August 26, 2023 League1 Ontario Semi Final...Scrosoppi FC vs Blue Devils FC game report (by Rocket Robin)

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Result and details of the Saturday August 26, 2023 League1 Ontario Men's Premier Division game Semi-Final game
between Scrosoppi FC and Blue Devils FC played at Ontario Soccer Center in Vaughan at 9:00pm.

Scrosoppi FC (all black uniforms, white numbers)

............................1 Andres Vaikla
4 Joshua Parades...12 Luke Rankin...6 Victor Gallo (cpt)...3 Luka Frankovich
2 Carlo Difeo...7 Omari Cotterell...13 Manveer Gill...21 Alexander Zis
..........8 Tomaszaz Skublak...18 Khody Ellis

Subs:...22 Stanislav Skublak (gk)...9 Mauro Lulli...10 Nikolas Blaskovic...11 Volodymyer Kharyton
...19 Sebastian Lopez...23 Santiago Ubate...36 Danny Medeiros...66 Baryal Khan...xx Justin Hu
team officials:...team head coach John Yacau...assistant coach Luke Domingos...manager Shane Griffin
therapist Michael Wong

Blue Devils FC (all white uniforms, navy numbers)

...........................1 Erik Hermanns
22 Matthew Laic...4 Patrick Perriel...5 Kevin Sinclair...2 Andra Neptune
19 James Lima...11 Gianluca Spadafora...12 Samer Hamade...7 Mathew Santos
..............6 Adam Czerkawski...10 Brandon Duarte (cpt)

Subs:...28 Taylor Miskolczi (gk)...16 Joseph Guindy...17 Noah MacIntyre...18 Ethan Miskolczi
...21 Abraham Jones...23 Steven Pavan...24 Matthew McGrouther...25 Shaq Lowe
team officials:...team head coach Duncan Wilde...assistant coaches Billy Steele and Glenn McNamara
...manager Kim Ashton...equipment manager Mark Heathcote

Game officials:...referee Phil Benevides...referee's assistants Bradley Doubrought and Mehdi Boutarfa
...fourth official Roain Sutarzadeh...(red socks and shirts, black shorts)

Pregame ceremony: There's a short presentation to Scrosoppi for finishes first in league play.

First Half:...game starts 9:03pm...Scr defends north end.
1 min...Scr Frankovich receives pass off from Scr Skublak at center line who's injured on play and Frankovich runs to inside
of box for blocked shot.
5 min...BD Duarte run down left and 25 yard blast is well over net.
7 min...Scr Zis has shot down middle blocked on edge of box.
9 min...Scr Skublak run up right and rolls centering cross has defender stop ball preventing Scr Ellis from getting 12 yard shot.
9 min...Scr Ellis has shot near right end line blocked but BD are awarded freekick.
12 min...BD Czerkawski run up left and centering pass is behind charging teammate. A Scr defender partially clears. BD Duarte
shoots 25 yarder up middle that bounces to goalie.
12 min...BD Lima is injured at BD 50 yard line stretching on a slide to clear ball. He requires the trainer.
14 min...BD Adam Czerkawski on run down left has Scr Carlo Difeo make a sliding check when Czerkawski cuts into box
and trips him up. Referee Phil Benevides signals for a Penalty kick.
15 min...BD Brandon Duarte shoots Penalty kick low to right post and goalie Andreas Vaikla guesses correctly and dives
to stop it and has time to gets up and dive over and smother rebound wide right of post.
16 min...Scr Cotterell 20 yard shot from right is low is caught by goalie on near post.
17 min...BD sub...Guindy replaces Lima.
18 min...BD Santos 30 yard shot from left sideline bounces to goalie.
22 min...Scr Khody Ellis is given long pass up middle into box and BD goalie dives to trip him up at 10 yards. Penalty
call is given.
23 min...Scrosoppi Alexander Zis GOAL...Zis blasts Penalty kick to left side of goal beyond reach of diving goalie Erik Hermanns.
24 min...Scr Khody Ellis is bumped over charging for high ball on edge of box and a freekick call is given. *Scr bench
was requesting either a Penalty kick call or a Red card as the player who bumped Ellis was the last man back. The BD bench
complained that any call was unfair.
25 min...Scrosoppi Alexander Zis GOAL...Zis blasts 19 yard freekick up middle over five man player wall and between arms
of goalie into top of center of net just under bar.
27 min...Scr YELLOW card...Parades earns it.
............BD YELLOW card...Santos earns it.
There is roughing at the SCR 30 yard line between players on the left sideline.
29 min...Scr Frankovich cross from left end line is cleared on edge of 6 yard box by defender.
31 min...BD Czerkawski is injured on bump jumping for header.
32 min...BD Santos 35 yard freekick from left is headed by first defender just inside box.
32 min...Scr Skublak slides to centering pass before it rolls over end line on right but play is called offside.
35 min...BD Perriel good poke check to stop Scr Ellis getting control to long cross.
36 min...BD Spadafora low 35 yard shot between players up middle that's caught by goalie.
37 min...Scr Cotterell wins cornerkick on deflection of 7 yard shot.
37 min...Scr Zis cornerkick from left has Scr Frankovich charge in crowd of players and kicks 5 yarder wide left.
38 min...BD Laic chips 40 yarder from right well high and wide left of goal.
39 min...BD Czerkawski taps pass forward to BD Santos who first touches ball too far forward.
39 min...Scr goalie catches low cross from left under no pressure.
41 min...Scr Cotterell on right flicks header on cross from right high and wide right from 10 yards on pop up.
43 min...Scr Skublak flicks 20 yarfder down middle that bounces to goalie.
43 min...BD Czerkawski low cross from 12 yards along right end line is caught by goalie on near post.
45 min...BD players cross from right has Scr defender dive forward and head away at 12 yards.
47 min...half ends 9:50pm.

Halftime: BD players all stay outside during the break. Their subs warm up on the field and the Scr players all stay out
the first few minutes the starters go to the dressing room while the subs warm up. Even the game officials stay outside.

Second Half:...starts 10:08pm.
46 min...Scr Zis cornerkick from left has Scr Frankovich lean and head 8 yarder in crowd of players that flies wide right of net.
49 min...BD Duarte pushes ball up right too far forward at Scr 40 yard line and he goes down injured.
51 min...BD Duarte short chip forward for BD Czerkawski but it's just a step too far forward to connect.
52 min...Scr Zis cornerkick from right is through box unplayed and starts BD fast break out. BD Santos rush on left and cross
from 25 yards on far left bounces off top webbing of net.
53 min...Scr Skublak is injured at BD 50 yard line and needs trainer.
...........BD YELLOW card...Perriel earns it for his knockdown on last play.
57 min...Scr Rankin makes good clearance slide at 14 yards to stop BD centering pass.
57 min...Scr goalie catches 50 yard chip from right from BD Santos.
60 min...BD YELLOW card...Sinclair earns it for grabbing shorts on Scr Skublak just wide left of BD box.
61 min...Scr player's 25 yard freekick from right has Scr player blast 20 yarder wide right and over the back fence.
62 min...BD Santos chips in 40 yarder up middle into crowd of players that tips wide left off BD player for goalkick.
63 min...Scr Ellis rush up left but pushes ball too far forward and retreating BD Perriel knocks over end line.
64 min...Scr Zis cornerkick from left has goalie leap to punch ball wide right across box.
65 min...Scr Parades cuts along 25 yard likne from right and low 25 yard shot is saved by diving goalie on left side of goal.
65 min...BD goalie is out to top left of box to beat Scr Skublak to high bouncer.
67 min...Scr sub...Blaskovic replaces Ellis.
68 min...BD Neptune cross is over box from left but he wins a cornerkick on the right.
68 min...BD Santos cornerkick from right has Scr Skublak head ball out left side of box.
70 min...BD Santos cornerkick from left has goalie leap in crowd of players on right post to catch.
71 min...Scr Blaskovic run up left and BD player makes check. BD player's clearance deflects off Scr Blaskovic on left and goes
to goalie.
72 min...BD Santos 30 yard shot from slight right is just over bar.
73 min...BD sub...Lowe replaces Guindy.
75 min...BD Santos 35 yard freekick from slight left is blasted well high and wide right of net.
76 min...BD Duarte on left takes cross/shot from 20 yards on far left that's over net.
78 min...Scr sub...Lopez replaces Zis.
...........BD sub...McGrouther replaces Laic.
...........BD sub...MacIntyre replaces Hamade.
80 min...Scr Lopez 30 yard freekick pings off two defenders' heads but goalie picks up ball.
81 min...Scr goalie is out to left edge of box to pick up ball ahead of BD McGrouther.
83 min...Scr Cotterell pass down right to Scr Skublak for run and cross from 8 yards line that goalie flies to push away and ball
is cleared.
84 min...BD YELLOW card...Czerkawski earns it for trip of Scr Lima at BD 35 yard line on left.
85 min...Scr YELLOW card...Skublak earns it for running into goalie at 7 yards when Scr Lopez sent in 25 yard freekick from left.
86 min...BD sub...Jones replaces Neptune.
87 min...L1O Canada President Dino Rossi calls the referee over to halt the game because of racist comments from the
spectators on the opposite side of the field. The decision was announced over the PA system in an attempt to settle
the crowd. The game was halted for about 10 minutes with a short warm up period for the players before the game resumed.
The clock ran out to 90 and after about 2 minutes of play, the signboard was held up for 8 minutes of added time.
93 min...The players are given five minutes to warm up after the scuffle is 'settled'.
96 min...game restarts. The referee signals that there will be 8 minutes of added time.
96 min...BD MacIntyre freekick from 33 yards on left has ball land in box and Scr Skublak clears it away up middle.
BD Spadafora chips ball from 50 yards back to edge of box and that's cleared by Scr Blaskovic dribbling it away.
98 min...BD YELLOW card...MacIntyre earns it for grab on Scr Skublak running to center line.
99 min...Scr goalie dives forward to smother BD Sinclair long and low shot from 45 yards that bounces between players.
100 min...Blue Devils Matthew McGrouther GOAL...BD Mathew Santos cross from about 12 yards near the left end line
has McGrouther in center of box kick 8 yarder into top right side of net.
101 min...Scr Gill is injured at BD 45 yard line and needs trainer when bumped by BD Czerkawski.
102 min...BD goalie chips 70 yard freekick upfield to edge of box where ball is popped up on header and cleared. BD Santos
sends another low cross on left side of box has defender clear from 6 yard box.
102 min...BD Santos blast off Scr Frankovich on right edge of box after long throw-in from left is knocked across box.
103 min...Scr sub...Lulli replaces injured Gill who had not returned to the game.
104 min...BD goalie chips 65 yarder after long run down right is whistled down near edge of box for knockdown of defender.
104 min...BD YELLOW card...A player earns it for argueing the call. I thought it was Duarte but the league site doesn't count
a card being given out.
105 min...BD Duarte long throw-in has BD Czerkawski pop up header on left side of box over to middle and Scr players start
fast breakout.
105 min...Blue Devils RED card...James Lima is ejected from the BD players' bench for something he said while watching
a Scr player take a throw-in from near the BD bench. Lima had left the game injured at 17 minutes. The fourth official
is called over to help make this call.
106 min...BD YELLOW card...A player earns it for swiping the legs from under a Scr player at BD 30 yard line. It looked like it was
to Lowe but the league site doesn't list anyone earning it.
107 min...game ends and the Scr players rush to the stands to see their fans.
107 min...Blue Devils RED card...Noah MacIntyre is ejected as the game ends for something he said directly to the referee.

Final Score:....Scrosoppi FC.......2.......Blue Devils.......1........

Attendance was about 200 by halftime. A 9:00pm start because Scrosoppi has never been able to get prime time at the provincial stadium because their regular high school stadium in Milton (38 km away) is undergoing renovations this season and they had to reschedule. The late start ensures no families with young children are here. I live closer than them (in the opposite direction) and I wasn't home until after midnight.

About half the fans left during the long and uncertain delay. Only two minutes left and behind two goals would clear the visitors but many ran for the exits as rumours were that there was a fight in the parking lot. In these times of instant news, some guys in the treehouse looking booth that was streaming the game were watching the fight that was also being livestreamed by one of his friends. “Wow that racist guy is really being pounded” is what I heard. I did get one answer...he thought there were about ten guys in the parking lot fight but I didn't get a reply of 5v5 nor 9v1.

I'm not sure what they expected the two security guards to do to stop the chaos but one of them phoned the police. On my way out I noticed there were still seven police cars in the parking lot and the exit driveway and that was 30 minutes after the fight.

L1O president Dino Rossi was here tonight to present the Supporters' trophy to Scrosoppi FC in a short ceremony before the start of the game for finishing first of the 21 teams in the regular season. Of course he stayed long enough to make the decision to halt the game. That must have been a tough call because the fight first started in the stands. Racist behaviour? Both teams have a lineup of about ten different nationalities. Why would fans come to this game to cause this kind of trouble?

Scrosoppi mostly stayed out of card trouble. There were so many Yellow and Reds being given out after the game restarted but all to Blue Devils players (three Yellows and two direct Reds) as they felt throughout the entire game they were not getting the calls in a tough tackling game. They were on the same wavelength as head coach Duncan Wilde who was complaining pretty much from the start. I tried to piece together the total from the L1O website (which doesn't always catch them all), and the live stream (which I didn't have the time to play back in its entirety). I figured seven Yellows, two Reds for Blue Devils and only two Yellows for Scrosoppi.

Big turning point in this game was the 12 minute spell early in the the first half. These two teams had met here in the regular season on August 2 (hey at 38 men's games, there was a good chance I'd have seen that one!) and Blue Devils won 2-0 by captain Brandon Duarte scoring two Penalty kicks. Scrosoppi got through that game without leading scorer Tomasz Skublak who was serving a suspension and looked like they had no one who could score. Tonight he often had two guys on him and that left teammates open. Best I saw him on a 1v6 to kill time and he held his ground. That stopped Penalty kick and the Zis freekick blast (equal to Beckham or Messi for the wow factor) with the Scr Penalty kick in between stunned the opponents.

Khody Ellis who played with Blue Devils until a season ago also had an excellent goal with runs down the wing and seeing him back to make a stop deep in the defensive zone less than 30 seconds later was impressive.

Scrosoppi now waits for the winner of the other semi-final between Simcoe County Rovers and Vaughan Azzurri played at 6:30pm at the SCR home stadium at Georgian College in Barrie.

The final should be Saturday July 27 here at Ontario Soccer Center...well the finals have always been here over the years for stands capacity, a usual 'neutral' ground, and geographical meeting point between the east and west boundaries of the league for travelling fans. Couldn't have predicted Scrosoppi would be using this field/this year a few years ago.

Rocket Robin
robin.glover.1958@gmail.com
twitter @RocketRobin01

Scrosoppi FC starters