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May 11, 2024 League1 Ontario Men's Premier Division...Alliance United vs Sigma FC game report (by Rocket Robin)
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Result and details of the Saturday May 11, 2024 League1 Ontario game between Alliance United and Sigma FC
played at Centennial College in Scarborough at 6:00pm. This is Week 3 of play in the Men's Premier Division.
Alliance United (all orange uniforms, black numbers)
........................1 Lucas BirnstinglSubs:...30 Liam Janicki Zeballos (gk)...4 Nikola Stakic...11 Zak Drake...13 Farrell Francis
...14 Belele Kingsley...17 Volodymyr Kharyton...19 Quinton Chung...22 Michael Maslanka
team officials:...head coach Ilya Orlov...assistant coaches Eric Nelson and Cormac Rea
...athletic trainer Michael Silverstri...physiotherapist Daniel Dalla Rosa...other official Goran Stakic
Sigma FC (blue socks shirts, black shorts, white numbers)
.......................... Dino Bontis
..........12 Evan Kenneth Dick...3 Alex Jacobo Cordon...4 Simon Riccardo Guardiero
7 Amir Sshirazi...14 Andres Alfonso Delascio Velasco...16 Ife Adenuga...8 Faisal Ghaffur
.............17 Kadell Thomas...9 Emery Welshman...18 Ali Amin El Zeir
Subs:...31 Michael Makrigeorgos (gk)...2 Andrew Michael Piccolo...5 Leshawn Facey...6 Zayne Bruno
...6 Zayne Bruno...11 Hoce Massunda...15 Matthew Monteiro...20 Kamran Tejumola
...21 Diadie Traore...23 Damion Ricardo Kaye
team officials:...head coach John Zervos...assistant coach Jonathan Van Drine...team manager Justin Stoddart
...physiotherapaist Leo Ilzuka
Game officials:...referee Mahboob Gulestani...referee's assistants Matthew Hartman and Vito Pipitone
...fourth official Kevin Kim...(chartreuse socks and shirts, black shorts)
First Half:...game starts 6:14pm...AU defends north end. A light rain has just restarted.
1 min...Sigma Shirazi receives centered pass and 25 yard roller is wide left.
2 min...Sigma Velasco blasts 28 yarder down middle between players that goalie bats down under bar and picks up.
3 min...AU Essoussi cornerkick from right has AU Nirun Sivananthan midair tip from the left at 8 yards and the goalie
picks up bouncer.
7 min...Sigma players work out short cornerkick from the left and clerared in the AU box.
8 min...AU Nirun Sivananthan cross from 35 yards from left has a popped up header that the goalie catches.
13 min...Sigma goalie is out to edge of box to beat AU Kovacevic to bouncer.
15 min...AU Hempelmann Perez low 30 yard deflects off defender and goalie picks up wide right of net.
17 min...Sigma Velasco 25 yard freekick from left deflects off head in player wall.
19 min...AU Essoussi cornerkick from right is short and eventually AU Schifano blasts partial clearance up middle wide right.
20 min...AU Schirano skies cross from 35 yards on right and goalie outjumps an AU player to catch at 8 yard line.
22 min...Sigma Shirazi cross from right near end line has defender head away at 8 yards.
23 min...Sigma Welshman in crowd of players takes 7 yard shot from left that goalie makes point blank save on near post.
26 min...AU Hempelmann Perez high cross from 25 yards on far left has goalie catch on right side of box.
28 min...AU Kovacevic pops up header on cross.
28 min...AU Kovacevic 8 yard cross down middle after getting to cross on right is caught by goalie.
30 min...AU Essoussi cornerkick from right has AU Nirun Sivananthan head from left charging forward and goalie catches
on left side of goal.
31 min...Sigma Adenuga long run up middle from 60 yards has low 25 yard shot that goalie dives and pushes wide left.
32 min...Sigma El Zeir short cornerkick from left is cleared on left side of box is cleared on edge of box.
33 min...AU sub...Maslanka replaces Schifano.
35 min...AU Maslanka 35 yard blast from right on run is well over bar.
37 min...Sigma Shirazi two cross attempts from right edge of box is first blocked and then cleared out 15 yards in center.
38 min...AU Kovacevic splits defense to get to ball at 25 yards and 15 yard low shot has sliding goalie deflect wide right.
38 min...AU Essoussi cornerkick from right is cleared and Sigma player is injured in box for whistle.
40 min...Sigma Welshman can't control high chipped pass at 10 yards on left and tips it over end line.
42 min...AU Atchuthan Sivananthan cross from 35 yards on right is caught in box in crowd of players.
43 min...Sigma Shirazi has ball roll over to him in open on right and his low 10 yard shot is stopped then the ball deflects
wide right for cornerkick.
44 min...Sigma Shirazi cornerkick from right is partially cleared. Sigma Dick sends 22 yarder between players and wide right of net.
45 min...Sigma Welshman run up right and has shot stopped but gets ball back and deflections on follow up wins cornerkick.
46 min...Sigma player's cornerkick from right is cleared out left side of box.
46 min...half ends 7:00pm.
Halftime: It's now raining harder then at start of game. Neither team has their subs warm up until Sigma comes out halfway through.
Three quarters of the fans retreat to their cars or inside the school hallways.
Second Half:...starts 7:18pm...The rain has stopped again. The temperature is dropping quickly.
47 min...Sigma YELLOW card...El Zeir earns it for a sliding tackle at AU 30 yard line on AU Lashley. This was a delayed call
because of an AU run upfield.
48 min...AU Nirun Sivananthan 35 yard high cross from left is high and well wide right.
49 min...AU Richardson is injured in center circle and needs trainer.
51 min...AU Maslanda low cross from near right end line is cleared.
53 min...AU Essoussi 33 yard freekick from far right is headed out left of box on defender's header. AU Hempelmann Perez cross
from left is cleared from box.
54 min...AU Essoussi cornerkick from right has goalie catch on left post.
55 min...AU sub...Stakic replaces Lashley.
56 min...AU Hempelmann Perez blasts 33 yarder from slight left is high and wide right.
58 min...AU YELLOW card....Paul earns it for tackle at AU 50 yard line on Sigma Dick.
59 min...Sigma YELLOW card...head coach Zervos earns it for complaining about throw-in call.
62 min...AU Atchuthan Sivananthan and Sigma Guardiero have a bumping contest on right racing for a ball that ends up
as a goalkick over the end line.
63 min...AU sub...Kingsley replaces Paul.
64 min...Sigma El Zeir run on left and 28 yard low shot has defender clear at 12 yards.
66 min...Sigma sub...Kaye replaces Thomas.
66 min...AU Kingsley rush on right and cross into Sigma 6 yard box is flagged offside.
67 min...Sigma El Zeir run on left and low 12 yard shot from left has sprawling goalie push ball wide left.
68 min...Sigma Ghaffur cornerkick from left wins a cornerkick on the right.
68 min...Sigma Ghaffur cornerkick from right has AU Stakic pop up header in box and teammates start fast break out.
69 min...Sigma YELLOW card...Guardiero earns it for delaying AU throw-in in Sigma end.
71 min...AU Stakic cornerkick has defender head ball away on left side in crowd of players in box. An AU player
eventually blasts 28 yarder well over net.
73 min...Sigma Ghaffur 30 yarder from far left has AU Hempelmann Perez slide to clear on near post and that starts fast
break out on deflection.
75 min...AU Stakic cornerkick from right has two AU players leap and just miss header.
76 min...Alliance Dusan Kovacevic GOAL...AU Nikola Stakic sends in cornerkick from right. Kovacevic
in alignment with the right post has him head 6 yarder downward in crowd of players and the ball bounces
off the shin of Sigma Evan Dick at 1 yard on left side of net who then falls backwards over already
fallen goalie Dino Bontis who had dived behind him. The ball bounces up and over the hand of Bontis
who swipes at it but can't keep it out of the center of the net.
77 min...Sigma sub...Bruno replaces Ghaffur.
78 min...AU Maslanka rushes upfield and is injured on fall in Sigma box as play moves back downfield.
80 min...Sigma El Zeir blasts low 25 yarder forward and wide left.
81 min...AU sub...Chung replaces Atchuthan Sivananthan.
83 min...Sigma goalie beats AU Maslanka to ball at top right with defender helping to shield him from getting
to ball.
83 min...Sigma sub...Mussunda replaces Shirazi.
83 min...Sigma Bruno 40 yard freekick from right is cleared for throw-in near corner.
84 min...AU YELLOW card...Maslanka earns it for time wasting by knocking ball out of bounds to delay throw-in.
87 min...Sigma Kaye leaps to tip 10 yard header on cross from right for goalie to catch on right side of net.
89 min...Alliance Michael Maslanka GOAL...Sigma Simon Guardiero takes a long throw-in from the left
near the AU cornerflag that has AU Pablo Hempelmann Perez pop up header across the box. A fast
breakout by AU Nirun Sivananthan who eludes a tackle at Sigma 40 yard line and passes forward
to Maslanka for a run down the left. He runs to about the 12 yard line and has shot stopped by the sliding
goalie at 10 yards but the ball deflects well up and Maslanka keeps running and ducks to get header
from 6 yards at tough angle over the head of Sigma Ife Adenuga who'd retreated to get into the play. The ball
bounces into the left corner of the net with the sliding AU Nikola Static not needing to connect on the left post
as it was already in.
90 min...AU sub...Kharyton replaces Kovacevic.
95 min...Sigma Kaye quick cornerkick from left. Sigma Cordon has shot blocked on 12 yard kick.
95 min...game ends 8:08pm.
Final Score:......Alliance United..............2........Sigma FC.........0........
Attendance was about 50 on this mild but quickly cooling evening. There was rain during certain parts of the game and then it would stop only to restart a few minutes later. At halftime more than three quarters retreated to the school building or their cars only to return by the second half kickoff. I kept retreating under the fourth official's tent when the rain would pick up so my notes wouldn't be destroyed. All that paled when about 30 minutes after the game ended, the sky opened up and made the drive home close to dangerous.
Lucas Birnstingl earned the shutout for Alliance with a few key saves. Both goalies had to deal with a wet ball which made spilling any balls easy and dangerous. The weather was easily similar to Alliance's Week 1 game in field conditions and outfielders unforced slips but this one lacked the drama of an injury time tying goal that deprived Alliance of all three points in that game against ProStars FC. Today's late insurance goal at least let the Alliance players exhale for the four minutes added (turned out to be five). Referee Mahboob Gulestanai gave out five Yellow cards, two to each teams' players and one to Sigma head coach John Zervos for complaining about a call. Nothing ever got rough in this game that I noticed. Alliance didn't play at this stadium last year as there were renovations taking place at the college. The field looked new to me but head coach Ilay Orlov said this field turf had been layed about four years ago. Only other thing I remembered is there was a mud hill to get into one of the gates but that looks like there's now a staircase. No new seating has been added. If there is a game that attracts more than 200, the extras will have to line inside the fences. Last year the team bounced between Varsity Stadium (the U of T's downtown campus) and Birchmount Stadium when school was in session meaning the start and finish to the season. Next year the team will play at Mount Joy in Markham but that stadium is undergoing renovations this year. I double checked at the gate as they were packing up. Admission was free. It turned out even the parking was free if you knew to go out the northernmost gate as the barriers were left up. That team official said the school keeps it up because there are so many team officials who would need passes to get through otherwise. I tipped today's referee about the 'escape route'. I mention the free admission to have on the record as some folks on the message boards will at some time in the year say they can't afford to go to a game. By the time I got home, all five of the Premier Division games had finished. Alliance's record improves to 2 wins, 1 tie, 0 losses for 7 points. That moves them up into a three way tie for third place with 'goals scored' settling them in fourth. The leaders are Scrosoppi FC (first place last season) and Burlington SC who have opened up with 3-0-0 records. Wow, no playoffs this season so first place wins both the league championship trophy and a spot in the 2025 Canadian Championship. Sigma's record falls to 0 wins, 0 ties, and 3 losses. That record drops them to the bottom position in the league (12th), tied with North Toronto but ranked lower because of only scoring 1 goal this season. This year for the first time in this league are relegation worries. My interview after the game with Sigma head coach John Zervos reveals that help is on its way because their NCAA school players are going to start arriving next week. They better make a move then because those players will leave again for school about the first week of August. Some players used today included former Forge FC vets Kadell Thomas and Emery Welshman. Learning from the app again this week. I found out a way I can look up 'old' games that's not restricted to the seven day swipe-back limit. I found I can look up the standings, press on the team and it gives out all the results of the team that went into getting them this far. I just pressed on their first game of the year and it displayed the lineups and timelines for that particular game. Useful to know if a certain goaltender was a started in a game I didn't attend.Rocket Robin
robin.glover.1958@gmail.com
X @RocketRobin01
Alliance United starters
Sigma FC starters
Alliance Dusan Kovacevic (10) takes opening kickoff.
Sigma Kadell Thomas (17) at center line.
more midfield action
Alliance Nirun Sivananthan (7) has put throw-in over to edge of Sigma box.
Alliance Pablo Hempelmann Perez (18) sends high cross over to right side of box.
Sigma Emery Welshman (9) takes second half kickoff.
The chase is on for the ball.
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