September 2, 2024...League1 Ontario...Guelph United vs Simcoe County Rovers game report (by Rocket Robin)

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Result and details of the Monday September 2, 2024 League1 Ontario Men's Premier Division game between Guelph United
and Simcoe County Rovers played at Centennial Bowl in Guelph at 5:30pm.

Guelph United (all white uniforms, black numbers)

.....................1 Anthony Arruda
17 Cameron Clack...4 Noah Obedi...14 Cole Fernandez....12 Peyton Ferdinand
..........6 Anthony Ostrun...21 Gray Yates...10 Jacob Cabral
..........8 Dominik Sivanesan...9 Jared Agyemang (cpt)...11 Yuki Ibie

Subs:...20 Tyler Smith (gk)...2 Omar Ladhani...3 Michael Andoga...5 Pero Bandula
...13 Fergus Pender...15 Dom Ssuriano...16 Brandon Robertson...18 Christopher Qushair...19 Aiden Borges
team officials:...head coach Justine Springer...assistant coaches Don Ferguson, Keith Mason, Mickael Rougette
and Andrew Agyare-Tabbi...physiotherapist Christine Jeary

Simcoe County Rovers (all black uniforms, gold numbers, white trim)

........................25 Peter Sheberstov
..........27 Allen Blegay...3 Tajajy Reid (cpt)...19 Alejandro Portal
28 Micah Joseph...8 Paul Karagiannakos...23 Noah Ferreira...11 Shawn Claud Lawson
..............7 Aidan Hugo...10 Orlendis Benitez Hernandez...9 Jevonate Layne

Subs:...12 Javier George...14 Nathanial St Louis...16 Ian Pineiro...18 Ijah Halley
...21 CJ Smith...24 Brandon Verburg...29 Diego Herrera
team officials...head coach Zack Wilson...assistant coach Carli Tingstad...team manager Derek Boakye
...goalkeeper coach Paul Smith...other official Doneil Henry

Game Officials:...referee John-Morgan Pizzuti...referee's assistants Bayan Aldaker and Eric Hartman
...fourth official Hussein Walji...(red socks and shirts, black shorts)

First Half:...game starts 5:31pm...Guelph defends north end on this mild evening with a light breeze from the north.
30 sec...GU Cabral 30 yard shot from slight left is well over net.
1 min...GU Ibie 12 yard shot deflects off defender over net.
2 min...GU Yates low cornerkick from left is cleared by nearest defender on left.
3 min...SCR Lawson tips header from left end line back into play but SCR players can't get away shot.
4 min...GU Ostrun is tapped pass and his 12 yard shot is deflected wide left.
4 min...SCR Layne rushes GU goalie's clearance of back pass and goalie clears it off him at 12 yards for goalkick on left.
8 min...GU Sivanesan is given pass across on right and he shoots 15 yarder wel over net.
9 min...SCR Layne low cross through 6 yard box from left has defender clear out of box but for cornerkick.
9 min...SCR player's cornerkick from left is played around on left but no shot is gotten away.
10 min...GU Ibie is given pass from far left to slight left and his low 10 yard shot hass SCR Reid deflect ball wide left of post.
11 min...GU Cabral cornerkick from left has GU players not able to turn header.
12 min...GU players rush has ball knocked wide left for goalkick.
16 min...SCR Hernandez chips cross from 25 yards on left. SCR Layne heads ball down from right. SCR Joseph blasts shot
from 18 yards that's stopped.
17 min...GU goalie beats SCR Layne to through ball pass to smother at 12 yards.
18 min...SCR Karagiannakos rolls short pass up left for SCR Lawson who has defender muscle him to roll pass over left end line.
20 min...SCR Hernandez 23 yard freekick from slight left is just over the bar.
21 min...GU Karagiannakos has his 12 yard shot blocked on slight right as ball is rolled across box to find him.
23 min...GU Yates 22 yard freekickc from slight right is just over bar.
23 min...GU Yates finishes play with 20 yard shot that's deflected wide right.
24 min...GU Cabral cornerkick from left is through box and cleared.
25 min...GU Cabral cornerkick from right is through players and GU Ostrun at 12 yards on left shoots well over net.
27 min...GU goalie freekick from 80 yards has SCR goalie out to edge of box to catch.
29 min...GU Ostrun just misses connecting on a low cross into 6 yard box from left.
30 min...Guelph Yuki Ibie GOAL...Ibie dribbles in from 30 yards up middle between five defenders in his path
and rolls 10 yard shot into right side of net past diving goalie.
33 min...SCR Karagiannakos rush down left and cross has retreating defender beat SCR Layne to head ball over own net.
34 min...SCR cornerkick from left has SCR Layne head 10 yarder on far right that goalie smothers.
35 min...SCR joseph 35 yard shsot down middle is caught by goalie.
35 min...SCR Jevonte Layne wins Penalty kick call when GU goalie Anthony Arruda dives to push ball away at 10 yards
as Layne has freed himself from defender and Arruda trips him up. Referee John-Morgan Pizzuti makes the call.
36 min...SCR Jevonte Layne stagger steps Penalty kick and blasts shot down the middle but off the top of the bar
and out of play.
38 min...SCR Karagiannakos cuts to middle from left but has 16 yard shot blocked by defender.
39 min...SCR YELLOW card...Reid earns it for hand to face on GU Sivanesan injurying him who needs trainer at SCR 35 yard line
and breaking up GU rush.
41 min...GU Yates 45 yard freekick chip up middle has defender clear on right wide outside of box.
42 min...GU YELLOW card...Sivanesan earns it for not giving 10 yards on SCR Hernandez quick freekick from center line when
he wins freekick.
44 min...SCR Hernandez is injured on bump at GU 45 yard line winning freekick.
45 min...SCR Hernandez cross from right side of box. GU Sivanesan heads out left side of box from center of box at 8 yards.
47 min...SCR Hugo blasts 15 yard shot from slight right well over net.
47 min...half ends 6:19pm.

Halftime:...Guelph subs warm up in south end while the Guelph ballboys warm up in north. The starters on both teams return
to the dressing room along with the SCR subs. Halfway through the break, the SCR subs come out to warm up.

Second Half:...starts 6:35pm.
Halftime subs:...SCR George replaces Lawson.
.......................SCR Halley replaces Hugo.
.......................SCR Smith replaces Blegay.
46 min...SCR player rushes in to direct high chip into GU box.
46 min...SSCR Layne shot has goallie fly to push ball away from left post.
47 min...Simcoe Tajay Reid GOAL...SCR Ijah Halley sends cornerkick from left into box and Reid rushes into crowd
of players nods header in from left side about 6 yards away to right corner of net.
48 min...Simcoe Orlendis Benitez Hernandez* GOAL...SCR Hernandez cross from 20 yards on far right has
GU Noah Obedi lift his leg to stop ball in midair but pokes it into his own net from 4 yards on right side. *(I was sure it would
be credited as an own goal)
49 min...SCR Hernandez is injured at GU 25 yard line on play that leads to SCR cornerkick.
51 min...SCR Halley cornerkick from right is cleared back to him then crossed high and cleared.
52 min...SCR Hernandez cornerkick from right is cleared from box.
53 min...SCR YELLOW card...Smith earns it for kicking ball away before a GU throw-in deep in own end.
54 min...GU goalie beats SCR Karagiannakos to make catch in box.
55 min...SCR sub...Verburg replaces Hernandez.
55 min...SCR Sivanesan turns and blalsts 22 yarder from left well over net.
57 min...Guelph Jared Agyemang GOAL...GU Jacob Cabral rolls through ball from 28 yards for Agyemang in middle who
then turns and rolls 15 yarder past goalie who was out at 8 yards into right side of net.
61 min...SCR Verburg wins cornerkick on delflection of his cross.
61 min...SCR Halley cornerkick from right is over box.
61 min...GU sub...Bandula replaces Obedi.
...........GU sub...Ladhani replaces Sivanesan.
62 min...GU Yates dribbles up left anad crosses over box.
62 min...GU Agyemang cross is over box after teammate has made great decoy of ball sent up sidelines after keeping it in
on left sideline.
65 min...SCR Halley cornerkick from right has SCR player miss connecting on bicycle kick.
66 min...SCR sub...St Louis replaces Layne.
68 min...GU Cabral rolls 30 yarder up middle but between players at 18 yards and goallie smothers.
70 min...SCR George chips cross from 55 yard line on right has goallie catch before SCR Smith can get to it on left side of box.
71 min...SCR Smith has shot attempts blocked in box on left. SCR Joseph chips rebound from 25 yards wide right.
73 min...GU Yates slips as he tries to turn on edge of 18 yard line and defenders clear.
73 min...GU Cabral 35 yard freekick on left has SCR players start fast break out.
74 min...SCR Joseph cross from near right cornerflag has goaie step forward to catch at 10 yards.
75 min...SCR sub...Herrera replaces Joseph.
77 min...SCR goalie smothers roller at 8 yards.
78 min...SCR player chips ball wide left from 30 yards over players in box.
79 min...SCR George key sliding poke from behind to break up rush on right giving up cornerkick.
79 min...GU Cabreal high cornerkick from right drifts behind net.
80 min...SCR Herrera rush on left and passes to SCR Verburg shoots 10 yarder into left outside webbing of net.
81 min...SCR Karagiannakos shoots 22 yarder from slight right well over net.
83 min...Guelph Jared Agyemang wins Penalty kick call as he pokes ball through defenders in box and is knocked down.
84 min...Guelph Jared Agyemang GOAL...Agyemang rolls Penalty kick to slight right after slow run up as goalie
Peter Sheberstov slumps in middle on goal line.
86 min...SCR player wins cornerkick.
86 min...SCR George cornerkick from left has SCR player head 7 yarder wide right of net.
87 min...GU sub...Qushair replaces Agyemang.
...........GU sub...Andoga replaces Cabral.
89 min...GU YELLOW card...Qushair earns it for hand ball stopping SCR player's breakout at SCR 30 yard line.
90 min...GU Yates wins freekick on time wasting run to SCR left corner flag.
91 min...SCR sub...Pineiro replaces Karagiannakos.
92 min...GU Yates and GU Ibie mess up short conrnerkick time wasting attempt and give up goalkick.
94 min...SCR Halley run to right end line but high cross is behind end line.
95 min...GU Yates and GU Ibie do better job on cornerkick on left holding off two SCR players.
95 min...Simcoe Diego Herrera GOAL...SCR Ijah Halley cornerkick from right has defender clear. Halley gets ball back
and recrosses from right to have ball land between players in box. Herrera shoots 10 yarder up middle between players
into left side of net.
96 min...game ends 7:26pm.

Final Score:...Guelph United.......3........Simcoe County Rovers.........3.........

Attendance started off slow but climbed to about 200 by halftime. Many fans avoided the aluminum bench stands and sat in the Muskoka chairs lining the ridge of the hill behind the south goal (where beer was served). A few even brought their own lawn chairs to set up on the east side and a very few like me sat on the grass hill on the west side.

This was the third game of the week for Rovers. They played last Saturday at their home in Barrie losing to red hot Scrosoppi FC for their first loss in ten games. Then Wednesday night they beat Blue Devils FC in Oakville to advance to the final of the L1 Cup next Friday.

Rovers were playing alright during the first half but made a triple switch at halftime bringing in Ijah Halley, Javier George, and CJ Smith. That payed off quickly as they took the lead within three minutes of the restart.

Guelph were doing well managing the added time in the second half with GU captain Gray Yates and Yuki Ibie wasting time with running the ball to the cornerflag and playing keep-away while there against Rovers defenders. However allowing one last SCR cornerkick on practically the last kick of the game settled it. A fair result for both teams.

Peter Sheberstov has taken over as the Rovers goalie since the beginning of August as before that the 17 year old was playing L1O soccer at the U-20 level. Rovers were using Rimi Olatunji at the beginning of the season who as recently as 2023 was playing in the CPL. 19 year old goalie Anthony Arruda appears to have come up to Guelph's first team after playing at their L2 club (and mainly as a backup) until last month. Neither looked out of place in tonight's game.

Referee John-Morgan Pizzuti gave out four Yellow cards (two to both teams) as well as a Penalty kick call to each team in a fairly played game.

This was the final regular season game for both teams. Both teams played hard today as it was not their last game of the season. Full benches too was nice to see as the last few weeks, some teams have had trouble filling them.

Rovers play one last game on Friday night against Vaughan Azzurri for the revised L1 Cup. Their star forward Orlendis Benitez Hernandez was subbed out at 55 minutes with a leg injury almost six minutes after it happened. I asked him after the game about whether he would play on Friday but he wasn't certain.

The Friday after that Guelph play a promotion/relegation game against the designated runner up team in the second tier Championship Division—St Catharines Roma Wolves who actually finished third...but...Toronto FC Academy won the Championship but refused the promotion and gave notice they will be withdrawing from the league to concentrate on a new age level that the American based MLS NEXT Pro has created. That moved FC London into the automatic playoff spot and gives Wolves the playoff chance. Both these Friday games will be held at the Zanchin Automotive Soccer Centre in Vaughan.

Guelph finish their regular season at 4 wins, 4 ties, 14 losses for 16 points. That does put them in eleventh place out of the twelve teams in the Premier Division but they were doomed to that spot for the last few weeks.

Rovers finish their regular season at 9 win, 7 ties, 6 losses for 34 points. That's the same number of points as North Toronto but Rovers are ranked as fifth because North Toronto has one more win.

***Hey I've done it! I didn't think it was possible because of scheduling a few weeks ago but catching Hamilton United yesterday and tonight's game means that I have seen all twelve Premier Division teams a minimum of three times this season! That's from attending 26 regular season games plus two L1 Cup games. None of them play Friday night and I have York United FC and Toronto FC II games to work around.

Today I was afraid of a huge traffic jam on my way home back to the GTA because it was the end of the Labour Day weekend but there was no delay whatever. The only delay was on my way out here when there was a delay through Milton...hey the home of league champions Scrosoppi FC but the expressway eventually cleared for full speed driving.

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

Guelph United starters