August 12, 2022...League1 Ontario Pickering FC vs Simcoe County Rovers game report (by Rocket Robin)

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

Results and details of the League1 Ontario Men's Premier Division game of Friday August 12, 2022
between Pickering FC and Simcoe County Rovers played at Kinsmen Park Football Field in Pickering at 8:00pm.

Pickering FC (all white uniforms, black numbers)

......................0 Carter Osborne
13 Isiah Passley...6 Andrew Ferris...4 Ty Hyde...18 Romaine Watkis
11 Guedei Djimi...17 Nico Esperanca...7 Eric Savvas...20 Imran Abdulatif...8 Barrington Smith
......................16 William Lyden

Subs:...1 Joshua Naraine (gk)...9 Kyan King...14 Michael Crawford...15 Brandon Thorpe
team officials:...team head coach Aleks Balta...therapist Alan Hetherington
(suspended players: Darius Kerr-Cooper, Ariel Muanza, Jean Paul-Angelo Lyons)

Simcoe County Rovers (all black uniforms, light blue numbers)

........................1 Richard Gomes
2 Tristan Gayle...3 Jarred Phillips...4 Illelaboia Avolonto...17 Kahill John
............6 Jordan Dover...19 Justin Earle...12 Ryley Wishart
............7 Jah'moises Corona...10 Ethan Beckford...11 Shawn Claud-Lawson

Subs:...13 Ryan Collins (gk)...8 Trivine Esprit...14 Ishwarpreet Grewal...16 Tre Crosby
...24 Jacob Grant...26 David Ajagbe
team officials:...team head coach Jason Beckford...assistant coach Ali Sozeri...equipment manager Sebastian Trinchini
...therapist Taylor Ley

Game officials:...referee Ryan Schwenger...referee's assistants Kurtis Portengen and Petros Vasilos
...fourth official Arshia Aliakbari...(red shirts and socks, black shorts)

First Half:...game starts 8:02pm...PFC defends east end on this mild evening with the sun already below the tree line.
1 min...SCR Gayle chips 35 yarder from right over players and goalie catches on right post.
6 min...PFC goalie catches sky ball wide left of net and survives bump by SCR Beckford.
7 min...Simcoe Ethan Beckford GOAL...PFC Romaine Watkis slips at 35 yard line giving Beckford a clear run
up the right and he rolls 18 yarder from right into left side of net past goalie Carter Osborne sliding at 10 yard line.
8 min...SCR Corona high cross from right endline drifts behind net.
12 min...SCR Wishart run to left end line and rolls centering cross behind the net.
14 min...PFC goalie catches bouncer wide left of goal in front of SCR Wishart.
15 min...PFC goalie is out to left side of box to smother ball before SCR Beckford at 15 yards.
17 min...SCR Earle cross from 50 yard line on right finds SCR Esprit who one-touches 15 yarder that flying goalie at 10 yards
knocks away.
18 min...PFC Savvas pops header at 18 yards in middle that goalie catches on right post.
19 min...SCR John high cornerkick from right has leaping SCR Earle not able to turn header and pops ball out for throw-in.
24 min...PFC Abdulatif 40 yard freekick chip down middle that goalie catches wide left of post.
25 min...SCR Gayle 35 yard shot deflects off defender at 25 yards and defenders clear in crowd of players at 12 yards.
25 min...PFC goalie dives forward and smothers centering pass from left end line.
29 min...SCR player's chip into PFC box is cleared.
30 min...SCR Beckford is hit by hand to face just outside top right of PFC box.
.........PFC YELLOW card...Lyden earns it for his part in the play.
31 min...SCR John 22 yard freekick chip from top right of box has goalie dive right to catch on post with distraction in front of him.
32 min...PFC Abdulatif high cornerkick from right has PFC Smith head 8 yarder wide left from left.
34 min...SCR Beckford stops and blasts 20 yarder from left well over net.
39 min...SCR Beckford is caught offside sending cross from right over for SCR player to head in 4 yarder on left post.
42 min...SCR Beckford low 35 yard blast from left is between players and wide left of net.
43 min...SCR Gayle chips 40 yard cross from right that goalie steps forward to catch.
45 min...half ends 8:47pm with no time added.

Halftime: It is twilight and not quite dark. The subs on both teams stay out to warm up while the starters and staff return
to the dressing rooms.

Second Half:...starts 9:04pm.
45 min...PFC Passley run up right and low cross has flying PFC Lyden head 10 yarder down middle wide right of net.
50 min...SCR Wishart can't draw freekick at 20 yards in middle.
52 min...SCR Beckfor can't draw a freekick neither.
56 min...SCR Avolonto chips 50 yarder down middle that SCR Corona one-touches 12 yarder high and wide right with kick.
59 min...SCR Claud-Lawson high cornerkick from left is cleared on right side of box.
61 min...SCR John 35 yard freekick from right is high and hits the football left upright post.
61 min...PFC sub...Thorpe replaces Esperanca.
63 min...PFC Abdulatif cross finds PFC Smith open on left and he blasts 20 yarder that's high hitting the left football goal post.
Hey that proves that both teams can do it!
66 min...SRC Beckford can't beat 1 on 2 rush into left side of PFC box.
68 min...Simcoe Ryley Wishart GOAL...A PFC defender falls and is called for a handball on his slide at 25 yard line
in middle. SCR Ethan Beckford who was involved in play taps a quick freekick pass over to Wishart who shoots
low 20 yarder into left side of net. No other players on either team were close to the play as Beckford was chasing
a long through ball and everyone else was 50+ yards behind.
..........PFC YELLOW card...Ty Hyde earned it for complaining about the play.
71 min...PFC Watkis leaves game with leg injury.
72 min...PFC sub...King replaces injured Watkis.
72 min...SCR Avolonto heads high cornerkick from right that's high wide left from 10 yards on left.
74 min...SCR Dover chips 30 yarder just over head of SCR Corona and out for goalkick.
75 min...SCR Beckford cuts to middle and 30 yarder is well over net.
76 min...SCR Beckford rolls 30 yarder wide left from right with goalie marooned at 20 yard line.
76 min...SCR sub...Esprit replaces Earle.
77 min...PFC Djimi is injured in left side of SCR box.
80 min...SCR Claud-Lawson cornerkick from left has SCR Esprit pop up header at 10 yards wide right for goalkick.
81 min...SCR sub...Ajagbe replaces Claud-Lawson.
..........PFC sub...Crawford replaces Savvas.
82 min...SCR John cornerkick from right has ball popped wide left by jumping players and when ball goes out it's ruled goalkick.
87 min...SCR Wishart rush on right cuts in and low 15 yard shot has sliding goalie stop at 15 yards and ball pops up for him
to catch while sitting down.
88 min...PFC sub...Naraine replaces Lyden. (Naraine the back up goalie puts on the #5 outfield player's jersey).
89 min...SCR John high cornerkick from left has SCR player head 10 yarder off the bar. Another SCR player heads the 8 yard
rebound forward that goalie swats away.
91 min...SCR YELLOW card...Wishart earns it for stopping PFC player from taking midfield throw-in.
92 min...PFC Ferris 45 yard freekick chip from right has defender head away.
92 min...A PFC player misses a 5 yard header into the open side of the net after PFC Thorpe rushes to left end line and then
cuts along line and crosses into box.
93 min...game ends 9:52pm.

Final Score:.......Pickering FC.......0........Simcoe County Rovers........2.........

Attendance climbed to about 110 by the second half. This game was played on their 'football field' which
is their natural grass playing surface surrounded by trees and swampy area and accessible
by a footbridge/pathway entrance so ticket collecting is not a problem. When I was out here to see them
way back on May 15th, they played on an artificial turf playing surface near the baseball diamonds
as the football field was 'not ready'. Back then the team was supposed to play at the Pickering Soccer
Centre indoor facility but the dome collapsed by the weight of a snowfall back in January...10 cm per hour
all night. The grass field at Kinsmen had just had the last of the snow melted or was recovering from
rain so wasn't in a playable condition back then. The local gridiron football 'Dolphins' use this field
but there were no football lines painted on it yet.

Richard Gomes earned the shutout for Simcoe without having to make a save. Pickering didn't send many
men upfield and they were mostly overwhelmed by the defenders Tristan Gayle, Jarred Phillips,
Illelabola Avolonto, and Kahill John. Keeping so many players back helped Pickering defensively
cutting down the number of shots that Simcoe was able to get away.

Listening closely I found out that when SCR head coach Jason Beckford drops a comment like “C'mon son,
get up the wing”, it is not necessarily directed at his own son Ethan Beckford but any of his players.
Not listening too closely to hear goalie Gomes drop the 'F-bomb' about twenty times tonight giving his
players instructions. I don't know if he does this at home games where I'd expect there'd be even more
young children in attendance then tonight's game.

Referee Ryan Schwenger gave out three Yellow cards tonight (two to Pickering) in a game that didn't have
a lot of tough tackles and he didn't fall for calls or 'handball' for any ball struck anywhere above
the knee. Nothing wrong with the second goal but that's where a defender usually grabs the ball to stall
for time or feigns an injury to enable teammates to get behind the ball even if it draws a Yellow card.

I let out a groan when I saw the Pickering game sheet. They had only three outfield subs plus a back-up
goalie. I thought if they weren't overwhelmed by Simcoe in the first few minutes, they would tire
in the second half and Simcoe would pull away at that time.

Actually I saw that on the game sheet they had three players on the suspended list. Looking on the L1O
web pages later, I saw that PFC played two games last week and picked up a Red card and quite a few
Yellows which could have put two more players out with accumulation. A league photographer said PFC
were missing their best goalie (although I would argue that) through injury Johnathan Vaughan and has
probably been told by McMaster University to rest up before the school season starts.

Pickering made good with what bench they had bringing the three players in during the second half,
one through injury, and when their head coach Aleks Balta noticed a tiring player at 88 minutes,
brought in their substitute goalie Joshua Naraine in an outfield player's jersey to finish the game.
I remember watching Naraine shut out Scrosoppi back in May when they had to play the final 63 minutes
a man down.

Simcoe brought seventeen guys but they only made two subs. Even that may have just to build the minutes
of young players like David Ajagbe a 2005 coming in at 81 minutes.

Best non-scoring chances were at 17 minutes when SCR Justin Earle crossed from the 50 yard line
on the right and found an SCR player who one-touched a 15 yarder that the flying goalie at 10 yards
knocked away. 31 minutes had SCR Kahill John take a 22 yard freekick chip from the top right corner
of the box that the goalie dove right to catch on the post with distractions in front of him. Start
of the second half had PFC Isiah Passley run up the right and send in a low cross that the flying
PFC William Lyden headed a 10 yarder down the middle wide right of the post. 87 minutes had
SCR Ryley Wishart rush on the right and cut in and send a low 15 yard shot that the sliding goalie
stopped at 5 yards and the ball popped up for him to catch while sitting down. 91 minutes had
SCR John take a high cornerkick from the left that had an SCR player head a 10 yarder off the bar.
The rebound came to another SCR player who headed towards goal from 8 yards which the goalie was able
to swat away. Last play of the game had a PFC player receive a cross in the open from the left
and his 5 yard header was wide of the post. Ahh see, no PFC shots on net!

Simcoe is one of the new teams to L1O this year. I call them one of the 'All Star teams' with so many
players picked up from other L1O teams from last year's rosters. The other ones are new team
Electric City FC who did the same, and just within the last month, established team ProStars FC
who scooped up eight players from L1O teams just before the trade/signing deadline from 2022 rosters!

There were five games tonight with three to follow Saturday and three on Sunday. None of the top
seven teams who are dueling for the six playoff spots are playing each other this weekend but
by the time I got home I found out that both Guelph United had lost at home to Darby FC and
ProStars FC had lost on the road to St Catharines Roma Wolves.

The win improves Simcoe County Rovers record to 12 wins, 3 losses, 5 ties for 41 points and a goals
for/against of +13. That's good for fifth of the twenty-two teams. Tonight they moved up from
seventh passing both ProStars and North Toronto Nitros by one point although Nitros haven't played
this weekend.

Pickering's record falls to 6 wins, 12 losses, 2 ties for 20 points with a goals for/against of -11.
They are all alone in fifteenth. A goal is to finish in the top 12 to survive the division split in 2024
where their current position would relegate them to a second tier 'Championship Division' to be created
with the ten worst teams. They still have next year's season to improve their position. The current
eleventh and twelfth place teams are Woodbridge Strikers and Scrosoppi FC both on 25 points and both
still to play on Saturday.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
twitter @RocketRobin01

Pickering FC starters