July 21, 2024...League1 Ontario...Blue Devils FC vs Hamilton United game report (by Rocket Robin)

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

Result and details of the Sunday July 21, 2024 League1 Ontario Men's Premier game between Blue Devils FC
and Hamilton United played at Sheridan College in Oakville at 4:00pm.

Blue Devils FC (all navy uniforms, white numbers)

.............................1 Taylor Miskolczi
............17 James Lima...23 Anthony Wright...4 Pat Perriel
20 Daniel Prieto...11 Gianluca Spadafora...21 Sam Ghouli...3 Jaedyn Saunders
............10 Brandon Duarte (cpt)...6 Adam Czerkawski...5 Monti Mohsen

Subs:...8 Samer Hamade...9 Matt McGrouther...16 Ronaldo Hylton...18 Matias Lescano
...24 Justin Lima...25 Jeremy Rojas...26 Januz Sellaj
team officials:...head coach Duncan Wilde...assistant coaches Billy Steele and Andrew Seuradge...team manager Kim Ashton
...goalkeeper coach Glenn McNamara...athletic trainer was someone from 'Kinetic Impressions-Therapist'

Hamilton United (orange socks and shirts, gray shorts, white numbers)

..............................1 Ethan Cagalj
7 Marc Iantomasi...17 Riel Carol...2 Muaz Saleh...14 Ibrahim Ahmat
...........5 Alban Boci...19 Lucas Neto...23 Frederick Cobbinah
...........15 Piercarlo Arghittu...20 Moussa Limane...9 Soren Di Sabatino

Subs:...33 Nicholas Anthony Zanin (gk)...5 Miles Phillips...8 Kyrese Michael Lynch-Bailey...10 Mujtaba Ameen
...12 Denis Neziri...16 Donart Beqiri...18 Zachary Maharaj...21 Youssef Zaghloul...22 Ali Assaad
team officials:...head coach Kamran Derayeh...assistant coach Andrew Derayeh...physiotherapist Monique Wojcik

First Half:...game starts 3:58pm...Blue Devils defends north end on this hot and humid afternoon with the sun now out
after a hard rainfall less than an hour before.
1 min...BD Mohsen is injured at Ham left cornerflag.
1 min...BD Prieto freekick near left cornerflag has charging BD Perriel just miss connecting on 3 yard header on right post
and wide for goalkick.
3 min...Ham Neto 22 yard shot down middle has goalie palm ball away from top left corner of net.
10 min...BD Mohsen bends low 25 yard cross from left that bounces to goalie.
11 min...BD YELLOW card...Lima earns it for pulling down Ham player racing up left for bouncing ball.
12 min...Ham Boci blasts 22 yard freekick low from left that goalie catches on near post.
12 min...Ham Ahmat and BD Duarte are injured in collision at Ham 50 yard line and both need trainers.
14 min...play resumes.
15 min...Ham sub...Phillips replaces injured Ahmat.
16 min...BD goalie catches 30 yard cross from left.
17 min...BD Prieto rolls pass from 30 yards in center to right. BD Ghouli shoots 20 yard roller into outside webbing of net on right.
18 min...BD Duarte innjured at Ham 33 yard line and needs trainer.
20 min...Ham goalie freekick from box has Ham Limane flick header from 25 yards that BD goalie catches wide left of net on bounce.
21 min...Ham Neto low 30 yard freekick has ball fly just wide right of net.
23 min...BD Mohsen 40 yard freekick from right is caught on near post.
24 min...Ham defender stops low shot at 7 yards sent in by BD Spadafora from 15 yards.
25 min...A water break is called.
26 min...play resumes.
27 min...Ham Cobbinah shoots 33 yarfder up middle between players that goalie catches.
30 min...Ham Di Sabatino midair shot from 28 yards up middle is wide left.
32 min...Ham Arghittu freekick from 25 yards on far right has defender head away on edge of 6 yard box on right.
36 min...BD Duarte long throw-in from left cornerflag has defender head away.
37 min...BD Mohsen 40 yard freekick from right has defender clear.
38 min...BD Mohsen cuts along 22 yard from right and shoots down middle over net.
39 min...BD Duarte shoots slow ball low from 12 yards on right between players and wide left.
40 min...Ham player on right has low shot spin over end line on deflection for goalkick.
43 min...BD Saunders cross from left is cleared in box.
44 min...Ham YELLOW card...Phillips earns it for pulling down BD player near center sideline.
44 min...BD Perriel breaks up potential Ham 2 v 1 rush at BD 50 yard line.
46 min...Ham YELLOW card...Limane earns it for complaining and delaying BD freekick.
46 min...BD Saunders can't turn header on left post on 50 yard freekick from right.
49 min...Ham Neto freekick from 30 yards on left has BD Perriel breaks up play on right side of box.
50 min...Ham Neto cornerkick from right is cleared out of box.
50 min...half ends 4:48pm.

Halftime: It starts with only the Hamilton subs warming up.

Second Half: starts 5:03pm.
Halftime sub...Ham Lynch-Bailey replaces Phillips.
46 min...Ham Cobbinah is injured by BD Lima sliding tackle clearance at Ham 22 yard line on right and needs trainer.
48 min...Ham Limane wins cornerkick on cross from left end line.
49 min...BD Mohsen 12 yard shot is saved and he gets to rebound and 10 yard shot up middle deflects for cornerkick on right.
50 min...BD Mohsen cornerkick from right has BD Perriel lean back at 3 yards and heads ball out left side and out for goalkick.
51 min...BD goalie is out to 12 yards to grab BD player's bounced cross from Ham 15 yard line from 20 yards on right.
52 min...Ham goalie catches teammate's shanked clearance popped up from 10 yards.
53 min...Ham goalie is out to 22 yards on right to beat BD Limane to through ball bouncer.
54 min...BD Mohsen gets away 22 yard roller that goalie smothers on left post before Ham defender slides into him and injures him.
56 min...Ham sub...Beqiri replaces Arghittu.
............Ham sub...Zaghloul replaces Limane.
57 min...BD Mohsen near right end line sends low centering pass has retreating defender concede cornerkick.
58 min...BD Mohsen cornerkick from right has BD Perriel head at 5 yards but defender starts Ham quick break and eventually
a low 25 yard shot is smothered by goalie on right side of net.
59 min...BD Mohsen dribbles along 20 yard line to left and shoots just over bar.
61 min...BD Spadafora 12 yard shot from right is caught by goalie.
61 min...Ham Di Sabatino centers pass from 22 yards for Ham Neto to shoot 22 yarder well high and wide right.
63 min...BD sub...Hamade replaces Ghouli.
63 min...BD Duarte pops pass over to BD Spadafora who midairs 15 yard shot up middle well over net.
66 min...Ham Neto 33 yard freekick from left bounces between players in box and is out right side.
67 min...BD Duarte trying to beat defender on left pushes ball over end line.
69 min...BD Hamade is given pass by BD Czerkawski and he passes back to Czerkawski at 12 yards which is broken up.
70 min...A water break is called.
71 min...play resumes.
73 min...BD Mohsen gets pass in open on right and midair one-touch 10 yard shot wide.
74 min...Ham Zaghloul can't draw Penalty kick when squeezed on 1 v 2 rush into box.
74 min...BD Prieto draws freekick near edge of box.
75 min...BD sub...McGrouther replaces Saunders.
76 min...BD Mohsen 20 yard freekick from left is over bar.
77 min...Ham Lynch-Bailey low centered cross from from left has defender clear from box.
77 min...BD Wright clears pass between Ham players in BD box preventing 7 yard shot.
78 min...Ham Neto 30 yard freekick from right has goalie catch and survive bump by Ham Saleh on near post.
............Ham YELLOW card...Saleh earns it for the bump.
79 min...BD goalie beats Ham Zaghloul to through ball pass into right side of box.
80 min...BD Mohsen races to right end line and rolls pass through box that no player gets to.
82 min...Ham Saleh and BD Czerkawski are both injured jumping for high ball at Ham 30 yard line.
83 min...BD Lima checks Ham Lynch-Bailey off ball on left side of box preventing shot.
83 min...BD Duarte 25 yard freekick from left has ball cleared.
84 min...Ham YELLOW card...head coach Kamran Derayeh earns it for complaining about a call.
85 min...Blue Devils Monte Mohsen GOAL...Mohsen blasts 15 yarder after ball centered over from left. The shot was low
to the left side of the net between a crowd of players in the box.
87 min...BD sub...Lescano replaces Mohsen.
88 min...BD Prieto crosses from right and BD Lescano can't get away shot.
90 min...Ham Neto 30 yard freekick from right has leaping goalie punch ball away on right post.
93 min...BD Prieto leads 2 on 1 and pass to BD Lescano who shoots wide left from 12 yards.
94 min...Blue Devils Gianluca Spadafora GOAL...BD Brandon Duarte takes long throw-in from the left at the 6 yard line.
Spadafora receives it and turns and runs along 3 yard line and shoots 8 yarder between goalie Ethan Cagalj's legs who
was guarding the near post into the right side of the net.
95 min...game ends 5:53pm.

Final Score:.....Blue Devils FC.......2.......Hamilton United.........0......

Attendance started off slow but grew to over 100 by halftime. I got to the stadium about 90 minutes before game time and the spitting rain that stopped just as I got to the parking lot turned into a deluge as soon as I was under the metal roof sheltering all but the front rows of the stands. Something to spend the time before the game was to watch the puddles fill up near the back rows, and then cascade down to the next row and fill up until overflowing to the row below it. Easy to keep shifting over a few spots to avoid getting wet feet. So not exactly like downtown Toronto's Union Station last week where their staircases were waterfalls. I heard a few rumblings of thunder at around 3:05pm just after some of the Blue Devils came out to warm up but by game time the sun had come up and there was no more threat of rain.

So no more rain but the sun came out and started drying the wetness that had soaked into the field and pavement. Even in the stands we felt hot with the humidity.

Blue Devils players had so many chances in this game but they couldn't score until the end. They were checked off the ball or turn to tap a pass back and no teammate was there. Hamilton defenders were blocking shots so some tried to be different by rushing their shots and firing high or wide or both.

Some of the Blue Devils parents/fans were complaining about their players. I was hearing comments by some that they were playing down to the level of their competition. I said the wetness may be the great equalizer and when a parent countered with 'Well both teams are playing on the same field', I argued that “Why did Canada until the last few years go down to somewhere like Honduras and play so bad and then say 'well it was 110 degrees down there'.?”

The major problem for Hamilton was this was their thirteenth league game and they've only scored 6 goals. Their defending is not much worse then the bottom half of the league in goals against.

Taylor Miskolczi earned the shutout for Blue Devils with saves very routine from right after he had to palm a shot over the bar sent in by HU Lucas Neto at 3 minutes. Defenders James Lima, Anthony Wright, and Pat Perriel helped either block or keep the other shots from a distance.

Referee Josh Heuving gave out eight cards (seven to Hamilton although one was to the head coach). This included five for disipline problems inluding four from the 84 minute mark and two actually after the game was ended. Lucas Neto was shown a card after the second Blue Devils goal and drew a second Yellow (equals Red) after the game. He scheduled greatly appreciated water breaks at the 25 and 70 minute mark.

Looking at the app and the players on the field I saw James Lima and Justin Lima are the same age. Twin brothers? Yes and Blue Devils head coach Duncan Wilde said goalie Taylor Miskolczi has a twin brother who left the team to join St Catharines Roma Wolves for more playing time as a defender.

By the time I got home and was ready to type this up, all L1O Men's Premier games had finished so the standings are updated to include that fact:

The win improves the Blue Devils record to 6 wins, 3 ties, 5 losses for 21 points. That puts them all alone in fifth place. Earlier this afternoon Vaughan won in Guelph to flip over Scrosoppi into first place which Scrosoppi had done to Vaughan the night before. The Azzurri are two points ahead but Scrosoppi have two games in hand. Oh boy...those two teams face off on Sunday July 28 in Vaughan (Week 14 in the 19 week season).

The loss leaves Hamilton winless at 0 wins, 4 ties, 9 losses for 4 points. They appear destined to finish twelfth (ie last) and be relegated to the second tier Championship Division. Last season they survived in the Top 12 from the 21 team division initial set up/split by a last minute freekick on the final day of the season dooming Woodbridge Strikers to the second tier except they gained a reprieve when Electric City FC folded. This season Woodbridge with their big $ are not letting that happen again and are in good shape for a top three finish.

It has taken until Week 13 but I've finally seen all twelve teams in the Premier Division at least once and I've got a post game interview with coaches from each team. Looks like I started this since the 2019 season. Usually it's within the first few weeks of the season when everyones optimistic about their year but I thought this one would be awkward but head coach Kamran Derayeh recognized me well before the game for me to set up a post game interview.

Hamilton head coach Kamran Derayeh is on the right.

My interview with Hamilton United head coach Kamran Derayeh: (6 minutes, 42 seconds)
Your thoughts on today's game?
Was today's game typical of how your season has gone?
Is your problem this season your lack of scoring and will recruiting help for next season?
How is your agreement with (CPL team) Forge FC going?
Is it a big boost for your players to sometimes get to play at Tim Hortons Field?
Do you think there will be any changes if your team goes down to the Championship Division (2nd tier)?
Should there be player roster size limits to stop teams stockpiling rosters?
Will you have players leave when the college season starts?

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

Blue Devils FC starters