May 26, 2019 League 1 Ontario--Woodbridge Strikers vs Oakville Blue Devils (by Rocket Robin)

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Result and details of the Sunday May 26, 2019 League 1 Ontario game between Woodbridge Strikers and Oakville Blue Devils
played at Vaughan Grove in Vaughan at 5:00pm.

Woodbridge Strikers (all blue, white numbers)

...........................1 Tyrone Williams
........24 Matthew Strangis...5 Kyle Watson (cpt)...3 Joshua Kiselyov
11 Matthew Santos...16 Tyrell Rayne...20 Isaiah Johnston...14 Adam LoFranco...10 Cristian Cavallini...7 Emmanuel Issac
...............................21 Jose De Sousa

Subs:...75 Michael Markac (gk)...8 Francio Henry...15 Andrew Caicedo...17 Lowell Wright
...18 Lucas Puntillo...22 Deshawn Palmer-Agyemang...23 Luca Baldassarre
team officials:...team head coach Peter Pinizzotto...managers John Scarlato and Johnny Stancati
...equipment manager Amedeo Pellegrino...therapist David Lisi
suspended player Joshua Parades-Procter

Oakville Blue Devils (all white, navy numbers)

.........................1 Lucas Birnstingl
2 Zachary Drake...4 Matthew Monteiro...6 Victor Gallo (cpt)...20- Hitesh Joshi
17 Brandon Duarte...18 Manvir Gill...22 Rajvir Khalon...13 Adrian Gallo
.........19 Evan James...15 Carlo Difeo

Subs:...27 Aaron Peters (gk)...5 Sheldon Rodgers...8 Aaron McKenna...9 Sani Dey...11 Braden Culver
...21 Marco Gennaccaro...25 Jacob Dyck
team officials:...team head coach Duncan Wilde...assistant coaches Billy Steele, Brett Mosen, and Glenn McNamara
...manager Kim Ashton...therapist Mark Heathcote

Game officials:...referee Filip Dujic...referee's assistants Mike Stacey and Alex Themistocleous
...fourth official Derricck Farwell...(watermelon shirts, black shorts and socks)

First Half:...game starts 5:01pm...WS defends south end on this warm late afternoon with a bright sun in the west.
3 min...WS Kiselyov 35 yard chip from left has goalie palm ball over bar.
4 min...WS LoFranco cornerkick from left is over players and WS player on right side of box heads back to left
and WS Santos has shot from 6 yards blocked.
8 min...OBD Difeo rolls pass forward to OBD Duarte who has slow cross along right end line stopped.
8 min...WS De Sousa eludes tackle on right but ball is rolled towards center along end line and goalie stops.
10 min...OBD Joshi run down left to end line cuts back and 15 yard low shot is smothered on left post.
15 min...WS Strangis skies clearance to beat OBD Difeo to long high pass. WS goalie at 10 yards leaps for catch
and Difeo bumps him over for WS freekick ball.
16 min...OBD players rolls ball along WS end line on left that goalie saves on post.
18 min...WS Kiselyov long throw-in from left is cleared in box.
19 min...OBD Gill sliding tackle on WS Johnston running down left sideline.
20 min...WS Watson 55 yard freekick from left has defenders clear.
21 min...WS LoFranco cornerkick from left is over players in box and crossed back in and defender clears off WS forward
on left for goalkick.
25 min...OBD Joshi pass to OBD Difeo pass to OBD Duarte has shot from left tip wide right for cornerkick.
26 min...OBD Evan James GOAL...OBD Rajvir Khalon takes cornerkick from right that goalie Tyrone Williams makes overhead
catch but drops ball in crowd of players in 6 yard box. James kicks in 1 yard shot on left side of net.
28 min...WS Cavallini pass to OBD players in box but rolls ball behind end line.
29 min...OBD Brandon Duarte GOAL...OBD Evan James bumps around WS Matthew Strangis to get ball at 33 yards and passes
to left for wide open Duarte to roll in 10 yarder to left side of net.
30 min...WS Johnston low 28 yarder up middle through crowd of players and diving goalie pushes wide right for cornerkick.
31 min...WS LoFranco cornerkick from right high and WS Watson eventually gets 8 yarder along left end line rolls to goalie.
35 min...WS Johnston at 35 yards in middle rolls ball forward and goalie dives on edge of box to smother before WS De Sousa
can get to it.
36 min...OBD Gill has shot from 10 yardes blocked when OBD players work out cornerkick from right.
37 min...OBD Adrian Gallo 30 yard freekick from right has defender head ball away.
38 min...WS Watson makes key header to keep OBD Joshi from getting to long cross into box.
39 min...WS LoFranco 40 yard freekick from left is headed away in box. WS Santos has 22 yard shot up middle blocked.
41 min...OBD Adrian Gallo cornerkick from left is high and over players in box. WS players make fast breakout that ends up
with WS De Sousa on a 2 on 1 break but De Sousa pushes ball too far forward and goalie picks up.
42 min...OBD Khalon 40 yard shot from left is between players is well wide right of net.
43 min...OBD Adrian Gallo low 30 yard shot from right is between players but goalie smothers.
44 min...OBD Drake rushes up middle and pass from 35 yard line has OBD James on left called offside.
46 min...half ends 5:47pm.

Halftime Entertainment:...there's a draw for a CPL hat and scarf with Anthony Totera, an assistant to the Soccer Operation
Director of the CPL gave out the prizes.

Second Half:...starts 6:02pm.
halftime sub:...WS Henry replaces LoFranco.
49 min...WS Kiselyov rolls shot from 12 yards on left end line that goalie picks up.
50 min...WS Johnston on 3 on 2 rush shoots 30 yarder up middle wide left of net.
52 min...OBD sub...Culver plread Adrian Gallo.
55 min...WS Watson 45 yard freekick from left is high and bounces wide right for goalkick.
57 min...WS Rayne makes poor backpass to goalie who slides to edge of box to clear before OBD forward can get to it.
59 min...WS Issac receives a short pass that let's him run up left wing to end line but pass into box is esily cleared
as no WS player ran for it.
60 min...WS Kiselyov long throw-in from left bounces through 6 yard box.
60 min...WS Strangis throw-in from right to WS Cavallini but his low pass into OBD box is cleared.
63 min...WS Cavallini rush on right edge of box has him slip before crossing and the rolls behind net.
65 min...OBD Culver runs to end line after receiving quick freekick but his low cross is cleared.
66 min...WS sub...Wright replaces Issac.
67 min...OBD Culver 20 yard low shot from left is wide.
68 min...OBD sub...Gennaccaro replaces Khalon.
.........WS sub...WS Caicedo replaces De Sousa.
71 min...WS YELLOW card...Johnston earns it for charging into OBD Gill after three OBD players were palying keep away.
72 min...OBD Difeo 40 yard freekick from left is headed away in box.
74 min...OBD YELLOW card...Gill earns it for mouthing off between breaks in the action for last three minutes.
75 min...WS sub...Puntillo replaces Cavallini.
76 min...OBD Culver chips 25 yarder from right that is cleared.
78 min...WS sub...Palmer-Agyemang replaces Kiselyov.
.........OBD sub...Dey replaces James.
79 min...WS Tyrell Rayne GOAL...WS runs to near left end line to keep rescue ball and sends low cross from 15 yards back out
to center where Rayne blasts low 12 yard shot up middle to left side of net past diving goalie Lucas Birnstingl.
80 min...WS Caicedo 30 yard freekick from right has charging WS Watson head 10 yarder from left that goalie flies to save.
WS Henry heads 10 yarder up middle wide right.
82 min...WS Caicedo 35 yard shot has WS Henry connect to 10 yard header which goalie flies left to stop and OBD Difeo clears
with overhead kick on right post.
83 min...WS Rayne runs for ball on right and blasts 15 yarder that goalie sprawls and gets hand to and tips ball onto the top of the bar.
84 min...WS Caiceido cornerkick from right has leaping goalie catch at 2 yards stepping in front of players waiting on left post.
86 min...WS Palmer-Agyemang gets foot in to break up pass to OBD Gennaccaro at 25 yards or he'd be in alone.
87 min...OBD YELLOW card...Buarte earns it for sliding tackle on WS Caicedo at OBD 45 yard line.
89 min...OBD Drake heads WS player's cross away at 8 yards on left to prevent a WS player waiting on the cross on the right.
94 min...game ends 6:51pm.

Final Score:...Woodbridge Strikers......1......Oakville Blue Devils......2......

Attendance started out slow but ended up at over 200 on this warm sunny day although it did end up clouding over
for part of the game. There was a bright sun in the west and I wonder if that's why Williams dropped his catch
of the ball for the first goal. The field was slippery. It was Strikers first home game played on grass as earlier
this month their home opener was on one of their field-turf surfaces. 68 minute sub WS Andres Caicedo found
it particularly difficult when he first came on but by the end of the game he was one of their most effective players.
There had been a full day's rain yesterday morning and after a few hours of sunlight a deluge of rain and a thunderstorm
meant the CPL game played at nearby York University in the afternoon was postponed (then resumed more than an hour
later although security and police had ordered most of the fans to go home—that fiasco I'll include in my CPL report).
The grass looked great and green but longish (than what it usually is but not really long) made it slipperier then
if it had been mowed.

Best of the other non-scoring chances not at the end of the game were at 25 minutes when OBD Hitesh Joshi passed
to OBD Carlo Difeo who passed to OBD Brandon Durarte whose shot tipped wide right. 30 minutes had WS Isaiah Johnston
take a low 28 yard shot up the middle through a crowd of players and the diving goalie was able to push wide
right of the post.

The two goals against seem to rattle the Strikers goalie. OBD players pressed and that would cause him to rush
clearances and shank kicks out of bounds.

Referee Filip Dujic gave out three Yellow cards this game all in the final 25 minutes but kept the game in control.
OBD players were Globetrotting the ball away from WS players near the center line for a good minute when WS Isaiah Johnston
came over to break it up by plowing into OBD Manvir Gill. That brought out the first Yellow at 71 minutes. Gill continued
to complain almost constantly for the next three minutes and Dujic gave him a card. The goal by Woodbridge made the
teams concentrate on soccer and not deteriorate into a hackfest. Dujic was the fourth official in that York 9 vs Forge
game yesterday.

The WS goal set up the next five minutes of frantic action. A minute after the goal at 79 minutes, WS Andres Caicedo
took a 30 yard freekick from the right that had WS captain Kyle Watson charge in from his defensive position and head
a 10 yarder from the left that the goalie flew over to save. WS Francio Henry headed the rebound from 10 yards up the
middle wide right of the post. 82 minutes had Caicedo take a 35 yard shot that Henry connected on a header from 10 yards
which the goalie flew to the left to stop and OBD Carlo Difeo cleared with an overhead kick away from near the right post.
Next minute WS Tyrell Rayne ran for a ball on the right and blasted a 15 yard shot that the sprawling goalie got a hand
to at 5 yards on the right and tipped it off the top of the bar. Caicedo took the resulting cornerkick from the right
that the goalie caught at 2 yards leaping in front of WS players waiting on the left post. OBD counterattacks were called
back at least twice by offside calls on 78 minute sub Sani Dey.

Since this was the last game of the weekend, these standings should hold for a few days anyway. Oakville stays at top
of the 16 team table tied with the surprising (well compared to last season) Alliance United FC both with 4-0-0 records.
Woodbridge record falls to 2-2-0 which is good for a two way tie for ninth place with FC London. Maybe worrisome
for Woodbridge is their victories have come against two of the cream puff teams. They will have to improve or they might
be squeezed out for what has always been for them a post season spot.

Anthony Totero from the CPL was in attendance to MC a lucky draw for a CPL hat and scarf (the CPL logos, not
a specific team). Also playing for Woodbridge was forward Matt Santos who was at Valour FC's training camp on March 4
and defender Isaiah Johnston who was at York 9 FC's training camp April 11. Oakville's Anthony Novak was signed
on April 3 by Forge FC (rather late in their training camp and is tied for second place in team scoring with
two goals—and looked good in yesterday's game (OK that's the third time I mentioned the York vs Forge game.
I'll stop now!).

At Woodbridge games they always give out a player of the game (one to each team as chosen by the team coaches)
on behalf of the club sponsor Coventry North Jaguar car dealership. Isaiah Johnston was chosen for Woodbridge
and goalie Lucas Birnstingl for Oakville.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
twitter @RocketRobin01

Woodbridge Strikers starters