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Result and details of the May 3, 2019 League 1 Ontario game between Darby FC and FC London played
at Whitby Soccer Centre Dome in Whitby at 8:00pm.

Darby FC (all navy uniforms, white numbers)

................1 Matt Zaikos
3 Vince Sasso...4 Aldo Majorano...5 Joe Zupo (cpt)...16 Colin Reilly
..........15 Alfred Hess...14 Carl De Abreu...17 Nicholas Spittle
........22 Bayley Winkel...6 Jack Sears...9 Lerohne Young

Subs:...0 Viktor Lyczywek (gk)...2 Nicholas Axhorn...7 Christian Moncrieffe...19 Cameron Brooks
...20 Michael Majorano...21 Isiah Passley...24 Ethan Pierce
team officials:...team head coach Chris Reilly...assistant coaches Billy Pachis and Jens Kraemer
...manager Alison MacInnes...therapist Andrew Landry...equipment manager Bill Sidsworth...therapist Andrew Landry

FC London (white socks and shirts, black shorts and numbers)

..................1 Anthony Sokalski
18 Dominic Szyszka...3 Marko Maletic...5 Parker Seymour...4 Bradley Heath
17 Chad Gopaul...15 Randy Ribeiro (cpt)...21 Brian Pistor...8 Mohammad Reza Nafar
................10 Connor Wilson...7 Ethan Gopaul

Subs:...22 Ryan Miners (gk)...12 Belai Halbouni...19 Ben Vyfschaft...9 Mike Sneddon
...2 Patrick Melo...16 Ryan Baker...14 Taylor Harris
team officials:...team head coach Michael Marcoccia...assistant coach Phillip Millar...therapist Mike Robinson

Game officials:...referee Kevin McEleney...referee's assistants Phil Benevides and Nicolas Piperno
...fourth official Roain Satarzadeh...(yellow shirts, black shorts and socks)

First Half:...game starts 8:01pm...Darby defends west end. I was standing under the scoreboard so all times
are converted from my wristwatch.
2 min...Darby Bayley Winkel GOAL...FCL goalie Anthony Sokalski slides at 6 yards on left side of box
and completely misses the ball as crowd of players rush into box. An FCL defender behind him blasts clearance
from 3 yards on left post but ball deflects off a Darby player and ball drops over to Winkel all alone
on right side of goal. Winkel pounds rebound into completely open net from 6 yards.
3 min...Darby Zupo receives cross from 20 yards on left and heads ball over bar from 8 yards up middle.
5 min...Darby goalie picks up headed ball at 10 yards.
8 min...Darby Winkel cornerkick from left is caught by goalie on left post.
9 min...FCL Wilson eludes one sliding defender on left but another sliding defender deflects shot wide left.
10 min...FCL players work out short cornerkick from right but never gets into box.
13 min...FCL Nafar long run down middle but can't win freekick on edge of box when chip hits defender's shoulder.
18 min...Darby Sasso is flattened at Darby 45 yard line on tackle by FCL Maletic and is injured.
19 min...Darby Young redirects low cross wide left from 6 yards while even with left post.
19 min...Darby Sears chips 30 yarder down middle over defenders and just over bar.
22 min...Darby Sasso cross from 25 yards on far right has defender head away on left side of box.
23 min...Darby Young gets to high clearance punt down middle from edge of Darby box and 22 yard header bounces
to goalie.
25 min...Darby Winkel hip checks FCL Heath near center line injurying him.
27 min...FCL Pistor freekick from 30 yards on left has Darby Zupo head away on left side of box. FCL Szyszka
blasts 25 yard rebound from right off top of bar in center of net.
27 min...FCL Nafar blasts shot into crowd of players. FCL Szyszka blasts 22 yard roller from left between players wide right.
29 min...Darby goalie smothers loose ball at 10 yards steps ahead of FCL Wilson charging in up right.
30 min...Darby goalie dives to right to break up give and go pass that had rolled too far forward.
31 min...Darby Winkel cornerkick from left is over to Darby Reilly and he wins cornerkick on deflection.
33 min...Darby Reilly cornerkick from right has FCL Heath pop header in middle out left side of box. Darby player cross has
FCL goalie leap to punch ball forward. Darby Winkel chips 25 yarder down middle that bounces wide right with goalie off line.
34 min...Darby player's low 25 yard shot from left has diving goalie push wide left for throw-in at 6 yards on left.
36 min...Darby De Abreu leg is injured at Darby 40 yard line on right and needs trainer.
41 min...Darby Sasso slide at FCL 22 yards in middle to keep ball in tgakes foot to head and needs trainer.
43 min...Darby Reilly 33 yard freekick from right bounces to goalie for easy grab.
45 min...FCL Nafar eludes defender and spins and shoots 28 yard roller down middle and well wide right.
47 min...Darby Winkel cross from near right corner has defender slide to stop at 12 yards. Another defender blocks Darby De Abreu
off ball.
47 min...half ends 8:48pm.

Second Half:...starts 9:05pm.
halftime subs:...Darby Michael Maiorano replaces De Abreu.
............Darby Axhorn replaces Aldo Maiorano.
............Darby Moncrieffe replaces Sasso.
48 min...Darby YELLOW card...Winkel earns it for pulling on FCL player at Darby 35 yard line.
49 min...Darby player's 40 yard freekick from left is well wide right of net.
52 min...FCL sub...Baker replaces Maletic.
53 min...FCL Nafar 22 yard blasts down middle is blocked on edge of box.
54 min...FCL Wilson low 12 yard cross from right end line is flies through 6 yard box but is unplayed.
54 min...the ball hits the top of the dome for a whistle and a 'drop ball' restart.
56 min...FCL Melo replaces Pistor.
57 min...Darby Spittle cuts in on left end line and FCL Szyszka concedes cornerkick.
58 min...Darby Moncrieffe cornerkick from left has defender head ball away. Darby Hess blasts 22 yard
rebound from left that goalie catches on top right side of net.
59 min...FCL Chad Gopaul receives short pass and low 22 yard shot from right is smothered by goalie.
61 min...FCL Ribeiro is injured at Darby 40 yard line and needs trainer to help him limp off field.
63 min...FCL sub...Halbouni replaces injured Ribeiro before play restarts. No new captain is chosen.
67 min...FCL Nafar is injured at Darby 50 yard line.
68-70 min...Darby players are called offside twice on breakaway chipped passes.
71 min...Darby goalie calls off defender to beat FCL Wilson to through ball pass and dive for it on right side of box.
71 min...Darby Spittle makes long run cutting in up left but 15 yard shot is blocked by defender.
75 min...Darby Reilly cross from 35 yards on left has Darby Zupo pop up header at 15 yards that goalie catches.
75 min...Darby Christian Moncrieffe GOAL...Darby Lerohne Young blasts 20 yard roller from right that
sliding goalie stops at 8 yards. Moncrieffe blasts 20 yard rebound to low left corner of net.
77 min...FCL sub...Sneddon replaces Ethan Gopaul.
79 min...Darby defender clears rush on left edge of box.
79 min...FCL sub...Vyfschaft replaces Nafar.
.........Darby sub...Brooks replaces Young.
81 min...FCL Sneddon eludes defenders to get away low 20 yard blast that diving goalie stops at 2 yards and crawls
to smother ball at 5 yards before FCL player can get to it.
83 min...Darby Moncrieffe eludes defender to get to bouncer at FCL 40 yards on left but blasts shot well high and wide left.
84 min...FCL Seymour 40 yard freekick down middle has FCL Zupo head away in crowd of players.
85 min...FCL Ethan Gopaul stops and fires 25 yarder through players that goalie catches.
85 min...Darby Spittle 22 yard shot on left is blocked by defender.
87 min...Darby YELLOW card...Michael Maiorano earns it for knocking over FCL Ethan Gopaul at Darby 40 yard line injurying
him as retaliation from Darby player who was upended upfield a few seconds earlier. Gopaul needs trainer.
89 min...Darby Bayley Winkel GOAL...Darby Christian Moncrieffe on run up middle passes to right for charging
Winkel who continues up right outsprinting defender and shoots 20 yarder over sprawling goalie into left
side of net.
91 min...FCL Baker cornerkick from right has charging FCL player in crowd of players head 6 yarder high and wide left of net.
93 min...FCL Heath chips 65 yarder downfield that goalie makes easy catch.
94 min...Darby player makes clearance off ceiling deep in Darby end resulting in another 'drop ball' call.
95 min...game ends 8:55pm.

Final Score:....Darby FC.....3.....FC London......0.......

Attendance was about 180 at this indoor facility in Whitby. That's about double what I was used to seeing
here last year but the first game of the season for almost any team is the normal. (happens in Major League
Baseball too!). This is one of the stadiums which I expect will be the last to host the new OneSoccer broadcast
deal signed with League 1 Ontario for next year as the sidelines have very low ceilings from the curvature
of the bubble once past the sidelines. I can't see them being able to squeeze their equipment in here or even
getting their equipment through the revolving door. The game was recorded for the L1O website with the
standard camcorder on a pole. The game had to be stopped twice and dropped ball freekicks given when a ball
hit the ceiling.

I was thinking I'd lived this script before from just a week earlier when York 9 FC scored so quickly and
then for long parts of the game held on against Forge FC.

Best non-scoring chances in the game were at 19 minutes when Darby Lerohne Young redirected a low cross
wide left from 6 yards while even with the left post. 27 minutes had FCL Brian Pistor's freekick from 30 yards
on the left had Darby captain Joe Zupo head the ball away on the left side of box and FCL Dominic Szyszka
blast the 25 yard rebound off the top of the bar in the center of the net. 33 minutes had Darby Colin Reilly
take a cornerkick from the right that FCL Bradley Heath pops up a header in the middle and out the left side
of box. A Darby player crosses back in that has the FCL goalie leap to punch the ball forward and
Darby Bayley Winkel chips a 25 yarder down the middle that bounces wide right with the goalie off his line.
81 minutes had FCL Mike Snedden elude defenders to get away a low 20 yard blast that the diving goalie stops
at 2 yards and crawls to smother ball at 5 yards before an FCL player can get to it.

Referee Kevin McEleney gave out only two Yellow cards this game, both to Darby players including double
goal scorer Winkel. This game got rough in spots. FCL captain Randy Ribeiro was injured at 61 minutes
and needed the trainer to limp off the field. After replacing Ribeiro, Mohammad Reza Nafar was injured
a few minutes later but eventually stayed in the game.

Matt Zaikos earned the shutout for Darby. He made a few mostly routine saves but the defenders covered
very well limiting FCL players to low percentage long shots and blocked most of the close ones.

Lerohne Young has returned to Darby after a winter/spring season playing for Mississauga MetroStars
of the MASL indoor league and played a strong 79 minutes, often being the lone forward. (Actually looking
through the MASL website, I notice that Young was not listed on the MetrosStars roster so I'm not sure
how many games he played).

The result surprised me. Darby was a middle of the pack team last season with a 6 wins, 7 losses,
3 ties for 21 points season and finished ninth of the 17 teams but made the playoffs because Toronto FC III
left L1O to play in the USSDA and passed on participating in the post season. Darby went to London last
year and pulled off a 1-1 tie eliminating FCL in a strange two group, four teams round-robin playoff table.

FC London finished first place last season with a record of 12 wins, 2 losses, 2 ties for 38 points
only allowing 19 goals in 16 games. I expected them to carry on with no Cup competition this year and
the regular season being squeezed tighter and ending on August 18 so teams won't lose so many from their
roster when players return to their US or Canadian colleges or universities. I noticed that FCL players
came out late tonight for only a short warm up. Yes! They were held up in traffic just like me. I only
had to drive halfway across the city to get out of Toronto whereas they had to navigate the entire way
as London is well west of Toronto and they'd have to pass the entire way through it.

FCL had five players at the CPL/L1O Combine at Ontario Soccer Centre in Vaughan on January 24, 2019.
All five players, brothers Chad Gopaul and Ethan Gopaul, Connor Wilson (last year's L1O Golden Boot runner-up),
Mohammad Reza Nafar, and defender Aaron Schneebeli (3rd team L1O all-star team) sailed through the morning
qualifying and ended up on the 'Yellow' team in the showcase final than afternoon. None of them made
CPL rosters. L1O Golden Boot winner Anthony Novak from Oakville Blue Devils just signed for Forge FC
a few weeks ago. I don't know if the offers (if at all) from CPL teams weren't enough $$$ or they are
secretly hoping for a CPL expansion club in London or somewhere in southeastern Ontario to join soon!

This season is a 15 game sprint with the teams playing an uneven either 7 or 8 home games. At least
the playoffs this year will have two game knockouts each round right from the quarter-finals.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca

Darby FC starters

FC London starters

FC London Connor Wilson (10) takes opening kickoff.

FC London Bradley Heath (4) has limited options.

FC London Brian Pistor (21) lines up freekick.

FCL players set up to defend cornerkick.

Darby Lerohne Young (9) takes second half kickoff.

FC London Dominic Szyszka (18) sends shot towards goal.

FC London Randy Ribeiro (15) is injured in the second half.

midfield action

Here are the sound files:

MP3 file...new Darby FC head coach Chris Reilly...2 min 28 sec
Big thank you to assistant coach Jens Kraemer setting up this interview as I'd never seen Chris Reilly before.
Kraemer was a favourite of mine from his playing days as a holding midfielder for North York Rockets from the end
of the 80s and early 90s.

MP3 file...FC London head coach Michael Marcoccia...5 min 00 sec
Big thank you to Marcoccia for his patience when my phone ceased up and it insisted that I needed a network. I turned
it off and on again and it unknown to me defaulted to a five minute interview limit so my goodbye seems a little abrubt.

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