The Superlative Azzi Week in Review 2005/06

[Hands of Stone]

WEEK #1–2005-09-13

The first weekend of the 2005-2006 season got off to a flying start as 7 very competitive and exciting Premier Division games were played in various locations of the Lower Mainland. Only one game ended in a rather lop-sided score and even that match was closely contested until its dying moments.

On Saturday, at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver, West Van FC (formerly the Trollers) hosted a new-look Metro-Ford Wolves in a Group ‘A’ match-up. The final result, 4-1 in favour of the Wolves, is a little misleading as two of the goals came in the dying moments of the match. The Wolves, with numerous young players in their line-up, took the game to the older and more experienced home team for the first 25 minutes of the match but then seemed to falter as the more physical West Van side bounced back with some tenacious and aggressive tackling. Metro-Ford took the lead at about the 25th minute mark when newcomer Russ Huggon was tripped in the box. On the ensuing penalty kick Huggon beat goalkeeper Tyler Silvestre with a well-placed shot. Late in the first half, defender Trevor Short restored parity by heading home a brilliantly-taken free kick by newly-signed (and former Whitecap) Oliver Heald. In the second half, Metro-Ford’s younger legs and superior fitness paid enormous dividends and it wasn’t long before another newcomer, Emilio Bottiglieri, scored what proved to be the winning goal. Late in the match, two Metro-Ford substitutes, Connor Cregg-Guinan and Azad Palani, scored the insurance markers. Kingsley Jones and Aaron Beattie had outstanding games in the Metro-Ford backline, while Short was his usual combative self on the West Van defence.

Also on Saturday, in a Group ‘B’ match played at Queen’s Park Stadium in New Westminster, the Sapperton Rovers got off to a good start by edging the newly-promoted Norvan Eagles by a 2-1 margin. Both teams had numerous goal-scoring chances and both goalkeepers, Norvan’s Giancarlo Martino and Sapperton’s Cory Breure, made some excellent saves throughout the match. Veteran Paul Favaro opened the scoring for the Rovers early in the second half with a looping shot to the far post. Soon thereafter, Sean Regan equalized for the Eagles as he picked up a rebound from a shot by teammate Greg Muir. Late in the game, Colin Phillips scored the winner for the Rovers as he unleashed an unstoppable rocket to the top corner of the net from just outside the penalty box. All in all, the Rovers deserved the victory even though the Eagles demonstrated that they fully deserve to be in the very competitive Premier Division of the VMSL.

Saturday’s third game featured last season’s Group ‘B’ champions, Surrey United, against the always tough AFC Leopards. The game, played at Cloverdale Athletic Park, proved to be an entertaining affair with both teams concentrating on the game and displaying a great deal of discipline. In the end, Surrey United emerged 2-1 victors after a hard-fought encounter. After a bright start by Surrey, the visitors took the lead at about the 20th minute mark on a counter-attack that found the Surrey defence outnumbered and flat-footed. Newly-signed Steve Dickinson raced in all alone only to have Surrey’s goalkeeper Drew Smiley make a fine save. Unfortunately for Surrey, the rebound fell onto the path of Sean Ross who half-volleyed the ball into the back of the net. Ten minutes later Surrey equalized when newly-acquired Steve Millar sent one of his notorious long balls into the AFC third of the field. Forward Shawn Blakeway flicked the ball to Ryan Hopp who proceeded to chip it past goalkeeper Koostra Nair. Late in the match, Surrey United got the winner when Jamie Spendlove and Blakeway carved out an opening for Hopp to score his second goal of the match.

The fourth Saturday game, a Group ‘B’ affair, took place at Burnaby Lake West and featured the Burnaby Canadians and Croatia SC. The game ended in a 0-0 tie, thanks mostly to the outstanding goalkeeping of Burnaby’s Adam Alvaro. The match started out slowly as both teams seemed tentative and reluctant to attack. Midway through the first half Croatia SC started controlling the play by creating several golden goal-scoring opportunities. In particular, Chris Brown and young Goran Vitic had excellent chances to break the scoreless tie but failed to capitalize. In the second half, Croatia continued to press but was denied the winning goal by some outstanding goalkeeping on the part of Burnaby’s Adam Alvaro. In particular, Alvaro made two incredible saves: the first on a shot by Kreso Vitic and, late in the game, on a blast by veteran Petar Sulentic. As a result of the tie, Croatia SC and the Burnaby Canadians are in the middle of the pack in the Group ‘B’ standings.

On Sunday, in a cross-over match played at Kensington Park in Vancouver, Group ‘B’ Columbus-Clan FC opened the season by taking on the defending Province Cup champions, Sporting Club of Group ‘A’. The match lived up to its expectations as both teams tried hard to take home all 3 points. In the end, however, Columbus emerged victorious by a 2-1 margin. Sporting Club opened the scoring midway through the first half when Trevor Rosencrans was sent in all alone by a brilliant pass from Ryan Dormer. Columbus responded immediately and was rewarded when last season’s GOLDEN BOOT AWARD winner, Joe Scigliano knotted the score with a cleverly-placed free kick from just outside the penalty area. In the second half, Sporting dominated proceedings and had several goal-scoring opportunities denied by offside calls. However, at about the 70th minute mark, Columbus’ Stefan Leslie was sent in all alone by an Andrea Bellisomo through ball and found the back of the net for the winning goal. Defensively, Frank Mollica and Tony Gaita had excellent games for Columbus, while Chris Verdi played very well in the Sporting midfield. Also, Carlos Batista was outstanding in his unusual goalkeeping role for Sporting Club.

Also on Sunday, at Adanac Park in Vancouver, a Group ‘A’ match took place between last season’s VMSL champions ICSF Inter and newly-promoted Indo-Akal. The final 2-1 score in Inter’s favour pretty much reflected the flow of the game as the home team created a few more goal-scoring opportunities during the contest. Inter started the game with reckless abandon in search of an early goal. The best early chance came at the 8th minute mark when a Mike Tempesta free kick found a wide open Kevin Crouch in the middle of the Indo-Akal penalty box. A great save by Didar Sandhu, however, denied Crouch the chance for the go-ahead goal. Indo-Akal gradually got back into the game and proceeded to produce some goal-scoring opportunities of its own but the match remained scoreless throughout the first half. About midway through the second half a brilliant run by newly-acquired Laurent Scaligine gave ICSF the all-important first goal. Scaligine ran past several defenders before slamming the ball towards the net. As luck would have it, an Indo-Akal defender got the last, and crucial, touch and deflected the ball past a stunned Sandhu. Soon thereafter, Indo-Akal tied things up after Dennis Kindel made a couple of great saves in the ICSF goal. After one of these saves, Kyle McDiarmid picked up the rebound and put the ball behind Kindel for the equalizer. Inter was not to be denied, however, and came roaring back once again led by the excellent play of Laurent Scaligine. Once again Scaligine roared by a couple of defenders down the right flank before placing a perfect cross onto the path of Sheldon Maistry who calmly deposited the ball into the net for the winning goal.

Finally, on Sunday at Hillcrest Park in Vancouver, the Firefighters and Westside Rino engaged in an interesting Group ‘A’ battle that resulted in a 3-2 victory for the Firemen. The home team lead 2-0 at halftime on goals by Trevor Bourne and Chris Jarvie. Early in the second half the Firefighters increased their lead when Jarvie scored his second goal of the contest. Rino’s team came roaring back and made things rather uncomfortable for the Firemen by scoring 2 late goals. However, it was a classic example of too little, too late as the Firemen held on for the narrow victory. Jorge DeVicente and Dave Snarch scored the goals for Westside.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: COLUMBUS-CLAN FC for its excellent performance in defeating the defending PROVINCE CHAMPIONS, Sporting Club, by a narrow 2-1 margin. Columbus defended extremely well throughout the match and scored 2 great goals the gain the all-important 3 points.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: ICSF Inter’s LAURENT SCALIGINE for his impressive performance in his team’s 2-1 victory over Indo-Akal. With the game scoreless midway through the second half, Scaligine took matters into his own hands by scoring the opening goal and then setting up the winner after Indo-Akal had tied things up. Both goals were the result of Scaligine’s brilliant skills and exceptional speed. For his excellent performance, SCALIGINE will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2005-09-28. The pizza must be consumed on the premises.

[gomesy_jr]

The Week 2 report is up, but man is it off on our game hahaha

I got player of the week honours for apparently scoring two great headers, lol, nope, didn't happen. Steve Dormer did score our first goal, but the pass was made by me. Then Ryan Dormer scored our second, again on a pass by me. However, i did score our third goal on a header after a cross by JB.

Just clearing things up,

Cheers, Gomesy


WEEK #2–2005-09-20

Once again, the parity among the VMSL’s Premier Division teams was emphasized this past weekend as all 7 matches were very closely contested and ended with a minimal goal difference.

On Saturday, in a cross-over match played at Hasting Bowl in Vancouver, the Sapperton Rovers edged the newly-promoted Indo-Akal FC by a 3-2 margin. The game was an intense, but clean, affair with both teams taking turns attacking. In fact, Indo-Akal exerted a lot of pressure on the Sapperton defenders and often had them back on their heels. The Rovers, however, were able to finish their goal-scoring chances, while Indo-Akal squandered a few of their opportunities. Newcomer Paul Raposo gave Sapperton the early lead when he converted a well-placed cross from Luke Hogan. Shortly thereafter, Raposo and Hogan reversed roles as Raposo set up Hogan with a clever chip for the second Sapperton goal. Hogan’s brilliant volley gave Indo’s veteran goalkeeper Craig Edwards no chance whatsoever. Indo-Akal seemed to wake up in the second half and started attacking with a lot of determination. At about the 55th minute mark, Dale Gill finally narrowed the margin as he headed home a marvellous cross from CJ Jhooty. Unfortunately for Indo-Akal, the Rovers scored what proved to be the winning goal at the 70th minute mark. The veteran Favaro brothers combined as Mike Favaro set up brother Paul Favaro who neatly headed the ball past Edwards. Immediately thereafter, CJ Jhooty once again narrowed the margin on a fine individual effort. Indo-Akal continued to press for the equalizer and came close on a couple of occasions. However, the Sapperton defense—led by Ed Bradford—was equal to the task and the Rovers held on for the 3-2 victory. The victory puts the Rovers in a first place tie with Surrey United in the Group ‘B’ standings, while Indo-Akal FC remains pointless in Group ‘A’.

On Sunday, at the Croatian Centre in Richmond, Croatia SC hosted the highly-rated Surrey United in a very important Group ‘B’ match. Surrey emerged victorious by a 1-0 margin in a contest that did not live up to its expectations. In fact, the game was a rather dull affair and was settled in the late stages by a penalty kick. The spot shot was awarded when Ryan Hopp was tripped in the box by a Croatian defender. Newly-acquired veteran Steve Millar blasted home the penalty kick, a kick worth 3 important points. Croatia had most of the play in the first half and had a couple of great goal-scoring chances. On one, Aaron Keay was denied a goal by a great save by Surrey goalkeeper Drew Smiley. The second half saw Surrey United surge forward in search of the winning goal but some great defending on the part of Rob Hall, Dario Kuna, and Graham Zucko kept the visitors off the scoresheet until Millar’s vital penalty kick. The victory improves Surrey United’s record to 2-0, good for a first place tie with the Sapperton Rovers in the Group ‘B’ table. Croatia SC, on the other hand, is in a last place tie in the same group.

Also on Sunday, at Adanac Park, the defending Province Cup champions Sporting Club hosted a much-improved West Van FC in a Group ‘A’ match. The final result of 3-2 in favour of Sporting Club reflects the tightness of the match as both teams tried extremely hard to gain all 3 points. West Van took the early lead on a wicked drive by Sean Taylor on a set-up by Paul Dailly. Before the end of the first half, Sporting Club knotted the score when Steve Dormer converted a great pass from Trevor Rosencrans. West Van once again took the lead in the second half on a goal by veteran Simon Daniels, but Sporting quickly replied with two great headers by Mike Gomes to seal the victory. Gomes’ first goal was set up by Trevor Rosencrans, while the second came from a cross by John Blair. The victory evens Sporting record at 1-1, while West Van remains in last place after having dropped both its games.

The third Sunday game was played at Burnaby Lake where the AFC Leopards hosted Columbus-Clan FC in a Group ‘B’ match. The final result of 0-0 is not indicative of the type of contest that was played as both teams had numerous opportunities to break the deadlock. However, some incredible goalkeeping on the part of AFC’s Che Koostra and Columbus’ Luca Dalla Pace kept the match scoreless for the entire 90 minutes. Columbus’ defensive core unit, composed of Tony Gaita, Frank Mollica, and Andrea Bellisomo, was outstanding throughout the match, while Tiernan King was a thorn on the side of the Leopards’ defense. The tie means that Columbus-Clan is now 2 points behind Group ‘B’ leaders Sapperton Rovers and Surrey United, while AFC is mired in a 3-way last place tie with only 1 point.

The fourth Sunday match, featured two of the top teams in Group ‘A’, ICSF Inter and the Vancouver Firefighters in a match played at South Memorial Park. Inter controlled most of the game and, in the end, was full value for the 2-1 victory. At the 16th minute mark, newly-acquired Laurent Scaligine was brought down in the Firemen penalty area and, on the ensuing penalty kick, Brian VanSchagen gave ICSF the well-deserved early lead. Shortly thereafter, Mike Tempesta was denied a golden goal-scoring opportunity by stand-in goalkeeper Ratish Kumar. Inter continued to press but was unable to increase its lead until the 65th minute mark when Sheldon Maistry and Laurent Scaligine combined to set up young Alex Marrello for what proved to be the winning goal. Ten minutes later, the Firefighters got on the scoreboard on a goal by Justin Student. Goalkeeper Kumar and defender Robbie Toth had outstanding games for the Firemen, while Scaligine and Maistry were once again going concerns for Inter. As a result of the victory, ICSF finds itself tied for first place in the Group ‘A’ standings, while the Firefighters are now in the middle of the table with an even 1-0-1 record.

Two other games were played on Sunday: first, at Mundy Park in Coquitlam, the Metro-Ford Wolves beat Westside Rino by a 1-0 margin in a Group ‘A’ affair. The numerous spectators had difficulty recognizing most of the players as both teams have made numerous changes in the off-season. Emilio Bottiglieri, with his second goal of the season, broke the deadlock at the 75th minute mark after Metro-Ford had controlled most the play. Defensively, Kingsley Jones and Brook Scott were dominant for the Wolves, while midfielders Bottiglieri and Aaron Beattie also played extremely well. The final match was played at Kinsman Stadium in North Vancouver and featured the newly-promoted Norvan Eagles and the “new-look” Burnaby Canadians. After a hard-fought and entertaining 90 minutes, both teams had to settle for a 1-1 tie. Lukasz Cimoszko gave Burnaby the lead early in the second half with a blistering shot that gave Norvan’s goalkeeper Giancarlo Martino no chance. Greg Muir evened the score with about 15 minutes remaining with a similar type of shot. The tie, however, helps neither team as they both remain near the bottom of the Group ‘B’ standings.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: ICSF Inter for its clinical performance in defeating the always tough Vancouver Firefighters by a narrow, but well-earned, 2-1 score. ICSF could had won the game by a much wider margin but some great goalkeeping and defending on the part of the Firemen.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sporting Club’s MIKE GOMES for his impressive performance in his team’s 3-2 victory over West Van FC. Gomes scored two great goals—both on headers—to seal the victory for the defending Province Cup champions.oal and then setting up the winner after Indo-Akal had tied things up. For his excellent performance, GOMES will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2005-10-05. The pizza must be consumed on the premises.

[J_B]

Did you have to post it twice to feed your ego

Cheers
JB

[Green'N'Gold]

You still deserve player of the week honours!!!

[BJB]

Here's Week 3....

WEEK #3–2005-09-27

The gap between the top teams in the VMSL’s Premier Division is beginning to widen as some teams remained winless after Day 3 action, while some others are still undefeated. At the top of the Group ‘A’ standings, the Metro-Ford Wolves are all alone with a perfect 3-0-0 record, while Westside Rino and Indo-Akal FC have yet to gain a point. In Group ‘B’, the Sapperton Rovers and perennial powerhouse Surrey United are tied with the maximum 9 points, while the Norvan Eagles and Croatia SC are mired in last place with 1 point each. As luck would have it, these two teams will play each other this coming weekend in what promises to be a very interesting match. The game is scheduled for Sunday at Kinsman Stadium in North Vancouver. Kick-off is slated for 2:00 p.m. Another very interesting match will be Friday evening’s encounter at Mundy Park between the Metro-Ford Wolves and Surrey United—two undefeated teams.

On Saturday, in a cross-over match played at Burnaby Lake in Vancouver, the Firefighters edged the struggling Burnaby Canadians by a 1-0 margin. The Firemen had most of the play and could have scored a couple of more goals had it not been for some poor finishing on the part of their strikers as well as some outstanding goalkeeping from Adam Alvaro. Finally, just before the full-time whistle, young Mike Henniger got the winning goal on a goal-mouth scramble. Veteran Travis Turner played extremely well for the Firefighters in an unusual sweeper position, while Mike Frank fully deserved the shutout with some solid goalkeeping. Striker Luckasz Cimoszko was a going concern throughout the match for the Burnaby squad. The victory places the Firemen in a 3-way second place tie in the Group ‘A’ standings with Sporting Club and ICSF Inter, while the Canadians are near the bottom of the Group ‘B’ table, only 1 point ahead of Croatia SC and the Norvan Eagles.

Also on Saturday, at Cloverdale Athletic Park, Surrey United remained unbeaten by virtue of a well-earned 3-1 victory over the newly-promoted Norvan Eagles. Norvan got off to a flying start when Mark Krys placed a perfect pass to Jamie Dunnett who made no mistake in blasting the ball in the back of the Surrey net. Ten minutes later, United levelled the score when Dave Hleuka headed a right wing cross onto the path of Shawn Blakeway who hammered home a low shot from inside the penalty area. Early in the second half, an injury to Norvan’s veteran defender Barret Gremschield proved to be the turning point of the match as Surrey took control and scored two finely-executed second half goals to put the game out of the Eagles’ reach. First, Ryan Hopp and Shawn Blakeway combined with a clever ‘wall pass’ with Hopp’s quick acceleration taking him past 2 bewildered defenders before scoring what proved to be the winning goal. Then, a few minutes later, Blakeway again deflected the ball to an unmarked Matt Mori who notched his first goal for his new Surrey team. The victory puts Surrey United in a 2-way tie at the top of the Group ‘B’ table with the Sapperton Rovers. Norvan, on the other hand, is languishing in last place in the same group, alongside Croatia SC.

The third Saturday game was played at Queen’s Park Stadium in New Westminster and featured the host Sapperton Rovers and the highly-rated Columbus-Clan FC. The final 4-2 result in favour of Sapperton is indicative of the type of game that was played as both teams threw caution to the wind in their quest of the 3 points. The game got off to a quick and intense start as both teams tried to assert their superiority. The Rovers took an early 1-0 lead on a goal by young Paul Raposo. Shortly thereafter, Columbus’ Andrea Bellisomo was ejected from the match for violent contuct. Newly-acquired veteran Ryan McNabb took full advantage of the situation by scoring his first goal of the season, thus giving the Rovers a 2-0 half-time lead. It should be noted that McNabb was recently transferred to Sapperton from Columbus-Clan! Two more red cards were issued early in the second half—to Sapperton’s Brian Donald and to Columbus’ Rupinder Birring as they got involved in a totally unnecessary altercation. Last season’s GOLDEN BOOT AWARD winner, Joe Scigliano, reduced the Rovers’ margin by taking advantage of a Sapperton defensive blunder. However, McNabb answered back quickly with his second goal of the match on a great set-up from another veteran, Mike Favaro. Columbus fought back valiantly and once again drew within one goal when Cory Melville scored his first goal of the season. However, Colin Phillips put the game out of Columbus’ reach with a late goal. As mentioned earlier, the Rovers are now in a 2-way tie for first place in Group ‘B’, while Columbus is in the middle of the pack, with an even 1-1-1 record in the same group.

The fourth--and final--Saturday match was played at Hastings Bowl between the AFC Leopards and Croatia SC. The match was very entertaining as the final 4-2 score in favour of AFC would attest. The Leopards controlled the match during the first 25 minutes as they used their superior speed to drive the Croatia veteran defenders to distraction. The ploy worked to perfection as AFC took an early lead when Andrew Riopel was fouled inside the Croatia penalty area. Freddy Malek made no mistake from the penalty mark, giving the Leopards a well-deserved lead. BJ Rockson added to the margin as he raced in all alone before unleashing a powerful shot that goalkeeper Adel Massoud could only deflect into the goal. At this point Croatia seemed to regain its composure and started creating chances of its own. In particular, Dave Mori and Fabian Moreno had glorious opportunities but shot wide of the Leopards’ net. Late in the first half, Moreno narrowed the margin by finally placing the ball behind the AFC goalkeeper. In the second half, Croatia continued attacking and was rewarded with the tying goal when defender Rob Hall hit a marvellous free kick from 25 metres that gave goalkeeper Che Koostra no chance. Croatia continued to press in search of the winning goal but, as luck would have it, the Leopards got the winner on a fine goal from newly-acquired Steve Dickinson. With Croatia trying desperately to equalize, AFC got a late insurance marker from Fabian Gordon. All in all, a very entertaining and exciting match! As a result of the victory, the Leopards climb out the Group ‘B’ basement, while Croatia remains uncharacteristically in last place—tied with the Norvan Eagles.

On Sunday, at Adanac Park in Vancouver, two unbeaten teams crossed paths in what promised to be a very exciting contest. The game between ICSF Inter and the Metro-Ford Wolves, however, failed to live up to its expectations as the Wolves took an early 2-0 lead and proceeded to play very defensively for the remaining 85 minutes. Inter was unable to penetrate the very tight Metro-Ford defence, led by Brook Scott, Kingsley Jones, and goalkeeper Mat Bird. Russel Huggon gave Metro-Ford the early lead when he converted a penalty kick awarded for a totally unnecessary hand ball on the part of Scott Spracklin. Soon thereafter, young Connor Cregg-Guinan virtually put the game out of Inter’s reach by scoring on a goal-mouth scramble. The expulsion of ICSF’s Brian VanSchagen early in the second half made things even more difficult for the home team in its effort to get back into the game. The victory leaves the Wolves alone in first place in Group ‘A’, while Inter is now tied with Sporting Club and the Firefighters in second place.

Also on Sunday, at King George School in Richmond, the defending Province Cup champions, Sporting Club of Vancouver, trounced the newly-promoted Indo-Akal FC by a 5-1 margin—the most emphatic scoreline so far this season. As the 1-1 half-time score indicates, the first half was evenly played with both teams having their share of goal-scoring opportunities. Trevor Rosencrans gave Sporting Club the lead, a lead that did not last very long as CJ Jhooty restored parity shortly thereafter. Second half substitutes Steve Frazao and Jeff Nolan seemed to change the pattern of the match in Sporting’s favour as they injected some badly-needed energy in the visitors’ attack. In fact, Frazao scored twice and Nolan once in the second half to lead Sporting to a very important victory. Veteran Steve Dormer rounded out the scoring for Sporting Club. It should be mentioned that veteran goalkeeper, and playing coach, Joe Pinto, played very well in the Sporting net. The victory improves Sporting Club’s record to 2-0-1, good for second place in Group ‘A’, while Indo-Akal is still pointless in the same group.

Finally, on Sunday at Hillcrest Park in Vancouver, West Van FC gained its first victory of the season by beating the struggling Westside Rino 3-1. West Van goalkeeper Jamie Locke saved a penalty kick early in the match when Westside’s Duff Marrs blasted his shot right at Locke. The penalty kick call was rather controversial—at least from West Van’s point of view—since the hand-ball call against Simon Daniels appeared rather harsh. Still in the first half, veteran striker Rob Reed converted an Oliver Heald pass into West Van’s first goal. Before the halftime whistle, another veteran—Ryan Carphin—scored what proved to be the winning goal for the North Shore team. Midway through the second half, Westside’s Oleg Karminsky narrowed the margin, but James Possee’s late goal—on a tremendous half-volley—sealed the victory for West Van. Veteran Nico Berg had an outstanding game in the middle of the park in leading West Van to its first win of the season. Westside, on the other hand, remains winless and at the bottom of the Group ‘A’ table.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: AFC LEAPARDS for their hard-fought 4-2 victory over Croatia SC. The Leopards got off to a flying start, applying a lot of pressure on the Croatia defence and scoring two excellent early goals. Not to be outdone, Croatia came roaring back and tied the game up early in the second half. The Leopards, however, replied with a lot of grit and determination and scored twice more to seal the victory.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sapperton Rovers’ new signing RYAN MCNABB for his amazing performance against his former team, Columbus-Clan, in his team’s 4-2 victory. Not only did McNabb score 2 great goals but he also led the way in the leadership department as he rallied the troups in this very difficult encounter. For his excellent performance, MCNABB will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2005-10-12. The pizza must be consumed on the premises.

[gilly]

And here's Week 4

WEEK #4–2005-10-04

The rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer as the gap between the top and bottom teams continued to widen after 4 weeks of action in the VMSL’s Premier Division. The only upset took place on Sunday at Kinsman Stadium when the local Norvan Eagles defeated the struggling Croatia SC by a 4-2 margin. The loss left Croatia all alone in last place in the Group ‘B’ standings, while Norvan climbed into the middle of the pack as a result of the victory. Other than that, all the other results were somewhat predictable although some of the lop-sided scores were somewhat perplexing. The match of the week this coming weekend should be the Saturday clash between Surrey United and Columbus-Clan—two of the top ranked squads in Group ‘B’. The game will be played at Cloverdale Athletic Park starting at 12 noon. Surrey United will have to manage without coach Martin Foden who at the National Championships in Calgary with his women’s team. On that note, the match between Firefighters and Sporting Club has been postponed since Sporting Club is also in Calgary for the National Championships. The entire VMSL family wishes our Province Cup champions the best of luck in their endevour to add the coveted Canadian championship to their trophy case. Quoting Giuseppe Verdi: “RITORNA VINCITOR” -- COME BACK WINNERS!

The weekend’s activities started Friday evening at Charles Best School in Coquitlam when two group leaders—Metro-Ford Wolves and Surrey United—met in a cross-over match. The game lived up to its expectations as the two teams combined to produce a very entertaining affair for the numerous spectators. The match featured plenty of good football and ended most appropriately in a 1-1 tie. The Wolves enjoyed an edge in possession but found it very difficult to penetrate a very resilient Surrey defence, led by newcomer Steve Millar. The visitors, on the other hand, concentrated on counter-attacking and created a few golden goal-scoring chances of their own. But some solid defending on the part of Kingsley Jones, Brook Scott, and Aaron Beattie kept the first half scoreless. Early in the second half, Metro-Ford striker Russel Huggon set up Azad Palani with an immaculate pass. Palani blasted a wicked shot past a bewildered Drew Smiley for the game’s opening goal. United fought back with determination and was finally rewarded when Matt Mori hammered a thundering shot past Mat Bird in the Metro-Ford net. The tie leaves Metro-Ford alone in first place of the Group ‘A’ standings with a 3-1-0 record, while Surrey United drops to second place in Group ‘B’, also with a 3-1-0 record.

On Saturday, at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver, ICSF Inter crawled closer to Metro-Ford in the Group ‘A’ standings by virtue of an emphatic, and well-deserved, 3-0 trashing of the struggling West Van FC. Inter dominated proceedings from start to finish and, unlike last week against Metro-Ford, was able to convert some of its goal-scoring opportunities. Led by newly-signed Whitecap Tino Cucca, ICST exerted pressure right from the start and could easily have been ahead by 2 goals in the early going. Finally, near the end of the first half, a Cucca free kick found an unmarked Kevin Crouch in the West Van penalty area. Crouch had no difficulty in scoring the game’s opening goal from close range. Crouch added his second goal of the match early in the second half when he took advantage of a defensive blunder to put the game out of West Van’s reach. Mike Tempesta rounded out the scoring late in the game as he beat 3 defenders before depositing the ball in the net. The victory places ICSF in 3-way tie for second place in the Group ‘A’ standings, only 1 point behind Metro-Ford. West Van, on the other hand, remains near the bottom of the table with a 1-0-3 record.

Also on Saturday, at South Memorial Park, the Vancouver Firefighters hosted Indo-Akal FC in a Group ‘A’ match. The final score of 2-1 in favour of the Firemen is indicative of the flow of the play as both teams fought hard for the 3 points. The Firefighters dominated the first half, scoring 2 goals and coming close on several other occasions. Chris Jarvie opened the scoring on a breakaway, while Trevor Bourne notched what proved to be the winner on a great cross from Jeff Potratz. Indo-Akal narrowed the margin early in the second half when Dale Gill scored. From that point on, the visitors attacked relentlessly in search of the equalizer but the Firemen, led by Rob Toth and Jeff Skinner, held on for the victory. Billy Shokar and Kyle McDiarmid played very well in the Indo-Akal midfield, while forward Jason Sarai was a constant threat up front. The narrow victory leaves the Firefighters in a second place tie with a record of 3-1-0, while the luckless Indo-Akal is still pointless, and in last place, in the Group ‘A’ table.

On Sunday, at Hastings Bowl in Vancouver, Columbus-Clan FC hosted the struggling Burnaby Canadians in a Group ‘B’ match. The final 2-0 result in favour of Columbus pretty much reflects the flow of play as the visitors were back on their heels for most of the match. Columbus was rewarded for its constant pressure at the 30th minute mark when 17-year old Keegan Ayre—son of Canadian Soccer Hall of Famer Garry Ayre—capitalized on a goalmouth scramble to notch his first goal of the season. Columbus’ domination continued in the second half and the score could have been much more decisive had it not been for the outstanding goalkeeping of Burnaby’s Adam Alvaro. Columbus finally added the insurance marker when Tiernan King, Gino Gaita, and Frank Troisi combined in a brilliant 3-way passing play that resulted in an easy tap-in goal for Troisi. At this point the Canadians started to apply some pressure of their own but the Columbus defence, composed of Bernd Schwicke, Carmine D’Onofrio, Tony Gaita, and young Tyson Keam held on tightly in assisting goalkeeper Luca Dalla Pace’s shutout. Burnaby’s Gordon Chin, Dave Palmieri, and Bryan Jacoboni played quite well in a losing cause. Columbus’ record is now 2-1-1, while the Canadians are in penultimate place in the Group ‘B’ table with a 0-2-2 record.

Also on Sunday, at Adanac Park, Sporting Club of Vancouver hosted the unrecognizable Westside Rino in a Group ‘A’ match-up. The Province Cup champions controlled most of the play and were well worth the 4-1 victory. Ryan Dormer came off the bench to score two wonderful goals, while Brian Gebbie and Steve Dormer rounded out the scoring for Sporting Club. Randy Groening’s last minute goal was the only bright light in Westside’s game. Sporting Club now travels to Calgary for the Canadian National Championships boasting a 3-0-1 record, good for second place in the Group ‘A’ standings. Westside, on the other hand, is mired in last place with an unbelievable 0-0-4 record.

Sunday’s third game featured the Group ‘B’ leaders, Sapperton Rovers and the aspiring AFC Leopards in a match played at Burnaby Lake’s Turf Field. The final 5-0 score in favour of Sapperton does not tell the entire story as the Leopards came storming out of the starting gate with a vengeance and applied incredible pressure on the Rovers’ defence for the first 20 minutes of the match. The best AFC scoring chance occurred when veteran Mike Favaro cleared what appeared to be a sure goal off the line. Sapperton goalkeeper Cory Breure was also instrumental in keeping the Leopards off the scoresheet with some fine saves. As luck would have it, Sapperton scored on its first 2 opportunities—both against the run of play. First, young Paul Raposo one-timed a great cross from Luke Hogan for the game’s opening goal. Then, Colin Phillips ripped a wicked shot from well outside the penalty area for the clincher. The Leopards kept pressing throughout the first half and again came close to scoring but were denied by the fine defending of Ed Bradford, Sven Wagner, Kent Waechter, and Roy Mattarollo. The second half told a different story as the Leopards seemed to run out of steam and motivation as the Rovers finally got into their groove. The ejection of AFC midfielder Chris Clark did not help matters as the Rovers rounded out the scoring with late goals by Mike Favaro, Kent Waechter, and Srdjan Biljetina. Sapperton now finds itself alone in first place with a perfect 4-0-0 record, while the Leopards are at 1-1-2 in the Group ‘B’ standings.

Finally, also on Sunday, the Norvan Eagles secured their first win of the season after a highly entertaining game against Croatia SC. The Group ‘B’ contest, played at Kinsman Stadium, saw both teams trying desperately to secure a victory and therefore get out of the bottom of the table. The final result, 4-2 in favour of Norvan, does not tell the whole story as Croatia had its fair share of possession and goal-scoring opportunities. The Eagles opened the scoring at the 15th minute mark when Blake Burgon’s cross was headed home by Sean Regan. Soon thereafter, Croatia tied things up when Aaron Keay sent Michael Kovac on a breakaway with a brilliant pass. Kovac unleashed an absolute cracker of a shot that hit the underside of the crossbar before entering the net, giving goalkeeper Giancarlo Martino no chance whatsoever. In the second half, Norvan re-established its lead on another header, this one from Jamie Dunnett on a corner kick by Mike Baldin. Norvan continued to press but, as often happens, it was Croatia that got a break when a Fabian Moreno cross was inadvertently handled by defender Drew Gelley in the Norvan penalty box. Aaron Keay scored on the ensuing penalty kick and parity was restored. Gelley made amends for his hand-ball blunder by scoring what proved to be the winning goal on a brilliantly-taken free kick from well outside the area. Very late in the match, Sean Regan set up James Wilton for Norvan’s insurance marker. The Eagles’ victory improves their record to 1-1-2, while Croatia SC remains in last place with only 1 point.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: SAPPERTON ROVERS for their incredible 5-0 victory over AFC Leopards. Sapperton got off to a slow start, allowing the Leopards to control most of the play for the entire first half. However, the Rovers maintained their composure and took advantage of their goalscoring opportunities with some clinical finishing on the part of their forwards. The Rovers now find themselves all alone at the top of the Group ‘B’ table with a perfect 4-0-0 record.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sporting Club’s RYAN DORMER for his outstanding performance in leading his team to a decisive 4-1 victory over Westside Rino. Dormer came off the bench with the score still tied at 0-0 and took it upon himself to score twice and thus change the entire complexion of the match. For his excellent performance, DORMER will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2005-10-19. The pizza must be consumed on the premises.

[Hands of Stone]

ANNOUNCEMENT



CELEBRATION OF LIFE GATHERING FOR



MICKEY MESLO

(1930-2004)



Please join us in honouring a gentleman, sports ambassador, and a Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Famer – Mickey Meslo.



Date: Saturday, October 15, 2005

Time: 2:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Location: Squamish Indian Centre

Foot of Capilano Road

(South of Marine Drive)

North Vancouver



Food and beverages will be supplied by the Meslo family



OPEN TO EVERYONE!





WEEK #5—2005-10-11

Three very closely-contested games featured last weekend’s activities in the Premier Division of the VMSL. The struggling Burnaby Canadians held the unbeaten Sapperton Rovers to a 1-1 tie in a game played on Saturday at Cariboo Hill School in Burnaby. In actual fact, it would be more factual to say that the Rovers held the Canadians to a draw since the home team fully deserved all 3 points! In another minor upset, Surrey United suffered its first loss of the season at the hands of the visiting Columbus-Clan FC by a narrow 1-0 margin. Another relatively minor upset took place at Hastings Bowl on Sunday when previously winless Croatia SC edged West Van FC 1-0 in a cross-over match.

On Friday evening, at King George School in Richmond, Indo-Akal FC hosted the Metro-Ford Wolves in the weekend’s first match. The final result, 3-0 in favour of Metro-Ford, does not tell the whole story as the home team dominated the entire first half but was unable to penetrate a rock-solid Wolves’ defensive wall. Once again, the quartet of Aaron Beattie, Kingsley Jones, Brook Scott, and Steve Mitchell stood tall in enabling goalkeeper Mathew Bird to gather his third clean sheet of the season. In the second half, the Wolves got themselves in gear and started taking the game to Indo-Akal. A brilliant goal by Emilio Bottiglieri early in the second half seemed to be the turning point of the match as Metro-Ford dictated the pace of the match from that point onward. Bottiglieri added his second goal of the game—and his fourth of the season—midway through the second half, while young Connor Cregg-Guinan rounded out the scoring just before the full time whistle. As a result of their victory, the Wolves remain at the top of the Group ‘A’ standings with a 4-1-0 record, while Indo-Akal languishes in a last place tie with Westside Rino.

On Saturday, at Cariboo Hill School, the Burnaby Canadians met the visiting Sapperton Rovers in a game that most people would have thought to be a mismatch. In fact, prior to the game, the Rovers were at the top of the Group ‘B’ table with a perfect 4-0 record, while the Canadians were mired in penultimate place with only 2 points after 4 games. In actual fact, the final 1-1 score is not indicative of the run of play as the revitalized Burnaby team took the game to Sapperton from the start, created numerous goal-scoring chances and took a well-deserved lead midway through the second half. Unfortunately for Burnaby, Sapperton scored the tying goal well into injury time. Led by the excellent play of midfielders Mike Masi and Gordon Chin, Burnaby got off to a flying start and could easily have been ahead by a couple of goals in the first half. Some great goalkeeping on the part of former Canadians’ goalkeeper Cory Breure, however, kept the Rovers in the game. Finally, at the 20th minute mark of the second half, Milad Rahmati scored what many thought would be the winning goal for the Canadians. However, on a goal-mouth scramble, veteran Paul Favaro restored parity about 5 minutes into injury time. The tie leaves Sapperton in first place with a 4-1-0 record, while Burnaby is now alone in last place with a 0-3-2 record.

Also on Saturday, at Cloverdale Athletic Park, two of the top teams in Group ‘B’—Surrey United and Columbus-Clan FC—faced off in what promised to be the match of the week. The match lived up to its expectations as both teams tried hard to gain all 3 points. Surrey United had most of the play but some excellent defending on the part Columbus’ Bernd Schewicke, Tony Gaita, Carmine D’Onofrio, Justin Dudley, and Darren Nott kept the home team scoreless. An early goal by young Stefan Leslie—on a great cross from Schewicke—was all Columbus needed to gather all 3 points in a 1-0 victory. It should be mentioned that Columbus’ goalkeeper Luca Dalla Pace was forced to make several outstanding saves in the closing minutes of the match to preserve the shutout, his third of the season. Columbus’ victory places both teams in a 2-way tie for second place, 3 points behind the Sapperton Rovers.

On Sunday, at Kinsman Stadium in North Vancouver, the AFC Leopards bounced back from last week’s embarrassing 5-0 loss to the Sapperton Rovers by beating the Norvan Eagles by an emphatic 4-0 score in a Group ‘B’ match. Once again, the score was not indicative of the flow of the game as Norvan had its fair share of possession and goal-scoring opportunities. However, it was the Leopards’ clinical finish that proved to be the difference, while the Norvan attackers were unable to beat goalkeeper Che Koostra on their numerous chances. Bernard (BJ) Rockson scored twice in the first half to give AFC a 2-0 half-time lead, while Steve Dickinson and Freddy Malek added second half goals. Rockson’s second goal was a thing of beauty as he nutmegged a Norvan defender before curling a shot from the edge of the penalty area into the top corner of the net. The Eagles fought back hard and, led by Sean Regan, James Wilton, Drew Gelley, Greg Muir, and Mike Baldin, tried desperately—but unsuccessfully—to get back into the game. As a result of the victory, the Leopards climb out of the dreaded relegation danger zone while Norvan is tied with Croatia SC for penultimate place in the Group ‘B’ table.

Also on Sunday, at Hastings Bowl in Vancouver, Croatia SC finally got its first win of the season by defeating the visiting West Van FC 1-0 after a rough and tumble 90 minutes of action. Croatia’s newly-signed midfielder, Matt Mori, played a huge part in his new team’s success as he led the way to a well-deserved victory. Despite Croatia’s territorial advantage, it was West Van that had the best goal-scoring chance in the first half as an immaculate Mike Dodd pass sent Jesse Fetterley in all alone against goalkeeper Kreso Brzica. The new Croatia starting netminder came charging out of his goal and made a brilliant save to deny West Van a glorious scoring opportunity. Croatia began the second half with much more vigour and took over the reins of the match. The turning point, however, came midway through the second half when West Van defender Chris Stockdale was sent off after receiving his second caution. The referee’s call was, to say the least, controversial as most observers had thought that Simon Daniels had committed the second offence—a foul at the edge of the penalty box against Matt Mori. The one-man advantage seemed to inspire the Croatians as they came surging forward in search of the winning goal. Young Adrian Kekec came very close when his shot floated over the head of goalkeeper Jamie Locke only to hit the far post. Shortly thereafter, Aaron Keay unleashed an unstoppable low shot past Locke from just outside the penalty area. The victory moves Croatia out of last place in the Group ‘B’ table, albeit by a single point, while West Van remains only 3 points ahead of Westside Rino and Indo-Akal at the bottom of the Group ‘A’ standings.

Finally, also on Sunday at Adanac Park, ICSF Inter remained near the top of the Group ‘A’ standings by decisively defeating the last place Westside Rino by a 3-0 score. ICSF controlled the game from the very beginning and the final score could have been even more emphatic. Forwards Kevin Crouch and Laurent Scaligine were very dangerous throughout the match as they drove the young Westside defence to distraction with their penetrating runs. Crouch scored the first goal late in the first half on a great pass from Scaligine who had beaten several defenders before setting up the goal. Then, midway through the second half, Scaligine himself scored twice in rapid succession to put the game out of reach for Rino’s struggling team. Defensively, Scott Spracklin, Matt Judd, and veteran Ivan Lee played remarkably well for the winners whose record is now 4-0-1, good for second place in Group ‘A’.

The only game that was not played during the weekend was the scheduled Vancouver Firefighters vs Sporting Club match. It was postponed due to the fact that Sporting Club was in Calgary participating in the Canadian National championships. Unfortunately for Sporting, and the entire BC Soccer community, the tournament turned out to be rather unsuccessful as our representatives could only capture 7th place. Sporting got off to a horrendous start by losing 4-0 to the Alberta champions from Edmonton. After that, our VMSL representatives beat the Newfoundland champions 4-0 but lost a heart-breaker to Saskatchewan by a 2-1 score. The final match, for 7th and 8th place, saw Sporting Club defeat Prince Edward Island 4-1.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: AFC LEOPARDS for their brilliant and intrepid display in defeating the Norvan Eagles 4-0. The Leopards bounced back from last week’s 5-0 loss at the hands of the Sapperton Rovers in heroic fashion and proved that they are still a force to be reckoned with. The victory puts the Leopards in the middle of the table in Group ‘A’, while another loss would have left them in serious relegation trouble near the bottom of the table.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: ICSF Inter’s LAURENT SCALIGINE for his excellent performance in his team’s decisive 3-0 victory over Westside Rino. Scaligine led his team with his persistent runs, excellent ball control, and impeccable ball distribution. The fact that Scaligine played a vital part in all 3 ICSF goals is proof positive of his enormous contribution. After setting up teammate Kevin Crouch for the first goal, Scaligine scored the other two goals himself in his usual skillful manner. For his outstanding performance, SCALIGINE will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2005-10-26. The pizza must be consumed on the premises.

[knvb]

WEEK #6—2005-10-18

Due to premature field closures in Vancouver, only 4 Premier Division games were played this past weekend. It should be noted that 3 of the 4 matches were played on turf fields! All four games were very important since they all played a huge part in the standings. In fact, both Surrey United and Columbus-Clan were able, as a result of their respective victories, to climb into a first place tie with the Sapperton Rovers in the Group ‘B’ table, while the Metro-Ford Wolves increased their lead over the idle ICSF Inter in the Group ‘A’ standings. At the other end of the ladder, the Burnaby Canadians leap-frogged over the idle Norvan Eagles and the luckless Croatia SC in Group ‘B’, while Indo-Akal remained at the bottom of Group ‘A’ alongside Westside Rino.

On Friday evening, at Charles Best School in Coquitlam, the match between the Metro-Ford Wolves and the Vancouver Firefighters did not live up to its pre-game expectations. In fact, a large crowd had gathered expecting a much better performance from two of the top teams in the Group ‘A’ standings. In actual fact, neither team played exceptionally well and the final result—1-0 in favour of Metro-Ford—pretty much describes the tempo of the game. The Wolves took the lead early in the game on a goal-mouth scramble that enabled young Connor Cregg-Guinan to score his 4th goal of the season. After that both teams played at a rather mediocre level creating very few goal-scoring opportunities. The Firemen came close to tying the game when defender Greg Pears missed the net by a mile on a clear-cut, golden opportunity. At the other end of the field, second-half substitute Azad Palani hit the goalpost on Metro-Ford’s best scoring chance. Defensively, the Wolves were once again rock-solid, with Kingsley Jones and Brook Scott helping goalkeeper Mat Bird gather his 4th shutout of the season. As a result of the victory, Metro-Ford remains in first place with a record of 5-1-0, while the Firemen slip to 3-0-2.

On Saturday, at Byrne Creek School in Burnaby, the Sapperton Rovers hosted Surrey United in an effort to increase their lead at the top of the Group ‘B’ table. However, it turned out that the visiting team came away with all 3 points and, as a result, climbed into a 3-way first place tie with the Rovers and the ever-improving Columbus-Clan. The final result, 3-0 in favour of Surrey United, is pretty much indicative of the run of play as Sapperton struggled a great deal against the younger, fitter, and more determined Surrey team. Both teams played without several starters but it was Sapperton that was affected the most since Surrey United relied on its very organized and efficient youth system to fill in for the absentees. In fact, 3 youth call-ups—Ryan Reynolds, Harpreet Khakh, and Amar Bains—made their starting debuts for United and all played a very important part in their team’s decisive victory. Surrey United squandered a couple of golden goal-scoring opportunities in the first half, a half that ended scoreless. Early in the second half, a brilliantly-placed low cross from right back Brian Fowler found an unmarked Shawn Blakeway at the near post. Blakeway, who had missed a sitter in the first half, made amends for his previous blunder by scoring what proved to be the winning goal. Shortly thereafter, Blakeway added the insurance marker when he outraced the rather slow Sapperton defence before calmly slotting the ball past goalkeeper Cory Breure. Sapperton’s best chance to score came midway through the second half when Surrey goalkeeper, Drew Smiley, rose to the occasion and produced a magnificent save on a blistering shot by Ryan McNab. Teenager Harpreet Khakh rounded out the scoring when he collected a pass from Brian Fowler, accelerated past two Sapperton defenders and slotted the ball past Breure with the coolness of a seasoned veteran. Speaking of veterans, the Rovers were once again led by the Favaro brothers, Mike and Paul, whose play in the midfield was inspirational to say the least. Other veterans, such as Kent Waechter, Brian Donald, and Sven Wagner also played quite well, albeit in a losing cause. As stated earlier, both teams are now tied for first place with identical 4-1-1 records.

Also on Saturday, at Burnaby Lake West, the Burnaby Canadians climbed out of last place in the Group ‘B’ table by edging the AFC Leopards 2-1 after an entertaining 90 minutes of play. After an evenly-played and scoreless first half, the Leopards seemed to take control of the match and were unlucky on a few occasions not to take the lead. As luck would have it, however, it was the Canadians that broke the tie at about the 65th minute mark when Mike Masi curled a brilliant free kick into the top corner of the net. AFC responded with a vengeance and quickly restored parity when BJ Rockson scored his 4th goal of the season. It should be noted that Rockson is now tied at the top of the Premier Division scoring chart. The Leopards continued to press for the winner and came extremely close when Guy Fondjo hit the post with Burnaby’s fine goalkeeper, Adam Alvaro, well beaten. Incredibly, it was the Canadians that finally scored the winner when Lukasz Cimoszko raced in all along before notching the winner in the dying moments of the match. Ironically, last week, Burnaby had to settle for a tie despite totally outplaying the Sapperton Rovers!

Finally, in the only game played on Sunday, Columbus-Clan FC defeated Croatia SC 3-1 in a match played in front of numerous spectators at Hastings Bowl in Vancouver. As a result of the victory, Columbus lays claim to a share of first place—along with Surrey United and Sapperton—in the Group ‘B’ table. Both teams got off to a flying start and created several excellent goal-scoring opportunities in the first 15 minutes. However, it was Columbus that took the early lead when young Tyson Keam sent another youngster, Stefan Leslie, down the right flank with an excellent pass. Leslie’s cross found an unmarked Joe Scigliano who had no difficulty in tapping the ball into the net for the go-ahead goal. The rest of the first half belonged entirely to Columbus and they were rewarded when yet another youngster—17-year old Keegan Ayre scored. Inspired by a determined Darko Jelic and the fine play of young Goran Vitic, Croatia took control of the game in the second half as Columbus seemed satisfied with the 2-0 scoreline. Michael Kovac scored at the 63rd minute mark to reduce the score to 2-1. Croatia then came close to knotting the score on several occasions but some brilliant goalkeeping on the part of Columbus’ Luca Dalla Pace kept the score at 2-1. Late in the game, Pammi Birring, on a solo effort scored the insurance marker for Columbus. All in all, an excellent performance from both teams! As a result of the loss, Croatia is now tied for last place in the Group ‘B’ standings with the Norvan Eagles.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: SURREY UNITED for its clinical performance in defeating the always-tough Sapperton Rovers by an empahtic 3-0 score. Missing several starters, Surrey United relied on its excellent youth system and brought three 17-year olds into the lineup. The youngsters-- Ryan Reynolds, Harpreet Khakh, and Amar Bains—filled in brilliantly and were one of the main reasons for Surrey’s fine victory.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Columbus’ goalkeeper LUCA DALLA PACE for his excellent performance in his team’s 3-1 victory over Croatia SC. After a very easy and rather boring first half, a half that was dominated by his team, Dalla Pace had to come up with some spectacular and sensational saves in the second half to maintain Columbus’ slight lead. For his outstanding performance, DALLA PACE will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2005-10-02. The pizza must be consumed on the premises.

[knvb]

WEEK #7—2005-10-25

Common sense prevailed as all Vancouver fields were left open this past weekend and, as a result, all 7 Premier Division matches were played. One huge upset took place in North Vancouver as the underdog Norvan Eagles edged the aspiring Columbus-Clan FC by a 1-0 margin. Columbus’ loss, along with Sapperton Rovers’ tie with Croatia and Surrey United’s victory over the Burnaby Canadians, left the Cloverdale team all alone in first place in the Group ‘B’ table. In Group ‘A’, ICSF Inter edged closer to the stuttering Metro-Ford Wolves by defeating the AFC Leopards while the Wolves were held to a 1-1 tie by Sporting Club. This coming weekend should provide some interesting action as ICSF and Metro-Ford square off Friday evening at Mundy Park #4 (or Charles Best School) to resolve the Group ‘A’ leadership issue. At the bottom of the table, also in Group ‘A’, West Van FC will host the pointless Westside Rino in what promises to be a “do-or-die” affair. A similar match-up will occur at Hastings Bowl on Sunday when Croatia SC and the Burnaby Canadians will face each other in an important match between the two cellar dwellers of Group ‘B’.

The weekend’s activities began on Saturday at Cloverdale Athletic Park where the home team Surrey United hosted the seemingly revitalized Burnaby Canadians. The visitors had only conceded 6 goals in their previous 6 matches but found it very difficult to defend against Surrey’s vaunted forward line. As a result, the Cloverdale team was able to climb into sole possession of first place in the Group ‘B’ standings with a decisive 5-2 victory. Surrey took the lead after only 10 minutes when midfielder Todd Stauber broke down the right flank before squaring the ball for teenage call-up Harpreet Khakh who promptly hammered home a wicked 20-metre drive. However, the Canadians got back into the game with some excellent counter-attacks generated by the skillful play of Mike Masi and Gordon Chin as well as the tenacious performance of forward Lukasz Cimoszko. Midway through the first half, the Canadians drew even when goalkeeper Drew Smiley uncharacteristically dropped a rather harmless free kick onto the head of an unmarked Bryan Jacoboni who easily scored the equalizer. Before the halftime whistle, Surrey midfielder Clayton Dobbin whipped a brilliant free-kick into the far corner of the net after the Burnaby wall had been distracted by Steve Millar’s off-the-ball run. United turned up the intensity level in the second half and surged forward with some eye-catching attacking soccer. Two quick goals by striker Ryan Hopp—the first on a great setup by Stauber and the second on an equally brilliant pass by Dobbin—put the game out of Burnaby’s reach. Two late goals, by Surrey’s Shawn Blakeway and by Burnaby’s Lukasz Cimoszko, rounded out the scoring. As a result of the loss, the Canadians are now in penultimate place in the Group ‘B’ standings, only one point ahead of Croatia SC.

Later on Saturday, at Burnaby Lake Turf Field, ICSF Inter stayed in contention for the Group ‘A’ title by defeating the AFC Leopards 2-0 in a cross-over match. Inter got off to a great start and could have been up by 3 goals in the first 10 minutes had it not been for some poor finishing on the part of Laurent Scaligine and Sheldon Maistry. At about the 20th minute mark, Inter’s continued pressure paid off when recently-signed Whitecap Tino Cucca unleashed a powerful shot that went off the crossbar and to the feet of Scaligine who made amends for his previous blunders by scoring his fourth goal of the season. In the second half the Leopards made some adjustments and started taking over the reins of the match. However, ICSF goalkeeper Dennis Kindel rose the occasion and preserved his well-earned clean sheet, his third in a row. Late in the game, Kevin Crouch scored the clincher—also his 4th of the season—on a great pass from Scaligine. The victory leaves ICSF 2 points behind Metro-Ford in the Group ‘A’ table, albeit with one game in hand. The loss, on the other hand, puts AFC in a precarious position in the Group ‘B’ standings, only 2 points ahead of last place Croatia SC.

The third Saturday game was played at South Memorial Park between the Vancouver Firefighters and West Van FC. The Firemen got two goals each from Justin Student and Jeff Potratz en route to a 4-1 victory over the stumbling West Vancouver team. Former Whitecap Oliver Heald scored West Van’s only goal when he converted a penalty kick awarded when Heald himself was tripped inside the box by Firefighters’ goalkeeper Mike Frank. Two ejections, both for double cautions, to veteran defender Trevor Short and to young Marc Burrows, proved to be the last nail in West Van’s coffin. The victory puts the Firemen back in the hunt for first place in the Group ‘A’ table with a record of 4-0-2, while West Van is still near the bottom of the table, only 3 points ahead of Westside Rino.

On Sunday, at King George Park in Richmond, Indo-Akal FC broke out of its slump with a bang as the 4-1 score against Westside Rino would indicate. Rino’s boys came out of the starting blocks with a lot of vigour and took an early 1-0 lead on a goal by young Ryan Glanville. Westside continued to press but some outstanding goalkeeping by Didar Sandhu allowed Indo-Akal to weather the storm. The home team finally gained its composure and scored twice before the halftime whistle to swing the tempo of the game in its favour. The second half belonged entirely to Indo-Akal as Jason Sarai and Marcelo Giunto continually drove the Westside defenders to distraction with their pin-point passing and penetrating runs. Both Sarai and Giunto were rewarded with 2 goals apiece in leading their team to a clear-cut, but hard-earned, victory. Westside Rino thus remains mired in last place with zero points from 6 games, while Indo-Akal climbs to a penultimate place tie with West Van.

Also on Sunday, in a game played at Cleveland Park because of the premature closure of Kinsman Stadium, the newly-promoted Norvan Eagles upset title contenders Columbus-Clan FC by a narrow 1-0 margin. Despite the fact that Columbus had most of the play, it was Norvan that broke the game wide open with a goal midway through the first half when Blake Burgon scored his first ever Premier Division goal on a powerful header from a well-struck free kick by Drew Gelley. Columbus fought back desperately in its attempt to equalize but could not break down a resolute Norvan defence—composed of Tony Seddon, Drew Gelley, Nick Duran and marshalled by sweeper Danny Muir. Goalkeeper Giancarlo Martino fully earned his shutout in the Norvan goal with some spectacular saves. The victory improves the Eagles’ record to 2-1-3, only 2 points ahead of last place Croatia SC in the Group ‘B’ table, while Columbus’ loss drops the East Vancouver team to 3rd place, behind Surrey United and the Sapperton Rovers.

The third Sunday game was played at Adanac Park in Vancouver between the defending Province Cup champions Sporting Club and the Group ‘A’ leaders, Metro-Ford Wolves. The match was very well attended as both teams were vying for first place. The final 1-1 score was probably a fair result as neither team deserved to gain all 3 points. To say that the game was a disappointment to the numerous spectators is a huge understatement as both teams failed to live up to their expectations. Sporting Club, back in town after finishing in 7th place in the Canadian National championships, was unable to take advantage of Metro-Ford’s dismal performance and, at the end, was quite fortunate to come away with one point. The one bright feature of the game occurred early in the second half when Metro-Ford’s young Connor Cregg-Guinan scored his 5th goal of the season when he converted a brilliantly executed through ball from Emilio Bottiglieri. Very late in the game Sporting was able to restore parity when a free kick by John Blair was fumbled by goalkeeper Mat Bird. Mark Gomes took advantage of the blunder and slotted the ball home for the equalizer. The tie allows the Wolves to remain in first place in the Group ‘A’ standings, 2 points ahead of ICSF Inter, while Sporting Club remains in contention with 10 points and 2 games in hand.

Finally, on Sunday at Hastings Bowl, Croatia SC and the Sapperton Rovers met in an intense and hotly-contested affair. The final 1-1 result reflects more or less the flow of the game as both teams took turns attacking and neither deserved to lose. Croatia took the lead midway through the first half when Matt Mori scored on a well-executed set play. Soon thereafter, Sapperton’s Brian Donald was ejected from the match for serious foul play, reducing his team to 10 men. Before the halftime whistle 2 more players were sent off—one from each team. Croatia’s Kresho Vonic and Sapperton’s Ed Bradford got into an unnecessary scuffle after a poorly-timed tackle by Vonic. As a result, the Rovers had to play the entire second half with only 9 players, while Croatia was reduced to 10 men. The second half was more or less a repetition of the first as both teams tried desperately to gain all 3 points. The Rovers’ tying goal came at the 55th minute mark when veteran Paul Favaro capitalized on a goal-mouth scramble. The single point helps neither team as Croatia SC remains mired in last place in the Group ‘B’ standings, while the Rovers drop out of first place in the same group.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: ICSF INTER for its brilliant performance in defeating the highly-skilled AFC Leopards by a 2-0 margin. Inter demonstrated that it possesses a wonderful combination of speed, skill, and tenacity as it outplayed the Leopards from start to finish.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Surrey United’s young HARPREET KHAKH for his excellent performance in his team’s 5-2 victory over the Burnaby Canadians. It isn’t very often that a youth player, playing on permit, gets to play the entire game at the Premier Division level. Not only did Khakh do that against the Canadians, he also led the way in the midfield with some excellent ball control and immaculate distribution. On top of it all, Khakh scored the opening goal with a blistering shot from well outside the penalty area. For his outstanding performance, KHAKH will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2005-11-09. The pizza must be consumed on the premises.

[knvb]

Ahhh... to be 17 again. A pizza pie for the veterans players goes a long way sunshine.

[gilly]

Just for Jessie Bains.....We didn't play this weekend, so I thought I'd give you a weekend review

Six out of the 7 scheduled Premier Division games were played this past weekend with virtually no upsets taking place. The only game that was postponed was the Sunday contest between Sporting Club and Indo-Akal FC. Unfortunately, that marks the third time this season that Sporting Club has had one of its games postponed, leaving the defending Province Cup champions well behind the rest of the teams in games played. In Group ‘A’, ICSF Inter fell further behind the Metro-Ford Wolves by dropping a 2-0 decision to the league leaders, while at the bottom of the table Westside Rino finally won its first game of the season at the expense of the struggling West Van FC. In Group ‘B’, two of the three title contenders—Surrey United and the Sapperton Rovers—won their games easily, while the third contender—Columbus-Clan FC—was held to a tie by the Firefighters in a cross-over match. At the bottom of the Group ‘B’ table, the Burnaby Canadians got an all-important 3 points in their all-important match against the last place Croatia SC, while the AFC Leopards and the Norvan Eagles remain only a couple of points ahead of the Croatians.

The weekend’s activities began on Friday evening at the newly-build turf field at Charles Best School in Coquitlam where the undefeated Metro-Ford Wolves hosted the second place ICSF Inter in a Group ‘A’ rematch. In their first meeting, Metro-Ford had beaten ICSF by a 2-0 score despite the fact that Inter carried most of the play. On this occasion, the only similarity between the two encounters was the final score as the Wolves once again came away 2-0 victors. The game was a very well-played and entertaining affair with a large and excited crowd in attendance. Metro-Ford dominated the first part of the game, scored an early goal, on a header by Andrew Veer from an Emilio Bottiglieri corner kick, and missed a couple of other golden goal-scoring chances. ICSF retaliated late in the first half and for most of the second half but was kept at bay by the tenacious defensive work of Metro-Ford’s backline. In particular, right back Aaron Beattie and centre-back Brook Scott, turned in stellar performances in keeping the vaunted Inter attackers at bay. Goalkeeper Mathew Bird was also at his best making several key saves, one in particular on a vicious drive by Kevin Crouch. The goalpost also came to the Wolves’ aid as Laurent Scaligine’s shot rattled off the woodwork with Bird beaten. At the other end of the pitch, Metro-Ford was also very dangerous with a few lethal counter-attacks that had the Inter defence back on its heels. On two separate occasions, goalkeeper Dennis Kindel had to make sensational saves to thwart breakaway chances by Russel Huggon. Late in the game, on yet another counter-attack, newly signed Milan Francisty curled an unstoppable left-footed shot into the top of the ICSF net from the edge of the penalty area for Metro-Ford’s insurance marker. As a result of the victory, the Wolves are now solidly in first place in the Group ‘A’ standings, with a record of 6-2-0, while Inter is 5 points behind, albeit with a game in hand.

On Saturday, at South Memorial Park in Vancouver, two top contenders— the Vancouver Firefighters and Columbus-Clan FC—met in an all-important cross-over. Both teams desperately needed the victory to stay in the running for their respective group title. As luck would have it, however, both teams had to settle for a 2-2 tie after a very exciting 90 m