June 29, 2019 League 1 Ontario--Alliance United vs FC London game report (by Rocket Robin)

.................................

Result and details of the Saturday June 29, 2019 League 1 Ontario game between Alliance United and FC London
played at Mount Joy in Markham at 3:00pm.

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

.................30 Preveen Ahilan
19 Koosha Nazemi...2 Kenny Lioutas...5 David Colelli...7 Nirun Sivananthan
17 Atchuthan Sivananthan...4 Nikola Stakic (cpt)...13 Farrell Francis...8 Nicholas Osorio
..............3 Chris Jacovou...9 Antony Sousa

Subs:...1 Chimdubern Onyeka (gk)...11 Anselmo Kim...12 Christopher Badebengi...15 Connor McFall
...16 Dieu Yuma...21 Eric McGlynn
team officials:...team head coach Ilya Orlov...assistant coach Denys Rylskyl and Julian Carr
...therapist Roman Raschuk

Suspended player: Milan Beader

FC London (white socks and shirts, red short, black numbers)

....................1 Connor Dalton
3 Sean Fawsitt...4 Bradley Heath...12 Belal Halbouni...13 Jeremy Arnold
.........2 Patrick Melo (cpt)...7 Ethan Gopaul...8 Mohammad Reza Nafar
.......17 Chad Gopaul...11 Tomas Alvarez...10 Connor Wilson

Subs:...71 Max Homm (gk)...9 Mike Sneddon...15 Randy Ribeiro...14 Ben Vyfschaft
18 Dominic Szyszka...20 Taylor Harris...21 Connor Millar
team officials:...team head coach Michael Marcoccia...assistant coach Phillip Millar
...therapist Mike Robinson

Game officials:...referee John Leuser...referee's assistants John O'Hara and Marko Grubisic
...fourth official Filip Dujic...yellow shirts, black shorts and socks)

First Half:...game starts 3:34pm...Alliance defends south end on this hot and humid afternoon with a bright sun from the west.
5 min...AU Lioutas 33 yard freekick from slight right is between group of players in box and wide left of net.
7 min...FCL Ethan Gopaul long solo run on left and cuts to middle but 25 yard shot is rolled wide left.
8 min...AU Lioutas 30 yard freekick from left has FCL Fawsitt head ball away at 12 yards.
8 min...FCL Ethan Gopaul low 30 yard shot from left is smothered by goalie on left post.
11 min...AU Lioutas 35 yard freekick from right has open AU Stakic head 10 yarder from left well over net.
12 min...AU Sousa 25 yard shot from right is rolled wide left. A hand ball that had not been whistled allowed
Sousa to gain control to set up play.
13 min...AU Sousa runs to right end line and 20 yard shot is through 6 yard box wide left for goalkick.
14 min...AU goalie beats FCL Ethan Gopaul at top left of box to catch bouncer.
15 min...AU Chris Jacovou whiffs on a 33 yard freekick up the middle but ball hits the hand of FCL Belal Halbouni
just inside the box. Referee John Leuser awards AU a Penalty kick.
15 min...AU Nikola Stakic GOAL...Stakic blasts Penalty kick to top right side of net beyond reach of goalie Connor Dalton.
16 min...FCL goalie catches 25 yard bouncer up middle.
17 min...FCL Melo 35 yard freekick up middle is tap to FCL player who sends low blast into AU player wall.
19 min...FCL Ethan Gopaul long run up left and centers cross into box which defender heads away at 6 yards.
24 min...A water break is called.
28 min...FCL Alvarez run into AU box on right and backheels pass near end line but a defender clears.
31 min...FCL Wilson cornerkick from right has nearest defender on right post head away. FCL Ethan Gopaul eventually
blasts cleared ball from 30 yards well over net.
33 min...AU Osorio chips 40 yarder down middle to goalie as AU Sousa is caught offside and can't move.
34 min...Injured AU Francis needs treatment from trainer at AU 30 yard line.
Players take another waterbreak.
38 min...FCL Ethan Gopaul run down left wing and pushes ball over end line.
43 min...FCL goalie is out to 30 yards to beat AU Osorio to through ball.
44 min...AU YELLOW card...Osorio earns it for booting 20 yard shot into net after being called offside.
46 min...AU Sousa can't win Penalty kick on right side of box and deflection for goalkick.
48 min...AU Sousa sends pass forward but goalie runs to edge of box to pick up before AU Atchuthan Sivananthan can get to it.
51 min...half ends 4:25pm.

Second Half:...starts 4:42pm...It's still hot and humid with a bright sun in the west.
Halftime sub:...AU Yuma replaces Jacovou.
46 min...AU Lioutas 55 yard freekick from right has one player in set of three AU players head 15 yarder on left
wide left of net.
46 min...AU Sousa and AU Atchuthan Sivananthan look like they both connect on shot at 15 yards and goalie picks up ball
on left post.
50 min...AU Atchuthan Sivananthan recovers FCL defender's header across FCL box and gets shot at 15 yards from right that
he sends well wide right.
51 min...AU goalie flies right to catch FCL Wilson 18 yard shot from left.
53 min...FCL sub...Szyszka replaces Melo.
54 min...AU Atchuthan Sivananthan low cross from right is behind AU players in box and cleared.
55 min...AU Stakic taps pass forward from 15 yards but goalie beat AU Yuma to smother.
57 min...FCL Ethan Gopaul run down left but can't cuts in on AU Nazemi and rolls ball over end line.
58 min...AU Sousa is injured at FCL 30 yard line and needs trainer. Players use this time for a water break.
61 min...FCL sub...Sneddon replaces Alvarez.
.........AU sub...AU McFall replaces injured Sousa before play resumes.
63 min...AU McFall 60 yard chip from right is well wide right of net.
65 min...AU Yuma dribbles in from left and tips ball off defender at 8 yards for cornerkick.
66 min...AU McFall cornerkick from left is cleared in box for fast FCL breakout.
68 min...AU Atchuthan Sivananthan long throw-in into FCL box is cleared away.
68 min...AU Yuma and FCL Heath jump for ball and Heath is injured on edge of FCL box.
69 min...FCL sub...Ribeiro replaces Nafar.
.........The 'official' water break is called now.
74 min...FCL win hand ball call just outside AU box.
75 min...FCL Szyszka shoots freekick over net.
76 min...FCL sub...Harris replaces Arnold.
.........FCL sub...Vyfschaft replaces Chad Gopaul.
77 min...AU Yuma gets long pass down right and tips ball behind goalie but wide right of net.
78 min...FCL Sneddon run to right end line and 20 yard shot is tipped by goalie wide of post.
78 min...FCL Sneddon cornerkick from right has leaping FCL Szyszka not able to turn header.
80 min...AU Lioutas 33 yard freekick from right sideline has FCL Fawsitt in leaping crowd of players head away in box.
81 min...AU McFall passes right and forward to AU Atchuthan Sivananthan and his low cross into box has defender step
in front of AU player to clear.
83 min...AU YELLOW card...Nazemi earns it for complaining when AU goalie was caught out of box when bumped.
84 min...FCL player's freekick from right edge of box has defender duck and head away. FCL Wilson has 25 yard shot blocked.
85 min...AU goalie beats FCL Wilson to bouncer in box.
88 min...AU Francis suffers head injury at AU 30 yard line and needs trainer.
90 min...FCL Sneddon chests down pass and blasts 12 yarder on far right well over net.
91 min...AU sub...Kim replaces Osorio.
93 min...AU goalie at 8 yards catches FCL player's chip up from 20 yards.
94 min...AU sub...McGlynn replaces Atchuthan Sivananthan.
96 min...AU goalie punts ball downfield to FCL goalie who beats AU Yuma to bounce.
97 min...FCL Ethan Gopaul freekick from 45 yards is short and given back for him to chip in. FCL Halbouni
heads 10 yarder off bar.
98 min...FCL Heath 30 yard shot is high and wide right.
99 min...FCL Szyszka 45 yard chip from left is well high and wide right of net.
99 min...game ends 5:36pm.

Final Score:.....Alliance United.......1.......FC London......0.......

Attendance was around 60 on this very hot and humid day with a bright sun. The field turf was hot
to the touch. The game started a half hour late as the London bus was late in arriving—caught in traffic.
Hey that happened last night in the Copa America with the Chilean team! Alliance delayed their
warm up and London came out and had less than 15 minutes to loosen up.

Referee John Leuser called a water break in each half. Besides that the players took the opportunity
for one more in each half when a player was injured and needed a trainer. He added six minutes
to the first half and eight to the second. This aggravated a selection of Alliance fans who felt
that was too generous and gave London a chance to salvage a point on the afternoon.

Just like that at 97 minutes FCL Ethan Gopaul had a freekick from 45 yard on the right and played
it short and up the wing where it was quickly passed back to him and this time he chipped it into
the box where FCL Belal Halbouni flew forward up the middle and headed a 12 yarder off the bar.

Praveen Ahilan earned the shutout for Alliance with the help of a protective defence. He opened
the season with five straight shutouts and in the nine games of their season (he's been in net
for every minute of their games) today was his seventh shutout! Best team in the league for allowing
only four goals for a 0.44 GAA (best in the league discounting the one-game-played wonders).
He went to Ryerson University for four years and took Business Administration. Ooh. I went
to 'Rye-High' at the end of the 1970s when it was a poly-technical institute and graduated their
three year Bus-Adm program. I wouldn't have the marks to qualify today.

Alliance back line of Koosha Nazemi, Kenny Lioutas, David Colelli, and Nirun Sivananthan greatly
aided in the shutout.

Alliance made an effort for an insurance goal by bringing on Dieu Mercy Yuma at halftime to replace
fellow forward Chris Jacovou. Yuma had a few good moments by bashing through a few defenders but
having a final defender block his shot or be the target of passes that the defenders were able
to cut in front of to intercept. Last year Yuma was a late season add to Sanjaxx Lions returning
from playing in France and almost single-handedly led the Lions to the playoffs (Sanjaxx is not
in L1O this season) and also impressed at the CPL-L1O combine back in January. I'm unsure if he was
offered a contract and didn't want to put any player on the spot but he looked like he was agreeing
with my statement “the CPL contracts were insultingly small” when I asked him after the game.
Kenny Lioutas took most of the Alliance freekicks.

Connor Dalton was the goalie for FCL. He was a write-in on the game roster. He is/was a goalie
for Western University. This was his first game in L1O this year and he played well.

L1O twitter stats had both teams with 3 corners, AU leading with 3-2 for shots on and 7-5 for
shots off, and AU leading 3-1 on offsides.

Best non-scoring chances were at 11 minutes when AU Lioutas sent in a 35 yard freekick from the
right that an open AU Nikola Stakic at 10 yards on the left headed the ball well over the net.
51 minutes had the AU goalie fly to the right to catch FCL Connor Wilson's 18 yard shot from the left.
74 minutes had FCL win a handball just outside the box but FCL Dominic Szyszka shot his freekick
over the net. 77 minutes had AU Yuma get a long pass down the right and he tipped it behind the
goalie but wide right of the net. 83 minutes had the AU goalie caught out of this box and he bumped
an FCL player. The only card given out was to AU Koosha Nazemi for complaining about the freekick
given. An FCL player took the freekick from the right edge of the box and an AU player ducked
and headed the ball away in a crowd of players. FCL Wilson then had the 25 yard rebound shot blocked.
90 minutes had FCL Mike Sneddon chest down a ball on the far right and blast a 12 yarder well over
the net. 97 minutes had that header off the ball and that was about it as the game lasted
until 99 minutes (from my wristwatch).

Alliance have made Mount Joy their permanent home for this season. Last year they split their time
at Centennial College (until school was in), L'Amoreaux Park in Scarborough (ground sharing
with Masters FA), and Mount Joy. They do ground share with Unionville-Milliken SC now that
UM had to move from Bill Crothers Secondary School—not far from here—when the school suddenly
scheduled renovations to their field turf before UM's first home game. Today may have been
the one time there was conflict as UM were displaced to a place called Vaso's Field in Oshawa
where they beat Ottawa SUF 2-0. Alliance's L1O Women's team had just beaten North Mississauga 7-1
as I was arriving. First game in their last three that NM hadn't lost by double digits. One more
thing from his Ryerson bio—Bill Crothers SS was the high school of Praveen Ahilan!

The result moves Alliance up to second place with a 7 wins, 0 losses, 2 ties record for 23 points.
They wouldn't have known about moving up for about half an hour but in Oakville the Blue Devils
were 'only' earning a tie hosting Masters FA and slipped to third. Vaughan Azzurri had won
on Friday to move into sole possession of first place at 24 points. There will be no games
on Sunday nor holiday Monday.

FC London's record falls to eleventh with a record of 3 wins, 6 losses, 0 ties for 9 points.
They are in a tough spot as only the top eight teams make the playoffs. Last year they finished
first in the regular season than had a rough time in a playoff group round-robin format and didn't
make the final. Alliance beat them 1-0 in that first game in London and they never recovered.
...And no, Ahilan was not an Alliance goalie last year.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
twitter @RocketRobin01

Alliance United starters