September 22, 2019 League 1 Ontario--Oakville Blue Devils vs Masters FA (game report by Rocket Robin)

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

Result and details of the Sunday September 22, 2019 League 1 Ontario game between Oakville Blue Devils and Masters FA Saints
played at Bronte Park in Oakville at 4:00pm. This was the return leg of the Semi-Final series with the first one ending
last weekend in Scarborough with a 0-0 scoreline.

Oakville Blue Devils (all navy, white numbers)

.......................1 Lucas Birnstingl
15 Carlo Difeo...23 Jesse Bibby...6 Victor Gallo (cpt)...2 Zachary Drake
20 Hitesh Joshi...18 Manvir Gill...22 Rajvir Khalon...12 Spencer Barber
................9 Reshon Phillip...19 Evan James

Subs:...27 Brandon Kerr (gk)...4 Logan Podrebarac...5 Mohamad Shamkhi...11 Braden Culver
...13 Adrian Gallo...21 Marco Gennaccaro...25 Konner McNamara
team officials:...team head coach Duncan Wilde...assistant coaches Billy Steele, Brett Mosen, and Glenn McNamara
...therapist Mark Heathcote

Masters FA Saints (red socks, shorts and shirts, white shoulders and numbers)

.........................1 Spiridon Koskinas
11 Shawn Brown...3 Adam Czerkawki (cpt)...5 Marc Jankovic...2 Atif Muhammad Ali
70 Yasin Shawan...19 Randy-Durand Misse Miyenga...16 Akeem Priestley...9 Shaquille Agard
.................30 Daunte Walkes...20 Francis Ameyaw

Subs:...99 Daniel Gosciniak (gk)...6 Eddy Dabire...7 Anwar Al-Sawi...8 Samer Hamade
...12 Maleik Defreitas...17 Nathan Ferguson...15 Matthew Ali
team officials:...team head coach Rick Titus...manager Hubert Groves...assistant coach Devon Porter

Game officials:...referee David Barrie...referee's assistants Braeden Krampert and Marko Grubisic
fourth official George Soliman...(yellow shirts, black shorts and socks)

First Half:...game starts 4:06pm...OBD defends north end on this hot day with a bright sun in the west. There's also
a strong win from the west.
1 min...OBD Joshi 22 yard shot down middle is wide right.
7 min...OBD players have had a few through ball passes but they've been sent too far forward and over end line or out of bounds.
8 min...OBD Drake 40 yard shot from left drops just behind net.
8 min...OBD Phillip cross from right near end line is headed down by defender. OBD Khalon blasts sitter low from 10 yards
down middle wide left.
9 min...MFA goalie is out to smother ball ahead of OBD James at 15 yards on left.
13 min...OBD goalie is out to edge of box to pick up ball and survive knockdown.
16 min...MFA Ameyaw can't win Penalty kick on knock over on right side of box.
17 min...MFA Muhammad Ali at 55 yards in center passes forward and left. MFA Walkes rush down left wing and eludes OBD Drake
to pass for MFA Priestley at 10 yards who one-touches shot down middle high and wide right of goal.
20 min...OBD DiFeo 30 yard freeekick from right sideline has MFA Jankovic leap to head over end line from 12 yards.
20 min...OBD players work out short cornerkick from right but effort is wasted when it's finally rolled into box.
22 min...MFA Agard whiffs on 15 yarder caused when OBD defender deflects ball back into own end from 30 yards.
23 min...the MFA subs start to warm up.
23 min...MFA goalie dives to left post to smother 20 yard shot.
25 min...OBD YELLOW card...Victor Gallo earns it when MFA Walkes is upended at 25 yards when MFA goalie's clearance is sent back.
26 min...MFA Czerkawski freekick from 25 yards is caught by goalie under bar. Goalie then punches to start breakout.
28 min...OBD Difeo chip to OBD Phillip to twist header at 12 yards but is called offside.
29 min...MFA Priestley cornerkick from right has goalie catch in crowd of players and quick kick prevented by MFA player bumps.
30 min...a water break is called.
33 min...OBD Khalon cornerkick from right has OBD Phillip head ball down it bounces and goalie comes forward to pick it up.
35 min...MFA Shawan 30 yard freekick from left sideline has goalie catch and draw Yellow card.
.........MFA YELLOW card...Misse Miyenga earns it for bumping over goalie on last play.
38 min...There's a dust up in the MFA end at the 30 yard sideline in front of the MFA fan benches.
39 min...MFA YELLOW card...Priestley earns if for his part in the dust up.
40 min...OBD Drake makes goalline clearance after MFA Walkes dekes a defender and then the goalie and another defender all along
the left end line.
41 min...OBD goalie pushes MFA Agard to pick up ball at 15 yards injurying him. Agard was trying to shield ball.
44 min...OBD Khalon freekick from 25 yards near right end line has MFA Muhammad Ali put foot out to stop. The pass is then offside
into MFA box.
45 min...MFA Ameyaw is pushed over by teammate MFA Walkes to be out of the way to get to ball and his 18 yard shot forward
is just wide left.
46 min...OBD Khalon 45 yard freekick from left has defender head away just outside box.
47 min...half ends 4:53pm.

Second Half:...starts 5:07pm.
halftime subs:...OBD Culver replaces Khalon.
.................OBD Podrebarac replaces Phillip.
.................OBD McNamara replaces Joshi and becomes captain.
46 min...MFA goalie dives forward to smother OBD Barber shot.
47 min...OBD Difeo cornerkick from right is over players in box and OBD Barber shoots across box out right side.
47 min...MFA goalie jumps over OBD Barber to grab high cross from right.
48 min...MFA player's 25 yard freekick from extreme left has goalie palm the ball away through the box but wins
freekick for push.
48 min...MFA Jankovic heads away cross from right at 6 yards in middle. OBD Podrebarac chips 25 yard shot is well over net.
50 min...OBD Difeo short freekick from right is crossed wide.
51 min...MFA Ameyaw is injured at OBD 40 yard line and needs trainer.
55 min...OBD goalie is out of box to head away ball.
56 min...MFA goalie catches bouncer ahead of OBD James down middle.
58 min...OBD freekick from right 30 yard line on sideline has OBD Podrebarac take 12 yard shot to open net on left when goalie
misses catching cross and MFA Brown scissor kicks clearance on goalline is middle of net.
59 min...OBD Difeo low cross from right has retreating MFA Czerkawski clear at 5 yards.
60 min...OBD Podrebarac taps 10 yarder up middle after low cross from right has goalie smother.
62 min...MFA sub...Ferguson replaces Priestley.
62 min...MFA Shawan 40 yard freekick chip has goalie leap to batch and crashes into MFA player but holds onto ball.
63 min...OBD Difeo gets behind MFA Czerkawski and shoots 12 yarder from far right over net.
64 min...MFA Brown clears cross through 6 yard box and OBD Barber shoots 10 yarder from slight left off top of bar.
65 min...OBD Difeo and OBD Drake 35 yard freekick from left sideline is worked out and MFA Brown clears.
66 min...Oakville Evan James GOAL...OBD Spencer Barber sends in cross from 20 yards on far left that has James
take 7 yard low shot into bottom of net past fallen goalie Spirodon Koskinas.
69 min...MFA sub...Dabire replaces Jankovic.
.........MFA sub...Al-Sawi replaces Shawan.
70 min...MFA Walkes wins cornerkick while bashing through defenders on run up left.
70 min...MFA Agard cornerkick from left has MFA Dabire win cornerkick on right on deflected cross.
71 min...MFA Agard cornerkick from right is partially cleared and MFA Al-Sawi finishes play with low 15 yarder
up middle just wide left of net.
73 min...a water break is called.
76 min...MFA Agard chips pass to MFA Al-Sawi and his shot is stopped but OBD McNamara gets turned around
and MFA Al-Sawi shot is wide left but wins cornerkick.
78 min...Masters Adam Czerkawski GOAL...MFA Shaquille Agard takes high cornerkick from left that goalie Lucas Birnstingl
leapt to swat ball but it goes behind him and Czerkawski waiting on right post heads in 2 yarder beyond defender
on goal line.
78 min...MFA sub...Defreitas replaces Brown who was injured on the last play well upfield.
79 min...OBD Difeo cross from 22 yards on left has defenders charge into box and clear.
81 min...OBD sub...Shamkhi replaces Gill.
81 min...OBD Difeo 33 yard freekick from left has defender tip for cornerkick on OBD players header.
82 min...MFA Agard is injured near center line and needs trainer. The MFA players continued play until the referee's whistle.
83 min...MFA sub...Hamade replaces injured Agard.
84 min...MFA Walkes breaks out behind defender up left side and goalie makes diving save.
85 min...OBD YELLOW card...Podrebarac earns it for what looked like an eye poke injurying MFA player.
86 min...MFA YELLOW card...Ameyaw earns it for argueing call.
87 min...MFA Ameyaw is injured at OBD 35 yard line and needs trainer.
88 min...OBD Shamkhi run has MFA Dabire slide to concede cocrnerkick.
88 min...OBD Shamkhi low 15 yard shot up right has OBD player tip 5 yarder just over net.
89 min...MFA Misse Miyenga is injured at MFA 30 yard line and needs trainer.
93 min...MFA Al-Sawi wins cornerkick on 1 on 2 rush in right corner.
94 min...Masters Daunte Walkes GOAL...Walkes finds himself in open on long run up left and rolls
in 20 yarder past sliding goalie out to 15 yards.
97 min...Oakville Evan James GOAL...James bends in 22 yard freekick from slight left over player wall
and into top right corner of net.
99 min...MFA Al-Sawi gets ball in open at 45 yards and tries to chip up middle over goalie but wide left of goal.
99 min...game ends 6:01pm.

Final Score:....Oakville Blue Devils.....2.......Masters FA Saints......2........
(Masters win the series on the away goals rule)

Attendance was about 220 on this hot afternoon with a bright crossfield sun in the west and
a gusty wind coming in from the west as well. There were about 120 MFA supporters here today.
Something was organized to get them to turn out as that's better than their usual home field
turnout (62km away). That can be partly explained by the fact that many of their games although
on Saturday nights don't start until 8:00pm or later and that cuts down on parents and children
attending. It would be tough to play earlier at L'Amoreaux Park as fields are often occupied
by their own youth teams.

I was watching from the far side of the field so I wouldn't have the sun in my eyes, I could
be in the shade as my hat had blown off at least four times before the game started,
and I could keep track of the substitutes better. I was thinking at about 80 minutes whether
there'd be overtime or straight to Penalty kicks if there was a tie with L1O commissioner
Dino Rossi and an OBD official when the L1O game report writer simply said “Away goals rules”
and we knew there couldn't be extra time. Certainly the MFA players knew the rules as they'd
been running for the corners, going down injured, and stalling around once they scored.

This was quite a rough game with the league calling in David Barrie to officiate. Certainly
he must have called hundreds of games in this league over the years but this year he's mostly
moved on to officiate CPL games as well as continuing in USL (I see him at Toronto FC II games).
It makes sense as last week's game had both OBD Deryn Armstrong and MFA Anthony Wright Red
carded for a multi player dust up late in the game. Barrie gave out five Yellow cards today
(three to MFA). He called a water break at 32 and 73 minutes. Who'd believe that we'd get
weather as hot as this when Fall has just begun? Barrie said at the 73 minute mark if it would
be better to play on with the players tired because after the first break and the players had
recovered their was a multi-player dust up at 38 minutes right near the sideline where the MFA
fans were sitting and they'd been egging them on all game.

Lucas Birnstingl hadn't allowed a goal in months. He'd played nine shutouts in a row (regular
season and playoff games) until today. The last game he'd allowed a goal was June 29th against
Masters in their one regular season match this year. It was a 1-1 game with MFA Akeem Preistly
scoring at 45 minutes and OBD Evan James scoring at 74 minutes.

Birnstingl was one of the players that MFA players zoomed in on. He'd jump to catch crosses
and then would have to hang to as a player would bump into him. Perhaps after 78 minutes
he could sense another crash coming so didn't properly connect to push it over the bar
or punch it away.

Blue Devils made three of their five allowable subs at halftime bringing in three veteran
players to shake things up. Konner McNamara (1990) came in and immediately took the captain's
armband and played defence. I saw him last week at the first leg as a spectator. I asked
a team official and this was his first game of the season. Although he retired after last
season I said he was still ten years younger than fellow defender Marc Jankovic of Masters
who got into only his fourth game of the season and I believe his first start. Jankovic's
strong game lasted until the 70th minute subbing off. Second oldest player Shawn Brown (1987)
was also a star on defence with at least two goalmouth clearances from behind goalie
Spirodon Koskinas.

Best non-scoring chances were at 8 minutes when OBD Reshon Phillip crossed from the right
near the end line and the ball was headed down by a defender and OBD Rajvir Khalon blasted
a sitter from 10 yards down the middle low and wide left of the post. 17 minutes had
MFA Atif Muhammad Ali at 55 yards in the middle pass forward and to the left that allowed
MFA Daunte Walkes to rush down the left wing and elude OBD Zachary Drake to pass
to MFA Akeem Preistly at 10 yards who one-touched a shot down the middle wide right
and high of the net. 40 minutes had Walkes deke a defender, the goalie, and another
defender all during his run along the left end line and his shot from 8 yards was cleared
by Drake. The next minute the OBD goalie pushed over MFA Shaquille Agard at 15 yards as Agard
was shielding the ball with his back to goal but successfully grabbed it without a call.
45 minutes had MFA Francis Ameyaw was actually pushed over by teammate Walkes as they both
ran for the ball trying to squeeze between defenders and his 18 yard shot up the middle was
just wide left of the post. At 58 minutes an OBD player's freekick from the 30 yard line
right sideline had the goalie miss and OBD Logan Podrebarac take a 12 yard shot onto
the open net but MFA Shawn Brown made a low scissor kick clearance on the goalline in the middle
of the net. 60 minutes had Podrebarac receive a low cross from the right and he tapped
a 10 yarder up the middle that the goalie was able to smother. 63 minutes had OBD Carlo Difeo
get behind MFA Adam Czerkawski and shoot a 12 yarder from the far right over the net.
Next minute OBD Spencer Barber shot a 10 yarder from the slight left off the top of the bar
and Brown cleared the rebound crossed through the 6 yard box. 71 minutes had MFA Anwar Al-Sawi
finish a play started by a short Agard cornerkick on the right with a low 15 yarder
up the middle just wide left of the post. 88 minutes had OBD Mohammad Shamkhi take
a low 15 yard shot from the right and an OBD player tipped a 5 yarder just over the net.
I counted 99 minutes for the final whistle after 6 minutes had been added.

I usually wait until the end of the season before mentioning the players who help me piece
together the assists days before the video appears on the L1O website. Adam Czerkawski
double-checked with teammates to confirm who took the cornerkick on his goal. For his,
Daunte Walkes honestly said “I have no idea” how he could suddenly be on a breakaway from
the center line.

The other game this weekend was Friday night in London where FC London beat Alliance United
10-0 to win 15-0 on aggregate. I didn't recognize anyone from the Alliance United from
the roster posted on the L1O website. Kim Ashton, a staff member of OBD said that
if the name has a '1' in front of it, it means it's the first time that player has played
in L1O. OK at home I can see 13 of 14 were 'new' players. It's no secret that Alliance
is stocked with University of Toronto players who left the team two weeks ago. Sigma FC
completely flipped their roster a few weeks before that and Vaughan Azzurri lost a few
at around that time too. Make the playoffs and you may be facing off against a completely
different lineup!

This sets up the L1O Final next Friday night at Ontario Soccer Centre in Vaughan at 8:00pm.
As I was told months ago the game will be on OneSoccer and it had to be held Friday night
because Saturday there's three CPL games that fills their broadcast day. I've been telling
OneSoccer technical crew guys at the CPL games I get to (but the director/producer/head
honchos have always conveniently left and no one can tell me an e-mail address even if it's
in Spain) for them to keep the broadcast rolling after the game ends. The live broadcast
and the archive on OneSoccer cut off right at the 90 minute mark in the L1O Women's Final.
No medals, no trophy presentation, no 'We Are The Champions' music, no interviews,
no Gatorade dumped on the winning coach (ie Michael Marcoccia of FC London. hmm he's also
coach of the Men's team!). That footage exists but is probably confined to a vault or taped
over by now.

Some discussion of the season end banquet/awards ceremony I heard at today's game from
Dino Rossi. It sounds like instead it will be a pregame ceremony at the Sunday October 6th
CPL game (the '905' Derby) between Forge FC and York 9 FC played at 3:30pm in Hamilton.
It's the only CPL game that day so maybe they could have an extended pre-game show.
There are a few dozen L1O players scattered around the teams in the inaugural CPL season.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
twitter @RocketRobin01

Oakville Blue Devils starters