Imperial Cup 2018 Imperial Cup

[Canucks4Ever]

Fury are struggling for players... might forfeit to GN North Delta tomorrow.

Sounds like #FakeNews

I'd be very surprised and disappointed if that happens; as you can tell, I have no tolerance for forfeits...

 

[SmartCoach]

This my 19th season with Westside then Rino’s
To my knowledge we have never forfeited a game

 

[Canucks4Ever]

Holy beat down...5-0 Inter over League Champs Rovers Tigers

In case anyone was wondering, I'd say the Provincial Champs are back...

 

[dezza]

Fury 3-0 GN North Delta.

Sloppy game by our skeleton crew. Could have easily been up a couple or down a couple in the first half as both teams squandered good chances.

2nd half GN bunkered, but managed to get a breakaway on a counter which our GK did well to rush out and block. We finally popped one with 15 minutes left, and then scored 2 more late as GNND had to finally open up and attack us.

On to the club derby next Saturday!

 

[SmartCoach]

The fix is in Rino’s Fury to make the final of the cup
All premier will let them win

 

[Canucks4Ever]

Completely Baseless Predictions: Imperial Cup
Quarter Finals:

Rino's Tigers v Rino's Fury/GN North Delta
TBD. Obviously you would have to think it will be a Rino's derby, but only time will tell...

Rino's Tigers v Rino's Fury
The lone remaining Division 1 side in the Imperial Cup take to the field against their big brother as it's a Rino's derby between the Tigers and the Fury. These teams met in a pair of fiery affairs last season in Division 1, so the idea of either team giving their club mates a pass in this one is rather unlikely. In fact, the odds on this game finishing with fewer than 22 players on the pitch might be a good bet. Tigers have obviously upped their game a notch this season, but, after looking like Provincial Cup shoe-ins and outside title contenders briefly before Christmas, they have looked very average through the home stretch. They finally bounced back to winning way for the first time in 2018 when they won a massive game as it pertains to Provincial Cup qualification against Coquitlam Metro Ford and followed that up with a tidy 2-0 performance against Division 1 Burnaby Metro in their first Imperial Cup match. However, that was way back on February 17 and that serves as the last time the Tigers played a competitive fixture. The Fury had their Imperial Cup match with GN North Delta postponed due to the snow and only finally got it in last weekend. They will not fear their fellow Rino-ians and will be sure of pulling off the biggest of cup shocks after a rather hum-drum league campaign for their part. Tigers though have Metro Ford breathing down their necks for the final Provincial Cup spot and, if the Tri-Cities boys can bag the points on Friday against Croatia, they will pull level with Tigers with each team having a pair of games left to play. Therefore, it would be much more straight forward for Tigers to just qualify for the Provincials via being a finalist for the Cup and then someone else can worry about Coquitlam reeling them in on the league table. As much as Fury will put up a stern fight, Tigers certainly have to favourite here and really cannot afford to look such a gift horse in the mouth.

 

[dezza]

CMF are actually playing Inter
Croatia are playing Sapperton

If Inter + Sapp win, then Tigers will be in pretty good shape for qualifying for Provincials via League, and can leave the berth via cup progress to Fury

 

[Sir M]

West Van defeated Pegasus 1-0 out in Newton last night.

 

[Canucks4Ever]

The Imperial Cup final four offer quite the variety and perhaps a few surprise contenders. To add to the intrigue, there is more than just a place in the final on the line, as there are Provincial Cup implications to consider as well. Not to mention I was finally able to go four for four on my picks. A double header at Empire offers the neutral a chance to enjoy plenty of top quality footy on Saturday and hopefully the matches live up to that billing.

Completely Baseless Predictions: Imperial Cup
Quarter Finals: 4/4
Overall: 16/20

Semi-Finals:

Inter v Rino's Tigers
Rino's have had a bit of a cake walk to get here as they have only had to face a pair of Division 1 sides. Those wins in the Round of 16 and the Quarters have accounted for two of Rino's only three wins in 2018. The other, however, was perhaps the most important of all, as they beat their lone rivals for the final Provincial Cup spot, Coquitlam. With Metro Ford's loss to Peg Friday night, Rino's need to win but one of their remaining games to clinch their first ever berth in the Provinces marquee event. That would include a win in this Semi-Final against the defending Provincial Cup Champions, Inter. If you want to compare and contrast, these two have been polar opposites of late with Inter scorching hot down the stretch while Tigers have cooled off big time since the holidays. Rino's are rumoured to be hampered by availability issues with their university all-stars; no indication whether or not they will be made available for this one. Meanwhile, Inter have rediscovered their champion's pedigree and are unbeaten in eight, including last round's pummeling of league winners Rover Tigers to the tune of 5-0. Not to mention Inter's reputation for loving the big stage and an Imperial Cup Semi Final fits that profile. This is definitely a case of "hot against not", though Rino's can argue that it really does not make a hill-of-beans of difference how you get to this stage, it only matters that you do. Anything can happen in a one and done scenario and you have to this Rino's are relying on that being the case here. The season series was settled over a nine day period with Tigers coming away with a draw and then a win. That was in December however and, certainly at the moment, Inter are in better form overall. A semi final can generally go either way, but in a "what have you done for me lately world" I'll take the "Italians" to emerge victorious in this one.

West Van v Croatia
This one is the MOTR with third in the league playing fourth. Both teams have already secured a place in the Provincial Cup, so this one is solely about chasing down some silverware. It is almost a tale of two seasons for these teams with mirror opposite trajectories. West Van limped through the early part of the campaign but are now beyond red hot. They have one seven straight matches and are unbeaten in 12, dating back to November 18. Croatia, on the other hand, did most of their heavy lifting over the early part of the season. They are far from being in a tailspin at the moment, but the performances of late have left something to be desired. They did just knock of league champions Rovers Tigers 3-0, but the Surrey boys have nothing much to play for at the moment. Overall these two are well matched and they splint the season series, each winning away from home. Croatia found the combination to the lock at Ambleside and snuck away with a 1-0 win back when the North Shore boys were really limping offensively. In the return leg a few weeks ago the script was completely flipped when the former Trollers took advantage of the Europeans recent lack of defensive attention to detail and went off in a 6-2 drubbing. Now though, which story line will reign supreme in this one? I'll lean towards the numbers to determine a winner here. West Van boast easily the fewest goals against throughout the top flight, while Croatia have been bleeding goals of late. No mention of Croatia would be complete without including likely golden boot winner David Malamura and he should give them the chance to win any game, but I think West Van's recently reborn offense will be licking their chops ahead of facing Croatia's suddenly porous defense. Add in the ridiculous streak the North Shore boys are on an I think the safe money is on them lining up in the final come April 7.

 

[Canucks4Ever]

Rino's over Inter in PKs and will play in the Provincials. Lots of talking points in that one.

Croatia 3-1 over West Van. Got the winner 8 mins from time. Much more straightforward.

Reports to follow...

 

[Regs]

Metro Ford is out I believe with those results and their league loss to Peg last night?

 

[Canucks4Ever]

Metro Ford is out I believe with those results and their league loss to Peg last night?

Correct. Rino's claim the sixth and final spot regardless of league finish.

 

[GoF]

Rino's v Inter was a cracker. I'll let Canucks4Ever do his report, but we're talking about four goals, a missed penalty, two sending offs in the 120th minute, and lots more! Plus there was Blaise getting over excited (understandably) with his side's last minute equaliser, running on the pitch, and getting sent off. Here's the video to that. Full highlights video will go up overnight

 

[GoF]

Ok, here's the 8 minutes of highlights. Enjoyed this one!

 

[Canucks4Ever]

Yes, the Imperial Cup Final is set and it will be two very young teams as Rino's will appear in the VMSL's showpiece event for the first time in their club's history. They have also booked a first ever trip to the Provincial Cup for a team that has struggled to establish itself at the top level after breaking away from Westside roughly a decade ago. Recent investment has given the club a platform for a springboard to success a la Man City and they will look to win one of the biggest and most historic trophies available to compete for at the amateur level in Canada. Opposing them will be a Croatia side who last lifted the Imperial Cup in 2005. Sulentic and Co. have rebuilt their program in recent years and will know look for the club's biggest win since they lifted the Provincial Cup in 2014. The two teams booked their tickets for the big dance on a lovely, sunny, springlike day down at Empire which was picture perfect for a pair of side by side semi-finals.

The first of the staggered kickoffs was Rino's against Inter. The "Italians" controlled the early play and had the better of the chances to open the scoring as Marco Visintin and Milad Mehrabi both uncharacteristically blasted wide from inside the penalty area after Inter had attacked quickly down the flanks and provided service for the big men up front. Mehrabi would atone for his miss, however, later in the half when he did indeed begin the scorekeeper's work. He picked up the ball on the left hand side and simply out muscled the Rino's defender, powering home a shot to make it 1-0 Inter. At the other end, Rino's were hardly troubling Erman Ozkan in the Inter goal, settling for mostly tepid, long rang attempts on target. If the first half was to be the template for the match, Inter were shaping up for a relatively easy day at the office and it could have got even easier when the first major refereeing decision occurred part way through the opening period. Tigers were attacking with pace through the midfield when their man was pulled back with an arm across the chest. Simultaneously, the Inter centreback was charging hard, coming to clear out the ball, the man and likely anything else that got in his way. Already fouled and falling, the Rino's attacker took the opportunity to challenge two footed on the charging centreback, sending him tumbling and giving referee Kevin Uppal a decision to make. It was certainly a horror tackle, but the Rino's man would argue that he simply lost control of his body after being pulled back initially. It was a grey area of just how much did he actually know what he was doing and, on a big stage, with lots of time still to play, Uppal reached for only the yellow card and informed the Rino's player that the only reason it was not a sending off was because he had in fact being fouled initially. Inter protested, but perhaps this was foreshadowing of most of the critical decisions not breaking their way on the afternoon; 1-0 at half time.

As the second half kicked off for Rino's and Inter, action got underway on the neighbouring pitch between Crotia and West Van. Perhaps somebody forgot to inform Croatia of what time kickoff was because it was all West Van early. The former Trollers were having an abundance of joy attacking down their right wing and we sending in crosses by what felt like the dozen. Croatia scrambled them all away, but it felt simply a matter of when, not if, the North Shore boys were going to get on top. The amount of times Croatia crossed the halfway line with any sort of meaningful possession in the opening half an hour could likely have been counted on one hand. As the first half entered it's final third Croatia did start to come into the game, but West Van were still in control overall. Meanwhile, back on the North pitch, Rino's started as they had finished the first half, controlling possession, but not creating any guilt edged opportunities. They were still settling for long range attempts, but served notice that their shooting should be respected when the hit the bar soon after the restart. Out of almost nothing they were level when their fullback was allowed to travel fully the width of the pitch and shape one up on his favoured right foot from just outside the area. Not sure if Ozkan did not see it but, whatever the case, he was rooted to the spot as it sailed past him at his near post. Inter were undeterred though and had their lead back after just over five minutes. The move was nothing special at all as the Tiger's defence hardly covered themselves in glory, especially after just having got back into the game at 1-1. This time it was Visitin who out-muscled the Rino's back line before squaring across the top of the six-yard-box for Milad Rahmati to add himself to the score sheet alongside his namesake who had got Inter's first.

From this point on Rino's took over and were the better team as they streamed forward in waves on attack after attack. Their play likely deserved an equalizer, but their finishing was woeful. Inter looked gassed, but still posed a counter attacking threat. Rino's wasteful finishing looked to have cost them when, roughly twelve minutes from time, their keeper, who had been very aggressive and quick off his line all afternoon, got caught in no-mans-land and fouled the Inter attacker just outside the area. Inter turned in the ball with their next touch, but referee Uppal had not played any type of advantage. He also only reached for a yellow card when there surely could have been a case for an obvious goal scoring opportunity and, therefore, a red card, because the challenge came outside the area. Inter's protests were fervent, understandably so, and Uppal could clearly be heard saying that he had "made a mistake" in blowing the whistle as quickly as he did. Small consolation for Inter whose free kick came to nothing. Simultaneously, on the South pitch, West Van finally got their deserved opener when they turned home their umpteenth cross from the right wing.

Back on the North side, while it should have been 3-1 and lights out, instead Rino's still had a pulse and boy did they make it count. Two minutes from time, Connor McMillan finally turned home the equalizer that had been coming for about half an hour and sent the Rino's camp into ecstasy. The celebrations were a bit too over the top, however, as the Tiger's coach, Blaise Nkufo, along with a player not dressed, stormed off the bench to join the players on the field. While the passion was to be admired, it certainly was not professional and those sorts of antics cannot be tolerated. Blaise was rightly sent to the stands for the conclusion of the ninety minutes and ensuing extra time. It will be interesting to see if there is any further supplemental discipline from the league regarding his sending off that might impact his involvement moving forward. We had another thirty minutes to come as the full time score between Inter and Rino's was 2-2, while Croatia trailed West Van 1-0 at half time.

As the action resumed on both pitches Croatia had finally woken up. Their young attacking force put together a nice, flowing move that saw them bang in the equalizer, right under the crossbar within a few minutes of the restart. From here the game was very well matched with both teams exchanging chances, but most of the game was a midfield battle with few moments to truly get the blood racing in front of goal. In extra time between Rino's and Inter it was one way traffic. Rino's continued to have the "Italians" on the back foot, but they continued to be unable to find the back of the net. The big talking point was yet another refereeing decision. The Rino's attacker cut into the box at full tilt as the Inter defender came sliding in with the tackle. The attackers touch was heavy and the ball rolling away from him, but the challenge got no where near the ball and forced the attacker tumbling over. The main issue from Inter's perspective was that they claimed there was no actual contact between the players. Tough to tell from Uppal's angle how much of that he could see, but there was, in fact, no direct contact at any point between the players. The flip side of the argument is that the defender had no play on the ball and the only reason that he avoided the contact was because the attacker was nimble enough to hurdle the challenge. A bit of a grey area, but when you put in that kind of an all or nothing challenge and get nothing you leave yourself open to the referee's interpretation. Likely a penalty was the correct decision in this case, but, if you are Inter, I think you are understandably frustrated when you continue to be on the wrong side of all these calls. Regardless, it was a penalty and perhaps karma from the Inter perspective, because, after tying the game at the death, McMillan stepped up and took a very poor penalty that was easily saved. While obviously disappointed, Rino's got right back to work and continued to wrack up the chances. At one point they did have the ball behind Ozkan, only to see it strike the post and roll into the Inter keeper's grateful arms.

As the clock ticked towards full time of extra time we saw the other part of Inter that the "Italians" are famous, or perhaps infamous, for, as things got ugly. Inter certainly have a temper and the way that they play right on the edge often helps them find that extra gear, but it can also lead to very poor scenes. One needs only to think back to how the Provincial Cup final ended last season to see another example of the East Van based boys and their hot heads. This time, with their last attack, Inter pinged the ball down the near touchline for Rahmati to chase. He was always going to be second best with the Rino's defender taking a good angle and getting across to position his body between Milad and the ball. Milad, undaunted, tried his best to force a turnover and, likely as a result of some pent up frustration, he was rather overzealous with his actions. He grabbed the arm and jersey and anything else he could get a hold of on the Rino's man until he ultimately wrapped his arms around the neck/chest of the defender from behind and drew a whistle. The Rino's defender and captain then turned to take issue with Milad and, given the size advantage, he threw his weight around a bit, wrapping up Milad before shoving him rather forcefully, two handed in the chest. Milad, of course, is not one to back down, and went right back at the Rino's man exchanging shoves as others rushed towards the scene. Milad's teammates were just seconds too late to save the highly talented, but hot tempered, attacker from himself though, as just as they arrived to try and pull him away from the melee, Milad threw a punch. The big Rino's man seemed to dodge it, but the damage was done. Likely the situation could have been resolved with each player receiving a yellow card for their role in the nonsense, but once a punch was thrown Milad had to be off and Uppal duly produced the red card and brandished in his direction. He then seemed to put the card away before turning to deal with the Tiger's player and perhaps he was thinking that a yellow would be in order for the defender and the role he played in the altercation, but, with the Inter bench baying and tempers running high, Uppal went back for the red and the teams finished at 10 aside. The decision seemed harsh on the Rino's man, but there was no time to dwell on things given that the final whistle sounded immediately following the restart and we were off to penalties.

While all that was getting set on the North pitch, the action on the South pitch seemed like it too might be heading towards extra time. There was to be a sting on the tail however, as this time it was Croatia who were able to cross a ball in from the right wing. It bobbled around in the penalty area until one of the Europeans was quickest to react and stabbed it home to make it 2-1. Eight minutes from time West Van had it all to do and they threw everything at the Croatians but the ball just would not land kindly for them. With everyone committed forward Croatia sprung a two-on-none counter attack in injury time to make the result safe. The attacker in possession chose to keep the ball and take the shot on himself with only the keeper to beat. He actually hit the post, but the rebound fell kindly to his teammate who simply rolled it into an unguarded cage; maybe it was a pass all along. FT West Van 1-3 Croatia. Penalties were underway on the North pitch and Michael Nonni shot third for Inter. His effort would hit the post and no one else would miss. FT (AET) Inter 2(4)-2(5) Rino's.

*******
Heard rumours that after the dust settled there was an incident at the dressing rooms between Inter and Rino's. Allegedly Milad Rahmati came over to congratulate Rino's and shake a players hand, at which point Milad then, beer in hand, sucker punched the Rino's player square in the face. Again, I was not there at the time, but I am told that the police were called, though Milad had slipped away into the night by the time they arrived. Not sure all the facts in this one, but certainly not the kind of thing you want to be talking about after two well contested semi-finals. If true, that would certainly be a stain that the league will not fancy having on their reputation and one has to think that they would come down incredibly hard on Inter and Milad.

 

[dezza]

@Canucks4Ever I think there were some typos in the rosters of the matchday programme you were holding, because Erman is not playing this season, and CMac did not take the ET penalty that was saved.

 

[Crazy-K]

Nice recap of the games.

Have to give the Croats a little more credit they played fantastic in the second half. I was back and fort for both games.

Little fix Ermen wasn’t in net for inter he was walking his dog around the field during the game seems like retirement has hit him.

The fight incident is complete correct how it happened rinos players face didn’t look very nice after and defiantly a sucker punch. It’s time for the league to get rid of this goof ball some people just don’t know how to loose. Looked like the inter players kicked him out of the changerooms after the incident as they weren’t happy with his decision.

 

[Canucks4Ever]

Apologies for the inaccuracies, must have missed my invite to Erman's retirement last season... I know I've seen Kindel in goal for them a bunch when I've watched them this season, but when I saw him on the sidelines, and given it was a big game, I just assumed.

Yes, watching the video back I see it was 10 not 18 who took the penalty. Perhaps it should have been given to Connor, it certainly would have been difficult to muster a poorer attempt.

 

[Sir M]

One Inter coach pushed his hair back behind his ear 144 times during a ten minute period in the second half.

 

[machel]

One Inter coach pushed his hair back behind his ear 144 times during a ten minute period in the second half.

lol