and AU Francis lofted a 20 yard shot up the middle that the goalie palmed over the bar. The resulting
cornerkick was the AU's only goal. 70 minutes had Darby Vincenzo Sasso cross from the far left that a retreating
defender bicycle kicked a clearance off the line in front of Le Rhone Young. 74 minutes had Darby Michael Marioaro
take a 30 yard freekick from the left that hit defender Russell Rodrigues at 6 yards and deflected just wide left
of the post. 88 minutes had AU Adu steal a clearance between two defenders and rolled slide in for a 15 yard shot
from the left wide right of the post as he appealed for a Penalty kick. 90 minutes had Darby Adrian Gallo take
a low 30 yard freekick up the middle just right of the AU player wall where a Darby player deflected it forward
to find Marioara in alone and the goalie made a point blank save at 8 yards. Next were the Darby two goals to finish the game.

These two teams were competing in the Group A playoff pool. Four teams were in it just like a World Cup bracket
with three games to play in total. There would be only one team to advance to the L1O Final and the winner of the
final will be crowned champion and earn a berth in next year's Voyageurs Cup. Now Vaughan Azzurri had beaten both
of today's teams and with top seed FC London only managing one tie in two games, Vaughan had already won the group
last weekend after only two games. (head to head record would be the tiebreaker). Vaughan finished their group
play last night in London and won that game as well so finish perfect with three straight wins. It's possible
the league may tinker with the playoffs next year to let two teams advance like in the World Cup but that would
add one more week to the season and the weather if expected would be even worse. I kept thinking what a great idea
that the new CPL promises they will finish their season by the end of October.

Just to finish Group A results, the win today improves the Darby FC record to 1 win, 1 loss, 1 tie for 4 points.
Alliance drop to 1 win, 1 loss, 1 tie as well but head to head record would have Darby finish second if it mattered.
Vaughan wins the group with 3 wins in 3 games. FC London surprises with 0 wins, 2 losses, 1 tie.

Group B finishes tomorrow with both games overlapping so I have to make a choice. Sigma FC vs Oakville Blue Devils
is indoors and Woodbridge Strikers vs Unionville Milliken is in the cold however Woodbridge is most likely to win
the group already having 2 wins in 2 games. There also may be the chance I will see Unionville Milliken's
Duwayne Ewart, one of the successful trialists at the CPL tryouts. He joins teammate Kiril Dimitrov who
successfully passed the trials by travelling to Halifax. (Of course Sigma has five guys selected to CPL training
camps so far.)

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
twitter @RocketRobin01

Alliance United starters