August 28, 2021 League 1 Ontario Men's Premier Division...Sigma FC vs Windsor TFC (game report by Rocket Robin)

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Result and details of the Saturday August 28, 2021 League1 Ontario Men's Premier League game between Sigma FC
and Windsor TFC played at Paramount Fine Foods Centre in Mississauga at 1:00pm.

Sigma FC (white socks and numbers, black shorts, blue shirts)

.....................1 Jack Cristini
2 Samuel Valentine...16 Klaidi Cela...5 Kyle Walton (cpt)...21 Joshua Miller
..........20 Owen Whitton...6 Faisal Ghaffur...17 Kadell Thomas
...........7 Marcus Caldeira...9 Jason Squeo...10 Sebastian Castello

Subs:...31 Blake Moness (gk)...4 Jacob Cordon Cruz...8 Mavir Brar...11 Soji Olatoye
12 Justin Grupiljonas...14 Jacob Dyck...18 Amir Shirazi...19 Aleksa Markovic
...22 Aiden Avalos
team officials:...team head coach John Zervos...assistant coach David Igreja...theapist Liam MacPherson

Windsor TFC (red socks, shorts, and numbers, white shirts)

.....................22 Markus Aguiar
3 Dillon Hayes...2 Kalifa Ihmouda...4 Bastian Aguilera (cpt)...6 Shawn McIlwane
7 Joao Pavia-Santos...5 James Clarke...8 Milahd Mansoon...10 Gabriel Uliana
...............11 Mohamad Youcef Teffahi...9 Abraham Romario

Subs:...31 Thomas Kogel (gk)...14 Mardin Lopez...15 Joao Gabriel Dos Santos...16 Matias Reyes
...18 Junior Noel
team officials:...team head coach Valter Cosenza...assistant coaches Paulo Parreira and Shane Topalovic
...team official Vancho Crovski

Game officials:...referee Phil Benevides...referee's assistants Nicolas Thompson and Anthony Dimambro
fourth official not listed...(neon yellow shirts, black shorts and socks)

First Half:...starts 1:03pm...Sigma defends south end on this very hot and humid early afternoon.
2 min...Sigma Castello cornerkick from right is headed away and deflects off Sigma player's arm for W freekick in box.
5 min...W Mansoon 22 yard freekick from extreme left has charging W Uliana on left not able to turn ball wide left from 5 yards.
6 min...W goalie smothers low cross into box ahead of charging Sigma Squeo.
7 min...Sigma Jason Squeo GOAL...Sigma player sends in cornerkick from left and Sigma Klaidi Cela heads ball
from 8 yards on right back across box and Squeo roofs ball from 3 yards over goalie Markus Aguiar and just under bar
in center of net.
10 min...Sigma Jason Squeo GOAL...Sigma Sebastian Castello rolls centering pass along edge of 6 yard box from right
and Squeo boots ball in from 6 yards.
12 min...W Uliana receives pass in alone on left from 35 yards and rushes into box but he slips on his own cutting to middle.
13 min...W Pavia-Santos has to leave field with a bloody nose.
15 min...W Ihmouda pops up a header on a Sigma cross into the box that the goalie catches on the right post.
18 min...W Pavia-Santos is allowed to rejoin the game.
20 min...Sigma Castello cornerkick from left has Sigma Cela pop up header from left but ball is already out of play.
21 min...W Romario is given through ball pass at 25 yards between defenders but his first touch is too hot and goalie smothers
at 12 yards.
24 min...A water break is called.
26 min...Play resumes.
27 min...Sigma player's cross from left is high over box but wins cornerkick on right.
28 min...Sigma Castello cornerkick from right has defender head ball away.
28 min...Sigma Cela is tapped freekick at 28 yards and his low blast up middle is between players and sprawling goalie makes
save at 2 yards.
31 min...Sigma YELLOW card...Miller earns it for bump over on W player's rush.
33 min...W Clarke is tapped over freekick from W Uliana at 22 yards but his shot is well wide left of net.
35 min...Sigma Caldeira receives through ball pass up middle but he's ruled offside.
37 min...Sigma Jason Squeo GOAL...Sigma Samuel Valentine sends low cross from 20 yards on far right and goalie
dives forward but Squeo tips 3 yarder across goal into left corner of net just inside post.
40 min...W goalie grabs bouncing cross from right a step ahead of Sigma Caldeira.
42 min...W Mansoon 40 yard freekick from left sideline has goalie slip but ball bounces just wide right of post
with a W player not able to rescue on the end line.
44 min...W goalie is out to 15 yards to fly and push cross pass away from Sigma Caldeira.
47 min...half ends 1:50pm.

Second Half:...starts 2:05pm.
Halftime subs:...W Gabrial Dos Santos replaces someone.
....................W Noel replaces someone.
....................W Kogel replaces Aguiar in goal.
46 min...Sigma Thomas works out a short cornerkick with Sigma Castello but is called offside before getting ball into box.
47 min...Sigma YELLOW card...Whitton earns it for check on W Noel at center line. Whitton and his coach counter with he
was kicked in the face by Noel when both were down on the ground.
48 min...W YELLOW card...Pavia-Santos earns it for check on Sigma player on edge of Sigma 18 yard box.
50 min...W Romario is checked off ball at 15 yards on a 1 v 4 play.
50 min...W Teffahi bounces low 20 yard shot that goalie smothers.
51 min...Sigma Caldeira rush upp right side but pushes ball over end line.
54 min...Sigma Thomas rush along left end line but wins cornerkick.
54 min...Sigma Castello high cornerkick from left is over players in box but play whistled down for pushing in box.
55 min...W Mansoon cornerkick from left is headed away on near post.
56 min...W Noel eludes defenders on left and centers pass for W Romario to one-touch but shank 10 yard shot that goalie dives
left to smother.
58 min...Sigma Marcus Caldeira GOAL...Sigma Kadell Thomas races down left and sends centering cross to charging Caldeira
to one-touch 10 yarder down middle into center of net.
58 min...Sigma sub...Brar replaces Whitton.
...........Sigma sub...Markovic replaces Castello. 59 min...Sigma Squeo blasts 15 yarder deflected by defender wide left.
60 min...Sigma Thomas cornerkick from left has Sigma Cela from 12 yards in crowd of players on right side of box send header
that goalie catches.
62 min...W McIlwane cross from 22 yards on left is caught by goalie.
63 min...Sigma Ghaffur 25 yard shot up middle deflects for cornerkick on left.
64 min...Sigma sub...Dyck replaces Squeo.
64 min...Sigma player's cornerkick from left has off balance Sigma Caldira not quite able to turn header.
65 min...Sigma Thomas rush to left end line and eludes defenders to chip 10 yarder just missing to right corner.
66 min...Sigma Markovic wins cornerkick on low cross from 20 yards on left.
67 min...Sigma Thomas cornerkick from left with Sigma Brar who chips 20 yarder that defender heads away.
68 min...Sigma sub...Shirazi replaces Thomas.
............Sigma sub...Olatoye replaces Caldeira.
70 min...W YELLOW card...Romario earns it for tackle on Sigma Ghaffur at Sigma 22 yard line on right.
71 min...A water break is called.
73 min...Play resumes.
73 min...Sigma player's cornerkick from right is cleared from box.
74 min...W goalie beats Sigma Miller to left end line to boot away through ball pass.
74 min...W McIlwane makes big clearance header at 8 yards in middle of Sigma cross from right with players waiting in center.
76 min...Sigma sub...Avalow replaces Ghaffur.
79 min...Sigma Walton 30 yard freekick from right is partially cleared and Sigma Markovic takes mid-air 20 yard shot down middle.
80 min...Sigma Jacob Dyck GOAL...Sigma Samuel Valentine rushes down left and low cross has charging Dyck shoot 10 yarder
down middle into low center of net under sprawling goalie.
83 min...Sigma Shirazi receives low cross from far right and Sigma Dyck one-touches 12 yarder from left that diving goalie smothers.
85 min...W Teffahi eludes defender but rolls 20 yarder to goalie down middle as no W player continues run.
86 min...W Pavio-Santos low 28 yard shot between players is caught on bounce by goalie.
87 min...W Teffahi on right blasts 22 yards hot around Sigma Walton but is wide right of net.
89 min...Sigma Avalos pass up middle has Sigma Markovic tips forward at 18 yards for easy save.
90 min...W YELLOW card...Hayes earns it for bear hug on Sigma Shirazi at W 45 yard line preventing breakout.
91 min...Sigma Dyck shot from 15 yaards on far left has W Hayes head away.
92 min...Sigma Dyck run down middle and rolls pass forwar to Sigma Olatoye and his 18 yard low shot has goalie slide at 15 yards
and make point blank save.
93 min...game ends 2:53pm.

Final Score:....Sigma FC......5.......Windsor TFC.......0.........

Attendance was about 60 on this sunny, very hot and humid afternoon.

Sigma jumped on Windsor early with two goals in the first ten minutes taking a lot of steam out of this game
and it was like almost waiting to see how many Sigma would score although Windsor did settle down
and the game was more even.

Jason Squeo (rhymes with 'Quail') scored the first three goals. Wow he's a '2003' so it would be a real
find if they can keep him. He'd scored 1 goal in four games in only 94 minutes of game time so I assume
he was a late sub in his previous games. It's easier for a young guy to push his way into the Sigma lineup
as their starters in the first games often have to leave for NCAA American colleges by this time of year.
Trouble with Sigma is by the end of the season they're often down to their 'high schoolers' as Canadian
U-Sports soon start up and take more players.

This year Sigma have a few 'mature' guys who are staying with the team including former Forge FC players
Kadell Thomas and Klaidi Cela who were starters today as was long time defender/captain Kyle Walton.
Thomas won 'Goal of the Year' at last season's CPL Island Games. He almost scored a replica of that when
he deked two defenders on the left end line and just missed the top right corner of goal on an impossible
angle. There were plays where Thomas held the ball up until a fourth defender helped surround him then
he would pass to an open man setting that player up for a clear shot on net.

Jack Cristini earned the shutout for Sigma. He's a 2003, the back up was a 2004 so the future looks
bright! He had a few key saves to make although having such a quick lead maybe gave him more confidence.

Referee Phil Benevides gave out five Yellow cards that I counted (three to Windsor) in a game that some
rough moments. Sigma Owen Whitton drew a Yellow card at 47 minutes for a wrestling take down but both
he and Sigma head coach John Zervos insisted that Junior Noel retaliated with a boot to the face while
both players were down. The coach wasn't satisfied with a 'make up' call Yellow to a Windsor player
one minute later. Best thing Benevides did was schedule a water break during each half.

L1O rules this year (maybe won't last longer than these Covid times) allow seven players to be subbed
in five stoppages in play. I've seen teams list a choice of nine players on their bench. Today Windsor
listed five guys on their bench including the back up goalie. A game official at the later 1812 FC
vs Masters FA game asked me that question saying he's officiated them and it's easy to find players
for a home game but tough to get them for the road games. WTFC head coach Valter Cosenza in a post
game interview with me said the players had to assemble at 7:00am in *Windsor to get here in time
to have a full warmup for this 1:00pm game. I saw that they had two half size school buses (yes those
yellow ones that I remember for their bumpy rides although maybe over the decades they're smoother).
Oh gad, not even as a tourist would I want to ride them let alone playing a game and then riding
back home. Maybe Toronto FC could rent them an air conditioned coach for game days.

*For my out of province readers, Windsor is across the river from Detroit Michigan and the game today
was just west of Toronto. 350 km! (217 miles).

I wore my 'CHAMPIONS 2020 The Island Games Forge FC' t-shirt to today's game and it was noticed
by the Sigma staff. I usually wear my York United stuff to every L1O other games mainly because
it has my name on to make me easier to identify. We've been told not to wear any soccer jerseys into
the York press box to maintain it as unbiased. I get free merch from them as a SSH.
Sigma's record improves to 3 wins, 1 loss, 1 tie. I asked their staff if they've been told the L1O
playoff format yet....Nope! I have a feeling with the season ending so late this year, there only
will be time for first in the West plays first in the East in a one game championship. I see the
regular season goes on until the last weekend in October whereas in previous years they've finished
a lengthy playoff best eight by the last weekend of September by ending the regular season August 24
(in 2019). Is Sigma out of the playoffs already? Tomorrow perfect-record Guelph United travels
to Oakville to play undefeated Blue Devils FC and one team will pull even further ahead of Sigma.

Windsor's record falls to 0 wins, 4 losses, 1 tie for a last place with an identical record with
North Mississauga SC of the eight team West.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
Twitter @RocketRobin01

Post game interview with Windsor TFC head coach Valter Cosenza (audio by Rocket Robin)
2 minutes 54 seconds
Questions: Comments on today's game and the long distance travelling to GTA opponents?
What is exactly your relationship with Toronto FC?

Sigma FC starters