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Result and details of the Sunday April 16, 2023 CPL game between York United FC and Valour FC played
at York Lions Stadium in North York at 2:00pm ET.
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York United FC (all white uniforms, green names and numbers)
...............1 Niko Giantsopoulos (cpt)
.......7 Jonathan Grant...32 Brem Soumaoro...43 Lassana Faye
2 Paris Gee...16 Max Ferrari...28 Jeremy Gagnon-Lapare...70 Markiyan Voytsekhovskyy
.............18 Molham Babouli...10 Oussama Alou
.....................9 Brian Wright
Subs:...77 Ivan Pavela (gk)...3 Tass Mourdoukoutas (def)...11 Kevin Santos (mid)...12 Clement Bayiha (mid)
...22 Austin Ricci (fwd)...24 Osaze De Rosario (fwd)...33 Matthew Baldisimo (mid)
team officials:...head coach Martin Nash...assistant coaches Barry Smith and Michael Higbee...goalkeeper coach Camilo Benzi
...physiotherapist Casey D'Mello...doctor Jim Niu...kitman John Townsend...athletic trainer Laura Ozoria
...team manager Derek O'Rourke
Valour FC (all black uniforms, gold names and numbers)
..............99 Rayane Yesli
......4 Guillaume Pianelli...5 Abdoulaye Samake...6 Dante Campbell
2 Andy Baquero...8 Diego Gutierrez (cpt)...27 Raphael Ohin...7 Kian Williams
.......22 Matteo De Brienne...23 Anthony Novak...24 Pacifique Niyongabire
Subs:...1 Jordan Tisseur (gk)...9 Walter Ponce (fwd)...10 Kevin Rendon (fwd)...11 Jared Ulloa (fwd)
...15 Matthew Chandler (def)...20 Juan Sanchez (mid)...32 Jaime Siaj Romero (mid)
team officials:...head coach Phil Dos Santos...assistant coach Jay Bhindi...goalkeeper coach Patrick Di Stefani
...physiotherapist Evan Fehr...other Colin Sabourin
Game officials:...referee REnzo Vianueva...referee's assistants Jason Vaillancourt and Andre Pickler
...fourth official Fabrizio Stasolla (black socks and shorts, neon chartreuse shirts)
First Half:...game starts 2:08pm...York defends south end on this warm afternoon with a bright sun in the south west.
45 sec...Valour Baquero cross from 30 yards on right has Valour Novak lean in to 12 yard header sent wide left or net but play
was called offside.
1 min 50 sec...Valour De Brienne shoots 33 yarder over net when he steps in front of fallen York Ferrari.
4 min...York Babouli cross from 30 yards on left has defenderr head away on edge of 6 yard box.
6 min...Valour Baquero cross from 25 yards on right has Valour Gutierrez at 10 yards on left head ball back across box.
Valour Williams heads 6 yarder that bounces just wide right of post.
7 min...York Babouli winis cornerkick on 15 yard low shot on right.
8 min...York Babouli cornerkick from right finds York Voytsekhovskyy alone at 12 yards on left volley shot well wide left.
8 min...Valour Niyongabire long run up right and low cross through box has sliding Valour Williams with sliding defender not able
to redirect in 3 yarder.
10 min...Valour defender pops up header behind end line to break up play.
10 min...York Babouli cornerkick from right has Valour Novak on near post head ball out of box.
13 min...Valour Baquero steals pass from York Voytsekhovskyy to break up play.
13 min...York Ferrari receives long cross over to right sideline and long run up field has defender block pass near end line
that deflects for throw-in.
15 min...York YELLOW card...Gagnon-Lapare earns it for sliding tackle on Valour Ohin at Valour 35 yard line injurying Ohin
and he needs trainer.
17 min...Valour Ohin run up middle and he blasts 25 yarder as he falls over wide right of net.
19 min...York Babouli 40 yard freekick from left dips just wide right of net bouncing for goalkick.
22 min...York Gagnon-Lapare is injured at York 40 yard line.
24 min...Valour YELLOW...Ohin earns it for delaying York freekick at York 35 yard line after he was called for pushing over
York Wright.
28 min...Valour Gutierrez 25 yard freekick from right deflects off player wall and bounces wide right.
30 min...Valour Gutierrez cornerkick from right is over players in box.
30 min...Valour YELLOW card...Baquero earns it for challenge on York Ferrari at center line as Ferrari was blocking shot.
31 min...York Voytsekhovskyy run down left and low cross has sliding defender concede cornerkick from 6 yards.
32 min...York Babouli high cornerkick from left finds York Alou at top right of 18 yard box and he shoots well over net.
33 min...York Wright is squeezed beetween two defenders on run up middle wins cornerkick by defeneer conceding from 15 yards.
33 min...York Goal is called offside as York Wright is behind goalie to redirect ball into net from 6 yards.
36 min...Valour Gutierrez 33 yard freekick from slight right is low and cleared by defender on edge of box.
37 min...York Alou rush up middle for pass but i checked off ball by defender at 20 yard line.
38 min...Valour Baquero cross deflects off York Voytsekhovskyy for cornerkick at 10 yards on right.
39 min...Valour Gutierrez cornerkick fro mright has defender head away and York Babouli blast high clearance down field.
40 min...York Faye low cetnering pass into box from left has defender clear.
41 min...York Babouli run to ball is passed near right end line but goalie smothers.
42 min...Valour Niyongabire races up right into box and rolls centering pass to Valour Ohin who shoots 10 yarder wide left of net.
44 min...York Babouli 40 yard freekick from slight right has York Voytsekhovskyy nod down at 15 yards on left and ball bounces
to goalie.
45 min...York goalie makes point blank save at 15 yard just inside box on Valour Novak who got between two defenders on long
high pass from 75 yards on left. York goalie then stops York Gutierrez while outside box and defender clears ball at 12 yards.
45 min...Valour Gutierrez low cornerkick from right has defender clear ball on right side of box.
46 min...half ends 2:54pm.
Halftime: There's a busy end zone with two food trucks (Poutine + More and Coffee Brake), plus the GoGo Squeeze booth,
Sharman Proper Pies, and the York Souvenir stand.
Second Half:...start 3:10pm.
45 min...York YELLOW card...Ferrari earns it for sliding tackle into prone goalie on right edge of 6 yard box. Earlier in play
York Babouli 40 yard freekick is touched back to him to make run upfield and he passes forward to charging Ferrari.
47 min...Valour Niyongabire gets around York Faye on run and shoots 10 yarder deflected for cornerkick.
48 min...Valour De Brienne cross from 30 yards on left has goalie drift right to catch.
49 min...Valour (Jonathan Grant own goal) GOAL...Valour Dante Campbell 25 yard cross from far right has Grant dive
back towards goal on right and get header at 5 yards but puts it into own net on short side between post and goalie
Niko Giantsopoulos.
51 min...Valour Niyongabire run on right centers pass and Valour Kian Williams shoots 12 yarder into ground up middle
and bounces ball over net.
53 min...Valour Anthony Novak GOAL...Valour Pacifique Niyongabire rushes on right and he sends in low cross that Novak
charges in and redirects ball in from 5 yards as retreating defender misses ball on right side of box.
55 min...York Babouli pass forward on right from 20 yards too far for York Alou and out for goalkick.
56 min...Valour Ohin is checked off ball but Valour Gutierrez picks it up at 15 yards and 7 yarder is rolled shot ha goalie dive
to post and push ball wide left for cornerkick.
57 min...Valour Gutierrez cornerkick from left has York Wright head ball away from box.
58 min...York sub...De Rosario replaces Faye.
.........York sub...Bayiha replaces Voytsekhovskyy.
58 min...York Bayiha rush on right and cross into box ends up with goalie catching on scramble.
59 min...Valour Niyongabire rush on right and 10 yard shot hits right post and deflects left for defenders in box to clear.
61 min...York De Rosario puts shoulder to Valour Pianelli injurying him and needs trainer at Valour 25 yard line.
62 min...York De Rosario rush down middle but Valour Pianelli stops him on edge of 18 yard box on slide.
63 min...York Babouli bends 28 yard freekick from slight left just wide left to top corner of net.
65 min...York YELLOW card...Grant earns it for sliding tackle on Valour Ohin injurying him at York 28 yard line and he
needs trainer.
67 min...Valour Baquero 30 yard freekick from left is low and blocked in player wall starting fast break out.
68 min...Valour sub...Ulloa replaces Williams.
.........Valour sub...Romero replaces Novak.
69 min...Valour goalie is out to 20 yards to beat York Wright to high through ball and boot away.
70 min...York Gagnon-Lapare cornerkick from right starts York heading contest with York player leaping in crowd of players
on left side of 6 yard box to pop up header on near post. York Gee retreats and gets bicycle kick from 15 yards on right
after popping header away from goal has defender at 3 yards kick over own net.
71 min...Valour Romero rush on 2 on 1 and takes 15 yard shot from right that's deflected wide left for cornerkick by sliding
York Grant.
72 min...York Alou can't get away shot in box after dribbling to right.
73 min...York sub...Baldisimo replaces Soumaoro.
73 min...York Gagnon-Lapare pass forward to York Alou who shoots 15 yarder from left is around defender and wide right of net.
74 min...York Ferrari cross from left has defender to head away in 6 yard box.
75 min...York Alou run to right end line inside 6 yard box has defender clear centering pass.
75 min...Valour Campbell is injured on own at Valour 22 yard line needs trainer.
77 min...York Bayiha picks up loose ball at 20 yards on right and rushes to center and 15 yarder is rolled up middle past defender
but goalie smothers.
78 min...Valour sub...Sanchez replaces injured Ohin.
.........York sub...Ricci replaces Alou.
78 min...York Gagnon-Lapare feeds ball up middle and York De Rosario gets away 8 yard shot from right that has goalie make
point blank save.
79 min...York Bayiha rush into box on right has defender concede cornerkick.
79 min...York YELLOW card...Wright earns it for sliding tackle on Valour Baquero bteak out of Valour box.
80 min...York Wright long run up left anad pass to York Ricci has shot stopped.
82 min...Valour sub...Chandler replaces Campbell.
.........Valour YELLOW card...Campbell earns it for timewasting by choosing to leave towards the player's bench rather than
stepping 5 yards towards the closest sideline.
83 min...Valour goalie picks up 40 yard chip shot bouncer wide right of net.
85 min...Valour Niyongabire sends pass to Valour Baquero for point blank shot. York goalie also follows up with another
and defender clears ball from box.
86 min...York Wright rush up right and retreating Valour Chandler slides to block 8 yard shot.
87 min...York Gagnon-Lapare cornerkick from right has defender head ball wide left.
88 min...York Babouli cornerkick from left has goalie catch in crowd of players in 6 yard box.
88 min...York Ferrari cross from left has York De Rosario put foot up at 8 yards but not able to redirect ball.
90 min...York Ferrari hits top of bar on 12 yarder up middle getting to rebound of York players 12 yard shot up middle that sliding
defender blocked.
91 min...Valour YELLOW card...goalie Rayane Yesli earns it for delaying taking goal kick.
92 min...Valour Nihongabire runs to York endline but he has noone to pass to.
93 min...Valour De Rosario is injured in York box as York goalie catches deflection.
93 min...York Bayiha bends 18 yard shot well high and wide left.
94 min...York Wright cuts 15 yard shot around defender on right is high wide left of net.
96 min...Valour Niyongabire run to right end line and rolls ball into center of box where Valour Soumaoro shoots low 12 yarder
that goalie dives to smother at 2 yards.
96 min...game ends 4:01pm.
Final Score:...York United.........0..........Valour FC..........2..........
Attendance wasn't announced but I read later it was 1607 as the league had an article crowing about their opening weekend drawing 67% more than last season's first week. It looked like a big crowd for than at the end of last season but I've had to delete some of my praise as when I looked back at last year's season opener—first weekend of the season played here April 7th against HFX Wanderers—there were 1802 (that night had cold weather and rain by the end of the game). Also York Lions Stadium had less than half anywhere elses so there's still a concern with bringing in fans from all over the GTA. Big test will be this Wednesday evening and next Saturday afternoon with the new team Vancouver FC being here for first their Canadian Championship preliminary round game then a regular season game on the weekend before finally taking their act on the road. It was a seasonal hot day with a coat not being needed this afternoon. Only ten days before I was coming home that night having to wear a parka. We had been having seasonal record high the last few days. I was worried about York's injury situation this preseason with a game against a League1 Ontario team cancelled because of a reported six injuries and concern of picking up more. It took some digging but I did find their pregame record for 2023 the last month—all against teams also in their own pre-seasons. March 19th a 2-0 win over MLS NEXT Pro side Toronto FC II, March 25th the game that was cancelled because of injuries against League1 Ontario side Simcoe County Rovers, April 1st a 2-0 road trip win over CPL Forge FC, and April 9th a 3-1 win over L1O side Alliance United. Injuries keeping York players out of today's lineup were backup goalie Eleias Himeras (back), defender/captain Roger Thompson (hip flexor), defender Elijah Adekugbe (quad), and winger Michael Petrasso (achilles). Defender Tass Mourdoukoutas had an injury of some kind too but was on the bench and would have come on in an emergency. Wow already a reminder of last season and we are only at the season opener. At the post game press conference it was admitted that four players were fasting today. York has turned over their roster with seven new starters in today's lineups: Jonathan Grant, Brian Wright, Oussama Alou, Jeremy Gagnon-Lapare, Brem Soumaoro, Lassana Faye, and Markiyan Voytsekhovskyy. I saw the weakness in the defence as pundits had been predicting in their season previews because of the player turnover. I think the defence will be better with the return of the injured players. Valour were given too many chances. The first goal was an own goal and not a good omen for the team but York actually played better at the end and Valour was under pressure. Max Ferrari hit the top of the bar on a 10 yard shot up the middle at 90 minutes which would have by that time been just a consolation goal. Valour almost put this game away earlier missing a good chance between goals with Kian Williams bouncing a 12 yard shot down the middle into the ground and over the bar. A 3-0 scoreline at 53 minutes would have killed the game off. Rayane Yesli earned the shutout for Valour making two saves and being in good positions to cut down angles causing shots to be off target. Referee Renzo Villanueva gave out four Yellow cards to each team today. Three of those to Valour were for time-wasting with two in the game's last ten minutes. All four of the York cards were for sliding tackles. This was the last game of the weekend and Valour's win with two goals vault them into first place (two tie results this weekend and a 1-0 win will cause that). York's loss drops them to eighth/last place...not that strange as all preseason that was their position because of the league's alphabetical order listing. Last season Valour finished fifth while York was sixth; three points behind. Both teams missed the playoffs. This season, five make the playoffs with the fourth vs fifth team almost treated like the NBA play-in round but after that the winner's remaining run will be all on the road so teams are vying for a higher placing than that. I'll wait until I see York's games against the new club—Vancouver FC—in their next two games before I hit the panic button. Vancouver was the only other team to lose this weekend. As a League1 Ontario fan I was glad to see Voytsekhovskyy from Pro Stars FC making the team with emergency backup goalie today Ivan Pavela (age 18) with Pro Stars this season! Valour had rookie 6'6” defender Matthew Chandler from last year's Blue Devils FC now joining the CPL along with former (Oakville) Blue Devils forward Anthony Novak (via seasons with CPL Cavalry FC).Rocket Robin
robin.glover.1958@gmail.com
twitter @RocketRobin01
York United FC starters
Valour FC starters
Valour FC Anthony Novak (23) takes opening kickoff.
York Molham Babouli (18) takes freekick.
Valour Diego Gutierrez (8) takes freekick.
York Markiyan Voytsekhovskyy (70) takes second half kickoff.
Valour Andy Baquero (2) freekick is low and into player wall.
That freekick starts a fast York breakout.
York pressing late in the game.
Game stats (from canpl.ca)
York United FC Valour FC
Shots 14 16
Shots on target 2 6
Possession 50.1% 49.9%
Corners won 10 5
Fouls conceded 9 15
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