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. I will be posting pictures, logos, and more of a play-by-play about this game someday (ie. the offseason). 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. 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.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. My interview with Hamilton United head coach Kamran Derayeh: (6 minutes, 42 seconds)back to 2024 League1 Ontario menu
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