Hands of Stone
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Azzi's Superlativly Gay Provincial Cup Report
PROVINCE CUP ROUND 2
Our VMSL teams continued to perform extremely well in Provincial Cup action this past weekend, with 3 Premier Division teams—Vancouver Firefighters, Columbus-Clan FC, and Sapperton Rovers—advanding to the semi-finals of the ‘A’ Cup. In the Under 21 Division, Westside Rino and the Burnaby Canadians also advanced to the semi-finals and will now have to travel to Victoria to take on Gordon Head and Bays United respectively. In the Masters’ Cup, 3 VMSL teams—Vancouver Firefighters, WFC Rangers, and West Van FC—qualified for the semi-finals. All in all, 8 out of the 12 remaining teams come from the VMSL!!!
On Sunday, at Adanac Park in Vancouver, Croatia SC hosted the Sapperton Rovers in what turned out to be a very exciting and closely-played contest, aided and abetted by a huge and enthusiastic crowd. Most of the spectators were Croatia fans and they went home very disappointed as the Rovers emerged 2-1 victors in overtime. Sapperton got off to a great start and controlled the majority of the action in the early going with Colin Phillips and Ted Ullrich driving the Croatia defence to distraction with their quick passing and penetrating runs. As luck would have it, however, it was Croatia that took the early lead when Steve Dickinson sent a speculative low cross into the Sapperton area. Defender Jeff Rogers inadvertently deflected the ball past his goalkeeper and into the Sapperton net for the game’s opening goal. Shortly thereafter, Croatia almost doubled its lead when an Aaron Keay free kick barely missed the net as the ball whistled by the cross bar with goalkeeper Cory Breure well beaten. Near the end of the first half, the Rovers came very close to tying things up when some nifty passing between Colin Phillips, Mike Favaro, and Trevor Todd found young Alex Jappy all alone at the edge of the penalty area. Unfortunately for Jappy and the Rovers, goalkeeper Jure Vuletin was able to make a sensational save on Jappy’s shot to maintain the narrow 1-0 halftime lead. The Rovers came flying out of the starting blocks in the second half, looking for the all-important equalizer. They were rewarded for their efforts midway through the second half when Trevor Todd headed home an awkward-looking cross from the foot of Colin Phillips. With the score tied at 1-1 after 90 minutes of regulation time, the game progressed into overtime with both teams trying desperately to score the first goal. Croatia came very close to taking the lead very early in the first overtime period when Mike Masi beat a couple of defenders inside the penalty box before blasting a wicked shot onto the far post. In the second overtime period, the Rovers inserted young Srdjan Biljetina into the line-up and the move proved to be magical as the youngster quickly made his mark as he scored a brilliant goal from the edge of the 18-yard box. The Croatians bounced back vigorously and came close to tying things up in the late going when Aaron Keay cleverly flicked a header over the outstretched hands of goalkeeper Cory Breure but, unfortunately for Croatia, also over the cross-bar. Sapperton will now face Columbus-Clan FC in one of the semi-final matches.
In the second game of the Adanac Park Saturday double-header, Columbus-Clan FC repeated its Imperial Cup feat by again defeating ICSF Inter, this time by a 2-0 margin. The Italian derby was played in front of numerous spectators and turned out to be a very well-played and entertaining affair. Inter had most of the possession and goalscoring chances in the scoreless first half but was unable to find the back of the net. Cristian Tropeano, Kevin Crouch, and Joseph Marrello came the closest to scoring the go-ahead goal but, in each case, the cross-bar or the goal-post came to Columbus’ assistance. In the second half, Columbus regained its composure and started controlling the tempo of the match. Columbus was rewarded midway through the second half when Joe Scigliano burst into the penalty area and was tripped by defender VJ Kos as he prepared himself for a shot. On the ensuing penalty kick, young veteran Tiernan King sent goalkeeper Dennis Kindel the wrong way with a well-taken shot to give Columbus the lead. Soon thereafter, Inter was once again unlucky not to score as a blast from Brian VanSchagen bounced off the cross-bar. Late in the game, with ICSF pressing forward in search of the equalizer, Columbus scored the insurance goal on a lethal counter-attack executed to perfection by Craig Richards, Tiernan King, and Andrea Bellisomo. In the end, Bellisomo’s excellent cross found the head of second-half substitute Gino Gaita who brilliantly sent the ball past Kindel. Defensively, young Luca Bellisomo and veteran Tony Gaita were outstanding for Columbus. As mentioned earlier, Columbus will now take on the Sapperton Rovers in one of the semi-finals. It should be mentioned that both semi-finals will be played on Sunday at Royal Athletic Park in Victoria.
Also on Sunday, at Cloverdale Athletic Park in Surrey, the Vancouver Firefighters recorded their second consecutive upset victory in as many weeks when they edged Surrey United by a 1-0 margin in overtime. Last week, the Firemen beat the Group ‘A’ champions, Metro-Ford Wolves, on penalty kicks, while this week they were able to eliminate the Group ‘B’ winners—and overall VMSL champions—Surrey United. The match turned out to be a very evenly-played affair with the Firemen having the better chances in the first half and Surrey United in the second half. Firefighters’ goalkeeper Mike Franks made a couple of sensational saves—on shots from youngsters Cam Wilson and Vince Stewart—while Surrey’s Drew Smiley was equal to the task as he made a magnificent save on a shot by Dan Kirincic. In the end, however, with only a few minutes to go in the second overtime period, Smiley was unable to smother a long, speculative shot and a very opportunistic Chris Jarvie pounced on the rebound to score the game’s lone goal. Defensively, Steve Millar and Tom Elliot were dominant for Surrey United, while midfielder Jeff Skinner was his usual brilliant self for the Firemen. The Firefighters will now travel to Victoria to take on Gorge FC, another heavy favourite!!!
TEAM OF THE WEEK: VANCOUVER FIREFIGHTERS for their second consecutive upset victory—this latest one a 1-0 overtime decision over VMSL champions Surrey United. The Firemen have now won two games without scoring one single goal in regulation time! As a result of the hard-fought victory, the Firefighters will now advance to the semi-finals of the Province Cup where they will take on another heavy favourite, Victoria Gorge. GOOD LUCK BOYS!!!!
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Firefighters’ goalkeeper MIKE FRANKS for yet another incredible performance, this one against the heavily-favoured Surrey United. Last week Franks made a couple of sensational saves against the Metro-Ford Wolves and he continued his amazing performance against Surrey United as he thwarted the vaunted Surrey forwards on several occasions. For his outstanding performance, MIKE FRANKS will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2006-05-25.
PROVINCE CUP ROUND 2
Our VMSL teams continued to perform extremely well in Provincial Cup action this past weekend, with 3 Premier Division teams—Vancouver Firefighters, Columbus-Clan FC, and Sapperton Rovers—advanding to the semi-finals of the ‘A’ Cup. In the Under 21 Division, Westside Rino and the Burnaby Canadians also advanced to the semi-finals and will now have to travel to Victoria to take on Gordon Head and Bays United respectively. In the Masters’ Cup, 3 VMSL teams—Vancouver Firefighters, WFC Rangers, and West Van FC—qualified for the semi-finals. All in all, 8 out of the 12 remaining teams come from the VMSL!!!
On Sunday, at Adanac Park in Vancouver, Croatia SC hosted the Sapperton Rovers in what turned out to be a very exciting and closely-played contest, aided and abetted by a huge and enthusiastic crowd. Most of the spectators were Croatia fans and they went home very disappointed as the Rovers emerged 2-1 victors in overtime. Sapperton got off to a great start and controlled the majority of the action in the early going with Colin Phillips and Ted Ullrich driving the Croatia defence to distraction with their quick passing and penetrating runs. As luck would have it, however, it was Croatia that took the early lead when Steve Dickinson sent a speculative low cross into the Sapperton area. Defender Jeff Rogers inadvertently deflected the ball past his goalkeeper and into the Sapperton net for the game’s opening goal. Shortly thereafter, Croatia almost doubled its lead when an Aaron Keay free kick barely missed the net as the ball whistled by the cross bar with goalkeeper Cory Breure well beaten. Near the end of the first half, the Rovers came very close to tying things up when some nifty passing between Colin Phillips, Mike Favaro, and Trevor Todd found young Alex Jappy all alone at the edge of the penalty area. Unfortunately for Jappy and the Rovers, goalkeeper Jure Vuletin was able to make a sensational save on Jappy’s shot to maintain the narrow 1-0 halftime lead. The Rovers came flying out of the starting blocks in the second half, looking for the all-important equalizer. They were rewarded for their efforts midway through the second half when Trevor Todd headed home an awkward-looking cross from the foot of Colin Phillips. With the score tied at 1-1 after 90 minutes of regulation time, the game progressed into overtime with both teams trying desperately to score the first goal. Croatia came very close to taking the lead very early in the first overtime period when Mike Masi beat a couple of defenders inside the penalty box before blasting a wicked shot onto the far post. In the second overtime period, the Rovers inserted young Srdjan Biljetina into the line-up and the move proved to be magical as the youngster quickly made his mark as he scored a brilliant goal from the edge of the 18-yard box. The Croatians bounced back vigorously and came close to tying things up in the late going when Aaron Keay cleverly flicked a header over the outstretched hands of goalkeeper Cory Breure but, unfortunately for Croatia, also over the cross-bar. Sapperton will now face Columbus-Clan FC in one of the semi-final matches.
In the second game of the Adanac Park Saturday double-header, Columbus-Clan FC repeated its Imperial Cup feat by again defeating ICSF Inter, this time by a 2-0 margin. The Italian derby was played in front of numerous spectators and turned out to be a very well-played and entertaining affair. Inter had most of the possession and goalscoring chances in the scoreless first half but was unable to find the back of the net. Cristian Tropeano, Kevin Crouch, and Joseph Marrello came the closest to scoring the go-ahead goal but, in each case, the cross-bar or the goal-post came to Columbus’ assistance. In the second half, Columbus regained its composure and started controlling the tempo of the match. Columbus was rewarded midway through the second half when Joe Scigliano burst into the penalty area and was tripped by defender VJ Kos as he prepared himself for a shot. On the ensuing penalty kick, young veteran Tiernan King sent goalkeeper Dennis Kindel the wrong way with a well-taken shot to give Columbus the lead. Soon thereafter, Inter was once again unlucky not to score as a blast from Brian VanSchagen bounced off the cross-bar. Late in the game, with ICSF pressing forward in search of the equalizer, Columbus scored the insurance goal on a lethal counter-attack executed to perfection by Craig Richards, Tiernan King, and Andrea Bellisomo. In the end, Bellisomo’s excellent cross found the head of second-half substitute Gino Gaita who brilliantly sent the ball past Kindel. Defensively, young Luca Bellisomo and veteran Tony Gaita were outstanding for Columbus. As mentioned earlier, Columbus will now take on the Sapperton Rovers in one of the semi-finals. It should be mentioned that both semi-finals will be played on Sunday at Royal Athletic Park in Victoria.
Also on Sunday, at Cloverdale Athletic Park in Surrey, the Vancouver Firefighters recorded their second consecutive upset victory in as many weeks when they edged Surrey United by a 1-0 margin in overtime. Last week, the Firemen beat the Group ‘A’ champions, Metro-Ford Wolves, on penalty kicks, while this week they were able to eliminate the Group ‘B’ winners—and overall VMSL champions—Surrey United. The match turned out to be a very evenly-played affair with the Firemen having the better chances in the first half and Surrey United in the second half. Firefighters’ goalkeeper Mike Franks made a couple of sensational saves—on shots from youngsters Cam Wilson and Vince Stewart—while Surrey’s Drew Smiley was equal to the task as he made a magnificent save on a shot by Dan Kirincic. In the end, however, with only a few minutes to go in the second overtime period, Smiley was unable to smother a long, speculative shot and a very opportunistic Chris Jarvie pounced on the rebound to score the game’s lone goal. Defensively, Steve Millar and Tom Elliot were dominant for Surrey United, while midfielder Jeff Skinner was his usual brilliant self for the Firemen. The Firefighters will now travel to Victoria to take on Gorge FC, another heavy favourite!!!
TEAM OF THE WEEK: VANCOUVER FIREFIGHTERS for their second consecutive upset victory—this latest one a 1-0 overtime decision over VMSL champions Surrey United. The Firemen have now won two games without scoring one single goal in regulation time! As a result of the hard-fought victory, the Firefighters will now advance to the semi-finals of the Province Cup where they will take on another heavy favourite, Victoria Gorge. GOOD LUCK BOYS!!!!
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Firefighters’ goalkeeper MIKE FRANKS for yet another incredible performance, this one against the heavily-favoured Surrey United. Last week Franks made a couple of sensational saves against the Metro-Ford Wolves and he continued his amazing performance against Surrey United as he thwarted the vaunted Surrey forwards on several occasions. For his outstanding performance, MIKE FRANKS will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2006-05-25.
Ouch!!
