Fri June 17, 2016 League 1 Ontario--FC London vs Woodbridge Strikers (from League 1 Ontario website)

Woodbridge Go To London And Take Home All Three Points
06/19/2016, 4:45pm EDT
By League1 Ontario staff

Third place in the east met second in the west on Friday night 
as Woodbridge Strikers travelled to take on FC London. 

With both sides dropping points in their previous matches 
- Woodbridge losing to Durham, and London to Sigma - both teams 
came out with a point to prove. 

Strikers immediately pressed high up the pitch on the London 
backline, later varying their defensive positioning between 
a deep block and a high energy press. 

The pressing instantly paid dividends as Ignazio Muccilli (9') 
put the visitors on the board.

"To go one nil up was amazing," said Muccilli. "I got off 
to a shaky start, but aside from that it was good. I took 
a touch on my left foot and was able to finish. After that 
we pressed, and it went well. I think everyone put the heart 
on the line today, and it showed on the field."

London would look to hit back quickly, but first Elvir Gigolaj 
and then Mike Marcoccia had their attempts go wayward, 
or be collected by Woodbridge keeper Matt George.

The Strikers would turn the screw in the first half, with 
first Emmanuel Issac (32') and then Andrew Derayeh (45') 
finding gaps to score. 

Issac benefitted from a one v one situation alone with 
London GK Sokalaski, during which the netminder attempted 
to take the ball past the forward but mis-timed his touch 
and could only watch Issac roll the ball in.

"Sokalaski is one of the best keepers in the league," said 
Mario Despotovic, head coach of FC London. "He did nothing 
wrong, I gave him specific instructions to do this."

"In my opinion if the keeper eliminates an opponent then 
we have one more player in the build-up. This is an important 
point, but it is all my fault if he attempts this and 
it doesn't work."

Andrew Derayeh (45') added a third before the whistle, firing 
a bullet into the top corner that left Sokalaski no chance. 

London would go on to put the ball in the net three times 
in the second half, but only two would count as goals due 
to offside decisions. 

Gigolaj (75') dispatched the lone marker, a penalty after 
Mike Marcoccia was dragged down inside the box, but could 
not rally to stop Woodbridge from taking three points 
at the final whistle. 

"We needed a win after the last game," said Peter Pinizzotto, 
head coach of Woodbridge Strikers. "We lost to Durham and 
didn't play well."

"We defended well and in quick transition we had a couple 
chances ourselves and maybe could have got more. It's only 
normal when one team is winning that they drop back and play 
for the result and I think we did that part well tonight too. 
I think it's a great win for us, especially as we were 
missing a number of players tonight."

Despotovic was not alarmed at London having lost their first 
two league matches, indicating that there is a process the 
team follows regardless of the results.

"We will watch our tape, then we will watch the opponent's, 
then we train, we go in the bus and we play again," he said. 
"It's the same every week. League1 is a very even league, 
and everyone can beat everyone. It's great to compete in."

"We made some mistakes, which I would personally call 
learning experiences, and now we have to analyze it and make 
it better," he concluded. "I thought the opponent played 
an amazing game."

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