May 6, 2023...League 1 Ontario North Toronto Nitros vs FC London game report (by Rocket Robin)

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Result and details of the Saturday May 6, 2023 of the League1 Ontario Men's Premier Division game between
North Toronto Nitros and FC London played at Downsview Park in North York at 8:00pm.

North Toronto Nitros (white socks and shirts, black shorts and numbers, green shoulders)

.........................1 Quinn Stahmer
14 Kai Martin...4 Brandon Barone...5 Christian Westlaken...2 Emmanuel Obiefuna
13 Tadija Vukas...10 Jacob Carlos...8 Juan Delgadillo (cpt)...19 Justin Santos
..................7 Luca Dimarco...9 Zakria Abdi

Subs:...12 Alexandre Lin (gk)...3 Gariel Mikina...6 Thomas MacCarone...11 Jaylen Drummond
...21 Tristian Marshall...15 Akeim Villous...18 Asher Barnes...20 Pablo Hempelmann-Perez...22 Bilal Reslan
team officials:...team head coach Marko Milanovic...assistant coach Filip Prostran and Rashih Pala
...manager Daniela Barillari...therapist Yasmine Mucher

FC London (black socks, shorts, and numbers, neon lime green shirts)

................12 Darlington Ngonidzaish Murasiranwa
18 Lewis Dye...4 Brandon Miranjie (cpt)...8 Ryan Baker
2 Sosa Emovon...22 Justin Wood...10 Santiago Fonseca...6 James Wilcox...5 Mateo Goldsztein Herrara
............13 Carson Wood...19 Kuhle Bekwayo

Subs:...44 Andrei Mazerov (gk)...3 Ibrahim Khalaf...7 Samuel Barrowcliffe...9 Mike Sneddon
...11 Owura Boateng...14 Alexander Nagy...20 David Bulos...21 Nick Ferreira...25 Kelsey Egwu
team officials:...team head coach Yiannis Tsalatsidis...assistant coach Adam Mooi...equipment maanager Conor Walsh
...therapist Emma Elliot

Game officials:...referee Ryan Schwenger...referee's assistants Michael Konstantopoulos and Marius Buczkowski
...fourth official Twayne Anderson...(red socks and shirts, black shorts)

First Half:...starts 8:00pm...NTN defends north end.
3 min...NTN Dimarco midair boot to pop ball up. NTN Abdi midair kick from 25 yards bounces to goalie.
8 min...NTN Santos has 18 yard shot on edge of box from left blocked by defender.
11 min...Lon Bekwayo gets long pass on left and rolls 25 yarder to goalie.
18 min...NTN Dimarco crosses in 25 yarder from right that goalie catches overhead on left post.
21 min...NTN Dimarco makes key block on Lon Bekwayo on left edge of box.
24 min...NTN Obiefuna long throw-in on left from 15 yard line has goalie catch in crowd of players.
25 min...NTN Barone cross from 30 yards on right has leaping NTN Abdi in middle of box head 12 yarder over bar.
28 min...NTN Delgadillo 35 yard freekick has goalie charge and dive forward at 15 yards to punch ball away in crowd of players.
29 min...The Lon goalie is injured but not noticed as play moves upfield. A trainer is brought on when whistle blown.
31 min...play resumes.
32 min...NTN Carlos races between four players and goalie makes point blank save at 10 yards and ball spins wide left of net
for cornerkick.
33 min...NTN Delgadillo cornerkick from left is caught by goalie on near post.
37 min...Lon player's cornerkick from right is cleared by first defefnder on right side of box.
39 min...NTN Dimarco gets away from center line on right and runs forward and lands low cross finding NTN Abdi in clear
but goalie dives forward near edge of box to push away before he can shoot.
41 min...Lon Bekwayo shot on edge of box is blocked after goalie had swatted away a shot from right.
43 min...NTN defender gets back into center of NTN box to clear ball breaking up Lon rush.
45 min...NTN Dimarco on right passes to NTN Delgadillo but his shot from 12 yards is blocked.
46 min...NTN Dimarco receives cross in middle from teammate on left and goalie dives on ball to smother when Dimarco tries
to control ball to cut around defender.
47 min...hallf ends 8:47pm.

Second Half:...starts 9:04pm.
halftime subs:...NTN Barnes replaces Abdi.
45 min...NTN goalie dives to smother difficult headed backpass.
46 min...NTN Santos has low 12 yard shot deflect wide left for cornerkick off defender.
47 min...NTN Delgadillo cornerkick from left has goalie palm ball away but NTN player charges and heads wide left.
48 min...NTN Obiefuna long throw-in from near left cornerflag is over goalie's arms and NTN player has shot from right side
of box.
48 min...A Lon player may have been given a YELLOW card.
49 min...NTN player's freekick from 40 yards on right is low and cleared.
50 min...NTN player's 8 yard shot from lefft has goalie dive for point blank save.
52 min...NTN Carlos first-touch midair kick at 20 yards bounces to goalie.
53 min...NTN Carlos heads 12 yarder just wide left connecting to NTN 45 yard freekick from right but play is called offside.
55 min...Lon Fonseca dribbles over end line before taking cross from right.
57 min...NTN Martin low cross from 25 yards on right is cleared.
59 min...NTN Delgadillo cornerkick from lefft is headed away on near post. The goalie catches a NTN player's chip back into box.
62 min...NTN Barnes gets by two players in middle and shot deflects away.
62 min...Lon Justin Wood trips up NTN Jacob Carlos just inside top left corner of Lon box. Referee Ryan Schwenger awards
NTN a Penalty kick.
63 min...NTN Jacob Carlos GOAL...Carlos blasts hit Penalty kick to low left side of net as goalie Darlington Ngonidzaishe
Murasiranwa dives right.
64 min...NTN sub...Reslan replaces Dimarco.
............Lon sub...Khalaf replaces Emovon.
65 min...NTN YELLOW card...Delgadillo earns it for not giving 10 yards on freekick near center line. (I thought it was Santos
who was infringing).
65 min...Lon Dye chips 60 yard freekick from right that goalie catches.
66 min...Lon RED card...Santiago Fonseca earns a direct ejection for his part in multi-player brawl.
..............NTN RED card...Jacob Carlos earns a direct ejection for his part in multi-player brawl.
I was standing only 10 yards from this incident but was distracted by seeing an NTN player flip upside down
over a sliding Lon player.
69 min...Lon Wood cross from 20 yards on right endline is over box.
70 min...Lon sub...Egwu replaces Wood.
73 min...NTN Martin passes forward for NTN Reslan but goalie is out to break up play.
74 min...Lon Wilcox is tapped back pass and skies 20 yard shot well over net.
75 min...NTN Asher Barnes GOAL...Barnes is given long pass up the right from NTN Brandon Barone chipping
from inside the NTN box upfield and races in from 45 yards and shoots tough angle 15 yard shot from far right
around the charging goalie at 8 yards near the end line into the left side of net.
76 min...London Carson Wood GOAL...Lon Ryan Baker punts ball from 60 yards downfield on left that NTN player pops
up header on edge of 18 yard box but ball lands behind him for Wood to get on left edge of box and cut along 5 yard line
towards goal and gets 5 yard shot into right side of net with goalie Quinn Stahmer guarding near post.
77 min...Lon YELLOW card...an assistant coach or possibly head coach was given it for continuously leaving his box.
78 min...NTN Vukas rushes up left but defender gets back to block 20 yard shot.
79 min...Lon Baker cornerkick from right has Lon Egwu pop header over top of net.
80 min...NTN sub...Drummond replaces Santos.
80 min...Lon Bekwayo can't win Penalty kick on fall just inside NTN box.
80 min...There's a break in the action to cool everyone down. Players are at their benches taking on water.
84 min...Lon goalie is out to edge of box to catch bouncer.
85 min...NTN goalie is out to 20 yards to clear ball.
86 min...Lon sub...Boateng replaces Bekwayo.
89 min...NTN defender heads ball back to goalie for him to smother beating charging Lon Boateng to ball.
91 min...Lon sub...Ferreira replaces Goldztein-Herrara.
92 min...Lon Dye 40 yard chip into box has goalie catch under no pressure.
93 min...Lon Baker freekick from 45 yard line on left has NTN goalie catch 60 yard kick and go down injured on bump
by Lon forward.
94 min...NTN sub...Villous replacces Delgadillo.
....play resumes with dropped ball.
97 min...game ends 9:56pm.

Final Score:...North Toronto Nitros......2.......FC London........1...........

Attendance ended up being about 70 on this mild night with the temperature cooling as the game wore on. First grounds I've been to featuring a minimum +80% 'All Drake' pregame playlist but that artist is from this city. I later found out this was the home opener for the Nitros.

This game was rough with a lot of tough tackles yet except for the Red cards, there was only three Yellows that I counted and one was given to a member of the London coaching staff at 77 minutes for constantly stepping outside the coaching box to lean over and complain. The PA announced it was to head coach Yiannis Tsalatsidis although it looked like it was directed at another team official.

I was right in front of the outburst resulting in the Red cards but I was looking over at a different set of players jostling and missed the incident. I heard a coach yell “He hit him in the back of the head”. The NTN bench was more subdued with head coach Marko Milanovic saying the officials are discussing what happened. True, referee Ryan Schwenger came over to discuss with fourth official Twayne Anderson what he saw and Schwenger waded out into the crowd of players to eject the two #10 wearing players of each team. I'd seen one player go down like a ton of bricks but couldn't tell if it was a punch or no contact at all and the play was acted. Rather than thinking of past incidents, my mind went back to some WWE show I'd seen in the last week with one wrestler being thrown a chair by some outsider and the opponent deliberately falling back just as the referee turned and disqualified the chair holder. Of course there's no VAR at this level but you can't do better that the incident happening within 10 yards of the fourth official.

Best part by the game officials was to make the decision super slowly so the players could come to their bench and cool down. I don't expect that the London coach's comment of “Initiate and Retaliate” was the best way to decompress but there was no further rough play after that.

London's Kuhle Bekwayo at 80 minutes ran into the NTN box and fell rather too easily and didn't draw a Penalty kick which drew more rage from their bench. The referee ordered a water break to cool things down.

London's Fonseca was ordered back to the change room when he emerged about ten minutes after being ejected and expected to sit on the London bench to watch the rest of the game.

A pregame comment similar from both teams I overheard was about NTN was going to being awarded a 'fourth PK'. I don't know if they have really drawn four penalty kicks this season without replaying all their games on YouTube as the league's game reports I don't believe go into that much detail.

I was impressed with the London goalie Darlington Ngonidzaishe Murasiranwa with an aggressive approach to coming out to challenge for shots and clearances. He was certainly the keeper who was kept busiest making some point blank saves. He dove to punch a ball away after charging out to 15 yards in a crowd of players at 29 minutes and play carried on upfield until everyone noticed he hadn't gotten up. The trainer came out and helped him and play was resumed two minutes later.

NTN always had a last guy back to keep London shots to a minimum. Their backline of Kai Martin, Brandon Barone, Christian Westlaken and Emmanuel Obiefuna were the main reason. Obiefuna on the offence too could lob catapult throw-ins right into the London box.

The win improves the Nitros record to 2 wins, 1 loss, 1 tie for 7 points. That moves them up to sixth place but there are still three games Sunday to finish the weekend. NTN has a bye next weekend so a few teams are expected to pass them.

The NTN organization is also making headlines for their involvement in the organization of the Toronto entry in the 'Project Eight' Canadian women's soccer league starting in 2025. Yeah no worries, they won't play at Downsview Park.

London falls to 0 wins, and 3 losses this season after having a first week bye. I recognized very few names from the 2022 roster but that is expected for the team that finished 22nd (ie last place) last season. Really an almost reversal of their 2 wins, 15 losses, 4 ties for 10 points record is required even with the increased value of 2023 results for them to finish at about .500 and survive the Top 12 Premier League division split starting in the 2024 season. The lower nine teams (no Pickering FC for 2023) will be in the second division (Champions League).

New head coach Yiannis Tsalatsdis faced an almost impossible task. He has improved their results with close games of 1-2, 0-2, and now 1-2 all on the road with their first home game next Saturday against Simcoe County Rovers.

A post game interview I had lined up with Tsalatsdis was not carried out.

Rocket Robin
robin.glover.1958@gmail.com
twitter @RocketRobin01

North Toronto Nitros starters