April 30, 2022...League1 Ontario...Masters FA vs Simcoe County Rovers (game report by Rocket Robin)

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Results and details of the League1 Ontario Men's Premier Division game of Saturday April 30, 2022 between
Masters FA Saints and Simcoe County Rovers played at L'Amoreaux Field in Scarborough at 8:00pm.

Masters FA (all red uniforms, white numbers)

...................1 Jesus Jose Carbajal Flores
2 Anthony Wright...7 Frances Ameyaw...6 Michael Fayehun...13 Terrell Spencer
11 Matthew Morris...23 Tareq Hamad...14 Triston Frankson (cpt)...15 Zion Richards
............90 Shaquille Agard...8 Samer Hamade

Subs:...00 Alexander Biut (gk)...4 Moses Toe...9 Isaac Galan Quinteros...12 Jayden Meikle
...16 Steven Molo...17 Cameron Stewart...18 Luis Pari Cortez...19 Antonio Herra-Blackwood
...20 Darius Bailey
team officials:...team head coach Rick Titus...assistant coach Devon Porter...managers Hubert Groves and Rob Merkle.

Simcoe County Rovers (all black uniforms, turquoise numbers)

..................13 Daniel Buckley
2 Tristan Gayle...5 Jadon Vilfort...14 Gabriel Jodhan...3 Jarred Phillips (cpt)
8 Trivine Esprit...18 Gregory Moulopoulos...16 Tre Crosby...12 Ryley Wishart
..............9 Leaford Allen...10 Ethan Beckford

Subs:...23 Samuel Diltz (gk)...4 Illelabola Avolonto...11 Shawn Claud-Lawson...15 Jah'moises Corona
...17 Kahill John...19 Justin Earle...20 Aodhan O'Hara...21 Antonio Digiovanni
team officials:...team head coach Jason Beckford...assistant coach Derek O'Keefe...manager Ali Sozeri
...equipment manager Sebastian Trinchini...therapist Taylor Ley

Game officials:...referee Nirvin Raizada...referee's assistants Roain Satarzadeh and Nejeeb Almasri
fourth official Arshia Aliakbari...(teal socks and shirts, black shorts)

First Half:...game starts 8:06pm...Masters defends south end on this cool evening with the temperature dropping fast.
4 min...Masters Morris is injured at Masters 35 yard line.
5 min...Masters goalie panic kicks ball away from charging SCR Allen.
7 min...SCR Wishart 15 yard low shot from far left has goalie dive to stop and defenders clear rebound.
9 min...SCR goalie bobbles hig cross from right to left post but picks up ball.
10 min...SCR Espirit high cross from right has defender clear on edge of 6 yard box.
12 min...SCR defender's clearance off Master's player is behind end line for goalkick.
13 min...SCR YELLOW card...Beckford earns if for trip on Masters Hamad at SCR 45 yard line.
14 min...SCR Hamad 45 yard freekick down middle is bounced wide right for goalkick ahead of charging players.
20 min...SCR Crosby blasasts shot from 25 yards down middle that deflects wide right for cornerkick.
20 min...SCR Crosby cornerkick from right has defender head ball away in crowd of players in box.
22 min...Masters Spencer blasts 35 yard freekick down middle that goalie double fists away.
23 min...Simcoe Country Rovers Ethan Beckford GOAL...SCR goalie clears back pass from box high to center circle
where Beckford turns on defender and starts run up middle where he chips ball forward from 50 yard line
to SCR Leaford Allen 10 yards in fronto fo him giving Allen a breakaway. Allen has ball bounce at 20 yards
and he misses shot. Masters goalie Jesus Jose Carbajal Flores is sprawling to gather ball at 10 yards but Allen
has overrun ball and it hits his heel knocking it to right. Retreating defender leapfrogs goalie and Beckford
on follow up has a tap-in of 6 yarder from right into open net. It looked funny that Allen clutched his head like
“How could I miss?” and turned away as the SCR players mobbed Beckford.
27 min...SCR goalie is out to right side of box to beat Masters Agard to through ball.
29 min...SCR YELLOW card...Crosby earns it for dissent on Masters being awarded a freekick at Masters 50 yard line.
31 min...Masters Morris low 28 yard shot through players recovering clearance has goalie squat to catch.
33 min...SCR Crosby 33 yard shot from right is into crowd in box. SCR Beckford deflected shot at 10 yards rolls for goalie
to dive for on near side left post.
34 min...Masters player's cross near right end line hass defender pop header wide right for cornerkick.
35 min...Masters Frankson cornerkick from right is over players in box.
36 min...SCR Allen receives short pass and his 30 yard blasts is well high and wide right of net.
37 min...SCR YELLOW card...Moulopoulos earns it for bump at SCR 30 yard line.
38 min...Masters Spencer 30 yard freekick from left is bent to right and defender pops ball over end line.
39 min...Masters Spencer cornerkick from left is over players in box.
41 min...Masters goalie stops bouncer from left on near post.
42 min...Master's player's cross from far right is just steps ahead of charging Masters Richards on left post.
45 min...Masters Frankson rolls pass forward to Masters Richards and defender concedes cornerkick.
46 min...Masters Anthony Wright GOAL...Masters Terrell Spencer cornerkick from left has Wright on right post
in crowd of players duck behind defender and has ball hit his leg putting it between goalie Daniel Buckley trapped
in middle of net and another defender on right post.
47 min...half ends 8:54pm.

Halftime: Both sets of subs warm up on the field. A mini game with girls and boys from the Masters Academy on each team.

Second Half:...starts 9:11pm.
halftime sub...SCR Earle replaces Crosby.
45 min...SCR Moulopoulos cornerkick from left has SCR player not able to turn header in crowd of players in 6 yard box and ball
is out for goalkick.
47 min...SCR Esprit blasts partial clearance from 20 yards on right that's wide right of net.
49 min...Masters Morris gets to loose ball and 15 yard roller from right is just wide left of post.
51 min...Masters goalie dives to left post to smother deflection from 12 yards off SCR player.
52 min...Masters Shaquille Agard GOAL...Masters Matthew Morris at 25 yards on right backpasses
to Masters Triston Frankson 10 yards behind him who rolls pass forward and right to charging Masters Frances Ameyaw.
Ameyaw continues on to right endline and rolls back pass to Agard who blasts 8 yarder into top right of net between
leaping goalie's arms.
57 min...Masters Matthew Morris is knocked over by SCR Jarred Phillips on right side of box. Referee Nivin Raizada
awards a Penalty kick.
58 min...Masters Shaquille Agard blasts Penalty kick off underside of bar on right side of net. An SCR player
in a crowd of players clears the rebound from the edge of the box over the side fencing on the right.
60 min...SCR YELLOW card...Jodhan earns it for pushing over Masters player after whistle was blown for SCR freekick.
61 min...SCR Leaford Allen GOAL...A SCR player's freekick from 50 yards on the left bounces between a crowd of players
at 12 yards and Allen runs behind them and bodies ball in from 6 yards into left side of net past flying goalie.
63 min...Masters Spencer 35 yard freekick from left is high wide left of net.
65 min...SCR Moulopoulos 22 yard freekick from near left end line is low and cleared by defenders for fast break.
68 min...SCR RED card...Ethan Beckford earns his second Yellow card of the game for his body check on Masters Anthony Wright,
injurying him at Masters 30 yard line on left. (his first Yellow was at 13 minutes).
70 min...Masters sub...Meikle replaces Ameyaw.
71 min...SCR sub...Claud-Lawson replaces Allen.
72 min...Masters Frankson rush down left and cross/shot near end line hits outside webbing of net.
76 min...Masters Spencer cornerkick from left has Masters Wright head 6 yarder on right is over net on right.
78 min...Masters Frankson 28 yard freekick has Masters player on left gets 12 yard shot that goalie flies and pushes over net.
79 min...Masters YELLOW card...Wright earns it for something while waiting for Master's cornerkick.
.........Masters Meikle is ordered off a second time to treat a bloody nose.
80 min...Masters Frankson cornerkick from right. Masters Hamade heads 10 yarder wide left of net.
81 min...Masters Meikle again returns to the game.
82 min...Masters Wright blasts SCR partial clearance over the net on 40 yard blast down middle.
83 min...SCR Phillips 50 yard freekick from middle has SCR Vilfort on header pop ball into box.
84 min...SCR sub...John replaces Phillips.
...........SCR sub...Avolonto replaces Wishart.
84 min...Masters Wright 50 yard freekick from right is rushed out of box by Masters player.
85 min...Masters YELLOW card...Hamad earns it for complaining about an SCR freekick call at Masters 50 yard line.
85 min...Masters sub...Toe replaces Hamade.
86 min...SCR Moulopoulos shoots 12 yarder wide left from left.
88 min...Masters Spencer charge down left has defender make key sliding check on edge of box to poke away ball.
91 min...Masters Hamad 33 yard freekick from right (which had been delayed with men down on the edge of the box)
has Masters player pop up header but play is flagged offside.
95 min...SCR Shawn Claud-Lawson GOAL...SCR Gregory Moulopoulos 22 yard freekick from far left has Masters defender
get a leg out on edge of 6 yard box to clear. SCR Justin Earle blasts rebound from 25 yards up middle. The ball is partially
stopped by Masters Moses Toe at 7 yards but three SCR players step behind him and Claud-Lawson stretches leg to redirect
ball from 5 yards on left post to open right side of goal.
96 min...game ends 10:02pm.

Final Score: Masters FA Saints.........2.......Simcoe County Rovers.......3......

Attendance I'd estimate was about 120.  That was a good crowd for this team on a cold night.  It's hard to believe 
that the month of May starts in a few hours!  Parkas were a requirement.  Some travelling fans brought some banners 
but the section they claimed looked like there was about 15 of them. Admission was free.  

This turned out to be a very close, competitive game.  I felt a potential turning point was the missed Penalty 
at 58 minutes.  Shane Agard had just scored at 52 minutes to give Master's their only lead of the game.  Another goal 
could have put this game away.  Giving the spot kick to Agard would be the logical choice but he blasted his shot off 
the underside of the bar and the rush for the rebound was cleared.  Momentum changed and Leaford Allen tied the game 
for Simcoe just three minutes later.  Simcoe then had Ethan Beckford pick up his second Yellow card at 68 minutes 
(his first was at 13 minutes) and the momentum swung back to Masters.  Simcoe got the late stoppage time winnner 
on a scramble in the box after a free kick.  

The funny thing is when the coaches were warned there'd be five minutes of stoppage time, Simcoe head coach 
Jason Beckford complained “Why?  Just tell me why there's so much”.  He was obviously thinking of holding on to 
the tie with a man down.  There had been quite a few substitutions, Yellow cards, knockdowns, and injuries 
so I thought it was fair. 

I hadn't realized that the Simcoe goalie Daniel Buckley was, I'd rate, the Masters #2 goalie last season. Just from 
my mind at the time I recognized Reshon Phillip (a late scratch) an all star last season and Ryley Wishart as Masters 
players in 2021.  

Masters goalie was Jesus Jose Carbajal Flores.  I don't know him but a search revealed he played on the Vaughan Azzurri 'C' 
team last year (which was in the L1O Reserves division).  Simcoe early strategy was to charge in on him when he had 
to ball hoping he'd panic and shank a clearance but he settled down as the game wore on.  Their usual #1 over the last 
few seasons is Spiros Koskinos who wasn't in the lineup tonight.  

Referee Nivin Raizada gave out six Yellow cards (four to Simcoe) that I counted plus the Red in a game that got rough 
with some tough tackles near the end.

Masters are wearing an all-red kit with white numbers looking very similar to Canada's all-reds.  Later I played back 
a few minutes of their game on the road against Alliance where they wore all black with fluorescent green numbers.  
Hopefully they've retired the graduated pink with white number shirts that were almost impossible to see from further 
than 20 yards in the darkness.  Now it was Rovers that I had a hard time seeing!  They wore all black with 
turquoise numbers.  Easier for me to concentrate on “orange shoes please turn around and yes it's #18 with that shot”.  
Also the camera work with one cam on a pole looks so much better this season.  It's all automated now with the cam not 
requiring an operator viewing like a periscope anymore.  And the cam must have some software brightening up the field 
because the stadium lights at L'Amoreaux are not that luminous but the view when converted to YouTube looked almost 
as well lit as BMO Field.  It certainly looked better than me squinting at the action in person.   

Saints open the season with their second loss in a row but it was certainly an improvement from their 
6-0 loss last week to Alliance United.  Head coach Rick Titus agreed in our post match interview.  Their next game 
is Friday May 6th at 7:00pm in Milton against Scrosoppi FC who are putting their first week win record on the road 
tomorrow here in the GTA against Vaughan Azzurri at 8:30pm.

Rover's record improves to 1 win and 1 tie in this second week of games in the season.  They have now played one of the 
2021 semi-finalists (Masters FA) and one of the 2021 finalists (ie Blue Devils FC which that year had Leaford Allen 
on its team) so starting off with two of the toughest games on their schedule.  Their next game is Saturday May 7 
at their Georgian College home against Alliance United. 

Fellow newcomers/all star compiled Electric City also visited Toronto tonight and were beaten by North Toronto Nitros 2-1 
so it's not every team that can form from scratch and shoot to the top.  That two straight wins for Nitros who beat new 
(but returning after three years) Pickering FC in the first week. 

Masters FA starters

Simcoe County Rovers starters

Masters Shaquille Agard (90) takes opening kickoff.

Masters players rush over center line.

Masters cornerkick is crossed into SCR box.

Masters Terrell Spencer (13) takes freekick.

Simcoe County Rovers Tre Crosby (16) takes freekick.

Masters Shaquille Agard (90) takes Penalty kick.

An SCR freekick near the left end line.

Post match interview with each head coach:  




Jason Beckford of Simcoe County Rovers...6 minutes 47 seconds    (audio recorded by Rocket Robin)

Thoughs on tonight's game? 
How did you put the team together on short notice? 
Can you name some of the academies that you have put together?
For the Credit River Cup you have drawn nothing but home games. How much of an advantage
will that mean? 
How important is for your team to finish in the Top 12 before the 12-10 division split?
How do you get along with star player/son Ethan Beckford on the team? 




Rick Titus of Masters FA Saints...5 minutes 7 seconds     (audio recorded by Rocket Robin)

Thoughts on tonight's game? 
How will you improve the team with your college players returning? 
Imports too?  
How important is it for your team and community to survive the 12-10 league split? 
Thoughts on Scarborough. 

Note: I hadn't expected to be here a few weeks ago because Toronto FC II were playing at BMO Field after the MLS game finished.
They announced just two days earlier that they moved the time up an hour so there'd only be a one hour gap between the two teams.
This was really the first time fans were able to see them play in the new MLS NEXT Pro league as their previous home games
at York Lions Stadium were closed to the public. With no reply/announcement of how fans who didn't have MLS tickets could watch
and the subway not running their Yonge Street line on the weekend because of construction, I decided not to bother taking the long detoured
journey downtown to find there was no admission except for TFC fans already in the stadium.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
twitter @RocketRobin01

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