July 20, 2024...League1 Ontario...Alliance United vs Simcoe County Rovers game report (by Rocket Robin)

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Result and details of the Saturday July 20, 2024 League1 Ontario Men's Premier game between Alliance United
and Simcoe County Rovers played at Victoria Park in Scarborough at 6:15pm.

Alliance United (all orange uniforms, black numbers)

.......................1 Lucas Birnstingl
2 Shon Siegelwachs...4 Jacob Maurutto Robinson...5 Matthew Monteiro...7 Nirun Sivananthan (cpt)
12 Kai Garvey...58 Jacob Lashley...8 Mehdi Essoussi...18 Pablo Hempelmann-Perez
.............9 Atchu Sivananthan...22 Michael Maslanka

Subs:...0 Tomas Barreda-Toledo (gk)...3 Toby Richardson...6 Paul Ekwuene...13 Ife Adenuga
...14 Kingsley Belele...15 Zak Drake...17 Volodymyr Kharyton...19 Quinton Chung
team officials:...head coach Ilya Orlov...assistant coach Eric Nelson...goalkeeper coach Cormac Rea
...physiotherapist Daniel Dalla Rosa

Simcoe County Rovers (all black uniforms, gold numbers)

........................1 Dikola Douglas
15 Justyn Thomas...3 Tajay Reid (cpt)...5 Cameron DaSilva...22 Jalen Watson
18 Ijah Halley...11 Shawn Claud Lawson...28 Micah Joseph...19 Alejandro Portal
................9 Jevonate Layne...7 Aidan Hugo

Subs:...13 Rimi Olatunji (gk)...2 Luc Ihama...4 Andre Beecher...8 Paul Karagiannakos
...14 Nathaniel St Louis...16 Matthew Fischer...20 Milton Joseph...23 Christian Kesihana
...27 Allen Blegay
team officials:...head coach Zack Wilson...assistant coach Carli Tingstad...goalkeeper coach Paul Smith
...team manager Derek Boakye...physiotherapist Mark De Lange...kitman Kwabena Owusu

Game officials:...referee Hassane Rifai...referee's assistants Eric Hartman and Nicholas Elsasser
...fourth official Mahboob Gulestani...(charteuse socks and shirts, black shorts)...match commissioner Jean-Marc Etienne Taylor

First Half:...game begins 6:17pm...Alliance defends south end on this hot evening with a crossfield breeeze from the west
and a bright sun in the north west.
2 min...AU Nirun Sivananthan low cross from left sideline is just a step ahead of charging teammate.
3 min...AU Garvey cornerkick from the right has defender head ball on left post. An AU player chips ball back into box and ball
deflected into the outside webbing of the net.
4 min...AU Garvey high cornerkick from left is over players in box and out for SCR throw-in.
7 min...SCR Hugo low cross from left is cleared by defender in box.
10 min...AU Siegelwachs high cross after run to right end line has goalie leap on left post to prevent by punching ball away from
leaping AU player's header attempt.
12 min...SCR Hugo turns and fires 28 yarder that goalie catches.
13 min...SCR Lawson runs ball over end line on right on 3 on 2 rush after AU player was knocked over upfield.
15 min...AU Hempelmann-Perez 35 yard freekick from left has defender pop header on edge of 18 yard box and ball cleared.
16 min...AU YELLOW card...Monteiro earns it at AU 40 yard with grab to prevent break-in.
17 min...Simcoe Cameron DaSilva GOAL...SCR Aidan Hugo 40 yard freekick from slight right has SCR Tajay Reid
head ball from left side of box across to center where DaSilva heads 7 yarder up middle into top right corner
of net past reach of goalie Lucas Birnstingl.
21 min...AU Garvey cross from near right end line has defender head away on near post.
21 min...AU Garvey cross from 18 yards on far right has ball hit defender's head at 10 yards and deflects to goal on near post.
25 min...AU Maurutto Robinson is injured in AU box away from play. Players take water break while he is treated.
26 min...AU sub...Richardson replaces injured Maurutto Robinson.
28 min...SCR YELLOW card...Joseph earns it on delayed call as different players on each team are knocked over about four
within a minute.
30 min...SCR Watson is injured and needs trainer.
31 min...SCR sub...Blegay replaces injured Watson.
32 min...AU Hempelmann-Perez bumps defender aside and has 12 yard shot on left deflected wide left.
33 min...AU Hempeolmann-Perez cornerkick from left has defender head ball out right side of box.
37 min...AU Garvey rush for ball on right and low crosss has retreating SCR Reid concede cornerkick.
37 min...AU Essoussi cornerkick from right has goalie catch ball between crowd of players.
39 min...SCR Halley receives pass from center and run on left has sprawling goalie save in 6 yard box. Halley gets
rebound and eventually crosses over 6 yard box and defender heads away.
42 min...AU Maslanka gets to AU Atchu Sivananthan pass eluding defender and wins cornerkick on cross.
42 min...AU Garvey high cornerkick from right has AU Nirun Sivananthan roll 10 yarder from left wide right.
43 min...AU Atchu Sivananthan 15 yard shot one-touch is blocked by SCR DaSilva in the groin and he's injured!
45 min...AU Lashley shoots 35 yarder down middle over players and well over net and back fence.
47 min...SCR Layne rush on right to through ball and rolls pass back and to center. SCR Hugo blasts 30 yarder well over net.
49 min...AU Essoussi on slight right takes 35 yard freekick that's bent directly to goalie drifting to the right post as crowd
of players are waitinng on left side of box.
49 min...half ends 7:06pm.

Halftime: All the Allliance players return to the dressing room except one sub. Rovers return to the dressing room except three then
they're all out before the second half.

Second Half:...starts 7:;23pm. It's still hot but now overcast.
Halftime sub:...AU Adenuga replaces Essoussi.
45 min...AU goalie catches low bouncer from 25 yards from left.
46 min...SCR Halley cornerkick from left has AU Atchu Sivananthan head away on near post.
46 min...AU Maslanka stops and slides to shoot 15 yarder from right wide right of net.
47 min...SCR Halley rush to near left end line and shoots well over net.
50 min...SCR Hugo low centering pass from right has SCR Joseph shoots 25 yarder over net.
52 min...AU Garvey 28 yard freekick from right has AU Adenuga head and AU player heads 8 yarder up middle that goalie catches.
54 min...SCR Blegay run to right side 10 yard line for high cross that has SCR Layne get to.
55 min...AU Hempelmann-Perez finally gets low shot from 15 yards around defender and goalie dives left to smother.
58 min...SCR YELLOW card...Portal earns it for kicking ball away before AU freekick at AU 40 yard line.
59 min...Alliance Michael Maslanka GOAL...AU Kai Garvey sends in cross from right and it appears defender
doesn't make clearance and Maslanka heads in 10 yarder from right into short side of net past goalie Dikola Douglas.
60 min...SCR Layne low 22 yard bouncer from left is caught by goalie.
61 min...AU YELLOW card...Garvey earns it for dissent on SCR being awarded cornerkick.
62 min...AU Hempelmann-Perez cornerkick from left has AU Monteiro at 10 yards head ball down middle over crowd of players
and goalie catches ball.
63 min...AU sub...Belele replaces Garvey.
65 min...SCR Hugo receives tapped pass and low 20 yarder has goalie dive to stop and defender holds off SCR Layne until goalie
can smother rebound.
66 min...The referee swallowed a mosquito and needs a water bottle!
68 min...SCR Hugo 35 yard freekick from right has AU Richardson pop up header in box that goalie catches.
68 min...AU Atchu Sivananthan survives bump at SCR 30 yard line and gets 22 yarder that goalie saves.
70 min...SCR Hugo low 25 yarder deflects off defender and goalie dives to right post to smother.
70 min...AU Atchu Sivananthan 22 yarder up middle after cross from right has defender do splits at 6 yards to clear.
71 min...AU Atchu Sivananthan chips 30 yard freekick from slight left has goalie leap to catch over crowd of players on right post.
72 min...SCR sub...Karagiannakos replaces Lawson.
73 min...SCR Portal 40 yard freekick from left is partially cleared. SCR Hugo blasts 30 yarder down middle well wide right.
74 min...AU sub...Drake replaces Maslanka.
79 min...SCR goalie is injured well away from play and needs trainer. Players on both team take a water break.
81 min...AU sub...Ekwuene replaces Hempelmann-Perez.
81 min...play resumes.
83 min...AU Nirun Sivananthan run on left while shirt being grabbed gets away 12 yard shot on left end line that goalie catches
on near post.
84 min...AU Atchu Sivananthan shot up middle from 22 yards has goalie palm ball over bar.
84 min...SCR goalie dives to left to smother shot.
85 min...SCR sub...Joseph replaces Hugo.
86 min...AU Nurun Sivananthan run to left end line and cross over box where AU Drake can't keep in play.
88 min...AU Atchu Sivantanthan 35 yard freekick from slight left is sent well over net and back fence.
91 min...SCR YELLOW card...Joseph earns it for delaying AU freekick at center line.
91 min...AU Ekwuene chips ball from 30 yards down middle with no one running for ball and it bounces to goalie.
92 min...SCR Halley runs balll over left end line before he can get in cross.
93 min...AU Nirun Sivananathan low crosss after short run on left has AU Belele whiff on kick down middle.
94 min...game ends 8:12pm.

Final Score:.....Alliance United........1......Simcoe County Rovers.........1.......

Attendance started off slow but reached almost 100 by halftime on this hot late afternoon.

This was a fairly even game with more accurate shooting by both teams needed as both teams sent shots over the net and/or back fence. Defenders on each side caused the forwards to rush their shots or they blocked them and the goaltending had to be good to keep the game low scoring. There were a lot of sharp transitions of end to end action within the 30 yard lines although most were broken up.

This was a close checking game but referee Hassane Rifai let play continue for much of the contest. He ended up giving out five Yellow cards (three to the Rovers). Two Rovers and one Alliance card were for delaying freekicks, dissent, and kicking the ball away. Hard to say if water breaks were officially scheduled but they were improvised when AU defender Jacob Maurutto Robinson was injured at 25 minutes and needed to be subbed off then at 79 minutes when SCR goalie Dikola Douglas was injured and needed the trainer. Strange as both these injuries appeared to happen well away from the play upfield.

Most memorable was at 66 minutes when Rifai stopped the game when the ball went out for a throw-in and ran over to the fourth official's table to take a few gulps of water and and gargle with it. He said he'd swallowed a mosquito.

Both teams pushed for the winning goal and in that last ten minutes plus injury time, I'd definately give the edge in chances to Alliance.

A 1-1 tie was a fair result. At the same time in CPL action, York United had to settle for that scoreline by giving up a goal in the 93rd minute. Today's Rovers' starters Aidan Hugo and Ijah Haley have played for York in prior seasons.

This is only the second time this season I've seen the Rovers—the other time was in Week 1 where they salvaged a 1-1 tie with Vaughan Azzurri on an injury time header. I don't know why their record this season is middle of the pack. I asked a player after the game if 'the four names/Cuban guy' is still on the team. He said 'Yes'. I looked on the app and Orlendis Carlos Benitez Hernandez hasn't played since an L1 Cup game on May 28th so it's probably an injury. His 15 goals from the 2023 season have been missed.

Nikola Stakic who took so many of the Alliance cornerkicks and freekicks has not played a game for them since scoring two goals on May 25 in a game against Hamilton United.

By the time I got home, the three games of today were over. The result moves Alliance to a record of 6 wins, 4 ties, 3 losses for 22 points. That leaves them in fourth place with them now falling behind league leaders Scrosoppi FC by 5 points who were beating North Toronto across town in Downsview. Even though Scrosoppi played today, they still have at least one game in hand on all the teams chasing them. Vaughan Azzurri hasn't played yet this weekend and are only one point behind but if they win and pass Scrosoppi, they will have played two more games.

Rovers record improves to 4 wins, 5 ties, 5 losses for 17 points. They move a point ahead of North Toronto and have sole position of eighth place in the twelve team division.

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

Alliance United starters