September 5, 2019 League 1 Ontario--Alliance United FC vs North Mississauga Panthers SC (game report by Rocket Robin)

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Result and details of the Thursday September 5, 2019 League 1 Ontario game between Alliance United FC
and North Mississauga Panthers SC played at Centennial College in Scarborough at 8:45pm.

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

.......................1 Praveen Ahilan
18 Alp Kurtkapan...2 Kenny Lioutas...5 David Colelli...7 Nirun Sivananthan (cpt)
17 Atchuthian Sivananthan...15 Connor McFall...13 Farell Francis...8 Nicholas Osorio
................14 Artem Tesker...12 Christopher Donoso

Subs:...30 Denys Rylskyi (gk)...6 Christian Bell...11 Terrell Roberts...19 Koosha Nazemi
...20 Jacob Mauruttl-Robinson...21 Eric McGlynn
team officials:...team head coach Ilya Orlov...assistant coaches Angelo Papafrangos and Julian Carr
...therapist Maksym Fedak

North Mississauga Panthers SC (white socks and shirts, black shorts and numbers, one diagonal red stripe down chest)

.......................1 Jared Maloney
13 Nicola Russo...4 Ivica Sunjka...12 Jamie Scott...14 Jalen Chambers
8 Adam Boafo...20 Moses Toe...11 Adel Rahaman...3 Sundin Esperance
..................10 Lee-Victor Massunda...19 Sebastian Lach

Subs:...0 Chester Ashby (gk)...2 Abi Madaraka...6 Navid Rahman...7 Darren Gertiesingh
...9 Rahim Thorpe...15 Nick Proctor
team officials:...team head coach Aleks Balta...assistant coaches Justin Silveira and Patrick Guirguis
...therapist Antonela Figueroa

Game officials:...referee Brian Butler...assistant referee Ethan Bent and Valyl Dizkh
...fourth official Twayne Anderson...(all black uniforms)

First Half:...game starts 8:49pm...AU defends north end on this cool night. It's dark already. I went back
to my car for mosquito spray.
3 min...NMP player 33 yard freekick from left has ball flicked up and goalie catches wide right of net. NMP Esperance
had slipped up on run to take freekick.
4 min...AU Lioutas 33 yard freekick up the middle has goalie sprawl to smother ball.
5 min...NMP Massunda cross from right end line wins cornerkick.
5 min...NMP player's low cornerkick from left has nearest defender clear.
6 min...NMP Esperance long throw-in from left has ball headed and defender clear at 10 yards.
6 min...NMP Boafo cornerkick from left has ball bounce through box but NMP does witn throw-in.
7 min...NMP player's throw-in from right is headed and NMP Toe gets to it but knocks ball behind end line.
8 min...AU player's cross from 20 yards on right is just over head of charging AU Donoso in middle at 8 yards.
10 min...NMP Massunda cuts from right to middle and 20 yarder is caught under bar by goalie.
10 min...Alliance United Christopher Donoso GOAL...AU Atchuthan Sivananthan at 30 yard
line on right crosses between players and finds Donoso who chests ball down
and fires 15 yarder forward into right side of net beyond flying goalie Jared Maloney.
12 min...AU Lioutas freekick is ordered retaken because NMP Esperance didn't give him 10 yards.
13 min...AU Lioutas 40 yard freekick from right is whistled down in box.
17 min...NMP Toe chips 30 yarder from right that goalie catches.
18 min...AU Lioutas 33 yard freekick from left has goalie catgch on right side of net.
19 min...AU Nirun Sivananthan low cornerkick from right has defendeer deflect back to him adn his high recross
has goalie charge forward to catch at 10 yards in middle knocking over an AU player.
23 min...AU goalie catches 30 yarder from left that's sent over heads of players on edge of box.
24 min...AU YELLOW card...Kurtkapan earns it for check at AU 35 yard line.
25 min...NMP Boafo 40 yard freekick from left has AU Lioutas head ball away at 12 yards.
25 min...NMP YELLOW card...Chambers earns it for grabbing rushing AU player at NMP 35 yard line on right.
27 min...AU Francis bends 22 yard cross from far left wide right of net.
28 min...NMP Esperance whiffs on cross pass to him at 18 yards on left and ball is cleared for fast break.
32 min...Osorio 25 yard shot from far right is well over net.
35 min...NMP Esperance 28 yard freekick from far right is whistled down in box.
37 min...AU Nirun Sivananthan long cross from left has AU Atchuthan Sivananthan leap for header at 10 yards on right
but can't turn header with defender also jumping.
38 min...NMP Massunda run to left end line and rolls cross but AU Lioutas stops and clears at 8 yards in middle.
40 min...AU YELLOW card...McFall earns it for kick check at AU 45 yard line.
41 min...AU Rahman 50 yard freekick from left wins cornerkick.
41 min...NMP Esperance cornerkick from right is over players in box and out left side.
43 min...AU Donoso and Nirun Sivananthan on give and go has Donoso finish with 22 yard roller from left deflect off
defender to goalie.
44 min...NMP player's 45 yard freekick from right is cleared for throw-in.
44 min...NMP Esperance long throw-in from right wins a cornerkick as an AU players on near post heads behind end line.
44 min...NMP Esperance cornerkick from right has NMP Adel Rahman take partially blocked shot that was cleared in box.
45 min...AU YELLOW card...Francis earns it for knock down of NMP Toe at 45 yards.
45 min...NMP Esperance 50 yard freekick from middle is headed around in box by AU players and cleared.
47 min...half ends 9:36pm.

Second Half:...starts 9:51pm.
Halftime subs:...NMP Nadaraka replaces Chambers.
.................NMP Thorpe replaces Lach.
.................AU Rylskyi replaces Ahilan in goal.
.................AU McGlynn replaces Osorio.
.................AU Nazemi replaces Nirun Sivananthan.
47 min...NMP Thorpe pops 22 yard header down middle that is stopped.
47 min...NMP YELLOW card...Toe earns it for something.
47 min...AU Donoso low 12 yard shot after receiving pass from right and goalie slides over to clear.
48 min...NMP goalie smothers cornerkick from right on left post when ball is headed down.
51 min...NMP Thorpe run down left and low cross has charging NMP player sprawl and is not able to win a Penalty kick.
53 min...NMP Mussunda long cross from 45 yard line over to NMP Madarak charging on right and 20 yard first touch
is directly to goalie.
55 min...AU sub...Maurutto-Robinson replaces Lioutas.
55 min...AU Francis taps ball forward and AU Donoso 25 yarder is stopped.
56 min...NMP sub...Navid Rahman replaces Toe.
57 min...AU Tesker dribbles along 20 yard line right to middle and taps pass. AU Francis shoots 20 yarder over net.
59 min...AU player's cornerkick from left has AU Nirun Sivananthan 10 yarder in box sent wide left.
60 min...NMP Thorpe shoots rebound from 15 yards off bar after goalie palmed 20 yard shot from right.
61 min...NMP player's cornerkick from right is sent upfield and long cross from right is over head of charging NMP Sunjka
on left post.
63 min...AU Tesker dribbles along 22 yard line from right and cuts shot down middle that goalie dives left to save on post.
64 min...NMP Esperance one-touch of long cross from right knocks ball over end line on left.
66 min...AU goalie runs to edge of box to beat NMP Thorpe to bouncer up middle.
67 min...NMP YELLOW card...Adel Rahman earns it for complaining about an NMP hand ball call against teammate.
68 min...AU McGlynn bends 28 yard short from right wide left of net.
69 min...NMP Massunda shot from 13 yards is partially blocked shot wins cornerkick.
69 min...NMP player's cornerkick from right is sent upfield but wins a freekick on a hard check at AU 30 yard line.
70 min...NMP Esperance 35 yard freekick from right has goalie bat away and win freekick.
71 min...NMP sub...Gertiesingh replaces Esperance.
73 min...NMP Adel Rahman 30 yard freekick from left is between all players charging forward and wide right for goalkick.
74 min...AU Nazemi centers pass and AU Tesker has 20 yard shot blocked.
75 min...NMP Adel Rahman 25 yard freekick from slight left is bent high and left and over low back fence.
77 min...NMP Gertiesingh cornerkick from left is short and sent back to him and chip from 28 yards on left has defender
pop hearder from 12 yards over own net.
78 min...NMP sub...Proctor replaces Adel Rahman.
78 min...AU Nazemi 28 yard freekick from right has ball tipped wide right for goalkick.
79 min...AU sub...Roberts replaces injured McFall.
80 min...NMP Gertiesingh on edge of box can't get away shot.
81 min...NMP Proctor long throw-in to left edge of box and shot wins cornerkick on deflection.
82 min...NMP Gertiesingh cornerkick from left is whistled down in box.
84 min...NMP Proctor shot throw-in is tapped back to him and long cross is headed way on right edge of box.
85 min...AU Donodo and AU Tesker can't get away shots on edge of box.
85 min...NMP Thorpe low 15 yard shot has goalie slide to make point blank save at 12 yards.
86 min...AU Maurutto-Robinson makes key slide to stop 12 yard shot.
87 min...AU RED card...Terrell Roberts earns a direct ejection for a sliding tackle
from behind on an NMP player at AU 45 yard line.
89 min...NMP Russo run to left cornerflag and cross is cleared in 6 yard box and AU Colelli wins freekick.
92 min...NMP Massunda cross into box has defenders head ball away.
93 min...AU Nazemi runs down middle and blasts 25 yarder down middle that goalie flies left to push ball wide of top corner.
95 min...AU Sivanathan bends low 22 yard freekick just wide right of post.
95 min...game ends 10:41pm.
Post game...NMP RED card...Rahim Thorpe is shown a Red when he goes over to referee
Brian Butler to make a few comments on his officiating.

Final Score:...Alliance United......1.......North Mississauga Panthers........0........
(Alliance wins the two game quarterfinal 4-1 on aggregate)

Attendance was about 70 people on this cool night with the game starting after it was already dark.
The field wasn't available any early as the college's women's team was holding a practice.

This game was the continuation of the quarterfinal series two weekends ago (no games last week over
the holiday weekend) with Alliance holding a 3-1 lead from a huge away game result. NMP head coach
told his players as a final pep talk before the game that one goal for AU won't matter because
“We still need three!” Well a 3-1 reversal would result in a tie and extra time and/or Penalty kicks.
Still it was a point that NMP would be going all out for a goal early.

First surprise for me was AU had their all-star midfielder/captain Nikola Stakic's name actually
scratched off the game sheet I was given. I asked an AU official and he said Stakic hadn't
recovered from a knock he took. After the game was over I talked to Stakic's father and he said
his son was being rested. When I got home I looked up and saw he was on a Yellow card from
the first game and so not playing him meant there was no risk of him missing the next round.

I noticed as the game went on that AU subbed out the maximum starters and that began with three
at halftime. David Colelli was the only other AU player on a Yellow card from the last game
and he played the full 90 at the tough central defender role without a problem. NMP had no players
on Yellow cards.

The game did get rough with four of the six Yellow cards being given out in the first half by referee
Brian Butler. AU picked up all theirs in the first half which was a bit of a worry as the game could
become a hackfest in the second half as time ran out for NMP and maybe AU would hold back on their
checking to avoid drawing another. AU swapped their goalies at halftime and Nicolas Osorio,
the star of the first game was also taken off at halftime.

Praveen Ahilan and Denys Rylskyi shared the shutout with each playing one half—Ahilan starting
the game. Both had a few stops to make with Rylskyi having tougher chances as NMP went all-out
near the end. They were both aided by their tough defence of Alp Kurtkapan, Kenny Lioutas,
David Colelli, and tonight's captain Nirun Sivananthan. Jacob Maurutto-Robinson subbed
in for Lioutas at 55 minutes and fit in well.

Tough checks by both teams but nothing rating a Penalty kick which NMP coaching staff were pleading
for especially in the second half. A few freekicks and corners were whistled down in the box
for pushing incidents but always against the attacking team. I'll believe the league stat tweets
(as it's a bit too much for me to count) but NMP led in cornerkicks by 10-2 but AU led in shots
on target at 5-3.

Not to really stall the game were AU defenders in the second half booting the ball out of play—safety
first (!) which upset the AU game staff almost as much as the NMP coaches. The low fence
on the east side borders on a nature area. The ball boys had almost run out of balls but AU staff
were retrieving them with flashlights to keep the game going. I was there early enough to retreat
to the parking lot to get some mosquito spray from my car but after that I was fine with the forest
at my back.

Best non-scoring chances were 10 minutes (right before the goal) by NMP Lee-Victor Massunda
who cut in from the right to the middle and shot a 20 yarder caught under the bar by the goalie.
19 minutes had AU Nirun Sivannanthan take a cornerkick from the right sent in low that a defender
deflected back to him and he sent in a high recross that the goalie charged forward to catch
at 10 yards in the middle knocking into an AU player. 47 minutes had AU Christopher Donoso take
a low 12 yard shot after receiving a pass from the right that the goalie slid to clear. Next minute
had the NMP goalie smother a cornerkick from the right on the left post when the ball was headed down.
53 minutes had NMP Massunda send in a long cross from the 45 yard line over to Abi Madaraka charging
on the right but a 20 yard first touch was directly to the goalie (now Rylskyi). 60 minutes had
the AU goalie palm down a 20 yard shot from the right but gave up a big rebound and NMP Rahim Thorpe
shot a 15 yarder off the bar. 63 minutes had Artem Tesker dribble along the 22 yard line from
the right and cut a shot down the middle that the goalie dove left to save on the post. 75 minutes
and NMP Adel Rahman take a 25 yard freekick from the slight left that bent left and high over
the net and the low back fence. 85 minutes had NMP Rahim Thorpe take a low 15 yard shot that had
the goalie slide to make a point blank save at 12 yards. 93 minutes had AU Koosha Nazemi run down
the middle and blast a 25 yarder down the middle that the goalie flew left to push wide
of the top corner. Since Nazemi was knocked over as he got away the shot AU was awarded a freekick.
Nirun Sivananthan bent the 22 yard freekick just wide right of the post.

NMP midfield Rahman brothers Adel started and Navid came in at 56 minutes. Alliance countered with
both their Sivananthan brothers starting. (I wasn't sure those AU players were related until
I heard tonight).

I couldn't see the camcorder-on-a-pole guy filming this game but on my way out I saw the operator
packing up his equipment outside the gate. He had filmed the game from outside the grounds and had
his tripod set up in the parking lot as the short fence surrounding the field on the west side
is too close to the sideline and it could have been dangerous for players and equipment. (A concern
about the L1O Women's League Final has come true. The game was shown on OneSoccer television—professional
quality but is not on the L1O league web page except for a 56 second clip of the only goal). I expect
the Men's Final will be the same so enjoy the rest of the playoff games while they last!

Alliance is the first team to book a spot in the two game semi-final series. All their players get
through unscathed except Terrell Roberts (1999) with his Red card...he only came on at 79 minutes
and the tackle was so unnecessary as it was not even near the goal area with the NMP not even facing
the AU net.

Three more teams will be decided on Sunday with the winners of the series between Masters FA vs Sigma FC,
Oakville Blue Devils vs Woodbridge Strikers, and Vaughan Azzurri vs FC London (home team listed first)
joining them.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
twitter @RocketRobin01

Alliance United starters