June 14, 2019 League 1 Ontario--North Mississauga Panthers SC vs Durham United FA game report (by Rocket Robin)

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Result and details of the Friday June 14, 2019 League 1 Ontario game between North Mississauga Panthers SC
and Durham United FA played at Paramount Fine Foods Centre Field in Mississauga at 7:45pm.

North Mississauga Panthers SC (all red, white numbers)

...................1 Chester Ashby
13 Nicola Russo...4 Ivica Sunjka...5 Luke Rankin...12 Jamie Scott (cpt)
11 Ali El Zeir...20 Moses Toe...15 Adam Boafo...10 Lee-Victor Massunda...3 Sundin Esperance
...................19 Jordan Prescod

Subs:...0 Gereon Bayer (gk)...2 Abi Madaraka...6 Damion Scott...7 Darren Gertiesingh
...8 Christopher Simm...9 Rahim Thorpe...14 Luca Pacheco
team officials:...assistant coaches Patrick Guiguis and Justin Silveira...therapist Jacky Lam

Suspended: Aleks Balta (team official/head coach)

Durham United FA (white socks, shorts, and numbers, black shirts)

..................0 Kevon Grant
4 Drai Gordon...5 Mahadi Mahadi...6 Orville Malcolm...11 Terence Linatoc
17 Liam Salmon...10 Geudei Djimi...19 Derrick Amankwa...9 Nigel Buckley
.............7 Mitchell Wong...12 Jae Jin Lee (cpt)

Subs:...1 Khedar Caesar-Thompson (gk)...13 Phillipe Edmonds...15 Kevin Thibodeau...18 Gary Canam
...20 Barrington Smith...23 Michael Thornton
team offiials:...team head coach Paul Martin...assistant coaches Adam Whitehead, Desmond Humphrey, Francis Etienne,
and Ramim Mohammadi...therapist Alex Hawkins

Game offiials:...referee Hassane Rifai...referee's assistants Tyler Tonet and Brian Novogradac
...fourth official Nick Vagenas...(yellow shirts, black shorts and socks)

First Half:...game starts 7:48pm...NMP defend north end. It's stopped raining just before game time
after starting one hour earlier. There's a wind from the west.
10 sec...DUFA Amankwa is injured at NMP 45 yard line and needs trainer.
5 min...NMP Esperance low 25 yarder from far left rolls to goalie on near post.
7 min...DUFA Mahadi clears headere out of box on cross from left.
8 min...NMP Jamie Scott grabs arm of DUFA Wong on run at NMP 22 yard line but only has a freekick called against him.
9 min...DUFA Salmon 22 yard freekick down middle has goalie palm ball wide right of post.
9 min...DUFA player's cornerkick from right is over players and cleared on left.
10 min...DUFA sub...Thornton replaces Amankwa who had played injured until then.
11 min...DUFA Mahadi retreats and clears ball from charging NMP Prescod.
18 min...NMP Esperance rolls cross from left along 10 yard line is through two defenders and NMP Prescod unplayed.
19 min...NMP goalie picks up ball wide right of net that DUFA Lee had pushed too far forward on rush.
22 min...NMP Esperance is injured at NMP 30 yard line chasing ball defensively.
23 min...NMP Prescod gets by DUFA Malcolm but DUFA Wong gets back to tip 15 yard shot wide right.
24 min...NMP Esperance cornerkick from right is whistled down in box.
25 min...NMP Toe run down left and passes to NMP Prescod who has shot from 15 yards deflect off defender for cornerkick.
26 min...NMP Zeir cornerkick from left is rolled upfield and ends with passing play by tipping cross sent from right
into left webbing of net.
27 min...NMP Zeir 25 yard shot from far right is caught by goalie.
29 min...NMP Prescod is given pass on run up right and low 25 yard shot is saved by sliding goalie on near post.
30 min...DUFA player's cornerkick from left has NMP Damion Scott head away in box which starts a heading battle before
ball is finally cleared.
34 min...DUFA Thornton chips high cross from 25 yards on left between players and goalie catches in 6 yard box.
35 min...NMP Prescod rolls pass forward on left to NMP Esperance who continues to end line and cross hits thigh
of NMP El Zeir at 12 yards and deflects out of bob. NMP Massunda blasts this partial clearance from 30 yards down
middle wide right of net.
37 min...DUFA Lee 20 yard shot/cross from left drifts high behind net.
39 min...NMP Sundin Esperance is tripped up rushing into DUFA box for a pass and referee
Hassane Rifai whistles for a Penalty kick.
40 min...NMP Jordan Prescod GOAL...Prescod blasts his Penalty kick low and to the left.
Goalie Kevon Grant dives to left and makes the stop near the post. The ball rebounds out
to 6 yards and Prescod who is the only player to move runs forward and rolls 6 yarder into
empty side of net.
44 min...NMP Esperance 40 yard freekick from right is bent over to left and NMP player passes along line and goalie makes
point blank save on near post of another NMP player's shot.
45 min...NMP Russo bends 30 yard shot from right that goalie leaps backwards to palm away from top left corner of net
injurying himself.
46 min...NMP Esperance cornerkick from left is knocked around in box including two chances for NMP Sunjka before
being cleared.
46 min...half ends 8:34pm.

Second Half:...starts 8:49pm...it's still not dark yet!
46 min...DUFA Thornton cornerkick from left has NMP Sunjka in crowd of players in box leap to head away.
NMP Russo is injured in box on play.
47 min...NMP Esperance gets ball on pass to far left and runs to end lie and rolls cross but defender stops and clears.
53 min...NMP Nicola Russo GOAL...NMP Jordan Prescod runs down the left and crosses into the
box where Russo gets to the ball and rolls it behind the goalie. Retreating DUFA Orville Malcolm
slides to try to clear ball on the line but kicks it into the roof of the net.
53 min...DUFA sub...Smith replaces Wong.
55 min...DUFA corcnerkick fro left has DUFA Smith in crowd of players near left post head 6 yarder over bar.
56 min...DUFA Michael Thornton GOAL...Thornton runs up to blast 40 yarder down the middle
and the ball tucks over flying goalie Chester Ashby into the center of the net just under the bar.
58 min...DUFA Linatoc 30 yard throw-in down left line rolls out unplayed for goalkick.
59 min...NMP sub...Damion Scott replaces Toe.
60 min...NMP sub...Thorpe replaces Prescod.
61 min...DUFA Gordon 33 yard chip from right is caught by goalie overhead on left post.
63 min...NMP Jamie Scott 60 yard freekick from right has defender leap and head ball back to goalie on edge of box.
64 min...NMP sub...Simm replaces El Zeir.
67 min...NMP Simm steps between players and blasts 15 yarder which goalie pushes onto to webbing of net over bar.
66 min...NMP Esperance cornerkick from left is over to NMP Sunjka on left post who heads 7 yarder in crowd of players
which goalie catches.
68 min...NMP Russo is injured at NMP 35 yard line.
71 min...DUFA sub...Edmonds replaces Lee.
72 min...NMP Esperance long throw-in from left is caught by goalie.
72 min...NMP Simm centers to NMP Damion Scott who blasts 25 yarder from slight right that goalie bats down and picks up.
74 min...NMP Damion Scott 28 yard freekick up middle is caught by goalie on bounce in center of net.
77 min...DUFA YELLOW card...Smith earns it for pushing NMP Jamie Scott over and clears out at NMP 30 yard line.
79 min...NMP Esperance is sent away in open on left by NMP Massunda pass at 60 yards. Esperance on 2 on 2 sends
high cross from 25 yard line but it's high and wide right. Massunda was injured on the pass he slid to make.
81 min...DUFA Thornton ends DUFA pressure of a sequence of the ball being passed around in the box with a 15 yard shot
from right well wide right 82 min...NMP sub...Pacheco replaces injured Massunda.
83 min...DUFA Thornton gets to long pass sent by DUFA Linatoc from 60 yards and one-touch 18 yard shot from right
bounces to goalie.
85 min...DUFA Djimi is tapped pass and he blasts 35 yard shot down middle just wide right.
85 min...DUFA sub...Thibodeau replaces Buckley.
.........NMP sub...Gertiesingh replaces Russo.
87 min...DUFA Barrington Smith GOAL...Smith intercepts loose ball in the DUFA box on the left
and blasts a 12 yarder just under the bar.
88 min...NMP Christopher Simm GOAL...NMP players charge up the field and Simm rolls 15 yarder
on right side of box past sliding goalie.
90 min...DUFA Mahadi 50 yard freekick from right has defender in crowd of players head wide left for throw-in.
90 min...DUFA goalie is out to 30 yards to make header and falls but gets back to let ball roll over end line
for goalkick.
92 min...DUFA Salmon blasts 33 yarder down middle well over net and back fence and off roof of dressing room.
94 min...DUFA Thornton shoots 30 yarder from right is well wide left.
94 min...game ends 9:38pm.

Final Score:...North Mississauga Panthers SC.......3.......Durham United FA........2.......

Attendance was about 150 on this mild evening. It started to rain one hour before game time and then
conveniently stopped before the first kick. The rain made the field turf slick and a lot of medium
strength passes rolled out of bounds very easily in the first half. Fans had to dry their part of the
aluminum bench to sit down unless they stood or brought their own lawn chair.

Referee Hassane Riffai gave out only one Yellow card tonight and he saved that until 77 minutes when
DUFA Barrington Smith pushed NMP captain Jamie Scott (probably smallest player on the field) on the
sideline out of bounds and almost into the stands. Both teams were burned almost equally
by offside calls.

Best non-scoring chances were at 9 minutes when DUFA Liam Salmon sent a 22 yard freekick down
the middle that the goalie palmed wide right of the post. 35 minutes had NMP Jordan Prescod
rolled a pass forward on the left to NMP Sunin Esperance who continued to the end line and sent
a cross that hit the thigh of NMP Ali El-Zeir and deflected out of the box. 44 minutes had
Esperance take a 40 yard freekick from the right that bent over to the left end line and
a NMP player passed along the line and the goalie made a point blank save on the near post
as another NMP shot from close range. The next minute NMP Adam Boafo bent a 30 yard shot
from the right that the goalie leapt backwards to palm away from the top left corner of the
net and injured himself on the landing. 55 minutes had Salmon take cornerkick from the left
that had DUFA Barrington Smith in a crowd of players head a 6 yarder over the bar near the
left post. 61 minutes had DUFA Drai Gordon take a 33 yard chip from the right that the goalie
makes a overhead catch on the left post.

A bit of comedy in second half injury time. DUFA goalie Kevon Grant was out to 30 yards to make
a header and keep the pressure on upfield but fell backwards missing the ball but got back up
and let the ball roll over the end line for a goalkick. DUFA Salmon blasted a 33 yarder down
the middle well over the net and the back fence and it bounced off the roof of the dressing room.

It is the first time I've seen North Mississauga this season. They were on the edge of the
playoff line in a tie for ninth before this game and now are on the inside (most other teams
play later this weekend). The team certainly has better results than last season so far.

New head coach for this season Aleks Balta was serving a suspension for kicking a water bottle
I was told so assistant coach Patrick Guirguis was in control of the bench tonight. The referee
talked to him after the game because it looked like one 'fan' was yelling from the stands
very precise formation instructions rather than the usual fan cries of “Shoot it”.

Guirguis answered me that the team was improving because they brought back a lot of last
year's team and they are getting used to playing together. I counted tonight's roster against
last year and 10 of the 18 played at least a few games for the L1O team in 2018. They are
certainly not 'old'. Although none were born this century, eight of them were born
between 1997 and 1999.

North Mississauga is the team where defender Doneil Henry played in his youth and Guirguis
who answered that he's coached with NMP for 13 years coached him. Tomorrow night we are
going to hopefully watch him play for Canada at the Gold Cup!

Panthers move up to a tie for sixth with Aurora FC both with identical records of 3 wins,
1 loss, 2 ties for 11 points. The top eight teams make the playoffs.

Durham played well tonight. They had to survive a jolt at the start when midfielder
Derrick Amankwa went down with a leg injury at 10 seconds! He continued on but was
subbed off at 10 minutes by Michael Thornton who did score a 'Goal of the Year' calibre strike.
They came back from a 2-0 deficit by 87 minutes but then had NMP respond by scoring
a minute later to retake the lead.

Durham is mired in fifteenth place with only one tie in seven games. They had three
starters born in 2000 (I'm going to include Thornton who played most of the game)
including goalie Kevon Grant. One starter was a 2001 (midfielder Liam Salmon).
Grant stopped that penalty kick and made some other good saves.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
twitter @RocketRobin01

My interview with North Mississauga assistant coach Patrick Guirguis...4 min 5 sec
Guirguis talks about tonight's games, reasons why the team is better this year,
and alumni Doneil Henry and Liam Millar who have played on Canada's national team.

North Mississauga Panthers starters