July 30, 2022 League1 Ontario...BVB IA Waterloo vs FC London game report (by Rocket Robin)

...............

Results and details of the League1 Ontario Men's Premier Division game of Satursday July 30, 2022
between BVB IA Waterloo and FC London played at Warriors Field in Waterloo at 8:00pm.

BVB IA Waterloo (yellow socks and shirts, black short and numbers)

....................20 Jefferey Omoregie-Sanni
15 Justin Wood...5 Mitchell Hartman...17 Stefan Brisevac...2 Alban Osdautaj
22 Majaliwa Lukambo...24 Anas Ayayda...6 Nikolas Antolcic...13 Bai Essa Coker
.............7 Wesley Cain (cpt)...16 Malek Aborig

Subs:...1 Yoel Kebreab (gk)...3 Arber Osdautaj...10 David Chung...11 Olivier Love
...18 Thomas Sackor...19 Odaba Abdallah...34 Denver Mills
team officials:...team head coach Jordan Brown...manager Vivian Kourvetaris...equipment manager Eddie Edgar
...therapist Aidan Nolan suspended: player Keorapetse Molete

FC London (gray socks, shorts, and shirts, red sleeves, white numbers)

...................12 Jaron Slopinski
2 Aidan Bauer Marr...4 Brandon Miranjie...3 Harry Carter...23 Juan Sebastian Gomez Galeano
18 Jonathan Khan...5 Mateo Goldsztein-Herrera...6 Patrick Melo...21 Kb Bekwayo
...............10 Santiago Fonseca...7 Samuel Barrowcliffe

Subs:...1 Chanwoong Kang...(unnumbered) Yunseong Joo...9 Mike Sneddon...14 Engjell Qamili
...15 Jovan Williams...20 Brent Anderson...24 Sokol Qamili...34 Nick Ferreira...45 David Bulos
team officials:...team head coach Kieran Doyle-Davis...assistant coaches Alex Gaspar, Omer Ulkay,
and Scott Mueller...therapist Lesley Kukoly

Game officials:...referee John Leuser...referee's assistants Shasti Maharaj and Heuuein Walji
...fourth official Derric Farwell...(red shirts and socks, black shorts)

First Half:...game starts 8:00pm...Waterloo defend west end. The blinding, setting sun is in the north west.
3 min...W Cain rolls pass from middle forward to W Antolcic on left and he rolls 20 yarder from right wide left of post.
4 min...Waterloo Bai Essa Coker GOAL...Coker after short run takes 30 yard blast up middle between defenders
into the top left corner of net past goalie Jaron Slopinski.
9 min...W Coker runs down middle and tries to jump over defender when ball pushed too far forward and falls over.
11 min...FCL Kam rush on right and rolls 20 yarder near endline that goalie smothers on near post.
12 min...FCL player takes 22 yard low shot from slight right that goalie smothers.
13 min...W Aborig has FCL Miranjie poke ball away on run for cornerkick.
13 min...W Ayayda cornerkick from right has FCL Bekwayo pop up header at 6 yard line on left over to center of box.
A W player heads ball up the middle from 8 yards and the FCL goalie flies to push the ball wide right of the post.
14 min...W Osdautaj cornerkick from left is high into box. FCL Barrowcliffe clears ball away from box with kick.
17 min...W Hartman ducks and heads ball away on cross from FCL player into box.
18 min...FCL Barrowcliffe low 30 yard shot from left has FCL Bekwayo just one step away from play but goalie makes grab.
20 min...FCL Bekwayo 33 yard freekick from left has FCL Carter pop header in crowd of players at 8 yards that comes back
down hitting the back off the bar and is out for a goalkick.
21 min...A W player holds off a defender to get off 25 yard shot wide left of post.
23 min...A W defender grabs FCL Barrowcliffe on run down left but advantage given and he sends low cross through box
that FCL player can't control.
25 min...FCL Bekwayo arcs 18 yard indirect freekick up middle over net.
26 min...W Aborig run up right and rolls cross into box that FCL Goldsztein Herrera taps back to goalie to prevent W player
charging forward.
28 min...W Lukambo runs ball over end line before his cross attempt.
35 min...FCL YELLOW card...Carter earns if to tripping W Wood from behind at FCL 40 yard line sideline.
36 min...W Alban Osdautaj 45 yard freekick from right has W Aborig head 12 yarder wide right as he tangles with defender.
37 min...W Coker gets off balance low 25 yard shot between players that's smothered by goalie.
38 min...FCL player's through ball pass is too far forward for FCL Barrowcliffe and goalie picks it up.
41 min...W goalie smothers through ball pass up middle too far forward for FCL Fonseca.
44 min...W Hartman and FCL Barrowcliffe suffer knee injuries at the W 45 yard line about 10 yards apart in multi-player
collision. Hartman needs the trainer and is carried off the field.
46 min...play resumes.
47 min...W Abdallah replaces injured Hartman.
48 min...FCL Fonseca chips 22 yarder up middle over defender but bounces to goalie as no FCL player ran for it.
48 min...FCL Bekwayo cornerkick from left has defender dive on near post to stop.
49 min...W Cain chips from 60 yard line pass from right to W Aborig in middle running forward but first touch rolls it wide
left from 25 yards.
50 min...half ends 8:50pm.

Halftime: Now the sun is just below the tree line so that's no problem for the team defending east end in second half.
The subs stay on the field to warm up. The starters return to the dressing rooms which are in the building very close to the field.

Second Half:...starts 9:04pm.
46 min...FCL Kam bashes through defenders on right but rolls ball over end line.
47 min...FCL YELLOW card...Anderson earns it for swearing from the players' bench. He isn't even in the game yet.
48 min...W defender flicks ball back to goalie to keep FCL Fonseca from play on left.
49 min...W Antolcic is injured at FCL 37 yard line and needs trainer.
51 min...FCL sub...Sneddon replaces Barrowcliffe.
.............FCL sub...Sokol Qamili replaces Gomez Galeano.
52 min...W Hartman who was injured in the first half is tractored off the field.
54 min...W sub...Love replaced Antolcic.
55 min...An FCL player steals the ball off a W defender on the right edge of the box and rolls a pass to the left an another
FCL player hits the left post but the play had been whistled down. Referee John Leuser had called a Penalty kick.
57 min...London Kb Bekwayo GOAL...Bekwayo blasts Penalty kick to left side of net over diving goalie
Jefferey Omoregi-Sanni.
58 min...W Lukambo 55 yard freekick from right is caught by goalie in crowd of players on right post.
59 min...FCL Fonseca chips 25 yarder from left that retreating goalie catches at 15 yards.
62 min...FCL Sokol Qamili 30 yard from right tips off defender at 20 yards and goalie smothers on right post.
65 min...FCL YELLOW card (?)...Bauer Marr earns it for swearing after a whistle.
For our side of the field, we received a coyote warning on the south east side in the south east end zone.
68 min...FCL Melo through ball pass 55 yards. FCL Bekwayo has 15 yard roller tipped for cornerkick on right.
68 min...FCL Fonseca cornerkick from right is high and cleared on left side of box.
69 min...FCL Carter is injured at FCL 30 yard line and needs teammate to straighten his leg.
73 min...DXL Bekwayo rolls through ball pass from 30 yards on middle. FCL Sneddon low 15 yard shoot from left
is stopped by sliding goalie. FCL Sneddon rebound from 15 yards is well over net.
75 min...W Coker slides to rolls 18 yarder from far right that goalie smothers.
76 min...FCL YELLOW card...Bauer Marr earns it for trip at enter line. [must have meant there wasn't a card at 65 minutes.
The league website doesn't list another card for anyone else].
77 min...FCL Ferreira replaces Fonseca.
77 min...W Alban Osdautaj cornerkick from right has W Brisevac head 10 yarder downwards that goalie smothers.
78 min...Waterloo Malek Aborig GOAL...Waterloo Alban Osdautaj crosses from right into crowded box and Aborig
takes midair 10 yard volley to middle of net just under bar.
81 min...FCL sub...Anderson replaces Carter.
84 min...FCL player turns and 25 yard shot from left is well over net.
84 min...Three W players go down with leg injuries!
86 min...FCL Bekwayo freekick from right is over to left side of box where ball is headed into box but no player can get
a clear shot.
87 min...FCL Anderson long throw-in from right is to left side of box. FCL Bekwayo has shot from 15 yards stopped
in 6 yard box by sliding defender.
91 min...FCL player is checked off ball on left side of W box.
92 min...FCL YELLOW card...Sokol Qamili earns it for dissent on delayed call.
93 min...A W player makes a bicycle kick clearance at the toip right of the W box.
94 min...FCL Sneddon can't win Penalty kick on bump in W box.
95 min...game ends 9:54pm.

Final Score:...BVB IA Waterloo........2........FC London.......1.........

Attendance was about 130 on this mild evening with a blinding setting sun in the north west which shone
on the west end of the field that London had to run into during the first half. The east side was
protected by the shadow cast by the school building. By halftime, the sun was below the treeline
so played no part in the second half.

Referee John Leuser gave out five Yellow cards in this game (four for London). One was to Brent Anderson
of London for swearing from the bench. He was ordered to take off his pinnie so the referee could
see his number. 84 minutes had three Waterloo players laying on the field with leg injuries which
was a little suspect. Now 44 minutes had a series problem with W Mitchell Hartman
and FCL Samuel Barrowcliffe both down with knee injuries. Hartman needed the trainer and then needed
to be helped off the field by leaning his weight on the shoulders of two men to protect his leg.
The therapist worked on him at halftime and he was eventually loaded onto the facility's golf cart
like transporter and driven around the field back to the dressing rooms.

London was getting by without their head coach Ruben Quintao who was suspended for this game.
Kieran Doyle-Davis was acting as the head coach today. Hmm. Electric City's head coach Randy Ribeiro
was serving a suspension and missed last night's game. I'm just glad I got interviews with them during
my first time cycling through all the teams earlier this season.

Kb Bekwayo scored on his Penalty kick for London. There's an agreement between FCL and Toronto FC
(they were even wearing the gray socks TFC have adopted this year) for sponserships, scouting,
youth camps etc. Now I had to wait until I got home to find out TFC's Italian signing Lorenzo Insigne
took a Penalty kick in New England and had his shot stopped. Two differences are Bekwayo shot his
PK closer to the post and a bit higher off the ground making it impossible to stop...and $15 million
in salary!

Bai Essa Coker's goal for Waterloo should make the L1O highlight reel for Goal of the Year.

Alban Osdautaj got the assist on the winning goal for Waterloo. His twin Arber stayed on the subs
bench today. Sokol Qamili came into the game at 51 minutes for London. His twin* Engjell was unused
on the subs bench. *gamesheet showed they were both born in 1999 so that's my guess. (didn't notice
until I got home so missed asking).

Best non-scoring chances of the game were at 13 minutes when W Anas Ayada sent in a cornerkick from
the right and FCL Kb Bekwayo popped up a header on the left but back into the center of the box and
a W player headed the ball up the middle from 8 yards and the goalie flew to push the ball wide right
of the post. 20 minutes had Bekwayo take a 33 yard freekick from the left and FCL Harry Carter
in a crowd of players popped up a header at 8 yards that hit the top off the bar and deflect behind
the net. 73 minutes had Bekwayo in the middle roll a through ball pass from 30 yards
to FCL Mike Sneddon whose low 15 yard shot from the left was stopped by the sliding goalie
and Sneddon's rebound was shot well over the net. 87 minutes had FCL Brent Anderson catapult a long
throw-in from the right sideline to the left side of the box and Kekwayo had his 15 yard shot stopped
in the 6 yard box by a sliding defender. Injury time had FCL Santiago Fonseca checked off the ball
on the left side of the box and later a W player made a bicycle kick clearance from their box
and later Sneddon wasn't able to win a Penalty kick on a bump in the box.

I had never been to Warriors Field before but seeing this game ticked two boxes from my list of trying
to see every team twice this season.

The last time I've watched soccer in the Kitchener-Waterloo area was on July 8, 1998 when the
Toronto Lynx beat Connecticut Wolves at Centennial Stadium in Kitchener when they played in the
A-League. Nope I know the Lynx played in later years at 'Centennial Stadium' in Etobicoke after
the demolition of Varsity Stadium in downtown Toronto but there was a lot of sports/hospitals/education
facilities built in 1967 with 'Centennial' in their names.

I had a hard time finding this place due to my phone switching to a mapping program I wasn't familiar
with. I later drove past the field as I was looking for a large football stadium whereas the field
was behind a large hill (so people wouldn't watch the games for free). There are enough bleacher
seating on the north side for 1800 (my estimate). Yes for those soccer purists who don't like them
playing on a football field with painted lines on artificial turf, you wouldn't be here anyway.

While I stood on the south side near the fourth officials canopied bench to see the substitutions,
the goals and substitutions were relayed over to the other side of the field and announced over
the PA. I hadn't noticed the working countdown scoreboard in the south west (perfect view for the
fans) until halftime because I was standing beside the canopy, using it as a visor from the sun
so I could see what was happening when play moved upfield.

The large building is used by the University of Waterloo for other sports activities and contains
the players' dressing rooms and public washrooms. Between the building and the field, there was
a gate for admission and a removable tent as a concession stand. Campus parking is free on weekends.

We may have been the only ones to hear of the coyote warning on our side of the field after it was
dark but one had been spotted nearby. That was later downgraded to “just a fox”.

The win improves Waterloo's record to 7 wins, 10 losses, 1 tie for 22 points. That jumps them into
twelfth place in the standings which will be the cut off line for the splitting off for the Top 12
teams of the 22 into a Premier League division at the end of 2023. Both 2022 (75%) and 2023 (100%)
points will be used for the calculation. Woodbridge Strikers will play tonight in hopes of hopping
back into the twelfth spot.

London's record falls to 2 wins, 13 losses, 3 ties for 9 points and they stay in last place.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
twitter @RocketRobin01

BVB IA Waterloo starters