September 6, 2018 USL Toronto FC II--Toronto FC II vs Ottawa Fury FC game review (by Rocket Robin)

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Result and details of the Thursday September 6, 2018 USL game between Toronto FC II and Ottawa Fury
at Lamport Stadium in Toronto at 8:00pm.

Toronto FC II (all red, white names and numbers)

.....................30 Borja Angoitia
48 Dante Campbell...6 Nick Hagglund...12 Jason Hernandez (cpt)...5 Ashton Morgan
46 Tsubasa Endoh...59 Noble Okello Ayo...50 Matthew Srbely...11 Jon Bakero...54 Ryan Telfer
.....................22 Jordan Hamilton

Subs:...90 Spencer King (gk)...35 Lars Eckenrode (def)...38 Kyle Bjornnethun (def)...55 Aidan Daniels (mid)
...56 Malik Johnson (mid)...58 Jordan Faria (mid)...64 Shaan Hundal (fwd)
team officials:...manager Michael Rabasca

Ottawa Fury (all white, black names and numbers)

......................1 David Monsalve
9 Carl Haworth (cpt)...4 Nana Attakora...26 Thomas Meilleur-Giguere...2 Jeremy Gagnon-Lapare
88 Kevin Oliveira...5 Chris Mannella...80 Cristian Portilla...17 Azake Luboyera
................99 Tony Taylor...8 Steevan Dos Santos

Subs:...1 Callum Irving (gk)...20 David Edgar (def)...24 Jimmy Shammar Sanon (mid)...30 Adonijah Reid (fwd)
...31 Clement Bayiha (mid)
team officials:...manager Nikola Popovic

Game officials:...referee David Barrie...referee's assistants Peter Pendli and Filip Dujic
...fourth official Alexis Vaughan...(all black uniforms)

First Half:...game starts 8:07pm...TFC defends south end on this mild night.
13 sec...OF Dos Santos shoots 25 yarder up middle between defender wide right of goal.
2 min...TFC Hamilton jumps for header at 15 yards on left and heads it wide left.
3 min...Fury Tony Taylor GOAL...OF Azake Luboyere checks TFC Matthew Srbely off ball at TFC 45 yard
line on left and runs to 25 yard line and sends low pass over to OF Steevan Dos Santos who runs
across box to collect it on right edge of box. He turns and taps pass to Taylor at 20 yards who
takes a few steps to middle and fires low bending shot around TFC Nobel Okello Ayo on edge of box
and ball finds left side of net just inside post beyond diving goalie Borja Angoitia.
4 min...Some TFC supporters now arrive and occupy the south end of the east stands and sing the rest
of the game. Other groups confirm these were plainclothes Inebriatti members.
5 min...TFC Campbell cross from right is cleared by defender in 6 yard box.
7 min...TFC Endoh low cross from 20 yards on right has TFC Hamilton low shot up middle saved by goalie
on left side of net.
8 min...TFC Bakero shoots 28 yard shot through crowd of players wide right of goal.
12 min...TFC Endoh rush down right and rolls ball forward but goalie beats TFC Srbely to pick up ball
wide right of net.
12 min...TFC Endoh has shot blocked on right top corner of box.
14 min...TFC Bakero 28 yard shot from far left is well wide right.
20 min...TFC Bakero is given pass just inside OF box but he's checked off ball on left.
21 min...TFC Morgan cross from 30 yards on left has OF Attakora clear on left side of box near end line.
21 min...TFC Telfer cross from 30 yards on left is cleared out right side of box.
22 min...TFC Telfer cross from left on left has OF Gagnon-Lapere make flying header to clear at 8 yards
in middle of box.
23 min...TFC Campbell cross near right end line has ogalie jump and get hand to knock ball down and then
pick up at 5 yards preventing TFC players on post from making a play.
25 min...TFC Telfer is checked off ball on left edge of OF box.
25 min...TFC Srbely low cross from right has OF Meilleur-Giguere dive to head ball away.
26 min...OF Dos Santos 45 yard chip from left is wide right of net.
27 min...TFC Campbell pushes ball over end line on right while trying to get around defender.
32 min...TFC Campbell long cross from 35 yards on right is over box and out left for OF throw-in.
33 min...TFC Campbell run to right end line and low 20 yard cross has defender clear.
I noticed the TFC bench players were warming up.
35 min...TFC Hernandez big sliding save to break up run along right end line but concedes cornerkick.
36 min...Fury Cristian Portilla GOAL...Portilla takes cornerkick from right and ball is over
leaping goalie on goal line in center of net and jumps TFC Dante Campbell on left side and
drops into left corner of net.
37 min...OF Dos Santos is injured breaking out on OF 50 yard line near sideline and needs trainer.
.......TFC YELLOW card...Hernandez earns it for sliding tackle from behind on the last play.
40 min...play resumes at last.
41 min...OF Oliveira taps back pass to OF Portilla who blasts 33 yard shot well high and wide left of net.
43 min...TFC Campbell rolls pass forward on right to TFC Endoh who crosses near end line. TFC Telfer
chips 15 yard shot and TFC Hamilton nods 6 yard header wide left of post.
(If he's left that alone would it be a goal or would it be offside?)
46 min...TFC Bakero chips 25 yarder up middle a step ahead of TFC Campbell and bounces to goalie.
48 min...half ends 8:55pm.

Halftime Entertainment:...There's an Antony's Espresso prize of a coffeemaker to the loudest fan.
There was no coffee garden tonight in the north endzone.
Only the TFC reserves stay out over halftime.

Second Half:...starts 9:11pm.
Halftime sub:...OF Edgar replaces Attakora.
46 min...TFC Jon Bakero GOAL...TFC Ryan Telfer receives long cross on left sideline. He steps
toward edge of box and has low 20 yard shot/cross stopped by OF Cristian Portilla at 12 yards.
Bakero gets to rebound and he chips 18 yarder over goalie David Monsalve and into right corner
of net.
46 min...TFC Tsubasa Endoh GOAL...TFC Jon Bakero rolls through ball from 28 yards up middle.
Endoh charges forward and slides to chip 12 yarder over sliding goalie at 8 yards and ball
bounces into left corner of net.
49 min...TFC Endoh 25 yard freekick hits a head in the player wall. TFC Hamilton is checked off
the rebound. TFC Bakero ends up shooting 20 yarder down middle and shot is over the net and hits
the scoreboard.
51 min...TFC Morgan wins cornerkick on cross near left cornerflag. OF Haworth was injured on that play.
51 min...TFC Telfer corxnerkick from left has TFC player nod it down in crowd of players in box
at 8 yards but defenders clear.
52 min...TFC Bakero 23 yard cross from left is over to 6 yard box on right and TFC Hamilton header hits
the left post and the ball is cleared by a defender.
55 min...TFC Telfer 22 yard cross from left has OF player head ball away on edge of 6 yard box.
TFC Bakero stops it but is checked off ball.
55 min...TFC YELLOW card...Srbely earns it for holding OF Oliveira at center line to stop run.
57 min...TFC Telfer centers short pass from left and TFC Bakero shoots 18 yard roller wide left.
59 min...OF Taylor low 22 yard shot from right is smothered by goalie on near post.
60 min...OF Taylor 15 yard screen shot around defender is shot over net.
62 min...TFC sub...Bjornnethun replaces Morgan.
63 min...TFC Bjornnethun pops 25 yard chip shot from left wide left of net.
64 min...TFC Endoh rolls 18 yard shot from right that goalie dives forward to smother.
65 min...OF sub...Reid replaces Luboyera.
The singing fans leave the stadium but re-form at the south end parking lot.
66 min...OF Reid rush down middle and rolls pass forward and right to OF Oliveira who shoots 18 yarder
and hits outside of left post.
68 min...Fury Thomas Meilleur-Giguere GOAL...OF Kevin Oliveira takes 28 yard freekick from
left and charging Meilleur-Giguere heads ball in from 5 yards on right post into center
of net (or ball may have hit the chest of TFC Kyle Bjornnethun standing behind him).
72 min...TFC Matthew Srbely at end of run up right rolls centering pass to TFC Ryan Telfer
who shoots low 15 yarder up middle that diving goalie saves on left post. The ball rolls
along end line and goalie gets up and slides to clear tripping up TFC Jordan Hamilton from
behind at 5 yards along end line. Referee David Barrie awards a Penalty kick.
73 min...TFC Jordan Hamilton GOAL...Hamilton blasts Penalty kick into middle of goal just
under bar as goalie dives to left side of net.
75 min...TFC Telfer centers pass from left to TFC Bakero who heads 12 yarder wide left.
77 min...Fury Adonijah Reid GOAL...OF Carl Haworth charges down right sideline to receive
short quickly taken throw-in from 40 yards at 35 yard line. He dribbles forward and crosses
from 12 yard line that's over leaping TFC Dante Campbell heading attempt in middle of box
and Reid who was behind him at 8 yards even with left post heads ball into top left corner
of net with goalie marooned in center of net.
78 min...TFC sub...Daniels replaces Srbely.
78 min...TFC Hamilton is injured in head and referee calls for trainer. TFC were awarded
a freekick at 25 yard line.
80 min...TFC Endoh bends resulting 28 yard freekick from left wide left of net.
82 min...TFC YELLOW card...Hagglund earns it for grabbing OF Dos Santos by collar to stop his
rush at TFC 40 yard line.
82 min...OF sub...Shammar Sanon replaces Dos Santos.
83 min...OF Portilla 45 yard freekick from left has TFC Hagglund head ball away just inside box.
85 min...OF Oliveira rolls pass from middle. OF Taylor rolls 15 yard shot from left wide right
of post.
86 min...TFC sub...Johnson replaces Campbell.
88 min...OF goalie is injured with cramp after whistle and needs trainer.
92 min...TFC Endoh cornerkick from right has OF Haworth head away in crowd of players for throw-in
on right.
93 min...TFC Telfer cross from 25 yards on right is over players in box.
93 min...OF YELLOW card...goalie Monsalve earns it for time wasting time on taking goalkick.
94 min...TFC Bakero cross to TFC Johnson who pops 12 yard shot on right that goalie catches on right
side of net.
95 min...game ends 10:01pm.

Final Score:....Toronto FC II.....3......Ottawa Fury.....4.......

Attendance was listed on the USL site as 207. That was slightly better than last week's
game. School is back so there were no children here tonight. Their presence was replaced
by a group of TFC supporters who arrived after the first goal and left at 65 minutes
(by their own choice the chief security guard said) to reconvene outside the grounds
at the parking lot in the south end so they could continue their chants behind the iron
gates behind the Ottawa goal. That left the most vocal supporters as relatives and friends
of local Fury players like David Monsalve and Adonijah Reid and I'd expect Nana Attakora
and Chris Mannella who all grew up in the GTA area.

While I wasn't expecting a winning performance by TFC II because of last week's loss
to also-ran's Atlanta United 2 when they couldn't score a man up for the entire second half,
my thinking did a 180 when I saw the starting line up that dropped six players from their
MLS team. Starting defenders were Ashton Morgan, Nick Hagglund, and tonight's captain
Jason Hernandez, midfielders Ryan Telfer and Jon Bakero, and forward Jordan Hamilton.
The MLS team has a week off because of the international break so it's a good chance
to give these players a run out.

Ottawa started six Canadians of their (low for tonight) sixteen man roster—ten Canadians
as a whole. TFC II also started six Canadians, with eleven in total on their eighteen
man roster. Those numbers could be like next year's Voyageurs Cup games without the
designated players.

TFC dominated the first half with 76% possession and almost all the scoring opportunities
but were the team that trailed at the half. TFC scoring twice in the first two minutes
of the second half was like pushing a reset button but after TFC sustaining the pressure
until 57 minutes, the Fury gave as good as they got until the end of the game.

Jon Bakero said post game about the second half “The way we came out in the second half
is how it should be all the time. We made a statement”. Head coach Michael Rabasca
said “The guys showed some good determination, follow through on things we spoke
of at halftime”.

Is Bakero the new Ben Spencer of TFC? Well he's already better because of his play tonight.
He was named the Man of the Match (always a TFC player for the sponsor) for his great
curling shot goal. I was wondering if he gave the ball to Jordan Hamilton to take the
Penalty kick after Hamilton was tripped up or if Hamilton yanked the ball out of his hands.
They got along better at 52 minutes when Bakero sent in a 22 yard cross from the left
and Hamilton on the right side of the 6 yard box headed off the left post.

Nick Hagglund was sending long high crosses to the left wing to find either Ashtone Morgan
or Ryan Telfer with mixed success as Fury defenders got in the way a few times. He also
took a Yellow card for a professional foul for collaring OF Steevan Dos Santos to stop
a rush. Dos Santos was also victim of a sliding tackle from Jason Hernandez who earned
a card while Dos Santos was breaking out at the OF 50 yard line.

The MLS defence of Morgan, Hernandez, and Hagglund was joined by 18 year old Dante Campbell
for the second straight week in the right back position. He played well overlapping with
Tsubasa Endoh on runs and pass plays down the right side the whole game. Once again tonight
Endoh took the majority of the freekicks and corners. He was coming off being named
to the USL 'Team of the Week' and finishing second for 'Player of the Week'.

Morgan was subbed at 62 minutes with regular Kyle Bjornethun. Defender Tim Kubel who was
injured so early in the Atlanta 2 game was not even on the tonight's roster.

Rabasca said after the game it was “A good bounceback game for Noble (Okello Ayo),
defensively it helps to have Jason Hernandes behind you helping to organize you.
I think it helped several of our players to have the voice like Jason and Nick (Hagglund).
It was a good night for their growth as professionals”.

Ottawa's number one goalie Maxim Crepeau is away with the Canadian national team this
weekend so the duty for this game moved to David Monsalve.

After the game a Fury official said Adonijah Reid was supposed to start but he was
injured training earlier in the week so was held back as a substitute. He was on the
field nine minutes before his winning goal. One minute after coming on he rushed down
the middle and rolled a pass forward for OF Kevin Oliveira who shot an 18 yarder that
hit the outside of the left post.

Reid is on loan from FC Dallas who don't have a USL team until maybe next year. Reid
is now 19 and last month had his League 1 Ontario record broken as being the youngest
ever goalscorer. He scored in his debut on May 2, 2015 for ANB Futbol against Kingston
when he was only 15 years, 9 months while last month Kobe Franklin scored for TFC III
against OSUF (Ottawa) when he was 15 years, 3 months. I looked back in my archives
and found I attended both games!

TFC II's record falls to 3 wins, 20 losses, 3 ties for 12 points. They are in sixteenth
(ie last place in the Eastern Conference).

The win improves the Fury's record to 11 wins, 13 losses and 5 ties for 38 points which
raises them to a tie for eighth place in the East. While they have one more win than
Nashville SC they have played three more games. The top eight teams in each conference
make the playoffs but the way the USL system works each round is a one-game knockout
against the higher seeded team so finishing eighth means there are no home games.
First round opponent for the eighth place team is MLS bound FC Cincinnati who are
on a 16 game unbeaten streak while stocking up on players like Fanendo Adi by spending
MLS allocation money. From all the back and forth on message boards and Twitter about
whether the Ottawa ownership is frugal or extravagant in regards to their decision
to not join the Canadian Premier League in its first year, do they really want to go
on a long USL playoff run with minimal revenue coming in because of no home dates?

A Fury official answered me after the game that they took five hours to get here by bus.
They have to return overnight and will play a special exhibition game against
Montreal Impact for the CapCity Cup within 24 hours in Ottawa. Who made that kind
of schedule? The stadium is only five minutes away from the regional airport which
could have saved many hours of travel time in each direction. The Fury want to put
on a good showing and I don't know if a flight is against USL rules.

That's worse than what TFC has had imposed by MLS—the Campeones Cup against Tigres UANL
played midweek while TFC desperately hangs on to their playoff lives with weekend games
on either side of this match. Don't expect a lot of TFC II players to pad their roster
as they have surrounding weekend away games.

TFC II meanwhile received news pregame that Orlando City B is returning to the USL league
(they were on hiatus this season) as a Division 3 team. They are only the seventh team
to join that tier. One of the reasons for the split is to lessen travel expenses so that
means TFC II can now look at not having to travel to Tampa Bay Florida and instead travel
to Orlando...Florida. Looks like they will have to travel a few times a year to Arizona
to get in enough games. While Orlando City is the second MLS team to join, all the
MLS 'II', '2' and 'B' teams are supposed to join but USL allowed D.C. United to form
a new farm team Loudoun United in Virginia for 2019 as a Division 2 team.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
twitter @RocketRobin01

Toronto FC II starters