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Weekly Review Azzi's Superlative Week in Review 2010/2011
- Thread starter sixfyv
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- #22
2010-10-11
PREMIER DIVISION – DAY 7
One huge upset—as well as a relatively minor one—took place this past weekend as the Metro-Ford Wolves remained the only unbeaten team in the Premier Division, while Westside FC lost its first game, to the resurging Delta United. The big upset took place on Saturday at Queen’s Park Stadium when the struggling Sapperton Rovers dealt the aspiring Surrey United Firefighters a 1-0 loss, thus dropping the Firemen into 5th place in the standings. At the bottom of the table, the Punjab Hurricanes and the Serbian White Eagles continued to struggle and thus remain mired in last and penultimate place respectively.
WEST VAN FC - RICHMOND FC HIBERNIANS 1-0: On Friday evening, at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver, the highly-favoured former Trollers struggled somewhat but were still able to lay claim to all 3 points by edging the visiting Hibernians by a 1-0 margin. As the final score indicates, the match was an evenly-played, defensive struggle with both teams trying hard not to lose all 3 points. However, in the end, West Van’s experience appeared to be the deciding factor, while Richmond’s talented youngsters played remarkably well, albeit in a losing cause. The Hibernians came close to scoring the opening goal early in the first half when a clever through ball by midfielder Erik Olsen sprang striker Taj Sangara on a breakaway, but his shot flew over the crossbar. The remainder of the first half was full of hard tackles, quick changes of possession, but very few scoring chances. However, very late in the first half, Richmond FC’s Erik Olsen, after having beaten 2 West Van defenders, sent a brilliant cross into the West Van box. Unfortunately for the visitors, midfielder Tom Brook was unable to finish off Olsen’s pass as his shot skimmed the outside of the far post. Early in the second half, the Hibs once again came close to scoring but on this occasion West Van’s goalkeeper Tyler Silvestre came up with a rather fortuitous save on Taj Sangara’s shot—after he had been set up by Alex Orasa. As luck would have it, it was West Van FC that took the lead at the 55th minute mark when Drew Gelley’s corner kick was redirected by Austin Lowrie towards the Richmond goal. Masumi Turnbull’s desperate effort to prevent the ball from entering the net was unsuccessful and, as a result, West Van was able to walk away with all 3 points. Defensively, Drew Gelley, Tim Perry, Leo Nash, and Kyle McDiarmid played extremely well for the home team, while goalkeeper Tyler Silvestre was forced to make a few excellent saves to earn his fourth clean sheet of the season. Midfielders Erik Olsen and Tom Brook were outstanding in the Hibernians’ line-up, while defenders Rory Gattens, Stu Walters, Marcus Brougham, and Geoff Salt also performed admirably throughout the match. The victory—West Van’s fifth of the season—catapults them into second place in the Premier Division standings, while the Hibs remain in the middle of the pack with a 2-2-3 record.
METRO-FORD WOLVES - SERBIAN WHITE EAGLES 3-1: Also on Friday evening, at Coquitlam Town Centre, the Metro-Ford Wolves remained solidly in first place due to a 3-1 victory over the visiting Serbian White Eagles. The first half was quite evenly played with the Wolves having the best scoring opportunity when Jovan Blagojevic fired a blistering shot from the edge of the penalty area, only to have the ball bounce off the crossbar and out of danger. The home team took the lead early in the second half when two veterans—Russel Huggon and Ian Clarke—combined to score the opening goal. After Clarke’s shot had been brilliantly saved by goalkeeper Aaron Young, Huggon easily tapped the rebound into the wide open net. Shortly thereafter, the White Eagles had a golden opportunity to knot the score but a close-range shot by newly-signed Bobby Jhutty—after he had received a clever pass from Nemanja Okuka—was well-saved by goalkeeper Mathew Bird. At this point, the Wolves poured on the pressure but some outstanding goalkeeping on the part of Aaron Young kept the White Eagles in the game. In particular, Young made a few sensational saves on shots by Russ Huggon, Mladen Ljumovic, and Ian Clarke. Then, midway through the second half, young Sasha Vukovic scored what proved to be the winning goal for the Wolves as he headed home a fine cross by Kia Mirzahossian. Once again, however, the Serbians fought back and came close to narrowing the margin when Okuka beat a couple of Metro-Ford defenders before sending an immaculate pass onto the path of Dalvir Mahli, whose weak shot was easily handled by Bird. The Wolves then proceeded to score the insurance marker on another fine header—this time by Brayden Gant—on yet another great cross by Kia Mirzahossien. Late in the match, the White Eagles scored their lone goal of the match when Bobby Jhutty made a great run down the middle of the park after having received a through ball from Nemanja Okuka. Jhutty then proceeded to lay a perfect pass onto the path of Sidd Achuthan who, after beating a couple of defenders at the edge of the penalty area, slotted the ball into the far corner of Bird’s net. The victory solidifies Metro-Ford’s hold on first place, while the White Eagles remain mired in penultimate place in the Premier Division standings.
SAPPERTON ROVERS - SURREY UNITED FIREFIGHTERS 1-0: On Saturday, at Queen’s Park Stadium in New Westminster, the Rovers climbed out of the relegation zone by upsetting the visiting Firefighters by an unpredictable 1-0 margin. As anticipated, Surrey United controlled most of the play but had difficulty penetrating a very tight Sapperton defense. On the occasions when the Firemen were able to create goalscoring chances, some poor finishing and a few excellent saves on the part of goalkeeper Garth Lagasse kept their acclaimed strikers off the scoreboard. In particular, an early opportunity by Cam Wilson went awry as his shot skimmed the goal post with Lagasse well beaten. Midway through the first half, Surrey United once again came close to scoring but, on this occasion, a Mason Webb cross was headed wide of the net by Lucas Barrett. The second half was more or less a repeat of the first as the Firefighters tried desperately to remain in the running for the Premier Division title. However, as luck would have it, it was the Rovers that took the lead midway through the second half when Matthew Rosenlund was fouled by Robbie Wilson well outside the Surrey penalty area. On the ensuing free-kick, Andrew Celenza curled an amazing shot around the defensive wall and into the top corner of the net, past a bewildered Drew Smiley. Shortly thereafter, to add insult to injury, playing coach Niall Thompson was ejected from the game for having received his second caution of the match, leaving Surrey United with only 10 men for the remainder of the game. To their credit, the Firefighters kept pressing for the equalizer and almost succeeded in the dying moments of the match when goalkeeper Drew Smiley pushed forward on a last-minute corner kick and proceeded to bounce his header off the crossbar. Defensively for the Rovers, the Phillips brothers—Colin and Brody—played extremely well, particularly since neither of them is accustomed to playing in that position! The victory places Sapperton in the middle of the Premier Division pack, while the defending champions Firefighters are now in 5th place, albeit with a game in hand over the top 4 teams.
ICSF INTER - CROATIA SC 1-1: The second Saturday afternoon game was played at Adanac Park in Vancouve and featured the hosting ICSF Inter and the visiting Croatia SC. At the end of the day, both teams—although desperately in need of all 3 points—settled for a highly-contested 1-1 draw. The match could be best described as a game of two halves as Inter dominated the entire first half, only to have Croatia SC bounce back and take control of the second 45 minutes. Inter took the lead at about the 30th minute mark when a well-taken, long-range free kick by Ryan Zaharija was redirected by Mike D’Agostino onto the path of a wide-open Liam Miller who calmly slotted the ball into the Croatian net from close range. Inter had a couple of excellent chances to increase its lead before the halftime whistle but young veteran Joseph Marrello was unable to convert on both occasions. On the first, Marrello’s blistering full-volley sailed wide of the Croatia net, while on the second, Marrello—after having received a great cross from teammate Colin Streckmann—proceeded to hammer the ball towards the Croatian goal, only to have goalkeeper Didar Sandhu come up with a sensational save. The Croatians bounced back in the second half and created a few chances of their own before knotting the score at the 70th minute mark. Earlier, at about the 60th minute mark, veteran Chris Craveiro made a fine run down the middle of the park before unleashing a wicked, dipping shot that seemed destined for the back of the net. As luck would have it, however, the ball barely missed the net and sailed over the crossbar. Ten minute later, however, former professional Johnny Sulentic—after having made a great run down the left flank—forced Inter’s goalkeeper Dennis Kindel to make an outstanding save. Unfortunately for Kindel and the rest of the ICSF clan, the rebound was picked up by a wide-open Cristian Tropeano who unselfishly squared the ball to Darko Jelic who had no difficulty whatsoever in depositing it into the back of the Inter net for the equalizer. Shortly thereafter, the Croatians almost took the lead when substitute Kreso Bebic controlled a long, cross-field ball from Mirko Maras, but watched agonizingly as his half-volley shot barely missed the net. Goalkeeper Didar Sandhu played extremely well between the Croatian pipes, particularly in the first half when he had to make a few superlative saves. As well, central defender Darko Jelic and midfielder Johnny Sulentic also performed admirably for the visiting team. For Inter, forward Liam Miller not only scored the lone goal for his team, but was a constant threat as he used his enormous speed to full advantage. Midfielders Mike D’Agostino, Mike Tempesta and Joseph Marrello also played very well for the Italians. As a result of the tie, both teams remain in the middle of the pack in the Premier Division standings.
AKAL FC - PUNJAB HURRICANES 5-2: On Saturday evening, at Newton Athletic Park, the ‘Indian’ derby took place with Akal FC disposing of the winless Punjab Hurricanes by a rather elaborate 5-2 margin. The Hurricanes got off to a great start and scored the opening goal at about the 5th minute mark when Joti Thind was able to beat a couple of Akal defenders inside the box before firing the ball into the net for the go-ahead goal. The Hurricanes’ lead, however, was short-lived as Akal FC tied things up 5 minutes later when a well-taken free kick by Arash Afrooze sailed into the Punjab net for the equalizer. Shortly thereafter, Akal FC took the lead with Afrooze once again involved in the play. On this occasion a header by Afrooze was handled on its way to the net by Hurricanes’ defender Rupi Birring. Not only was a penalty kick awarded to Akal FC, but Birring was ejected from the match for having denied an obvious goalscoring opportunity. On the ensuing penalty kick, Emmanuel Bentil made no mistake and thus gave his team the 2-1 lead. Despite playing short-handed, the Hurricanes equalized when Joti Thind scored his second goal of the match—this time on a penalty kick. The spot shot was awarded when Thind himself was tripped inside the penalty area by Akal’s Hussein Abu. However, late in the first half, Akal FC regained the lead as Under 21 player, Pavi Dhillion, beat a couple of defenders down the left flank before unleashing an unstoppable shot into the back of the Punjab net. Akal FC controlled most of the second half and scored two more goals to put the game out of the Hurricanes’ reach. At the 60th minute mark, BJ Rockson scored the insurance marker with a great shot from the edge of the penalty area. Late in the match, Rockson set up young Pavi Dhillion with a wonderful cross, a cross that Dhillion converted into his team’s 5th goal with an easy tap-in. Needless to say, Dhillion played extremely well in his midfield role, while midfielders Arash Afrooze and Emmanual Bentil—as well as forward BJ Rockson—also turned in excellent performances. As a result of the victory, Akal FC climbs out of the dreaded relegation zone and into the middle of the pack, while the Hurricanes remain mired in last place with only 2 points.
DELTA UNITED – WESTSIDE FC 1-0: On Sunday, at John Oliver Park in Delta, Westside FC’s unbeaten streak came to an abrupt end as Delta United prevailed by a 1-0 margin after a hard-fought 90 minutes of non-stop action. The first half was very evenly played, with both teams limited to few goalscoring opportunities. In the second half, the Westsiders seemed to take control of the match, particularly due to the excellent play of midfielders John Stonehocker, Indy Khabra, Andre` Herath, Eric Peters, and James Brown. The visitors came close to scoring what would have been the opening goal midway through the first half, but a well-taken free kick by Michael Campion was brilliantly saved by Delta’s veteran goalkeeper Steve London. Shortly thereafter, efforts by Westside’s Eric Peters and Cedric Lunel missed the net by mere inches. Delta United also had a couple of goalscoring opportunities, but Shawn Blakeway uncharacteristically missed the net on a close-range header and Jeff Hodgson sent his shot—after having received a great pass from Blakeway—over the net. Very late in the match, Delta’s Phil Lensky stirpped the ball from a Westside defender, raced in on goal on a breakway and deposited the ball behind goalkeeper Rowan Anders for the game’s lone goal. As mentioned earlier, Delta’s goalkeeper Steve London once again played superbly, while defenders Steve Millar, John Blair, Woody Bradford, Brett Livingstone, and Brian Fowler also deserve a special mention for their fine performances. The victory elevates Delta United to 5th place in the Premier Division table, while Westside FC drops to third place, with a 4-2-1 record.
COLUMBUS FC - ICST PEGASUS 3-1: The final Premier Division game was played on Sunday at Andy Livingstone Park in Vancouver between two very talented teams—Columbus FC and the visiting ‘Flying Horses’. Despite the score, the game was evenly-played with both teams creating numerous goalscoring opportunities. The ‘Italians’ got off to a good start and were rewarded at about the 20th minute mark when Sheu Fortunato sent a great cross into the Pegasus penalty area in the direction of teammate Steve DeBlasio, who was subsequently fouled by Ryan Powell, resulting in a penalty kick being awarded to Columbus. DeBlasio himself stepped up to the plate and fired the ball into the back of the net, giving goalkeeper Andy Singh no chance whatsoever. Shortly thereafter, Singh pulled off a remarkable save on a close-range shot by Kozo Manome to keep the scoreline respectable till the halftime break. It should be mentioned that Pegasus came close to knotting the score just before the halftime whistle, when Azad Palani raced in all alone on a breakaway only to have goalkeeper Thomas Lindley come up with a brilliant save. Early in the second half, Palani was once again denied as he headed a great cross by Deep Toor towards the Columbus net only to have Lindley pull off yet another acrobatic save. The missed chances came back to haunt the visitors as Columbus added its second goal on a well-struck free kick by Steve DeBlasio from the edge of the penalty area. To add insult to injury, Columbus added its third goal on a lethal counter-attack involving Blair Robertson, Steve DeBlasio, and Steve Frazao. Defender Robertson started the play with a clever pass to DeBlasio down the right flank. DeBlasio than proceeded to cross the ball onto the path of a streaking Steve Frazao who made no mistake in finding the back of the net. However, the visitors refused to give up and came storming back in search of their first goal. They were finally rewarded at the 75th minute mark when second-half substitute Omari Aldridge collected a bouncing ball, beat one defender, and then rocketed a brilliant left-foot shot into the top corner of the net. With about 5 minutes remaining in the match, Pegasus came close to narrowing the margin as Herman Sidhu blasted a long-range shot off the crossbar. On the ensuing rebound, Meysam Soltani headed the ball just wide of the net. All in all, a very well played game between two very skillful teams!! The victory elevates Columbus to 4th place in the standings, while ICST Pegasus drops to 11th place with a mediocre 2-1-4 record.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: SAPPERTON ROVERS for their incredible 1-0 victory over the reigning VMSL champions Surrey United Firefighters. Led by the excellent performances of fill-in defenders Colin Phillips and Brody Phillips, the Rovers defended admirably well as they kept the vaunted Surrey United attackers at bay throughout the contest. The all-important victory elevates the Rovers out of the dreaded relegation zone!
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Columbus’ forward STEVE DEBLASIO for his superlative performance in his team’s 3-1 victory over ICST Pegasus. DeBlasio scored two goals on set pieces—one on a penalty kick and one on a free kick—and also set up the clincher with a brilliant pass to teammate Steve Frazao. For his excellent performance, STEVE DEBLASIO will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2010-10-28.
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PREMIER DIVISION – DAY 7
One huge upset—as well as a relatively minor one—took place this past weekend as the Metro-Ford Wolves remained the only unbeaten team in the Premier Division, while Westside FC lost its first game, to the resurging Delta United. The big upset took place on Saturday at Queen’s Park Stadium when the struggling Sapperton Rovers dealt the aspiring Surrey United Firefighters a 1-0 loss, thus dropping the Firemen into 5th place in the standings. At the bottom of the table, the Punjab Hurricanes and the Serbian White Eagles continued to struggle and thus remain mired in last and penultimate place respectively.
WEST VAN FC - RICHMOND FC HIBERNIANS 1-0: On Friday evening, at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver, the highly-favoured former Trollers struggled somewhat but were still able to lay claim to all 3 points by edging the visiting Hibernians by a 1-0 margin. As the final score indicates, the match was an evenly-played, defensive struggle with both teams trying hard not to lose all 3 points. However, in the end, West Van’s experience appeared to be the deciding factor, while Richmond’s talented youngsters played remarkably well, albeit in a losing cause. The Hibernians came close to scoring the opening goal early in the first half when a clever through ball by midfielder Erik Olsen sprang striker Taj Sangara on a breakaway, but his shot flew over the crossbar. The remainder of the first half was full of hard tackles, quick changes of possession, but very few scoring chances. However, very late in the first half, Richmond FC’s Erik Olsen, after having beaten 2 West Van defenders, sent a brilliant cross into the West Van box. Unfortunately for the visitors, midfielder Tom Brook was unable to finish off Olsen’s pass as his shot skimmed the outside of the far post. Early in the second half, the Hibs once again came close to scoring but on this occasion West Van’s goalkeeper Tyler Silvestre came up with a rather fortuitous save on Taj Sangara’s shot—after he had been set up by Alex Orasa. As luck would have it, it was West Van FC that took the lead at the 55th minute mark when Drew Gelley’s corner kick was redirected by Austin Lowrie towards the Richmond goal. Masumi Turnbull’s desperate effort to prevent the ball from entering the net was unsuccessful and, as a result, West Van was able to walk away with all 3 points. Defensively, Drew Gelley, Tim Perry, Leo Nash, and Kyle McDiarmid played extremely well for the home team, while goalkeeper Tyler Silvestre was forced to make a few excellent saves to earn his fourth clean sheet of the season. Midfielders Erik Olsen and Tom Brook were outstanding in the Hibernians’ line-up, while defenders Rory Gattens, Stu Walters, Marcus Brougham, and Geoff Salt also performed admirably throughout the match. The victory—West Van’s fifth of the season—catapults them into second place in the Premier Division standings, while the Hibs remain in the middle of the pack with a 2-2-3 record.
METRO-FORD WOLVES - SERBIAN WHITE EAGLES 3-1: Also on Friday evening, at Coquitlam Town Centre, the Metro-Ford Wolves remained solidly in first place due to a 3-1 victory over the visiting Serbian White Eagles. The first half was quite evenly played with the Wolves having the best scoring opportunity when Jovan Blagojevic fired a blistering shot from the edge of the penalty area, only to have the ball bounce off the crossbar and out of danger. The home team took the lead early in the second half when two veterans—Russel Huggon and Ian Clarke—combined to score the opening goal. After Clarke’s shot had been brilliantly saved by goalkeeper Aaron Young, Huggon easily tapped the rebound into the wide open net. Shortly thereafter, the White Eagles had a golden opportunity to knot the score but a close-range shot by newly-signed Bobby Jhutty—after he had received a clever pass from Nemanja Okuka—was well-saved by goalkeeper Mathew Bird. At this point, the Wolves poured on the pressure but some outstanding goalkeeping on the part of Aaron Young kept the White Eagles in the game. In particular, Young made a few sensational saves on shots by Russ Huggon, Mladen Ljumovic, and Ian Clarke. Then, midway through the second half, young Sasha Vukovic scored what proved to be the winning goal for the Wolves as he headed home a fine cross by Kia Mirzahossian. Once again, however, the Serbians fought back and came close to narrowing the margin when Okuka beat a couple of Metro-Ford defenders before sending an immaculate pass onto the path of Dalvir Mahli, whose weak shot was easily handled by Bird. The Wolves then proceeded to score the insurance marker on another fine header—this time by Brayden Gant—on yet another great cross by Kia Mirzahossien. Late in the match, the White Eagles scored their lone goal of the match when Bobby Jhutty made a great run down the middle of the park after having received a through ball from Nemanja Okuka. Jhutty then proceeded to lay a perfect pass onto the path of Sidd Achuthan who, after beating a couple of defenders at the edge of the penalty area, slotted the ball into the far corner of Bird’s net. The victory solidifies Metro-Ford’s hold on first place, while the White Eagles remain mired in penultimate place in the Premier Division standings.
SAPPERTON ROVERS - SURREY UNITED FIREFIGHTERS 1-0: On Saturday, at Queen’s Park Stadium in New Westminster, the Rovers climbed out of the relegation zone by upsetting the visiting Firefighters by an unpredictable 1-0 margin. As anticipated, Surrey United controlled most of the play but had difficulty penetrating a very tight Sapperton defense. On the occasions when the Firemen were able to create goalscoring chances, some poor finishing and a few excellent saves on the part of goalkeeper Garth Lagasse kept their acclaimed strikers off the scoreboard. In particular, an early opportunity by Cam Wilson went awry as his shot skimmed the goal post with Lagasse well beaten. Midway through the first half, Surrey United once again came close to scoring but, on this occasion, a Mason Webb cross was headed wide of the net by Lucas Barrett. The second half was more or less a repeat of the first as the Firefighters tried desperately to remain in the running for the Premier Division title. However, as luck would have it, it was the Rovers that took the lead midway through the second half when Matthew Rosenlund was fouled by Robbie Wilson well outside the Surrey penalty area. On the ensuing free-kick, Andrew Celenza curled an amazing shot around the defensive wall and into the top corner of the net, past a bewildered Drew Smiley. Shortly thereafter, to add insult to injury, playing coach Niall Thompson was ejected from the game for having received his second caution of the match, leaving Surrey United with only 10 men for the remainder of the game. To their credit, the Firefighters kept pressing for the equalizer and almost succeeded in the dying moments of the match when goalkeeper Drew Smiley pushed forward on a last-minute corner kick and proceeded to bounce his header off the crossbar. Defensively for the Rovers, the Phillips brothers—Colin and Brody—played extremely well, particularly since neither of them is accustomed to playing in that position! The victory places Sapperton in the middle of the Premier Division pack, while the defending champions Firefighters are now in 5th place, albeit with a game in hand over the top 4 teams.
ICSF INTER - CROATIA SC 1-1: The second Saturday afternoon game was played at Adanac Park in Vancouve and featured the hosting ICSF Inter and the visiting Croatia SC. At the end of the day, both teams—although desperately in need of all 3 points—settled for a highly-contested 1-1 draw. The match could be best described as a game of two halves as Inter dominated the entire first half, only to have Croatia SC bounce back and take control of the second 45 minutes. Inter took the lead at about the 30th minute mark when a well-taken, long-range free kick by Ryan Zaharija was redirected by Mike D’Agostino onto the path of a wide-open Liam Miller who calmly slotted the ball into the Croatian net from close range. Inter had a couple of excellent chances to increase its lead before the halftime whistle but young veteran Joseph Marrello was unable to convert on both occasions. On the first, Marrello’s blistering full-volley sailed wide of the Croatia net, while on the second, Marrello—after having received a great cross from teammate Colin Streckmann—proceeded to hammer the ball towards the Croatian goal, only to have goalkeeper Didar Sandhu come up with a sensational save. The Croatians bounced back in the second half and created a few chances of their own before knotting the score at the 70th minute mark. Earlier, at about the 60th minute mark, veteran Chris Craveiro made a fine run down the middle of the park before unleashing a wicked, dipping shot that seemed destined for the back of the net. As luck would have it, however, the ball barely missed the net and sailed over the crossbar. Ten minute later, however, former professional Johnny Sulentic—after having made a great run down the left flank—forced Inter’s goalkeeper Dennis Kindel to make an outstanding save. Unfortunately for Kindel and the rest of the ICSF clan, the rebound was picked up by a wide-open Cristian Tropeano who unselfishly squared the ball to Darko Jelic who had no difficulty whatsoever in depositing it into the back of the Inter net for the equalizer. Shortly thereafter, the Croatians almost took the lead when substitute Kreso Bebic controlled a long, cross-field ball from Mirko Maras, but watched agonizingly as his half-volley shot barely missed the net. Goalkeeper Didar Sandhu played extremely well between the Croatian pipes, particularly in the first half when he had to make a few superlative saves. As well, central defender Darko Jelic and midfielder Johnny Sulentic also performed admirably for the visiting team. For Inter, forward Liam Miller not only scored the lone goal for his team, but was a constant threat as he used his enormous speed to full advantage. Midfielders Mike D’Agostino, Mike Tempesta and Joseph Marrello also played very well for the Italians. As a result of the tie, both teams remain in the middle of the pack in the Premier Division standings.
AKAL FC - PUNJAB HURRICANES 5-2: On Saturday evening, at Newton Athletic Park, the ‘Indian’ derby took place with Akal FC disposing of the winless Punjab Hurricanes by a rather elaborate 5-2 margin. The Hurricanes got off to a great start and scored the opening goal at about the 5th minute mark when Joti Thind was able to beat a couple of Akal defenders inside the box before firing the ball into the net for the go-ahead goal. The Hurricanes’ lead, however, was short-lived as Akal FC tied things up 5 minutes later when a well-taken free kick by Arash Afrooze sailed into the Punjab net for the equalizer. Shortly thereafter, Akal FC took the lead with Afrooze once again involved in the play. On this occasion a header by Afrooze was handled on its way to the net by Hurricanes’ defender Rupi Birring. Not only was a penalty kick awarded to Akal FC, but Birring was ejected from the match for having denied an obvious goalscoring opportunity. On the ensuing penalty kick, Emmanuel Bentil made no mistake and thus gave his team the 2-1 lead. Despite playing short-handed, the Hurricanes equalized when Joti Thind scored his second goal of the match—this time on a penalty kick. The spot shot was awarded when Thind himself was tripped inside the penalty area by Akal’s Hussein Abu. However, late in the first half, Akal FC regained the lead as Under 21 player, Pavi Dhillion, beat a couple of defenders down the left flank before unleashing an unstoppable shot into the back of the Punjab net. Akal FC controlled most of the second half and scored two more goals to put the game out of the Hurricanes’ reach. At the 60th minute mark, BJ Rockson scored the insurance marker with a great shot from the edge of the penalty area. Late in the match, Rockson set up young Pavi Dhillion with a wonderful cross, a cross that Dhillion converted into his team’s 5th goal with an easy tap-in. Needless to say, Dhillion played extremely well in his midfield role, while midfielders Arash Afrooze and Emmanual Bentil—as well as forward BJ Rockson—also turned in excellent performances. As a result of the victory, Akal FC climbs out of the dreaded relegation zone and into the middle of the pack, while the Hurricanes remain mired in last place with only 2 points.
DELTA UNITED – WESTSIDE FC 1-0: On Sunday, at John Oliver Park in Delta, Westside FC’s unbeaten streak came to an abrupt end as Delta United prevailed by a 1-0 margin after a hard-fought 90 minutes of non-stop action. The first half was very evenly played, with both teams limited to few goalscoring opportunities. In the second half, the Westsiders seemed to take control of the match, particularly due to the excellent play of midfielders John Stonehocker, Indy Khabra, Andre` Herath, Eric Peters, and James Brown. The visitors came close to scoring what would have been the opening goal midway through the first half, but a well-taken free kick by Michael Campion was brilliantly saved by Delta’s veteran goalkeeper Steve London. Shortly thereafter, efforts by Westside’s Eric Peters and Cedric Lunel missed the net by mere inches. Delta United also had a couple of goalscoring opportunities, but Shawn Blakeway uncharacteristically missed the net on a close-range header and Jeff Hodgson sent his shot—after having received a great pass from Blakeway—over the net. Very late in the match, Delta’s Phil Lensky stirpped the ball from a Westside defender, raced in on goal on a breakway and deposited the ball behind goalkeeper Rowan Anders for the game’s lone goal. As mentioned earlier, Delta’s goalkeeper Steve London once again played superbly, while defenders Steve Millar, John Blair, Woody Bradford, Brett Livingstone, and Brian Fowler also deserve a special mention for their fine performances. The victory elevates Delta United to 5th place in the Premier Division table, while Westside FC drops to third place, with a 4-2-1 record.
COLUMBUS FC - ICST PEGASUS 3-1: The final Premier Division game was played on Sunday at Andy Livingstone Park in Vancouver between two very talented teams—Columbus FC and the visiting ‘Flying Horses’. Despite the score, the game was evenly-played with both teams creating numerous goalscoring opportunities. The ‘Italians’ got off to a good start and were rewarded at about the 20th minute mark when Sheu Fortunato sent a great cross into the Pegasus penalty area in the direction of teammate Steve DeBlasio, who was subsequently fouled by Ryan Powell, resulting in a penalty kick being awarded to Columbus. DeBlasio himself stepped up to the plate and fired the ball into the back of the net, giving goalkeeper Andy Singh no chance whatsoever. Shortly thereafter, Singh pulled off a remarkable save on a close-range shot by Kozo Manome to keep the scoreline respectable till the halftime break. It should be mentioned that Pegasus came close to knotting the score just before the halftime whistle, when Azad Palani raced in all alone on a breakaway only to have goalkeeper Thomas Lindley come up with a brilliant save. Early in the second half, Palani was once again denied as he headed a great cross by Deep Toor towards the Columbus net only to have Lindley pull off yet another acrobatic save. The missed chances came back to haunt the visitors as Columbus added its second goal on a well-struck free kick by Steve DeBlasio from the edge of the penalty area. To add insult to injury, Columbus added its third goal on a lethal counter-attack involving Blair Robertson, Steve DeBlasio, and Steve Frazao. Defender Robertson started the play with a clever pass to DeBlasio down the right flank. DeBlasio than proceeded to cross the ball onto the path of a streaking Steve Frazao who made no mistake in finding the back of the net. However, the visitors refused to give up and came storming back in search of their first goal. They were finally rewarded at the 75th minute mark when second-half substitute Omari Aldridge collected a bouncing ball, beat one defender, and then rocketed a brilliant left-foot shot into the top corner of the net. With about 5 minutes remaining in the match, Pegasus came close to narrowing the margin as Herman Sidhu blasted a long-range shot off the crossbar. On the ensuing rebound, Meysam Soltani headed the ball just wide of the net. All in all, a very well played game between two very skillful teams!! The victory elevates Columbus to 4th place in the standings, while ICST Pegasus drops to 11th place with a mediocre 2-1-4 record.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: SAPPERTON ROVERS for their incredible 1-0 victory over the reigning VMSL champions Surrey United Firefighters. Led by the excellent performances of fill-in defenders Colin Phillips and Brody Phillips, the Rovers defended admirably well as they kept the vaunted Surrey United attackers at bay throughout the contest. The all-important victory elevates the Rovers out of the dreaded relegation zone!
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Columbus’ forward STEVE DEBLASIO for his superlative performance in his team’s 3-1 victory over ICST Pegasus. DeBlasio scored two goals on set pieces—one on a penalty kick and one on a free kick—and also set up the clincher with a brilliant pass to teammate Steve Frazao. For his excellent performance, STEVE DEBLASIO will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2010-10-28.
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- Thread starter
- #23
2010-10-18
PREMIER DIVISION – DAY 8
No huge upsets took place this past weekend with 4 of the 7 games ending in ties. The Metro-Ford Wolves remained undefeated and in sole possession of first place as a result of their scoreless tie against Westside FC, while the Surrey United Firefighters climbed closer to the top by virtue of an impressive 2-0 victory over the visiting Richmond FC Hibernians. At the bottom of the table, the Serbian White Eagles and the Punjab Hurricanes settled for a 2-2 tie, thus leaving both teams mired in the relegation zone.
WEST VAN FC - DELTA UNITED 0-0: On Friday evening, at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver, the highly-favoured former Trollers were held to a scoreless draw by the visiting Delta United. Needless to say, the result was very disappointing to the home team but rather favourable to the visitors. Both teams exchanged goalscoring opportunities in the early going with West Van FC coming close to taking the lead in the 17th minute mark when a wicked, long-range shot by Jiri Chalupsky was brilliantly saved by veteran Steve London. Soon thereafter, Delta’s Phil Lensky was robbed by West Van’s goalkeeper Tyler Silvestre in similar fashion. The second half was more or less a repeat of the first, with both teams defending well but creating few scoring chances. On the few chances, goalkeepers Steve London and Tyler Silvestre rose to the occasion and fully deserved their clean sheets. It should be mentioned that Silvestre earned his 5th shutout of the season, while London has not yielded a goal in 3 successive games. Veteran defenders Steve Millar, Woody Bradford, Brian Fowler, and John Blair played extremely well on the Delta backline, as they kept West Van’s vaunted forwards at bay for most of the game. Young midfielder Brett Livingstone was a going concern throughout the match on the right flank as he drove his West Van opponents to distraction with his grit and determination. For the home team, central defender Tim Perry was a tower of strength as he helped Silvestre gather yet another clean sheet. As a result of the tie, West Van FC remains in second place in the Premier Division standings—4 points behind the Metro-Ford Wolves—while Delta United is now in 6th place, with a 4-1-3 record.
SAPPERTON ROVERS - ICST PEGASUS 2-1: Also on Friday evening, at Newton Athletic Park in Surrey, the red-hot Rovers claimed their second upset victory in a row by defeating the highly-rated—but under-achieving—ICST Pegasus by a narrow 2-1 margin. The visiting Rovers took the early lead—at about the 5th minute mark—on a lethal counter-attack that began when Kyle Phillips sent Chris Attadia flying down the left flank with a brilliant through ball. Attadia then beat a couple of defenders before cutting the ball back onto the path of an onrushing Jay Gangnes who had no difficulty in scoring from close range. The Pegasus lads tried hard to get back into the game, but the Rovers defenders—Sandy Sull, Colin Phillips, Brody Phillips, and Chris Attadia—allowed very few goalscoring opportunities. In the second half, Pegasus continued to attack in search of the all-important equalizer but, once again, the Rovers defended in stellar fashion. In particular, Jag Gill, Goldy Takhar, and Deep Toor were very dangerous as they used their speed and skill in an effort to penetrate the Rovers’ stingy defence. On one occasion, Takhar—after beating a couple of Sapperton defenders—watched agonizingly as his shot rang off the goalpost, with goalkeeper Garth Lagasse well-beaten. Midway through the second half, Sapperton’s central midfielder Jay Gangnes was ejected from the match for having received his second caution. Pegasus took full advantage of the situation and quickly scored the tying goal when Deep Toor found Diaz Kambere at the top of the Sapperton penalty area with an immaculate pass. Kambere then proceeded to unleash a brilliant shot, a shot that bounced off the goalpost and into the net for the equalizer. The home team continued to press in an effort to capitalize on the numerical advantage, a strategy that not only failed, but failed miserably. In fact, just before the final whistle, with Pegasus pressing forward in search of the winning goal, another Sapperton counter-attack resulted in Chris Attadia, Colin Phillips, and Fabio Confeiteiro combining to set up Under-21 call-up Diego Rodriguez for the late match winner. The hard-earned victory—Sapperton’s second in a row—places the Rovers in 7th place, while Pegasus is now in 12th place, with an uncharacteristically poor 2-1-5 record.
SURREY UNITED FIREFIGHTERS - RICHMOND FC HIBERNIANS 2-0: On Saturday, at Cloverdale Athletic Park in Surrey, the Firefighters bounced back from last week’s upset defeat at the hands of the Sapperton Rovers by beating the hard-working Richmond team by a 2-0 margin. The Hibernians started the match with a real sense of purpose and took the game to the home side right from the opening whistle. Richmond came close to scoring in the early going but a blistering shot by Peter Chivers was brilliantly saved by Surrey goalkeeper Paul Shepherd. The home team reacted positively and opened the scoring at about the 12th minute mark when a clever pass by fullback Mason Webb found Angus Burke on the right flank. Burke raced by two defenders before crossing the ball into the box where Cam Wilson skillfully controlled it, spun around and steered a low, unstoppable shot into the corner of the Richmond net. Fifteen minutes later, Surrey United increased its lead when Andrew Proctor converted a penalty kick after he had been fouled inside the penalty area by Richmond’s Geoff Salt. Despite the fact that the Hibs tried desperately to get back into the match, it was Surrey United that came close to increasing its lead on a couple of occasions. On the first, at the 40th minute mark, Angus Burke’s low shot hit the goalpost with goalkeeper Brad Caldwell well beaten. On the second, just before the halftime whistle, Vince Stewart hammered a low free-kick towards the Richmond net but his effort was thwarted by Caldwell’s excellent save. In the second half, Richmond FC continued to press but once again some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Paul Shepherd kept the Hibernians off the scoreboard. In particular, a wonderful shot by Taj Sangara was brilliantly saved by Shepherd. At the other end of the pitch, Surrey United was awarded another penalty kick when Stu Walters allegedly fouled Surrey’s Vince Stewart inside the box. However, Brad Caldwell rose to the occasion and pulled off a miraculous save on Andrew Proctor’s spot shot. Defensively, Vince Stewart and Mason Webb played extremely well for the Firefighters, while forward Masumi Turnbull and midfielder Mike Revell turned in excellent performances for the Hibs. Needless to say, both goalkeepers—Richmond’s Brad Caldwell and Surrey’s Paul Shepherd—also played extremely well. The victory improves Surrey United’s record to 5-0-2, good for 4th place and with a game in hand over all the other top teams. Richmond FC, on the other hand, drops to 9th place—tied with Croatia SC and ICSF Inter.
WESTSIDE FC - METRO-FORD WOLVES 0-0: The second Saturday afternoon game was played at Andy Livingstone Park in Vancouver and featured two of the top teams in the Premier Division standings: the first place Metro-Ford Wolves and the fourth place Westside FC. After a very hard-fought 90 minutes of non-stop action, both teams had to settle for a 0-0 tie. The Wolves started the game very brightly and controlled most of the action during the first 25 minutes of play. The Westsiders started to assert themselves as the first half wore on, but neither team was able to open the scoring. Midway through the first half, Metro-Ford’s goalkeeper—Mathew Bird—bravely came out of his net to thwart a Westside attack and, as a result, injured his knee and was unable to continue. Without a back-up goalkeeper, the Wolves were forced to use forward Jamie Fletcher in goal for the remainder of the contest. Despite the fact that Fletcher was not forced into making any game-saving stops, he acquitted himself quite well and thus shared the shutout with Mat Bird. That being said, defenders Devin Phelan, Matthew Besuschko, Brook Scott, and Emilio Bottiglieri also deserve a lot of credit for their superlative job in keeping the Westside attackers at bay for the entire 90 minutes. In fact, Westside’s clearcut goalscoring chances were limited to two as young Michael Buree’s long-range shot just went wide of the mark and Cedric Lunel’s header sailed over the crossbar. At the other end of the pitch, Westside goalkeeper Rowan Anders was forced to make several game-saving stops, particularly on shots by Alfredo Valente, Russel Huggon, and Mladen Ljumovic. It should also be mentioned that Valente and Huggon were denied clear-cut goalscoring opportunites by the woodwork late in the match. Westside’s defensive quartet—Brian Reems, Andrew Czalij, Sam Wallace, and Chris Mehuys also played extremely well in helping Anders gain yet another shutout. As a result of the tie, the Wolves remain undefeated and in first place in the standings, while Westside FC slips to 5th place, with a 4-3-1 record.
COLUMBUS FC - ICSF INTER 2-0: On Sunday afternoon, at Adanac Park in Vancouver, the ‘Italian’ derby took place with Columbus FC defeating ICSF Inter by a well-earned 2-0 margin. After a very evenly-played first half, Columbus took control of the proceedings in the second half and scored twice to lay claim to all 3 points. The lone goalscoring opportunity in the first half saw Columbus’ Kozo Manome’s header—off a great cross by Kazunori Kikuchi—graze the outside of the Inter goalpost. Midway through the second half, however, Columbus finally took the lead when Blair Robertson—after having received a great pass from Sheu Fortunato—made a streaking run down the right flank, beat a couple of Inter defenders, and unleashed a wicked shot that forced goalkeeper Erman Ozkan to make a brilliant save. Much to Inter’s chagrin, however, Steve Frazao pounced on the rebound and slotted the ball home for what proved to be the winning goal. Late in the match, Columbus added to its lead under similar circumstances as Frazao’s shot was saved by Ozkan and subsequently fired into the net by Kozo Manome. Columbus’ Sheu Fortunato and Kozo Manome played extremely well in their midfield roles, while defenders Jonathan Poli and veteran Tony Gaita performed admirably, making life relatively easy for goalkeeper Thomas Lindley as he earned his 4th clean sheet of the season. The victory elevates Columbus to second place in the Premier Division standings, while Inter slips to 9th place, with a 2-2-4 record.
SERBIAN WHITE EAGLES - PUNJAB HURRICANES 2-2: On Sunday evening, at Burnaby Lake West Complex, the two bottom-feeders faced off in a desperate search for all 3 points. As luck would have it, however, both teams had to settle for a 2-2 tie, a result that helps neither one in their quest to avoid relegation. The White Eagles got off to a great start, scored two early goals, and appeared on their way to their second win of the season. The Hurricanes, however, bounced back and narrowed the margin with a late first half goal and eventually knotted the score late in the second half. Very early in the match, the White Eagles almost took the lead when Bobby Jhutty, after receiving a great pass from Dalvir Mahli, had his shot brilliantly saved by newly-transferred goalkeeper Sheldon Steenhuis. However, shortly thereafter, the White Eagles managed to take the lead when Dalvir Mahli and Bobby Jhutty reversed roles as Mahli finished off a great one-two with Jhutty with an unstoppable shot into the bottom far corner of the Hurricanes’ net. Ten minutes later, a penalty kick was awarded to the White Eagles when Mahli was brought down inside the penalty area by the Hurricanes’ Joey Brar. Sunny Bains stepped up to the plate and easily converted the spot shot for his team’s second goal of the contest. The Hurricanes bounced back and narrowed the margin at the 40th minute mark when Cam Hundal finished off a great through ball from Sunny Dhaliwal. In the second half, both teams had excellent chances to score but some exceptional goalkeeping on the part of the White Eagles’ Richard Goddard and the Hurricanes’ Sheldon Steenhuis kept the score at 2-1 until the 80th minute mark. At this point, the Hurricanes levelled the score when Sunny Dhaliwal found himself behind the Serbian defence and slotted the ball home behind a helpless Richard Goodard. As mentioned earlier, the single point does neither team any favours as they both remain mired in the relegation zone at the bottom of the table.
AKAL FC - CROATIA SC 1-1: The final Premier Division game was played on Sunday evening at Newton Athletic Park in Surrey between two middle of the pack teams: the hosting Akal FC and the visiting Croatians. At the end of a hard-fought—and very competitive—90 minutes of play, both teams walked away with a single point. After a scoreless first half, Croatia SC took the lead early in the second half when Andrew Sciampacone made a fantastic run down the right flank and proceeded to send a perfectly-placed cross onto the path of veteran Chris Craveiro whose diving header found the back of the net. It should be mentioned that the Croatians were playing short-handed at this time since midfielder Phil Kotter had been sent off late in the first half for having received his second caution in the match. Akal FC replied to Croatia’s goal in a very positive manner and quickly knotted the score on a very similar play. On this occasion, Justin Sidhu made a great run down the left flank and crossed an impeccable ball into the Croatians’ box, a ball that BJ Rockson headed home to the tying goal. Shortly thereafter, Croatia’s Chris Craveiro also received his second caution of the match and was sent packing, leaving his team with only 9 players for the remaining 15 minutes of the contest. Despite the fact that they were playing short-handed, the Croatians came close to scoring what would have been the winning goal when former professional Johnny Sulentic fired an unstoppable shot from the edge of the penalty area towards the Akal net. Unfortunately for the visitors, the ball bounced off the crossbar and out of harm’s way. Late in the game, a scuffle between Croatia’s Kreso Vonic and Akal’s Desmond Tachie resulted in both players being sent off. Croatia’s veteran defender Darko Jelic, as well as midfielders Johnny Sulentic and Corey Sanford played extremely well throughout the match, as did Akal’s midfielder Emmanuel Bentil. As a result of the tie, both teams remain in the middle of the pack in the Premier Division standings.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: SAPPERTON ROVERS for their second consecutive upset victory—this one at the expense of ICST Pegasus by a 2-1 margin. Despite the fact that the Rovers played short-handed for most of the second half, they were able to score the winning goal just before the final whistle! The all-important victory elevates the Rovers into 7th place in the Premier Division standings.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sapperton’s young defender CHRIS ATTADIA for his brilliant performance in his team’s 2-1 upset victory over ICST Pegasus. Not only did Attadia defend tenaciously throughout the match, he also set up both of his team’s goals by making penetrating runs down the left flank before crossing the ball into the danger zone. For his amazing performance, CHRIS ATTADIA will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2010-11-04.
PREMIER DIVISION – DAY 8
No huge upsets took place this past weekend with 4 of the 7 games ending in ties. The Metro-Ford Wolves remained undefeated and in sole possession of first place as a result of their scoreless tie against Westside FC, while the Surrey United Firefighters climbed closer to the top by virtue of an impressive 2-0 victory over the visiting Richmond FC Hibernians. At the bottom of the table, the Serbian White Eagles and the Punjab Hurricanes settled for a 2-2 tie, thus leaving both teams mired in the relegation zone.
WEST VAN FC - DELTA UNITED 0-0: On Friday evening, at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver, the highly-favoured former Trollers were held to a scoreless draw by the visiting Delta United. Needless to say, the result was very disappointing to the home team but rather favourable to the visitors. Both teams exchanged goalscoring opportunities in the early going with West Van FC coming close to taking the lead in the 17th minute mark when a wicked, long-range shot by Jiri Chalupsky was brilliantly saved by veteran Steve London. Soon thereafter, Delta’s Phil Lensky was robbed by West Van’s goalkeeper Tyler Silvestre in similar fashion. The second half was more or less a repeat of the first, with both teams defending well but creating few scoring chances. On the few chances, goalkeepers Steve London and Tyler Silvestre rose to the occasion and fully deserved their clean sheets. It should be mentioned that Silvestre earned his 5th shutout of the season, while London has not yielded a goal in 3 successive games. Veteran defenders Steve Millar, Woody Bradford, Brian Fowler, and John Blair played extremely well on the Delta backline, as they kept West Van’s vaunted forwards at bay for most of the game. Young midfielder Brett Livingstone was a going concern throughout the match on the right flank as he drove his West Van opponents to distraction with his grit and determination. For the home team, central defender Tim Perry was a tower of strength as he helped Silvestre gather yet another clean sheet. As a result of the tie, West Van FC remains in second place in the Premier Division standings—4 points behind the Metro-Ford Wolves—while Delta United is now in 6th place, with a 4-1-3 record.
SAPPERTON ROVERS - ICST PEGASUS 2-1: Also on Friday evening, at Newton Athletic Park in Surrey, the red-hot Rovers claimed their second upset victory in a row by defeating the highly-rated—but under-achieving—ICST Pegasus by a narrow 2-1 margin. The visiting Rovers took the early lead—at about the 5th minute mark—on a lethal counter-attack that began when Kyle Phillips sent Chris Attadia flying down the left flank with a brilliant through ball. Attadia then beat a couple of defenders before cutting the ball back onto the path of an onrushing Jay Gangnes who had no difficulty in scoring from close range. The Pegasus lads tried hard to get back into the game, but the Rovers defenders—Sandy Sull, Colin Phillips, Brody Phillips, and Chris Attadia—allowed very few goalscoring opportunities. In the second half, Pegasus continued to attack in search of the all-important equalizer but, once again, the Rovers defended in stellar fashion. In particular, Jag Gill, Goldy Takhar, and Deep Toor were very dangerous as they used their speed and skill in an effort to penetrate the Rovers’ stingy defence. On one occasion, Takhar—after beating a couple of Sapperton defenders—watched agonizingly as his shot rang off the goalpost, with goalkeeper Garth Lagasse well-beaten. Midway through the second half, Sapperton’s central midfielder Jay Gangnes was ejected from the match for having received his second caution. Pegasus took full advantage of the situation and quickly scored the tying goal when Deep Toor found Diaz Kambere at the top of the Sapperton penalty area with an immaculate pass. Kambere then proceeded to unleash a brilliant shot, a shot that bounced off the goalpost and into the net for the equalizer. The home team continued to press in an effort to capitalize on the numerical advantage, a strategy that not only failed, but failed miserably. In fact, just before the final whistle, with Pegasus pressing forward in search of the winning goal, another Sapperton counter-attack resulted in Chris Attadia, Colin Phillips, and Fabio Confeiteiro combining to set up Under-21 call-up Diego Rodriguez for the late match winner. The hard-earned victory—Sapperton’s second in a row—places the Rovers in 7th place, while Pegasus is now in 12th place, with an uncharacteristically poor 2-1-5 record.
SURREY UNITED FIREFIGHTERS - RICHMOND FC HIBERNIANS 2-0: On Saturday, at Cloverdale Athletic Park in Surrey, the Firefighters bounced back from last week’s upset defeat at the hands of the Sapperton Rovers by beating the hard-working Richmond team by a 2-0 margin. The Hibernians started the match with a real sense of purpose and took the game to the home side right from the opening whistle. Richmond came close to scoring in the early going but a blistering shot by Peter Chivers was brilliantly saved by Surrey goalkeeper Paul Shepherd. The home team reacted positively and opened the scoring at about the 12th minute mark when a clever pass by fullback Mason Webb found Angus Burke on the right flank. Burke raced by two defenders before crossing the ball into the box where Cam Wilson skillfully controlled it, spun around and steered a low, unstoppable shot into the corner of the Richmond net. Fifteen minutes later, Surrey United increased its lead when Andrew Proctor converted a penalty kick after he had been fouled inside the penalty area by Richmond’s Geoff Salt. Despite the fact that the Hibs tried desperately to get back into the match, it was Surrey United that came close to increasing its lead on a couple of occasions. On the first, at the 40th minute mark, Angus Burke’s low shot hit the goalpost with goalkeeper Brad Caldwell well beaten. On the second, just before the halftime whistle, Vince Stewart hammered a low free-kick towards the Richmond net but his effort was thwarted by Caldwell’s excellent save. In the second half, Richmond FC continued to press but once again some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Paul Shepherd kept the Hibernians off the scoreboard. In particular, a wonderful shot by Taj Sangara was brilliantly saved by Shepherd. At the other end of the pitch, Surrey United was awarded another penalty kick when Stu Walters allegedly fouled Surrey’s Vince Stewart inside the box. However, Brad Caldwell rose to the occasion and pulled off a miraculous save on Andrew Proctor’s spot shot. Defensively, Vince Stewart and Mason Webb played extremely well for the Firefighters, while forward Masumi Turnbull and midfielder Mike Revell turned in excellent performances for the Hibs. Needless to say, both goalkeepers—Richmond’s Brad Caldwell and Surrey’s Paul Shepherd—also played extremely well. The victory improves Surrey United’s record to 5-0-2, good for 4th place and with a game in hand over all the other top teams. Richmond FC, on the other hand, drops to 9th place—tied with Croatia SC and ICSF Inter.
WESTSIDE FC - METRO-FORD WOLVES 0-0: The second Saturday afternoon game was played at Andy Livingstone Park in Vancouver and featured two of the top teams in the Premier Division standings: the first place Metro-Ford Wolves and the fourth place Westside FC. After a very hard-fought 90 minutes of non-stop action, both teams had to settle for a 0-0 tie. The Wolves started the game very brightly and controlled most of the action during the first 25 minutes of play. The Westsiders started to assert themselves as the first half wore on, but neither team was able to open the scoring. Midway through the first half, Metro-Ford’s goalkeeper—Mathew Bird—bravely came out of his net to thwart a Westside attack and, as a result, injured his knee and was unable to continue. Without a back-up goalkeeper, the Wolves were forced to use forward Jamie Fletcher in goal for the remainder of the contest. Despite the fact that Fletcher was not forced into making any game-saving stops, he acquitted himself quite well and thus shared the shutout with Mat Bird. That being said, defenders Devin Phelan, Matthew Besuschko, Brook Scott, and Emilio Bottiglieri also deserve a lot of credit for their superlative job in keeping the Westside attackers at bay for the entire 90 minutes. In fact, Westside’s clearcut goalscoring chances were limited to two as young Michael Buree’s long-range shot just went wide of the mark and Cedric Lunel’s header sailed over the crossbar. At the other end of the pitch, Westside goalkeeper Rowan Anders was forced to make several game-saving stops, particularly on shots by Alfredo Valente, Russel Huggon, and Mladen Ljumovic. It should also be mentioned that Valente and Huggon were denied clear-cut goalscoring opportunites by the woodwork late in the match. Westside’s defensive quartet—Brian Reems, Andrew Czalij, Sam Wallace, and Chris Mehuys also played extremely well in helping Anders gain yet another shutout. As a result of the tie, the Wolves remain undefeated and in first place in the standings, while Westside FC slips to 5th place, with a 4-3-1 record.
COLUMBUS FC - ICSF INTER 2-0: On Sunday afternoon, at Adanac Park in Vancouver, the ‘Italian’ derby took place with Columbus FC defeating ICSF Inter by a well-earned 2-0 margin. After a very evenly-played first half, Columbus took control of the proceedings in the second half and scored twice to lay claim to all 3 points. The lone goalscoring opportunity in the first half saw Columbus’ Kozo Manome’s header—off a great cross by Kazunori Kikuchi—graze the outside of the Inter goalpost. Midway through the second half, however, Columbus finally took the lead when Blair Robertson—after having received a great pass from Sheu Fortunato—made a streaking run down the right flank, beat a couple of Inter defenders, and unleashed a wicked shot that forced goalkeeper Erman Ozkan to make a brilliant save. Much to Inter’s chagrin, however, Steve Frazao pounced on the rebound and slotted the ball home for what proved to be the winning goal. Late in the match, Columbus added to its lead under similar circumstances as Frazao’s shot was saved by Ozkan and subsequently fired into the net by Kozo Manome. Columbus’ Sheu Fortunato and Kozo Manome played extremely well in their midfield roles, while defenders Jonathan Poli and veteran Tony Gaita performed admirably, making life relatively easy for goalkeeper Thomas Lindley as he earned his 4th clean sheet of the season. The victory elevates Columbus to second place in the Premier Division standings, while Inter slips to 9th place, with a 2-2-4 record.
SERBIAN WHITE EAGLES - PUNJAB HURRICANES 2-2: On Sunday evening, at Burnaby Lake West Complex, the two bottom-feeders faced off in a desperate search for all 3 points. As luck would have it, however, both teams had to settle for a 2-2 tie, a result that helps neither one in their quest to avoid relegation. The White Eagles got off to a great start, scored two early goals, and appeared on their way to their second win of the season. The Hurricanes, however, bounced back and narrowed the margin with a late first half goal and eventually knotted the score late in the second half. Very early in the match, the White Eagles almost took the lead when Bobby Jhutty, after receiving a great pass from Dalvir Mahli, had his shot brilliantly saved by newly-transferred goalkeeper Sheldon Steenhuis. However, shortly thereafter, the White Eagles managed to take the lead when Dalvir Mahli and Bobby Jhutty reversed roles as Mahli finished off a great one-two with Jhutty with an unstoppable shot into the bottom far corner of the Hurricanes’ net. Ten minutes later, a penalty kick was awarded to the White Eagles when Mahli was brought down inside the penalty area by the Hurricanes’ Joey Brar. Sunny Bains stepped up to the plate and easily converted the spot shot for his team’s second goal of the contest. The Hurricanes bounced back and narrowed the margin at the 40th minute mark when Cam Hundal finished off a great through ball from Sunny Dhaliwal. In the second half, both teams had excellent chances to score but some exceptional goalkeeping on the part of the White Eagles’ Richard Goddard and the Hurricanes’ Sheldon Steenhuis kept the score at 2-1 until the 80th minute mark. At this point, the Hurricanes levelled the score when Sunny Dhaliwal found himself behind the Serbian defence and slotted the ball home behind a helpless Richard Goodard. As mentioned earlier, the single point does neither team any favours as they both remain mired in the relegation zone at the bottom of the table.
AKAL FC - CROATIA SC 1-1: The final Premier Division game was played on Sunday evening at Newton Athletic Park in Surrey between two middle of the pack teams: the hosting Akal FC and the visiting Croatians. At the end of a hard-fought—and very competitive—90 minutes of play, both teams walked away with a single point. After a scoreless first half, Croatia SC took the lead early in the second half when Andrew Sciampacone made a fantastic run down the right flank and proceeded to send a perfectly-placed cross onto the path of veteran Chris Craveiro whose diving header found the back of the net. It should be mentioned that the Croatians were playing short-handed at this time since midfielder Phil Kotter had been sent off late in the first half for having received his second caution in the match. Akal FC replied to Croatia’s goal in a very positive manner and quickly knotted the score on a very similar play. On this occasion, Justin Sidhu made a great run down the left flank and crossed an impeccable ball into the Croatians’ box, a ball that BJ Rockson headed home to the tying goal. Shortly thereafter, Croatia’s Chris Craveiro also received his second caution of the match and was sent packing, leaving his team with only 9 players for the remaining 15 minutes of the contest. Despite the fact that they were playing short-handed, the Croatians came close to scoring what would have been the winning goal when former professional Johnny Sulentic fired an unstoppable shot from the edge of the penalty area towards the Akal net. Unfortunately for the visitors, the ball bounced off the crossbar and out of harm’s way. Late in the game, a scuffle between Croatia’s Kreso Vonic and Akal’s Desmond Tachie resulted in both players being sent off. Croatia’s veteran defender Darko Jelic, as well as midfielders Johnny Sulentic and Corey Sanford played extremely well throughout the match, as did Akal’s midfielder Emmanuel Bentil. As a result of the tie, both teams remain in the middle of the pack in the Premier Division standings.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: SAPPERTON ROVERS for their second consecutive upset victory—this one at the expense of ICST Pegasus by a 2-1 margin. Despite the fact that the Rovers played short-handed for most of the second half, they were able to score the winning goal just before the final whistle! The all-important victory elevates the Rovers into 7th place in the Premier Division standings.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sapperton’s young defender CHRIS ATTADIA for his brilliant performance in his team’s 2-1 upset victory over ICST Pegasus. Not only did Attadia defend tenaciously throughout the match, he also set up both of his team’s goals by making penetrating runs down the left flank before crossing the ball into the danger zone. For his amazing performance, CHRIS ATTADIA will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2010-11-04.
- Thread starter
- #24
2010-10-25
PREMIER DIVISION – DAY 9
Once again, no huge upsets took place this past weekend as all 7 matches were hard-fought and closely-contested. The Metro-Ford Wolves remained undefeated and in sole possession of first place as a result of their come-from-behind victory against the aspiring West Van FC, while the Surrey United Firefighters and Columbus FC remained in the running for first place as a result of their victories over Delta United and the Sapperton Rovers respectively. At the bottom of the table, the Punjab Hurricanes bounced out of last place by defeating the slumping Westside FC by a 2-1 margin.
ICSF INTER - AKAL FC 0-0: On Saturday, at Adanac Park in Vancouver, two middle of the table teams—ICSF Inter and Akal FC—settled for a scoreless draw after a hard-fought and heavily-contested 90 minutes of play. Both teams started the game rather cautiously and created few goalscoring opportunities in the early part of the match. However, midway through the first half, Inter threw caution to the wind and started taking control of the situation. Let by the indefatigable work of young midfielders Dom Delli Santi, Lui Pantusa, and Mike D’Agostino, the ‘Italians’ created several goalscoring opportunities late in the first half, opportunities that were stymied by goalkeeper Nuno Jesus. Akal FC bounced back in the second half and started exerting some pressure and also came close to opening the score. In particular, an excellent goalscoring opportunity by Emmannel Ayiku went awry very late in the game. Defensively, Inter’s Jesse Dhami, Ryan Zaharija, Sunny Uppal, and Milos Jeftic played extremely well, particularly in the second half when Akal FC started applying some heavy pressure. Akal’s midfielder Emmanuel Bentil, as well as defender Raju Chohan also performed admirably throughout the contest. As mentioned earlier, the tie leaves both teams in the middle of the pack in the Premier Division standings.
RICHMOND FC HIBERNIANS - ICST PEGASUS 1-1: Also on Saturday, at Minoru Park in Richmond, the Hibs and the visiting ‘Flying Horses’ settled for a 1-1 tie, a result that helps neither team in their quest to climb out of the dreaded relegation zone. Both teams came out of the starting blocks with vigour and created some excellent goalscoring opportunities in the early going, However, some stellar goalkeeping on the part of young Luke O’Shea kept Pegasus off the scoresheet with some excellent saves on shots by Azad Palani, Herman Sidhu, Deep Toor, and Lavy Mangat. At the other end of the pitch, the Hibernians also came close to scoring on efforts by Brad Caldwell and Erik Olsen, efforts that were stymied by goalkeeper Andy Singh. Near the end of the first half, a long clearance by veteran Pegasus defender Rob Hall sent Omari Aldridge in on goal on a partial breakaway. Aldridge used his enormous speed to full advantage and finished off the play with a clinical finish to give Pegasus the 1-0 halftime lead. The Hibernians fought back tenaciously during the entire second half and came close to knotting the score on a few occasions. In particular, a great effort by Masumi Turnbull—after he had made a wonderful run towards Pegasus’ goal—was brilliantly saved by Andy Singh. At about the 70th minute mark, however, Richmond FC was able to tie things up when Taj Sangara—after having received an excellent pass from Masumi Turnball—was fouled inside the penalty area by Pegasus’ goalkeeper Andy Singh. On the ensuing penalty kick, Erik Olsen made no mistake as he deposited the ball into the back of the net for the equalizer. Both teams tried hard to score what would have been the winning goal but some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Singh and O’Shea kept the score tied at 1-1 till the final whistle. Defensively, Gary Sidhu was rock-solid on the Pegasus back-line, while forwards Goldy Takhar and Omari Aldridge drove the Richmond defenders to distraction with their pace and skill. The Hibernians’ midfielders Masumi Turnbull and Erik Olsen—as well as striker Taj Sangara—also played very well throughout the match. As mentioned earlier, the result helps neither team’s quest to get out of the relegation zone, as they both remain near the bottom of the table.
COLUMBUS FC - SAPPERTON ROVERS 1-0: The third Saturday game was played at Queen’s Park Stadium in New Westminster and featured the aspiring ‘Italians’ and the hosting Rovers. At the end of the day, the visitors walked away with a hard-fought 1-0 victory, a result that solidifies their hold on second place in the Premier Division standings. The match itself was a rather scrappy affair and, at times, even chippy. In fact, the Rovers’ Jeff Rogers was sent off midway through the first half for having received his second caution. Early in the second half, Columbus scored the lone goal of the match when central defender Jonathan Poli converted a well-taken free kick by Blair Robertson into the winning goal with a lethal close-range volley. To make matters even worse for the Rovers, Sandeep Sull was also ejected—at about the 75th mark—also for a double caution. Defensively, Columbus’ Robbie Cairns, Tony Gaita, Blair Robertson, and especially Jonathan Poli turned in strong performances in making goalkeeper Thomas Lindley’s life quite comfortable as he gathered his 5th clean sheet of the season. For the Rovers, defender Brody Phillips, forward Jason Pierotti, as well as midfielders Matt Rosenlund and Kyle Phillips comported themselves quite admirably, albeit in a losing cause. As mentioned earlier, Columbus remains in second place as a result of the victory, while the Rovers are still in the middle of the pack, with a 3-2-4 record.
METRO-FORD WOLVES - WEST VAN FC 3-2: Also on Saturday afternoon, at Coquitlam Town Centre, the Metro-Ford Wolves remained in first place by virtue of a 3-2 victory over their visiting arch-rivals—West Van FC. As expected, the game was very well-played and highly-competitive since it featured two of the top teams in the Premier Division. The visitors came out of the starting gate with passion and determination in an effort to maintain their 3-year unbeaten streak against the Wolves. The former Trollers were rewarded at about the 35th minute mark when Milad Rahmati finished off a brilliant 3-way passing play—also involving Kyle McDiarmid and Jesse Fetterley—with a lethal shot that gave young Metro-Ford goalkeeper Richard Causton no chance whatsoever. Despite the fact that the Wolves tried desperately to get the equalizer before the halftime whistle, the West Van defensive core—composed of Geoff Buchanan, Tim Perry, Drew Gelley, and Marc Burrows—held on tight and preserved their team’s lead for the remainder of the first half. Early in the second half, however, a couple of youngsters—Brayden Gant and Jovan Blagojevic—combined to set up former Whitecap Alfredo Valente for the tying goal. It should be noted that this was the first goal conceded by goalkeeper Tyler Silvestre this season! West Van bounced back and regained the lead at about the 60th minute mark when Sean Taylor was tripped inside the box by Metro-Ford’s Brook Scott. On the ensuing penalty kick, Drew Gelley sent Causton the wrong way and easily scored West Van’s second goal. The Wolves, however, responded in kind and within a few minutes restored parity when second half substitute—and former Whitecap—Oliver Heald set up veteran Russel Huggon with an immaculate pass. Huggon then proceeded to tuck the ball behind Tyler Silvestre to once again knot the score. Shortly thereafter, the Wolves scored the winning goal with Oliver Heald once again involved in the play. On this occasion, Heald—after receiving a splendid pass from Emilio Bottiglieri—slipped by a couple of West Van defenders before calmly placing the ball into the bottom corner of the net for what proved to be the winning goal. The entire Metro-Ford team played extremely well, but special mention should be made of defenders Devin Phelan, Matt Besuschko, Brook Scott, and Emilio Bottiglieri for their superlative performances in keeping the vaunted West Van strikers at bay for most of the match. All in all, a very entertaining and exciting match, witnessed by numerous spectators! The victory solidifies the Wolves’ hold on first place in the Premier Division standings—with an unbeaten 7-2-0 record—while West Van FC slips to 4th place with 16 points in 9 games.
PUNJAB HURRICANES - WESTSIDE FC 2-1: The fifth, and last, Saturday game was played at Newton Athletic Park between the struggling, and somewhat unfortunate, Punjab Hurricanes and the aspiring Westside FC. At the end of 90 minutes of non-stop action, the Hurricanes walked away with their first win of the season, a victory that allows them to climb out of last place in the standings. The Westsiders got off to a bright start and carried most of the play in the early going as they retained the majority of ball possession. They were rewarded at the 25th minute mark when a lovely pass from midfielder Andre` Herath found an unmarked John Stonehocker at the edge of the Punjab penalty area. Without a moment’s hesitation, Stonehocker drove the ball into the low, far corner of the net for the opening goal. At this juncture, Westside FC began to sit back and thus allowed the Hurricanes to gain momentum and eventually take over the reins of the match. Gary Badesha and Sunny Dhaliwal both came close to scoring for the Hurricanes but the woodwork and goalkeeper Rowan Anders prevented their efforts from succeeding. Early in the second half, Badesha scored the equalizer for the Hurricanes when he converted a penalty kick that was awarded when Westside’s Andre` Herath handled the ball inside the penalty area. Midway through the second half, the Hurricanes scored the winning goal when Jag Gill’s shot from just inside the penalty area was inadvertently deflected into the net by a Westside defender. The Hurricanes kept pressing and came very close to adding to their lead in the late going, but goalkeeper Rowan Anders came up with a couple of magnificent saves on breakaway efforts by Ryan Dhillon and Joti Thind. Midfielder Sunny Dhaliwal, defender Gurj Sandhu, and newly-transferred goalkeeper Sheldon Steenhuis played very well for the Hurricanes, while Westside midfielder Andre` Herath turned in a superlative performance throughout the match, albeit in a losing cause. The victory elevates the Hurricanes out of last place, while Westside FC drops to the middle of the pack, with a 4-3-2 record.
CROATIA SC - SERBIAN WHITE EAGLES 1-0: On Sunday, at Adanac Park in Vancouver, the ‘Balkan Derby’ took place with Croatia SC prevailing by a 1-0 margin over the Serbian White Eagles. With about 400 well-behaved fans in attendance, the Croatians got off to a bright start and nearly took the early lead when Gustavo Argueta—after having received a great through ball from veteran Darko Jelic—was thwarted by an incredible save by Richard Goddard. The home team continued to press for most of the first half and created numerous goalscoring chances but Goddard rose to the occasion every time as he stymied efforts by Cristian Tropeano, Mirko Maras, Johnny Sulentic, and Kresimir Bebic. Early in the second half, the Serbians came close to taking the lead but a fine header by David Hill—on Joel Malouf cross—was brilliantly saved by goalkeeper Didar Sandhu. Then, at the 55th minute mark, Dalvir Mahli hit the crossbar with Sandhu well-beaten. The Croatians bounced back from a lethargic second half start and took the lead at the 65th minute mark when newly-signed Selim Nahdi finished off a brilliant give-and-go on the part of Cristian Tropeano and Johnny Sulentic for what proved to be the lone goal of the contest. Late in the match, the White Eagles almost tied things up but a blistering shot by Juan Sanchez was once again brilliantly saved by Didar Sandhu. The hard-earned victory raises Croatia SC to 7th place in the standings, while the Serbian White Eagles drop to last place, with only 4 points from 8 games.
SURREY UNITED FIREFIGHTERS - DELTA UNITED 3-1: The final Premier Division game was played on Sunday at John Oliver Park in Delta and featured two top-ranked teams: the hosting Delta United and the visiting Firemen. After a very well-played 90 minutes, the visitors walked away with a hard-earned 3-1 victory, a result that keeps them in the running for the coveted first place. The Cloverdale-based team started strongly and enjoyed a territorial advantage for most of the early play. After coming close to scoring on a number of occasions, the Firefighters finally broke the deadlock at the 25th minute mark when a fine run down the right flank by Andrew Proctor started the play that led to the opening goal. In fact, Proctor’s well-measured cross found a wide-open Lucas Barrett, whose attempted shot deflected to teammate Angus Burke who simply tapped the ball into the net to give his team the well-deserved lead. Delta United rallied strongly and almost levelled the score at the 30th minute mark when a well-taken free kick by Steve Millar was cleared off the line by defender Steve McAuley, with goalkeeper Drew Smiley beaten. A few minutes later, the home team once again came close to knotting the score, but John Blair watched agonizingly as his powerful shot rattled off the cross-bar and subsequently cleared out of danger by defender Brad Peetom. Soon thereafter, veteran Mike Gomes also hit the woodwork with his powerful shot, thus denying the home team the opportunity to level the score. However, Delta United continued to press and finally tied things up at the 40th minute mark when Lensky dribbled around two Surrey defenders on a great run through the middle of the park before blasting home a powerful, left-foot drive for the well-deserved equalizer. Very late in the first half, the outcome of the game was significantly influenced when Delta United failed to clear a Vinny Stewart corner kick and, on the ensuing goalmouth scramble, Surrey’s Cam Wilson blasted the ball into the back of the net, thus giving his team the 2-1 halftime lead. The second half was also very evenly-played, with both teams creating—and missing—several good scoring chances. Late in the game, with Delta pushing forward in search of the tying goal, a quick counter-attack spearheaded by Rizal Ganief resulted in Cam Wilson scoring his second goal of the game, thus giving Surrey United a 3-1 victory. The Firefighters thus climb into sole possession of 3rd place, while Delta United remains in 6th place with an even 4-2-4 record.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: The first place METRO-FORD WOLVES for their impressive performance in defeating the visiting West Van FC by a 3-2 margin. Led by the excellent play of veterans Oliver Heald, Emilio Bottiglieri, Alfredo Valente, and Russel Huggon, the Wolves came back twice from one-goal deficits and eventually managed to edge their very strong opponents. This marks the first time in 3 years that the Wolves have beaten West Van FC!
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Metro-Ford’s veteran midfielder OLIVER HEALD for his magnificent performance in his team’s narrow 3-2 victory over the visiting West Van FC. With his team trailing 1-0 at the halftime break, the former Whitecap came on as a substitute and totally changed the momentum of the match with his leadership qualities and brilliant skills. On top of that, Heald set up the tying goal, and scored the winner with a masterful exhibition of pure talent. For his amazing performance, OLIVER HEALD will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2010-11-10.
PREMIER DIVISION – DAY 9
Once again, no huge upsets took place this past weekend as all 7 matches were hard-fought and closely-contested. The Metro-Ford Wolves remained undefeated and in sole possession of first place as a result of their come-from-behind victory against the aspiring West Van FC, while the Surrey United Firefighters and Columbus FC remained in the running for first place as a result of their victories over Delta United and the Sapperton Rovers respectively. At the bottom of the table, the Punjab Hurricanes bounced out of last place by defeating the slumping Westside FC by a 2-1 margin.
ICSF INTER - AKAL FC 0-0: On Saturday, at Adanac Park in Vancouver, two middle of the table teams—ICSF Inter and Akal FC—settled for a scoreless draw after a hard-fought and heavily-contested 90 minutes of play. Both teams started the game rather cautiously and created few goalscoring opportunities in the early part of the match. However, midway through the first half, Inter threw caution to the wind and started taking control of the situation. Let by the indefatigable work of young midfielders Dom Delli Santi, Lui Pantusa, and Mike D’Agostino, the ‘Italians’ created several goalscoring opportunities late in the first half, opportunities that were stymied by goalkeeper Nuno Jesus. Akal FC bounced back in the second half and started exerting some pressure and also came close to opening the score. In particular, an excellent goalscoring opportunity by Emmannel Ayiku went awry very late in the game. Defensively, Inter’s Jesse Dhami, Ryan Zaharija, Sunny Uppal, and Milos Jeftic played extremely well, particularly in the second half when Akal FC started applying some heavy pressure. Akal’s midfielder Emmanuel Bentil, as well as defender Raju Chohan also performed admirably throughout the contest. As mentioned earlier, the tie leaves both teams in the middle of the pack in the Premier Division standings.
RICHMOND FC HIBERNIANS - ICST PEGASUS 1-1: Also on Saturday, at Minoru Park in Richmond, the Hibs and the visiting ‘Flying Horses’ settled for a 1-1 tie, a result that helps neither team in their quest to climb out of the dreaded relegation zone. Both teams came out of the starting blocks with vigour and created some excellent goalscoring opportunities in the early going, However, some stellar goalkeeping on the part of young Luke O’Shea kept Pegasus off the scoresheet with some excellent saves on shots by Azad Palani, Herman Sidhu, Deep Toor, and Lavy Mangat. At the other end of the pitch, the Hibernians also came close to scoring on efforts by Brad Caldwell and Erik Olsen, efforts that were stymied by goalkeeper Andy Singh. Near the end of the first half, a long clearance by veteran Pegasus defender Rob Hall sent Omari Aldridge in on goal on a partial breakaway. Aldridge used his enormous speed to full advantage and finished off the play with a clinical finish to give Pegasus the 1-0 halftime lead. The Hibernians fought back tenaciously during the entire second half and came close to knotting the score on a few occasions. In particular, a great effort by Masumi Turnbull—after he had made a wonderful run towards Pegasus’ goal—was brilliantly saved by Andy Singh. At about the 70th minute mark, however, Richmond FC was able to tie things up when Taj Sangara—after having received an excellent pass from Masumi Turnball—was fouled inside the penalty area by Pegasus’ goalkeeper Andy Singh. On the ensuing penalty kick, Erik Olsen made no mistake as he deposited the ball into the back of the net for the equalizer. Both teams tried hard to score what would have been the winning goal but some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Singh and O’Shea kept the score tied at 1-1 till the final whistle. Defensively, Gary Sidhu was rock-solid on the Pegasus back-line, while forwards Goldy Takhar and Omari Aldridge drove the Richmond defenders to distraction with their pace and skill. The Hibernians’ midfielders Masumi Turnbull and Erik Olsen—as well as striker Taj Sangara—also played very well throughout the match. As mentioned earlier, the result helps neither team’s quest to get out of the relegation zone, as they both remain near the bottom of the table.
COLUMBUS FC - SAPPERTON ROVERS 1-0: The third Saturday game was played at Queen’s Park Stadium in New Westminster and featured the aspiring ‘Italians’ and the hosting Rovers. At the end of the day, the visitors walked away with a hard-fought 1-0 victory, a result that solidifies their hold on second place in the Premier Division standings. The match itself was a rather scrappy affair and, at times, even chippy. In fact, the Rovers’ Jeff Rogers was sent off midway through the first half for having received his second caution. Early in the second half, Columbus scored the lone goal of the match when central defender Jonathan Poli converted a well-taken free kick by Blair Robertson into the winning goal with a lethal close-range volley. To make matters even worse for the Rovers, Sandeep Sull was also ejected—at about the 75th mark—also for a double caution. Defensively, Columbus’ Robbie Cairns, Tony Gaita, Blair Robertson, and especially Jonathan Poli turned in strong performances in making goalkeeper Thomas Lindley’s life quite comfortable as he gathered his 5th clean sheet of the season. For the Rovers, defender Brody Phillips, forward Jason Pierotti, as well as midfielders Matt Rosenlund and Kyle Phillips comported themselves quite admirably, albeit in a losing cause. As mentioned earlier, Columbus remains in second place as a result of the victory, while the Rovers are still in the middle of the pack, with a 3-2-4 record.
METRO-FORD WOLVES - WEST VAN FC 3-2: Also on Saturday afternoon, at Coquitlam Town Centre, the Metro-Ford Wolves remained in first place by virtue of a 3-2 victory over their visiting arch-rivals—West Van FC. As expected, the game was very well-played and highly-competitive since it featured two of the top teams in the Premier Division. The visitors came out of the starting gate with passion and determination in an effort to maintain their 3-year unbeaten streak against the Wolves. The former Trollers were rewarded at about the 35th minute mark when Milad Rahmati finished off a brilliant 3-way passing play—also involving Kyle McDiarmid and Jesse Fetterley—with a lethal shot that gave young Metro-Ford goalkeeper Richard Causton no chance whatsoever. Despite the fact that the Wolves tried desperately to get the equalizer before the halftime whistle, the West Van defensive core—composed of Geoff Buchanan, Tim Perry, Drew Gelley, and Marc Burrows—held on tight and preserved their team’s lead for the remainder of the first half. Early in the second half, however, a couple of youngsters—Brayden Gant and Jovan Blagojevic—combined to set up former Whitecap Alfredo Valente for the tying goal. It should be noted that this was the first goal conceded by goalkeeper Tyler Silvestre this season! West Van bounced back and regained the lead at about the 60th minute mark when Sean Taylor was tripped inside the box by Metro-Ford’s Brook Scott. On the ensuing penalty kick, Drew Gelley sent Causton the wrong way and easily scored West Van’s second goal. The Wolves, however, responded in kind and within a few minutes restored parity when second half substitute—and former Whitecap—Oliver Heald set up veteran Russel Huggon with an immaculate pass. Huggon then proceeded to tuck the ball behind Tyler Silvestre to once again knot the score. Shortly thereafter, the Wolves scored the winning goal with Oliver Heald once again involved in the play. On this occasion, Heald—after receiving a splendid pass from Emilio Bottiglieri—slipped by a couple of West Van defenders before calmly placing the ball into the bottom corner of the net for what proved to be the winning goal. The entire Metro-Ford team played extremely well, but special mention should be made of defenders Devin Phelan, Matt Besuschko, Brook Scott, and Emilio Bottiglieri for their superlative performances in keeping the vaunted West Van strikers at bay for most of the match. All in all, a very entertaining and exciting match, witnessed by numerous spectators! The victory solidifies the Wolves’ hold on first place in the Premier Division standings—with an unbeaten 7-2-0 record—while West Van FC slips to 4th place with 16 points in 9 games.
PUNJAB HURRICANES - WESTSIDE FC 2-1: The fifth, and last, Saturday game was played at Newton Athletic Park between the struggling, and somewhat unfortunate, Punjab Hurricanes and the aspiring Westside FC. At the end of 90 minutes of non-stop action, the Hurricanes walked away with their first win of the season, a victory that allows them to climb out of last place in the standings. The Westsiders got off to a bright start and carried most of the play in the early going as they retained the majority of ball possession. They were rewarded at the 25th minute mark when a lovely pass from midfielder Andre` Herath found an unmarked John Stonehocker at the edge of the Punjab penalty area. Without a moment’s hesitation, Stonehocker drove the ball into the low, far corner of the net for the opening goal. At this juncture, Westside FC began to sit back and thus allowed the Hurricanes to gain momentum and eventually take over the reins of the match. Gary Badesha and Sunny Dhaliwal both came close to scoring for the Hurricanes but the woodwork and goalkeeper Rowan Anders prevented their efforts from succeeding. Early in the second half, Badesha scored the equalizer for the Hurricanes when he converted a penalty kick that was awarded when Westside’s Andre` Herath handled the ball inside the penalty area. Midway through the second half, the Hurricanes scored the winning goal when Jag Gill’s shot from just inside the penalty area was inadvertently deflected into the net by a Westside defender. The Hurricanes kept pressing and came very close to adding to their lead in the late going, but goalkeeper Rowan Anders came up with a couple of magnificent saves on breakaway efforts by Ryan Dhillon and Joti Thind. Midfielder Sunny Dhaliwal, defender Gurj Sandhu, and newly-transferred goalkeeper Sheldon Steenhuis played very well for the Hurricanes, while Westside midfielder Andre` Herath turned in a superlative performance throughout the match, albeit in a losing cause. The victory elevates the Hurricanes out of last place, while Westside FC drops to the middle of the pack, with a 4-3-2 record.
CROATIA SC - SERBIAN WHITE EAGLES 1-0: On Sunday, at Adanac Park in Vancouver, the ‘Balkan Derby’ took place with Croatia SC prevailing by a 1-0 margin over the Serbian White Eagles. With about 400 well-behaved fans in attendance, the Croatians got off to a bright start and nearly took the early lead when Gustavo Argueta—after having received a great through ball from veteran Darko Jelic—was thwarted by an incredible save by Richard Goddard. The home team continued to press for most of the first half and created numerous goalscoring chances but Goddard rose to the occasion every time as he stymied efforts by Cristian Tropeano, Mirko Maras, Johnny Sulentic, and Kresimir Bebic. Early in the second half, the Serbians came close to taking the lead but a fine header by David Hill—on Joel Malouf cross—was brilliantly saved by goalkeeper Didar Sandhu. Then, at the 55th minute mark, Dalvir Mahli hit the crossbar with Sandhu well-beaten. The Croatians bounced back from a lethargic second half start and took the lead at the 65th minute mark when newly-signed Selim Nahdi finished off a brilliant give-and-go on the part of Cristian Tropeano and Johnny Sulentic for what proved to be the lone goal of the contest. Late in the match, the White Eagles almost tied things up but a blistering shot by Juan Sanchez was once again brilliantly saved by Didar Sandhu. The hard-earned victory raises Croatia SC to 7th place in the standings, while the Serbian White Eagles drop to last place, with only 4 points from 8 games.
SURREY UNITED FIREFIGHTERS - DELTA UNITED 3-1: The final Premier Division game was played on Sunday at John Oliver Park in Delta and featured two top-ranked teams: the hosting Delta United and the visiting Firemen. After a very well-played 90 minutes, the visitors walked away with a hard-earned 3-1 victory, a result that keeps them in the running for the coveted first place. The Cloverdale-based team started strongly and enjoyed a territorial advantage for most of the early play. After coming close to scoring on a number of occasions, the Firefighters finally broke the deadlock at the 25th minute mark when a fine run down the right flank by Andrew Proctor started the play that led to the opening goal. In fact, Proctor’s well-measured cross found a wide-open Lucas Barrett, whose attempted shot deflected to teammate Angus Burke who simply tapped the ball into the net to give his team the well-deserved lead. Delta United rallied strongly and almost levelled the score at the 30th minute mark when a well-taken free kick by Steve Millar was cleared off the line by defender Steve McAuley, with goalkeeper Drew Smiley beaten. A few minutes later, the home team once again came close to knotting the score, but John Blair watched agonizingly as his powerful shot rattled off the cross-bar and subsequently cleared out of danger by defender Brad Peetom. Soon thereafter, veteran Mike Gomes also hit the woodwork with his powerful shot, thus denying the home team the opportunity to level the score. However, Delta United continued to press and finally tied things up at the 40th minute mark when Lensky dribbled around two Surrey defenders on a great run through the middle of the park before blasting home a powerful, left-foot drive for the well-deserved equalizer. Very late in the first half, the outcome of the game was significantly influenced when Delta United failed to clear a Vinny Stewart corner kick and, on the ensuing goalmouth scramble, Surrey’s Cam Wilson blasted the ball into the back of the net, thus giving his team the 2-1 halftime lead. The second half was also very evenly-played, with both teams creating—and missing—several good scoring chances. Late in the game, with Delta pushing forward in search of the tying goal, a quick counter-attack spearheaded by Rizal Ganief resulted in Cam Wilson scoring his second goal of the game, thus giving Surrey United a 3-1 victory. The Firefighters thus climb into sole possession of 3rd place, while Delta United remains in 6th place with an even 4-2-4 record.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: The first place METRO-FORD WOLVES for their impressive performance in defeating the visiting West Van FC by a 3-2 margin. Led by the excellent play of veterans Oliver Heald, Emilio Bottiglieri, Alfredo Valente, and Russel Huggon, the Wolves came back twice from one-goal deficits and eventually managed to edge their very strong opponents. This marks the first time in 3 years that the Wolves have beaten West Van FC!
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Metro-Ford’s veteran midfielder OLIVER HEALD for his magnificent performance in his team’s narrow 3-2 victory over the visiting West Van FC. With his team trailing 1-0 at the halftime break, the former Whitecap came on as a substitute and totally changed the momentum of the match with his leadership qualities and brilliant skills. On top of that, Heald set up the tying goal, and scored the winner with a masterful exhibition of pure talent. For his amazing performance, OLIVER HEALD will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2010-11-10.
- Thread starter
- #25
2010-11-01
PREMIER DIVISION – DAY 10
Once again, no huge upsets took place this past weekend as 6 of the 7 matches were hard-fought and closely-contested. Two of the top teams in the Premier Division—Metro-Ford and Surrey United—battled to a 3-3 draw, thus leaving both of them in contention for the coveted league title. Columbus FC took advantage of the tie between the Wolves and the Firemen and climbed closer to the top by easily defeating the Richmond FC Hibernians. Nothing much changed at the bottom of the table, as all the bottom-feeding teams suffered excruciating losses.
WEST VAN FC - PUNJAB HURRICANES 1-0: On Friday evening, at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver, West Van FC edged the visiting Punjab Hurricanes by a hard-fought 1-0 margin. Both teams came out of the starting blocks a bit flat, with the Hurricanes seemingly satisfied to defend and counter-attack. The strategy almost paid dividends a couple of times in the first half with Joti Thind involved on both occasions. On the first, at 24th minute mark, Thind raced in on West Van’s goal on a partial breakaway only to have his shot just go wide of the net. On the second, at the 39th minute mark, Thind’s drive was brilliantly saved by goalkeeper Marco Durante. Shortly thereafter, West Van FC took the lead when one of Paul Dailly’s patented corner kicks was headed into the Hurricanes’ net by Austin Lowrie, who had previously made a clever near-post run. In the second half, the former Trollers continued to apply a lot of pressure on the Hurricanes’ defence and only some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Sheldon Steenhuis—as well as some rock-solid defending by Joey Brar—kept the heavy favourites off the score board. In particular, Steenhuis pulled off some semi-miraculous saves on shots by Milad Rahmati, Ryan Glanville, and Bruno Tiexiera. However, the Hurricanes came close to knotting the score in the late going when Rupi Birring’s wicked free kick was brilliantly saved by Marco Durante. Defensively, Tim Perry, Leo Nash, Kyle McDiarmid, and Drew Gelley played very well for the home team, thwarting the Hurricanes’ counter-attacks time after time. The victory solidifies West Van’s hold on 4th place, while the Hurricanes remain mired in penultimate place with only 6 points.
DELTA UNITED - ICST PEGASUS 1-0: Also on Friday, at Newton Athletic Park in Surrey, Delta United solidified its place in the upper middle section of the table by defeating the luckless ICST Pegasus by a narrow 1-0 margin. Pegasus had most of the possession in the first half and came close to taking the lead in the early going but some excellent goalkeeping on the part of veteran Steve London kept the scoreline at 0-0 till the halftime whistle. In particular, Herman Sidhu, after having been set up by Lavy Mangat, had his close-range shot brilliantly saved by London. Also, Goldy Takhar was robbed by London on a wicked shot from the edge of the penalty area. The second half insertion of Harp Khakh and newly-signed Jacob Starheim into the Delta United lineup paid enormous dividends as they were instrumental in changing the momentum of the match in their team’s favour. At the 65th minute mark, Delta United took the lead when Jacob Starheim dribbled past a couple of Pegasus defenders on the left flank before crossing an immaculate ball to goalscoring leader Philip Lensky. From point-blank range, Lensky had his shot brilliantly saved by Pegasus’ goalkeeper Andy Singh only to have veteran Mike Gomes slot the rebound home for the winning goal. Pegasus came bouncing back in a desperate attempt to knot the score, but some excellent defending on the part of veterans Steve Millar and Woody Bradford kept the score at 1-0 till the final whistle. It should be mentioned that Pegasus’ defenders Paul Bahia and Deep Toor also played extremely well as they kept Delta’s vaunted forward line—led by Philip Lensky and Shawn Blakeway—at bay for most of the contest. The victory improves Delta’s record to 5-1-4, good for 5th place in the Premier Division standings, while Pegasus remains near the bottom of the table, with an unimpressive 2-2-6 record.
ICSF INTER - SAPPERTON ROVERS 1-0: On Saturday, at Queen’s Park Stadium in New Westminster, ICSF Inter broke out of its mini-slump by defeating the Sapperton Rovers by yet another 1-0 score. The ‘Italians’ got off to a great start and applied some consistent pressure on the Rovers’ defence. Inter was rewarded at the 15th minute mark when a low, hard shot by young veteran Joseph Marrello found the back of the net for the game’s lone goal. Also instrumental in the goal were midfielders Domenic Delli Santi and Mike D’Agostino who, prior to the shot, were able to combine some creative passing to set up Marrello for the winning goal. In the second half, the Rovers tried hard to equalize, and came close when Alexander Milenkov blasted a tremendous volley from well outside the penalty area. Unfortunately for Sapperton, Milenkov’s shot was was saved by Inter’s goalkeeper Erman Ozkan who thus preserved his second consecutive clean sheet. Defensively, Inter’s Milos Jeftic, Ryan Zaharija, Sunny Uppal, Jesse Dhami, and Bevan Footman all played extremely well in a winning cause. For the Rovers, centre back Brody Phillips was once again rock solid while forward Jason Pierotti was a going concern during the entire game but was unable to finish any of his numerous chances. The important victory catapults Inter ahead of the Rovers into 9th place in the standings.
SURREY UNITED FIREFIGHTERS - METRO-FORD WOLVES 3-3: Also on Saturday afternoon, at Cloverdale Athletic Park in Surrey, the Firemen bounced back from a 2-goal deficit to finally earn a 3-3 tie against the league-leading Metro-Ford Wolves. In fact, Surrey United had to rally strongly and scored two goals in the last 10 minutes to deny the league leaders the victory. The Wolves started the game brightly and took the lead after only 5 minutes of play when Alfredo Valente and Emilio Bottiglieri combined to set up teammate Russel Huggon for the opening goal. The home team spluttered and stuttered for the remainder of the first half but the Wolves were unable to take advantage of the situation and add to their lead. The introduction of former Whitecap captain Jeff Clarke—shortly after the halftime break—produced a much better second half performance from the Firefighters as they began to apply some pressure in their search for the equalizer. The tying goal almost arrived at the 62nd minute mark when quick lay-off from Clarke found Angus Burke streaking in from the right flank. However, Burke’s subsequent powerful shot crashed against the upright and out of play. As luck would have it, the Wolves added to their lead shortly thereafter when young Jovan Blagojevic—after beating a couple of Surrey United defenders—set up veteran Oliver Heald with a clever pass. The former Whitecap then proceeded to blast the ball into the net from close range for Metro-Ford’s second goal. Surrey United—in true Firefighters fashion—didn’t give up and rallied back a few minute later and managed to narrow the margin when Angus Burke’s low cross was converted into a brilliant goal by Andrew Proctor as he hammered the ball into the net from the edge of the penalty area. At this point, the home team threw caution to the wind and pushed forward in search of the equalizer. In so doing, however, they left themselves quite vulnerable at the back and, as a result, allowed Metro-Ford to reestablish its 2-goal lead on a lethal counter-attack. Jovan Blagojevic and Russel Huggon were once again involved in the play as the youngster set up the veteran with immaculate pass that Huggon converted into his team’s third goal—and his 6th of the season—with a brilliant finish. However, the defending Premier Division champions showed their determination and grit and bounced back by scoring two late goals. On the first—at the 83rd minute mark—a well-taken Vince Stewart free kick was chested down by Liam Smith who then proceeded to fire the ball into the net with a vicious left-foot shot. Just before the final whistle, Rizal Ganief headed the ball onto the path of Angus Burke who lifted the ball over the head of goalkeeper Richard Causton and into the net for the all-important, and well-deserved, equalizer. It should be mentioned that Surrey United’s goalkeeper—Paul Shepherd—pulled off a couple of sensational saves in the second half on shots by Metro-Ford’s Alfredo Valente and Jovan Blagojevic to keep his team in the game. The single point maintains the Wolves’ undefeated status, while Surrey United remains in third place in the standings with a 7-1-2 record.
CROATIA SC - WESTSIDE FC 1-0: The third, and last, Saturday game was played at Andy Livingstone Park between two hot-and-cold teams: the hosting Westside FC and the visiting Croatia SC. Once again, the game was closely-contested and hard-fought and—once again—it ended with a 1-0 final score. The Croatians got off to a bright start, applied a lot of early pressure, and came close to taking the lead on a few occasions. Specifically, at the 10th minute mark, a well-taken free kick by Mirko Maras forced Westside’s goalkeeper—Rowan Anders—to make a fine save. Also, at the 22nd minute mark, some clever interplay involving Kreso Bebic, Matteo Agnoloni, and Cristian Tropeano gave Johnny Sulentic an excellent opportunity to place Croatia in the lead. However, Sulentic’s brilliant chip shot agonizingly bounced off the crossbar with Anders well-beaten. The Croatians, however, were finally rewarded at the 31st minute mark when Cristian Tropeano beat a couple of Westside defenders down the right flank before crossing the ball into the penalty area where it was flicked on by Kreso Bebic onto the path of Johnny Sulentic who clinically placed it into the back of the Westside net for what proved to be the winning goal. The Westsiders bounced back in the second half but were unable to score the equalizer, mostly due to some excellent defending on the part of Croatia’s Darko Jelic and Maarten Koorn, as well as some fine goalkeeping by Didar Sandhu. In particular, the former Whitecaps goalkeeper made some exceptional saves on shots by Cedric Lunel, Michael Buree, and Sebastian Crema. At the other end of the pitch, the Croatians also came close to adding to their lead on efforts by Tommy Mallette and Corey Sanford. Despite the disappointing loss, midfielders Michael Buree and Joe Bhegani played extremely well for Westside FC, as did forward Cedric Lunel and defender Brian Reems. The Croatians’ victory elevates them to 7th place with an even 4-2-4 record, while Westside FC drops to 6th place in the standings with 15 points.
COLUMBUS FC - RICHMOND FC HIBERNIANS 4-1: On Sunday, at Adanac Park in Vancouver, Columbus FC easily defeated the visiting Richmond FC Hiebernians by an elaborate 4-1 margin. Columbus did not get off to a good start and surrendered an early goal to the visitors when Erik Olsen converted a fine pass by Mark Sammarco—after he had been set up by a Peter Chivers’ great diagonal pass—into the go-ahead goal. The Richmond goal seemed to serve as a wake-up call for the ‘Italians’ as they took over the reins of the match from that point forward. At the 14th minute mark, the home team equalized when Kazunori Kikuchi received a great pass from Steve Frazao and proceeded to fire the ball home with a low drive into the corner of the Richmond net. Moments later, Steve Frazao almost gave Columbus the lead but his hard shot was brilliantly saved by Richmond goalkeeper Luke O’Shea. However, midway through the first half, Columbus scored what proved to be the winning goal on a great individual effort by Steve DeBlasio as he beat a few defenders at the edge of the penalty area before unleashing an unstoppable drive, a shot that gave Luke O’Shea no chance whatsoever. Just before the halftime whistle, Columbus added the insurance marker when Kozo Manome picked up a rebound from a Steve Frazao shot and calmly fired the ball into the back of the net. To their credit, the Hibernians fought hard during the entire second half and came close to scoring on efforts by Brad Caldwell and Taj Sangara. However, on both occasions the shots went wide of the net. Late in the game, Columbus put the final nail in Richmond’s coffin when Stefano Pannu sent Steve Frazao on a semi-breakaway with a brilliant through ball. Frazao calmly slotted the ball home for Columbus’ fourth and final goal. Columbus’ central defender Jonathan Poli was once again a tower of strength, while midfielder Sheu Fortunato and forward Steve Frazao also turned in excellent performances. Richmond’s strker Erik Olsen and defender Mike Revell also performed admirably, albeit in a losing cause. Columbus’ victory elevates the ‘Italians’ closer to league-leading Metro-Ford, while the Hibs remain mired near the bottom of the table, just one point out of the dreaded relegation zone.
AKAL FC - SERBIAN WHITE EAGLES 2-0: The final Premier Division game was played on Sunday evening at Burnaby Lake West Complex and featured two teams in desperate need of points: the visiting Akal FC and the last place Serbian White Eagles. At the end of the day, the visitors walked away with the badly needed 3 points, as a result of their 2-0 shutout victory. The White Eagles came close to scoring early in the game when Nemanja Okuka sent Kyle Knees flying down the right flank with a brilliant pass. Knees proceeded to cross the ball into the box for an onrushing Dalvir Mahli, whose shot barely missed the Akal net. As luck would have it, Akal FC took the lead midway through the first half when Justin Sidhu got fouled outside the Serbian penalty area. On the ensuing free kick, Javid Khan had his shot saved by goalkeeper Richard Goddard, only to have Surinder Janda pounce on the rebound and easily score what proved to be the winning goal. The second half was more or less a repeat of the first, with both teams attacking and defending well. Once again, however, it was the White Eagles that came close to scoring when, at about the 65th minute mark, Nemanja Okuka—after having made a great solo run down the middle of the field—sent his shot wide with goalkeeper Nuno Jesus well beaten. Ironically, Akal FC again responded in kind and scored the insurance marker soon thereafter when Emmanuel Bentil curled a brilliant free kick into the White Eagles’ net after Pavin Grewal had been fouled just outside the 18-yard box. Despite the loss, defenders Andrew Malamura and Sava Okuka—as well as midfielder Kyle Knees and forward Nemaja Okuka—played extremely well for the White Eagles. For Akal FC, midfielders Emmanuel Bentil, Harry Lakhan, and Justin Sidhu led the way with excellent performances, while defenders Surinder Janda and Harbinder Chohan, goalkeeper Nuno Jesus, and forwards BJ Rockson and Javid Khan should also be given special mention for their admirable performances. The victory elevates Akal FC to 8th place with an even 3-4-3 record, while the Serbian White Eagles remain mired in last place with only 4 points from 9 games.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: The defending Premier Division champions—Surrey United Firefighters—for their impressive come-from-behind 3-3 tie against the league-leading Metro-Ford Wolves. Twice the Firemen trailed by two goals but—led by Jeff Clarke’s superlative second half performance—they battled back tenaciously and eventually knotted the score in the dying minutes of the match.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Surrey United’s veteran midfielder JEFF CLARKE for his brilliant performance in his team’s 3-3 tie against the league-leading Metro-Ford Wolves. With his team trailing 1-0 at the halftime break, the former Whitecap captain came on as a substitute and totally changed the momentum of the match with his leadership qualities and brilliant skills. For his excellent performance, JEFF CLARKE will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2010-11-17.
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PREMIER DIVISION – DAY 10
Once again, no huge upsets took place this past weekend as 6 of the 7 matches were hard-fought and closely-contested. Two of the top teams in the Premier Division—Metro-Ford and Surrey United—battled to a 3-3 draw, thus leaving both of them in contention for the coveted league title. Columbus FC took advantage of the tie between the Wolves and the Firemen and climbed closer to the top by easily defeating the Richmond FC Hibernians. Nothing much changed at the bottom of the table, as all the bottom-feeding teams suffered excruciating losses.
WEST VAN FC - PUNJAB HURRICANES 1-0: On Friday evening, at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver, West Van FC edged the visiting Punjab Hurricanes by a hard-fought 1-0 margin. Both teams came out of the starting blocks a bit flat, with the Hurricanes seemingly satisfied to defend and counter-attack. The strategy almost paid dividends a couple of times in the first half with Joti Thind involved on both occasions. On the first, at 24th minute mark, Thind raced in on West Van’s goal on a partial breakaway only to have his shot just go wide of the net. On the second, at the 39th minute mark, Thind’s drive was brilliantly saved by goalkeeper Marco Durante. Shortly thereafter, West Van FC took the lead when one of Paul Dailly’s patented corner kicks was headed into the Hurricanes’ net by Austin Lowrie, who had previously made a clever near-post run. In the second half, the former Trollers continued to apply a lot of pressure on the Hurricanes’ defence and only some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Sheldon Steenhuis—as well as some rock-solid defending by Joey Brar—kept the heavy favourites off the score board. In particular, Steenhuis pulled off some semi-miraculous saves on shots by Milad Rahmati, Ryan Glanville, and Bruno Tiexiera. However, the Hurricanes came close to knotting the score in the late going when Rupi Birring’s wicked free kick was brilliantly saved by Marco Durante. Defensively, Tim Perry, Leo Nash, Kyle McDiarmid, and Drew Gelley played very well for the home team, thwarting the Hurricanes’ counter-attacks time after time. The victory solidifies West Van’s hold on 4th place, while the Hurricanes remain mired in penultimate place with only 6 points.
DELTA UNITED - ICST PEGASUS 1-0: Also on Friday, at Newton Athletic Park in Surrey, Delta United solidified its place in the upper middle section of the table by defeating the luckless ICST Pegasus by a narrow 1-0 margin. Pegasus had most of the possession in the first half and came close to taking the lead in the early going but some excellent goalkeeping on the part of veteran Steve London kept the scoreline at 0-0 till the halftime whistle. In particular, Herman Sidhu, after having been set up by Lavy Mangat, had his close-range shot brilliantly saved by London. Also, Goldy Takhar was robbed by London on a wicked shot from the edge of the penalty area. The second half insertion of Harp Khakh and newly-signed Jacob Starheim into the Delta United lineup paid enormous dividends as they were instrumental in changing the momentum of the match in their team’s favour. At the 65th minute mark, Delta United took the lead when Jacob Starheim dribbled past a couple of Pegasus defenders on the left flank before crossing an immaculate ball to goalscoring leader Philip Lensky. From point-blank range, Lensky had his shot brilliantly saved by Pegasus’ goalkeeper Andy Singh only to have veteran Mike Gomes slot the rebound home for the winning goal. Pegasus came bouncing back in a desperate attempt to knot the score, but some excellent defending on the part of veterans Steve Millar and Woody Bradford kept the score at 1-0 till the final whistle. It should be mentioned that Pegasus’ defenders Paul Bahia and Deep Toor also played extremely well as they kept Delta’s vaunted forward line—led by Philip Lensky and Shawn Blakeway—at bay for most of the contest. The victory improves Delta’s record to 5-1-4, good for 5th place in the Premier Division standings, while Pegasus remains near the bottom of the table, with an unimpressive 2-2-6 record.
ICSF INTER - SAPPERTON ROVERS 1-0: On Saturday, at Queen’s Park Stadium in New Westminster, ICSF Inter broke out of its mini-slump by defeating the Sapperton Rovers by yet another 1-0 score. The ‘Italians’ got off to a great start and applied some consistent pressure on the Rovers’ defence. Inter was rewarded at the 15th minute mark when a low, hard shot by young veteran Joseph Marrello found the back of the net for the game’s lone goal. Also instrumental in the goal were midfielders Domenic Delli Santi and Mike D’Agostino who, prior to the shot, were able to combine some creative passing to set up Marrello for the winning goal. In the second half, the Rovers tried hard to equalize, and came close when Alexander Milenkov blasted a tremendous volley from well outside the penalty area. Unfortunately for Sapperton, Milenkov’s shot was was saved by Inter’s goalkeeper Erman Ozkan who thus preserved his second consecutive clean sheet. Defensively, Inter’s Milos Jeftic, Ryan Zaharija, Sunny Uppal, Jesse Dhami, and Bevan Footman all played extremely well in a winning cause. For the Rovers, centre back Brody Phillips was once again rock solid while forward Jason Pierotti was a going concern during the entire game but was unable to finish any of his numerous chances. The important victory catapults Inter ahead of the Rovers into 9th place in the standings.
SURREY UNITED FIREFIGHTERS - METRO-FORD WOLVES 3-3: Also on Saturday afternoon, at Cloverdale Athletic Park in Surrey, the Firemen bounced back from a 2-goal deficit to finally earn a 3-3 tie against the league-leading Metro-Ford Wolves. In fact, Surrey United had to rally strongly and scored two goals in the last 10 minutes to deny the league leaders the victory. The Wolves started the game brightly and took the lead after only 5 minutes of play when Alfredo Valente and Emilio Bottiglieri combined to set up teammate Russel Huggon for the opening goal. The home team spluttered and stuttered for the remainder of the first half but the Wolves were unable to take advantage of the situation and add to their lead. The introduction of former Whitecap captain Jeff Clarke—shortly after the halftime break—produced a much better second half performance from the Firefighters as they began to apply some pressure in their search for the equalizer. The tying goal almost arrived at the 62nd minute mark when quick lay-off from Clarke found Angus Burke streaking in from the right flank. However, Burke’s subsequent powerful shot crashed against the upright and out of play. As luck would have it, the Wolves added to their lead shortly thereafter when young Jovan Blagojevic—after beating a couple of Surrey United defenders—set up veteran Oliver Heald with a clever pass. The former Whitecap then proceeded to blast the ball into the net from close range for Metro-Ford’s second goal. Surrey United—in true Firefighters fashion—didn’t give up and rallied back a few minute later and managed to narrow the margin when Angus Burke’s low cross was converted into a brilliant goal by Andrew Proctor as he hammered the ball into the net from the edge of the penalty area. At this point, the home team threw caution to the wind and pushed forward in search of the equalizer. In so doing, however, they left themselves quite vulnerable at the back and, as a result, allowed Metro-Ford to reestablish its 2-goal lead on a lethal counter-attack. Jovan Blagojevic and Russel Huggon were once again involved in the play as the youngster set up the veteran with immaculate pass that Huggon converted into his team’s third goal—and his 6th of the season—with a brilliant finish. However, the defending Premier Division champions showed their determination and grit and bounced back by scoring two late goals. On the first—at the 83rd minute mark—a well-taken Vince Stewart free kick was chested down by Liam Smith who then proceeded to fire the ball into the net with a vicious left-foot shot. Just before the final whistle, Rizal Ganief headed the ball onto the path of Angus Burke who lifted the ball over the head of goalkeeper Richard Causton and into the net for the all-important, and well-deserved, equalizer. It should be mentioned that Surrey United’s goalkeeper—Paul Shepherd—pulled off a couple of sensational saves in the second half on shots by Metro-Ford’s Alfredo Valente and Jovan Blagojevic to keep his team in the game. The single point maintains the Wolves’ undefeated status, while Surrey United remains in third place in the standings with a 7-1-2 record.
CROATIA SC - WESTSIDE FC 1-0: The third, and last, Saturday game was played at Andy Livingstone Park between two hot-and-cold teams: the hosting Westside FC and the visiting Croatia SC. Once again, the game was closely-contested and hard-fought and—once again—it ended with a 1-0 final score. The Croatians got off to a bright start, applied a lot of early pressure, and came close to taking the lead on a few occasions. Specifically, at the 10th minute mark, a well-taken free kick by Mirko Maras forced Westside’s goalkeeper—Rowan Anders—to make a fine save. Also, at the 22nd minute mark, some clever interplay involving Kreso Bebic, Matteo Agnoloni, and Cristian Tropeano gave Johnny Sulentic an excellent opportunity to place Croatia in the lead. However, Sulentic’s brilliant chip shot agonizingly bounced off the crossbar with Anders well-beaten. The Croatians, however, were finally rewarded at the 31st minute mark when Cristian Tropeano beat a couple of Westside defenders down the right flank before crossing the ball into the penalty area where it was flicked on by Kreso Bebic onto the path of Johnny Sulentic who clinically placed it into the back of the Westside net for what proved to be the winning goal. The Westsiders bounced back in the second half but were unable to score the equalizer, mostly due to some excellent defending on the part of Croatia’s Darko Jelic and Maarten Koorn, as well as some fine goalkeeping by Didar Sandhu. In particular, the former Whitecaps goalkeeper made some exceptional saves on shots by Cedric Lunel, Michael Buree, and Sebastian Crema. At the other end of the pitch, the Croatians also came close to adding to their lead on efforts by Tommy Mallette and Corey Sanford. Despite the disappointing loss, midfielders Michael Buree and Joe Bhegani played extremely well for Westside FC, as did forward Cedric Lunel and defender Brian Reems. The Croatians’ victory elevates them to 7th place with an even 4-2-4 record, while Westside FC drops to 6th place in the standings with 15 points.
COLUMBUS FC - RICHMOND FC HIBERNIANS 4-1: On Sunday, at Adanac Park in Vancouver, Columbus FC easily defeated the visiting Richmond FC Hiebernians by an elaborate 4-1 margin. Columbus did not get off to a good start and surrendered an early goal to the visitors when Erik Olsen converted a fine pass by Mark Sammarco—after he had been set up by a Peter Chivers’ great diagonal pass—into the go-ahead goal. The Richmond goal seemed to serve as a wake-up call for the ‘Italians’ as they took over the reins of the match from that point forward. At the 14th minute mark, the home team equalized when Kazunori Kikuchi received a great pass from Steve Frazao and proceeded to fire the ball home with a low drive into the corner of the Richmond net. Moments later, Steve Frazao almost gave Columbus the lead but his hard shot was brilliantly saved by Richmond goalkeeper Luke O’Shea. However, midway through the first half, Columbus scored what proved to be the winning goal on a great individual effort by Steve DeBlasio as he beat a few defenders at the edge of the penalty area before unleashing an unstoppable drive, a shot that gave Luke O’Shea no chance whatsoever. Just before the halftime whistle, Columbus added the insurance marker when Kozo Manome picked up a rebound from a Steve Frazao shot and calmly fired the ball into the back of the net. To their credit, the Hibernians fought hard during the entire second half and came close to scoring on efforts by Brad Caldwell and Taj Sangara. However, on both occasions the shots went wide of the net. Late in the game, Columbus put the final nail in Richmond’s coffin when Stefano Pannu sent Steve Frazao on a semi-breakaway with a brilliant through ball. Frazao calmly slotted the ball home for Columbus’ fourth and final goal. Columbus’ central defender Jonathan Poli was once again a tower of strength, while midfielder Sheu Fortunato and forward Steve Frazao also turned in excellent performances. Richmond’s strker Erik Olsen and defender Mike Revell also performed admirably, albeit in a losing cause. Columbus’ victory elevates the ‘Italians’ closer to league-leading Metro-Ford, while the Hibs remain mired near the bottom of the table, just one point out of the dreaded relegation zone.
AKAL FC - SERBIAN WHITE EAGLES 2-0: The final Premier Division game was played on Sunday evening at Burnaby Lake West Complex and featured two teams in desperate need of points: the visiting Akal FC and the last place Serbian White Eagles. At the end of the day, the visitors walked away with the badly needed 3 points, as a result of their 2-0 shutout victory. The White Eagles came close to scoring early in the game when Nemanja Okuka sent Kyle Knees flying down the right flank with a brilliant pass. Knees proceeded to cross the ball into the box for an onrushing Dalvir Mahli, whose shot barely missed the Akal net. As luck would have it, Akal FC took the lead midway through the first half when Justin Sidhu got fouled outside the Serbian penalty area. On the ensuing free kick, Javid Khan had his shot saved by goalkeeper Richard Goddard, only to have Surinder Janda pounce on the rebound and easily score what proved to be the winning goal. The second half was more or less a repeat of the first, with both teams attacking and defending well. Once again, however, it was the White Eagles that came close to scoring when, at about the 65th minute mark, Nemanja Okuka—after having made a great solo run down the middle of the field—sent his shot wide with goalkeeper Nuno Jesus well beaten. Ironically, Akal FC again responded in kind and scored the insurance marker soon thereafter when Emmanuel Bentil curled a brilliant free kick into the White Eagles’ net after Pavin Grewal had been fouled just outside the 18-yard box. Despite the loss, defenders Andrew Malamura and Sava Okuka—as well as midfielder Kyle Knees and forward Nemaja Okuka—played extremely well for the White Eagles. For Akal FC, midfielders Emmanuel Bentil, Harry Lakhan, and Justin Sidhu led the way with excellent performances, while defenders Surinder Janda and Harbinder Chohan, goalkeeper Nuno Jesus, and forwards BJ Rockson and Javid Khan should also be given special mention for their admirable performances. The victory elevates Akal FC to 8th place with an even 3-4-3 record, while the Serbian White Eagles remain mired in last place with only 4 points from 9 games.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: The defending Premier Division champions—Surrey United Firefighters—for their impressive come-from-behind 3-3 tie against the league-leading Metro-Ford Wolves. Twice the Firemen trailed by two goals but—led by Jeff Clarke’s superlative second half performance—they battled back tenaciously and eventually knotted the score in the dying minutes of the match.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Surrey United’s veteran midfielder JEFF CLARKE for his brilliant performance in his team’s 3-3 tie against the league-leading Metro-Ford Wolves. With his team trailing 1-0 at the halftime break, the former Whitecap captain came on as a substitute and totally changed the momentum of the match with his leadership qualities and brilliant skills. For his excellent performance, JEFF CLARKE will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2010-11-17.
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- Thread starter
- #26
2010-11-08
PREMIER DIVISION – DAY 11
One big upset took place this past weekend as the aspiring Columbus FC suffered an excruciating 2-1 loss at the hands of the hosting Delta United, thus dropping the ‘Italians’ 5 points behind the league-leading Metro-Ford Wolves. In what could also be described as an upset, the Surrey United Firefighters were held to a 2-2 draw by the struggling Punjab Hurricanes in a match that the Firemen badly needed to win in order to remain in contention for the title. At the bottom of the table, the Serbian White Eagles sank deeper into the relegation zone by losing by an embarrassing 7-0 score to the resurging ICST Inter.
ICSF INTER - SERBIAN WHITE EAGLES 7-0: On Saturday afternoon, at Adanac Park in Vancouver, ICST Inter posted its third consecutive shut-out by easily defeating the struggling White Eagles by a resounding 7-0 margin. Inter opened the scoring at the 8th minute mark when a long pass from defender Jesse Dhami found an unmarked Brian VanSchagen just outside the penalty area. After skillfully controlling the ball, and without a moment’s hesitation, VanSchagen blasted the ball into the back of the Serbian net for what proved to be the winning goal. A few minutes later, young Lui Pantusa doubled the lead as his long-range shot was deflected into the net by a White Eagles defender. Shortly thereafter, Serbian goalkeeper Aaron Young was forced to leave the game after having suffered a serious knee injury. Defender Sava Okuka replaced Young in the White Eagles net and quickly surrendered his team’s third goal as Sheldin Maistry finished off a fine cross from Brian VanSchagen. To add insult to the Serbians’ injury, Nemanja Okuka was dismissed from the game for having vociferously and abusively protested a non-call when he was allegedly fouled inside the Inter penalty area. Just before the halftime whistle, Inter put the game out of the Serbian’s reach when defender Ryan Zaharija converted a penalty kick which had been awarded when Lui Pantusa was fouled inside the 18-yard area. Shortly after the halftime break, Inter added to its lead when midfielder Colin Streckmann converted a clever pass from Sheldin Maistry from close range. Shortly thereafter, the Serbians were forced to make yet another goalkeeping change as Sava Okuka also had to leave the match for having suffered a shoulder injury. He was replaced by defender Brinder Kang for the remainder of the match. At about the 60th minute mark, Brian VanSchagen capped off an excellent individual performance by scoring his second goal, this time on a pass from defender Milos Jeftic. The 7th, and last, ICSF goal was scored at the 63rd minute mark when defender Ryan Zaharija emulated VanSchagen by scoring his second goal of the contest as he ripped a long-range shot into the back of the Serbian net. The victory elevates ICSF Inter to 7th place in the Premier Divisions standings, with an even 4-3-4 record. On the other hand, the White Eagles remain mired in last place with only 4 points from 11 matches.
RICHMOND FC HIBERNIANS - SAPPERTON ROVERS 3-1: Also on Saturday, at Minoru Park in Richmond, the Hibernians bounced back from last week’s emphatic loss to Columbus FC by easily defeating a rather lethargic Sapperton squad by a 3-1 margin. Richmond FC almost took the lead at the 10th minute mark when midfielder Chase Wickham, after having beaten a couple of Sapperton defenders, crossed an exquisite ball to striker Brad Caldwell, whose shot barely missed the net. A few minutes later, Caldwell and Wickham reversed roles but, once again, the final shot went awry. The Hibs finally took the lead midway through the first half when a well-struck corner kick by Alan Chivers was headed toward the Sapperton goal by defender Geoff Salt. The header was saved by goalkeeper Garth Lagasse but Salt pounced on the rebound and drove the ball home from close-range for the game’s opening goal. The home team continued to apply pressure on the Sapperton defenders and came close on numerous occasions to increasing its lead. However, some excellent saves on the part of Lagasse—particularly on 2 shots by Taj Sangara—as well as some poor finishing, kept the score at 1-0 till the halftime whistle. Early in the second half, the Rovers knotted the score when Mark McQuade and Alex Milenkov combined to set up newly-signed Rob Sing just inside the 18-yard box. Sing then proceeded to blast the ball home for the equalizer. The Hibs responded well to the tying goal and bounced back tenaciously in search of the winning goal. In fact, shortly after the equalizer, striker Taj Sangara picked up a loose ball in the middle of the field and went on an amazing run towards the Rovers’ goal. In so doing, he beat at least 4 Sapperton defenders before neatly placing the ball behind Lagasse for what proved to be the winning goal. At about the 60th minute mark, Sangara put the icing on the cake by scoring the insurance marker, and his second goal of the match. On this occasion, he was sent in on goal on a breakaway by a clever pass from Erik Olson before chipping the ball over Lagasse’s outstretched hands. The entire Richmond FC team played extremely well, but special mention should be made forwards Taj Sangara and Brad Caldwell, as well as midfielder Peter Chivers and defender Geoff Salt for their superlative performances. Despite the lass, Sapperton’s goalkeeper Garth Lagasse, and midfielders Mark McQuade and Colin Phillips played extremely well. The victory leap-frogs Richmond FC over the Rovers into 10th place in the standings.
METRO-FORD WOLVES - ICST PEGASUS 2-1: The third Saturday match was played at Coquitlam Town Centre and featured the league-leading Metro-Ford Wolves and the visiting ICST Pegasus. Despite the fact that both teams are at opposite ends of the league table, the game was very closely-contested, as the 2-1 final score would indicate. Pegasus had most of the ball possession in the first half, mostly due to the admirable midfield performance of Diaz Kambere. Forwards Omari Aldridge and Goldy Takhar were also going concerns throughout the first half, but some stern defending on the part of Metro-Ford’s Brook Scott and Matthew Besuschko—as well as some excellent goalkeeping by newly-signed Lucas Menz—kept the game scoreless till the halftime whistle. The visitors took the lead at the 55th minute mark when a great cross by Sahil Sandhu was brilliantly headed home by Omari Aldridge for the game’s opening goal. Aldridge’s goal seemed to be the wake-up call that the league-leaders needed as they responded very positively and practically dominated the remainder of the match. At the 65th minute mark, Pegasus’ goalkeeper Amar Dhinza made a spectacular save on a shot by Alfredo Valente only to have Russel Huggon pick up the rebound and slam the ball home for the equalizer. Metro-Ford’s two young veterans combined once again about 10 minutes later to score the winning goal as Valente’s immaculate cross was neatly headed home by Huggon. Pegasus responded well and came close to equalizing in the late going but a nifty one-two between Sahil Sandhu and Azad Palani was thwarted by some excellent defending on the part of Brook Scott. Young midfielders Devin Phelan and Brayden Gant played very well for the Wolves, particularly in the second half, while youth call-up Connor Ayre turned in a superlative performance in his right back position. The hard-fought victory solidifies Metro-Ford’s hold on first place, while Pegasus remains in the dreaded relegation zone with a 2-2-7 record.
PUNJAB HURRICANES - SURREY UNITED FIREFIGHTERS 2-2: On Saturday evening, at Newton Athletic Park, the Punjab Hurricanes held the heavily-favoured Surrey United Firefighters to a 2-2 draw—a result that does neither team any huge favours in their respective, and totally different, quests! The VMSL defending champions—Surrey United—got off to a good start and took the lead midway through the first half when a free kick by former Whitecap Jeff Clarke resulted in a goalmouth scramble that was eventually converted into the opening goal by Lucas Barrett. The Hurricanes replied in kind and tied things up shortly thereafter when Cam Hundal volleyed home a fine cross by Joti Thind—who had earlier been set up by Gary Badesha. In the second half, the Firemen regained the lead when, at the 70th minute mark, Jeff Clarke and Angus Burke combined to set up Rizal Ganief for what appeared to be the winning goal. However, once again the Hurricanes battled back and equalized in the late stages of the match, with once again Cam Hundal being the main protagonist. On this occasion, Hundal headed a brilliant cross by Sunny Dhaliwal into the back of the net from close range. Both teams had wonderful opportunities to score the winner just before the final whistle but Punjab’s goalkeeper Sheldon Steenhuis made a remarkable save to thwart Lucas Barrett’s fine shot, while Cam Hundal missed the opportunity to score the winning goal, as well as his third of the match, when he put the ball over the crossbar from close range. Punjab’s midfield trio—Cam Hundal, Gary Badesha, and Sunny Dhaliwal—played extremely well throughout the match, while Surrey’s veteran Jeff Clarke was his usual composed self in the middle of the park. As mentioned earlier, the single point does not help either team as the Firemen slip to fourth place in the standings, while the Hurricanes remain in penultimate place, with a 1-4-6 record.
WEST VAN FC - CROATIA SC 2-1: On Sunday afternoon, at Adanac Park—in front of numerous spectators—the former Trollers remained in contention for the league title by edging the hosting Croatia SC by a 2-1 margin after a well-played and exciting 90 minutes of non-stop action. The game, watched by numerous spectators, was very entertaining as both teams took turns attacking and defending in search of the all-important 3 points. The visiting West Van team came flying out of the starting gate and created several chances in the early going, but Croatia’s goalkeeper—Didar Sandhu—lived up to his reputation and pulled off a couple of phenomenal saves on shots by Ryan Glanville and Bruno Teixeira. However, at the 10th minute mark, West Van FC took the lead when Teixeira slammed an unstoppable shot into the Croatians’ net after having received an immaculate pass from Milad Rahmati. The home squad continued to control the match for most of the first half and, led by the fine play of Corey Birza, Ryan Glanville, and Milad Rhamati, created numerous goalscoring opportunities. Near the end of the first half, however, West Van’s veteran defender—Kevan Cameron—was sent off for having committed a serious foul play infraction. As a result, Croatia’s backline—composed of Leo Nash, Tim Perry, and Drew Gelley—was forced to absorb a lot of pressure from the hungry Croatians, led by Cristian Tropeano and Andre` Teixeira-Costa. Finally, at the 65th minute mark, Croatia SC was able to tie things up when Cristian Tropeano capitalized on a West Van defensive blunder to slam home the equalizer. It should be mentioned that Matteo Agnoloni and Andre` Teixeira-Costa had started the play with some fine inter-passing. The Croatians kept pressing for the winning goal, but some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Tyler Silvestre kept the visitors in the match. In particular, Silvestre made a fantastic save on a great shot by Kresimir Bebic. As luck would have it, West Van FC scored the winning goal late in the match when veteran Mike Dodd won a massive sliding tackle in the middle of the park and sent Milad Rhamati on a breakaway with one of his impeccable passes. Rahmati darted and weaved his way to the Croatian 18-yard box and was fouled by Maarten Koorn, resulting in a penalty kick being awarded. Drew Gelley stepped up to the plate and hammered home the winning goal from the penalty spot. Tim Perry turned in an outstanding defensive performance for the winning team, while 17-year old Gianmarco Pensato and 19-year old Bruno Teixeira also played remarkably well in their midfield roles. The victory places West Van FC into a second place tie with Columbus FC, while Croatia SC is now in 8th place in the Premier Division standings.
AKAL FC - WESTSIDE FC 1-1: On Sunday evening, at Newton Athletic Park in Surrey, two middle of the table teams—the hosting Akal FC and the visiting Westside FC—settled for a 1-1 tie after a hard-fought 90-minute battle. The home team took the lead at the 30th minute mark when newly-signed Freddy Malek took advantage of a defensive blunder and finished off a fine cross by Justin Sidhu. At the 65th minute mark, Westside FC was able to knot the score when Ian Sandilands crossed the ball from the right flank to the left side of the field where Eric Peters crossed it back into the box where a wide-open Brian Reems had not difficulty in converting the play into the tying goal. Shortly thereafter, Akal’s goalkeeper—Nuno Jesus—made an incredible save on a shot by Jay Kent-Hume while, at the other end of the pitch, a header by Emmanuel Ayiku—on a cross by Javid Khan—barely missed the net. Westside’s goalkeeper Rowan Anders was forced to make some excellent saves, particularly during the second half, while defender James Brown and midfielders Ian Sandilands, John Stonehocker, and young Daniel Gazzola also turned in excellent performances. As a result of the tie, both teams remain in the middle of the Premier Division table.
DELTA UNITED - COLUMBUS FC 2-1: On Sunday evening, at John Oliver Park, the hosting Delta United upset Columbus FC by a narrow 2-1 margin. Both teams approached the game with caution and, as a result, the first half ended in a scoreless tie. Things opened up somewhat in the second half as both teams started creating some excellent goalscoring opportunities. However, both goalkeepers—Delta’s Steve London and Columbus’ Thomas Lindley—rose to the occasion and made a few brilliant saves to keep the score knotted till midway through the second half. At this juncture, Columbus took the lead as Steve DeBlasio beat a couple of Delta defenders down the right flank and proceeded to cross the ball into the penalty area where Steve Frazao rose above the Delta defenders and headed the ball home for the go-ahead goal. The home team fought back tenaciously in search of the equalizer and eventually succeeded when veteran Shawn Blakeway broke out of a 9-game scoring drought as he converted John Blair’s impeccable corner kick into the tying goal. Very late in the game, Blakeaway scored his second goal of the match—and his team’s winning marker—when he raced in on a breakaway that was initiated by Steve London’s long punt. Midfielders Harp Khakh and Jacob Starheim played extremely well for Delta United, as did goalkeeper Steve London, defender Brian Fowler, and forward Shwan Blakeaway. For Columbus, albeit in a losing cause, midfielder Jamie Olson and veteran defender Tony Gaita performed admirably throughout the contest. The upset victory elevates Delta United to 5th place in the Premier Division table, while Columbus is now tied for second place with West Van FC, with a 7-1-3 record.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: Delta United for its impressive upset victory over the heavily-favoured Columbus FC by a 2-1 margin. Led by an excellent 2-goal performance by veteran Shawn Blakeaway and by some extraordinary goalkeeping on the part of Steve London, Delta United was able to gather all 3 points against the very talented ‘Italians’. As a result of the all-important victory, Delta United remains near the top of the table—in 5th place with 19 points.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: West Van FC’s central defender TIM PERRY for his magnificent effort in his team’s hard-earned 2-1 victory over Croatia SC. Forced to play with only 10 men for most of the match—due to the expulsion of defender Kevan Cameron—West Van FC had to rely on Tim Perry’s amazing defensive skills to eventually lay claim to all 3 points. For his excellent performance, TIM PERRY will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2010-11-24.
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PREMIER DIVISION – DAY 11
One big upset took place this past weekend as the aspiring Columbus FC suffered an excruciating 2-1 loss at the hands of the hosting Delta United, thus dropping the ‘Italians’ 5 points behind the league-leading Metro-Ford Wolves. In what could also be described as an upset, the Surrey United Firefighters were held to a 2-2 draw by the struggling Punjab Hurricanes in a match that the Firemen badly needed to win in order to remain in contention for the title. At the bottom of the table, the Serbian White Eagles sank deeper into the relegation zone by losing by an embarrassing 7-0 score to the resurging ICST Inter.
ICSF INTER - SERBIAN WHITE EAGLES 7-0: On Saturday afternoon, at Adanac Park in Vancouver, ICST Inter posted its third consecutive shut-out by easily defeating the struggling White Eagles by a resounding 7-0 margin. Inter opened the scoring at the 8th minute mark when a long pass from defender Jesse Dhami found an unmarked Brian VanSchagen just outside the penalty area. After skillfully controlling the ball, and without a moment’s hesitation, VanSchagen blasted the ball into the back of the Serbian net for what proved to be the winning goal. A few minutes later, young Lui Pantusa doubled the lead as his long-range shot was deflected into the net by a White Eagles defender. Shortly thereafter, Serbian goalkeeper Aaron Young was forced to leave the game after having suffered a serious knee injury. Defender Sava Okuka replaced Young in the White Eagles net and quickly surrendered his team’s third goal as Sheldin Maistry finished off a fine cross from Brian VanSchagen. To add insult to the Serbians’ injury, Nemanja Okuka was dismissed from the game for having vociferously and abusively protested a non-call when he was allegedly fouled inside the Inter penalty area. Just before the halftime whistle, Inter put the game out of the Serbian’s reach when defender Ryan Zaharija converted a penalty kick which had been awarded when Lui Pantusa was fouled inside the 18-yard area. Shortly after the halftime break, Inter added to its lead when midfielder Colin Streckmann converted a clever pass from Sheldin Maistry from close range. Shortly thereafter, the Serbians were forced to make yet another goalkeeping change as Sava Okuka also had to leave the match for having suffered a shoulder injury. He was replaced by defender Brinder Kang for the remainder of the match. At about the 60th minute mark, Brian VanSchagen capped off an excellent individual performance by scoring his second goal, this time on a pass from defender Milos Jeftic. The 7th, and last, ICSF goal was scored at the 63rd minute mark when defender Ryan Zaharija emulated VanSchagen by scoring his second goal of the contest as he ripped a long-range shot into the back of the Serbian net. The victory elevates ICSF Inter to 7th place in the Premier Divisions standings, with an even 4-3-4 record. On the other hand, the White Eagles remain mired in last place with only 4 points from 11 matches.
RICHMOND FC HIBERNIANS - SAPPERTON ROVERS 3-1: Also on Saturday, at Minoru Park in Richmond, the Hibernians bounced back from last week’s emphatic loss to Columbus FC by easily defeating a rather lethargic Sapperton squad by a 3-1 margin. Richmond FC almost took the lead at the 10th minute mark when midfielder Chase Wickham, after having beaten a couple of Sapperton defenders, crossed an exquisite ball to striker Brad Caldwell, whose shot barely missed the net. A few minutes later, Caldwell and Wickham reversed roles but, once again, the final shot went awry. The Hibs finally took the lead midway through the first half when a well-struck corner kick by Alan Chivers was headed toward the Sapperton goal by defender Geoff Salt. The header was saved by goalkeeper Garth Lagasse but Salt pounced on the rebound and drove the ball home from close-range for the game’s opening goal. The home team continued to apply pressure on the Sapperton defenders and came close on numerous occasions to increasing its lead. However, some excellent saves on the part of Lagasse—particularly on 2 shots by Taj Sangara—as well as some poor finishing, kept the score at 1-0 till the halftime whistle. Early in the second half, the Rovers knotted the score when Mark McQuade and Alex Milenkov combined to set up newly-signed Rob Sing just inside the 18-yard box. Sing then proceeded to blast the ball home for the equalizer. The Hibs responded well to the tying goal and bounced back tenaciously in search of the winning goal. In fact, shortly after the equalizer, striker Taj Sangara picked up a loose ball in the middle of the field and went on an amazing run towards the Rovers’ goal. In so doing, he beat at least 4 Sapperton defenders before neatly placing the ball behind Lagasse for what proved to be the winning goal. At about the 60th minute mark, Sangara put the icing on the cake by scoring the insurance marker, and his second goal of the match. On this occasion, he was sent in on goal on a breakaway by a clever pass from Erik Olson before chipping the ball over Lagasse’s outstretched hands. The entire Richmond FC team played extremely well, but special mention should be made forwards Taj Sangara and Brad Caldwell, as well as midfielder Peter Chivers and defender Geoff Salt for their superlative performances. Despite the lass, Sapperton’s goalkeeper Garth Lagasse, and midfielders Mark McQuade and Colin Phillips played extremely well. The victory leap-frogs Richmond FC over the Rovers into 10th place in the standings.
METRO-FORD WOLVES - ICST PEGASUS 2-1: The third Saturday match was played at Coquitlam Town Centre and featured the league-leading Metro-Ford Wolves and the visiting ICST Pegasus. Despite the fact that both teams are at opposite ends of the league table, the game was very closely-contested, as the 2-1 final score would indicate. Pegasus had most of the ball possession in the first half, mostly due to the admirable midfield performance of Diaz Kambere. Forwards Omari Aldridge and Goldy Takhar were also going concerns throughout the first half, but some stern defending on the part of Metro-Ford’s Brook Scott and Matthew Besuschko—as well as some excellent goalkeeping by newly-signed Lucas Menz—kept the game scoreless till the halftime whistle. The visitors took the lead at the 55th minute mark when a great cross by Sahil Sandhu was brilliantly headed home by Omari Aldridge for the game’s opening goal. Aldridge’s goal seemed to be the wake-up call that the league-leaders needed as they responded very positively and practically dominated the remainder of the match. At the 65th minute mark, Pegasus’ goalkeeper Amar Dhinza made a spectacular save on a shot by Alfredo Valente only to have Russel Huggon pick up the rebound and slam the ball home for the equalizer. Metro-Ford’s two young veterans combined once again about 10 minutes later to score the winning goal as Valente’s immaculate cross was neatly headed home by Huggon. Pegasus responded well and came close to equalizing in the late going but a nifty one-two between Sahil Sandhu and Azad Palani was thwarted by some excellent defending on the part of Brook Scott. Young midfielders Devin Phelan and Brayden Gant played very well for the Wolves, particularly in the second half, while youth call-up Connor Ayre turned in a superlative performance in his right back position. The hard-fought victory solidifies Metro-Ford’s hold on first place, while Pegasus remains in the dreaded relegation zone with a 2-2-7 record.
PUNJAB HURRICANES - SURREY UNITED FIREFIGHTERS 2-2: On Saturday evening, at Newton Athletic Park, the Punjab Hurricanes held the heavily-favoured Surrey United Firefighters to a 2-2 draw—a result that does neither team any huge favours in their respective, and totally different, quests! The VMSL defending champions—Surrey United—got off to a good start and took the lead midway through the first half when a free kick by former Whitecap Jeff Clarke resulted in a goalmouth scramble that was eventually converted into the opening goal by Lucas Barrett. The Hurricanes replied in kind and tied things up shortly thereafter when Cam Hundal volleyed home a fine cross by Joti Thind—who had earlier been set up by Gary Badesha. In the second half, the Firemen regained the lead when, at the 70th minute mark, Jeff Clarke and Angus Burke combined to set up Rizal Ganief for what appeared to be the winning goal. However, once again the Hurricanes battled back and equalized in the late stages of the match, with once again Cam Hundal being the main protagonist. On this occasion, Hundal headed a brilliant cross by Sunny Dhaliwal into the back of the net from close range. Both teams had wonderful opportunities to score the winner just before the final whistle but Punjab’s goalkeeper Sheldon Steenhuis made a remarkable save to thwart Lucas Barrett’s fine shot, while Cam Hundal missed the opportunity to score the winning goal, as well as his third of the match, when he put the ball over the crossbar from close range. Punjab’s midfield trio—Cam Hundal, Gary Badesha, and Sunny Dhaliwal—played extremely well throughout the match, while Surrey’s veteran Jeff Clarke was his usual composed self in the middle of the park. As mentioned earlier, the single point does not help either team as the Firemen slip to fourth place in the standings, while the Hurricanes remain in penultimate place, with a 1-4-6 record.
WEST VAN FC - CROATIA SC 2-1: On Sunday afternoon, at Adanac Park—in front of numerous spectators—the former Trollers remained in contention for the league title by edging the hosting Croatia SC by a 2-1 margin after a well-played and exciting 90 minutes of non-stop action. The game, watched by numerous spectators, was very entertaining as both teams took turns attacking and defending in search of the all-important 3 points. The visiting West Van team came flying out of the starting gate and created several chances in the early going, but Croatia’s goalkeeper—Didar Sandhu—lived up to his reputation and pulled off a couple of phenomenal saves on shots by Ryan Glanville and Bruno Teixeira. However, at the 10th minute mark, West Van FC took the lead when Teixeira slammed an unstoppable shot into the Croatians’ net after having received an immaculate pass from Milad Rahmati. The home squad continued to control the match for most of the first half and, led by the fine play of Corey Birza, Ryan Glanville, and Milad Rhamati, created numerous goalscoring opportunities. Near the end of the first half, however, West Van’s veteran defender—Kevan Cameron—was sent off for having committed a serious foul play infraction. As a result, Croatia’s backline—composed of Leo Nash, Tim Perry, and Drew Gelley—was forced to absorb a lot of pressure from the hungry Croatians, led by Cristian Tropeano and Andre` Teixeira-Costa. Finally, at the 65th minute mark, Croatia SC was able to tie things up when Cristian Tropeano capitalized on a West Van defensive blunder to slam home the equalizer. It should be mentioned that Matteo Agnoloni and Andre` Teixeira-Costa had started the play with some fine inter-passing. The Croatians kept pressing for the winning goal, but some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Tyler Silvestre kept the visitors in the match. In particular, Silvestre made a fantastic save on a great shot by Kresimir Bebic. As luck would have it, West Van FC scored the winning goal late in the match when veteran Mike Dodd won a massive sliding tackle in the middle of the park and sent Milad Rhamati on a breakaway with one of his impeccable passes. Rahmati darted and weaved his way to the Croatian 18-yard box and was fouled by Maarten Koorn, resulting in a penalty kick being awarded. Drew Gelley stepped up to the plate and hammered home the winning goal from the penalty spot. Tim Perry turned in an outstanding defensive performance for the winning team, while 17-year old Gianmarco Pensato and 19-year old Bruno Teixeira also played remarkably well in their midfield roles. The victory places West Van FC into a second place tie with Columbus FC, while Croatia SC is now in 8th place in the Premier Division standings.
AKAL FC - WESTSIDE FC 1-1: On Sunday evening, at Newton Athletic Park in Surrey, two middle of the table teams—the hosting Akal FC and the visiting Westside FC—settled for a 1-1 tie after a hard-fought 90-minute battle. The home team took the lead at the 30th minute mark when newly-signed Freddy Malek took advantage of a defensive blunder and finished off a fine cross by Justin Sidhu. At the 65th minute mark, Westside FC was able to knot the score when Ian Sandilands crossed the ball from the right flank to the left side of the field where Eric Peters crossed it back into the box where a wide-open Brian Reems had not difficulty in converting the play into the tying goal. Shortly thereafter, Akal’s goalkeeper—Nuno Jesus—made an incredible save on a shot by Jay Kent-Hume while, at the other end of the pitch, a header by Emmanuel Ayiku—on a cross by Javid Khan—barely missed the net. Westside’s goalkeeper Rowan Anders was forced to make some excellent saves, particularly during the second half, while defender James Brown and midfielders Ian Sandilands, John Stonehocker, and young Daniel Gazzola also turned in excellent performances. As a result of the tie, both teams remain in the middle of the Premier Division table.
DELTA UNITED - COLUMBUS FC 2-1: On Sunday evening, at John Oliver Park, the hosting Delta United upset Columbus FC by a narrow 2-1 margin. Both teams approached the game with caution and, as a result, the first half ended in a scoreless tie. Things opened up somewhat in the second half as both teams started creating some excellent goalscoring opportunities. However, both goalkeepers—Delta’s Steve London and Columbus’ Thomas Lindley—rose to the occasion and made a few brilliant saves to keep the score knotted till midway through the second half. At this juncture, Columbus took the lead as Steve DeBlasio beat a couple of Delta defenders down the right flank and proceeded to cross the ball into the penalty area where Steve Frazao rose above the Delta defenders and headed the ball home for the go-ahead goal. The home team fought back tenaciously in search of the equalizer and eventually succeeded when veteran Shawn Blakeway broke out of a 9-game scoring drought as he converted John Blair’s impeccable corner kick into the tying goal. Very late in the game, Blakeaway scored his second goal of the match—and his team’s winning marker—when he raced in on a breakaway that was initiated by Steve London’s long punt. Midfielders Harp Khakh and Jacob Starheim played extremely well for Delta United, as did goalkeeper Steve London, defender Brian Fowler, and forward Shwan Blakeaway. For Columbus, albeit in a losing cause, midfielder Jamie Olson and veteran defender Tony Gaita performed admirably throughout the contest. The upset victory elevates Delta United to 5th place in the Premier Division table, while Columbus is now tied for second place with West Van FC, with a 7-1-3 record.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: Delta United for its impressive upset victory over the heavily-favoured Columbus FC by a 2-1 margin. Led by an excellent 2-goal performance by veteran Shawn Blakeaway and by some extraordinary goalkeeping on the part of Steve London, Delta United was able to gather all 3 points against the very talented ‘Italians’. As a result of the all-important victory, Delta United remains near the top of the table—in 5th place with 19 points.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: West Van FC’s central defender TIM PERRY for his magnificent effort in his team’s hard-earned 2-1 victory over Croatia SC. Forced to play with only 10 men for most of the match—due to the expulsion of defender Kevan Cameron—West Van FC had to rely on Tim Perry’s amazing defensive skills to eventually lay claim to all 3 points. For his excellent performance, TIM PERRY will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2010-11-24.
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2010-11-15
PREMIER DIVISION – DAY 12
Once again, most of the Premier Division games were highly-contested and resulted in narrow margins of victory. Surprisingly, no major upsets took place and none of the 7 matches ended in ties! Columbus FC lost its second game in a row—this one to the Metro-Ford Wolves by a 1-0 margin—and thus dropped to 4th place in the standings. Otherwise, nothing much changed at the top of the table, while the Sapperton Rovers—as a result of a 3-1 loss to Delta United—now find themselves in the dreaded relegation zone.
WEST VAN FC - AKAL FC 4-1:
On Friday evening, at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver, West Van FC climbed into sole possession of second place by defeating the visiting Akal FC by a clear-cut 4-1 margin. The home team took the lead at the 13th minute mark when Corey Birza volleyed home a near-post shot from well inside the penalty area after having been set up by Milad Rahmati. Shortly thereafter, veteran Paul Dailly was denied a great goalscoring opportunity when his wicked shot bounced off the goalpost and out of danger. At about the 25th minute mark, West Van FC doubled its lead, once again as a result of a splendid run by Milad Rahmati. On this occasion, Rahmati raced by several Akal defenders before crossing the ball to youth call-up Gianmarco Pensato who had no difficulty whatsoever in heading the ball home for what proved to be the winning goal. The second half was more or less a repeat of the first as the former Trollers dominated proceedings from start to finish. Early in the second half, Paul Dailly once again bounced a shot off the woodwork, while Milad Rahmati also came close to scoring, but his shot rang off the crossbar. At the 60th minute mark, however, one of Paul Dailly’s patented free-kicks was headed across the goal area by captain Leo Nash onto the path of Milad Rahmati who neatly slotted the ball home for West Van’s third goal of the match. At the 80th minute mark, West Van’s Corey Birza scored his second goal of the match as he raced in on goal all alone after having received yet another brilliant pass from Milad Rahmati. Very late in the match, Akal FC got on the scoreboard when former West Van forward Desmond Tachie made a fine run down the right flank before crossing the ball across the goalmouth. After a bit of a scramble, BJ Rockson was able to slam the ball into the net, thus ruining goalkeeper Marco Durante’s shutout. Veteran West Van midfielder Mike Dodd played very well, despite being forced to leave the field midway through the second half due to a head injury. Defensively, Leo Nash, Tim Perry, Drew Gelley, and Paul Dailly turned in superb performances as they held Akal’s renowned forwards—Desmond Tachie and BJ Rockson—at bay during the entire 90 minutes. Needless to say, Milad Rahmati was a going concern from start to finish as he was involved in all 4 of his team’s goals. As mentioned earlier, the victory elevates West Van FC into sole possession of second place, 5 points behind league-leading Metro-Ford. Akal FC, on the other hand, slips to 9th place with a 3-5-4 record.
RICHMOND FC HIBERNIANS - ICSF INTER 2-0:
Also on Friday, at King George Park in Richmond, the Hibernians won their second game in a row by defeating the hot-and-cold ICSF Inter by a 2-0 score. The match was evenly-played with the main difference being that the Hibs were able to finish their chances, while Inter failed to do so. Led by young Mike D’Agostino, Inter got off to a bright start as he made several dangerous runs before setting up his teammates who were unable to convert them into what would have been the all-important first goal. In particular, at the 14th minute mark, D’Agostino sent Liam Miller on a breakaway with a brilliant through ball. Much to Miller’s chagrin, however, Richmond’s goalkeeper—Luke O’Shea—came up with a brilliant save to keep the game deadlocked. The Hibernians bounced back tenaciously and took the lead at the 20th minute mark when Brad Caldwell headed home a well-struck free kick by Peter Chivers. Ten minutes later, Richmond FC almost doubled its lead but Caldwell was unable to finish off a great 3-way passing play involving Peter Chivers, Masumi Turnbull, and Taj Sangara. However, shortly thereafter, Masumi Turnbull scored Richmond’s second goal when he raced in all alone—after having received a sublime pass from Connor Radil—and deposited the ball into the back of the Inter net. The second half was more or less a repeat of the first with the major difference being that no goals were scored. Inter’s goalkeeper Erman Ozkan played extremely well throughout the match as did midfielders Lui Pantusa and Mike D’Agostino. For the Hibernians, goalkeeper Luke O’Shea fully deserved his shutout with some excellent saves, while midfielders Masumi Turnbull and Peter Chivers—as well as defenders Connor Radil and Geoff Salt—also deserve special mention for their remarkable performances. The result allows Richmond FC to catch ICSF Inter in the middle of the Premier Division standings—both with 15 points from 12 games.
ICST PEGASUS - PUNJAB HURRICANES 3-1:
The third Friday evening match was played at Newton Athletic Park in Surrey and featured two very skillful, but struggling, teams: the hosting ICST Pegasus and the visiting Punjab Hurricanes. At the end of 90 exciting minutes of non-stop action, the home team walked away with a hard-fought 3-1 victory. Led by Cam Hundal’s impressive performance, the visiting Hurricanes got off to a bright start, using their speed and skill to create some quality chances. At the 10th minute mark, Hundal’s breakaway opportunity was thwarted by goalkeeper Amar Dhinsa as he came sliding out of his net in aggressive and timely fashion. Shortly thereafter, Dhinsa once again rose to the occasion as he made a fantastic save on a close-range shot by Joti Thind, after Thind had received a great pass from Cam Hundal. At the 20th minute mark, the luckless Hurricanes once again came close to scoring but Ryan Dhillon’s shot—after he had been set up by Gary Badesha—barely missed the net. As often happens, against the run of play, it was ICST Pegasus that took the lead at the 30th minute mark when young Sahil Sandhu raced into the box and finished off a nice cross from Omari Aldridge with a fine header. About 10 minutes later, it was Aldridge who found himself at the end of another beautiful cross—this time by speedy fullback Deep Toor. Shortly thereafter, the Hurricanes lost one of their most talented players—midfielder Gary Badesha—as he had to leave the field due to a head injury. Midway through the second half, the Hurricanes narrowed the margin when a Joti Thind shot was handled inside the penalty area by Paul Bahia. On the ensuing penalty kick, Thind made no mistake and calmly placed the ball into the net. Punjab’s Jag Gill and Meli Gill came close to knotting the score, but were unable to finish off their golden goalscoring opportunities. Late in the game, Pegasus put the last nail in the Punjab coffin as Azad Palani headed home a wonderful cross from Ryan Powell for the insurance marker. All in all, a well-played game by both teams! The result leaves the Punjab Hurricanes mired in the relegation zone, with an unimpressive 1-4-7 record, while Pegasus is now tied for 11th place with the Sapperton Rovers.
DELTA UNITED - SAPPERTON ROVERS 3-1:
On Saturday, at Queen’s Park Stadium in New Westminster, Delta United won its third consecutive game by defeating the struggling Sapperton Rovers by a 3-1 margin. The visitors came close to taking the early lead when, at the 5th minute mark, a wicked drive by Harp Khakh was tipped over the crossbar by Sapperton’s goalkeeper, Simon Postma. Shortly thereafter Delta United managed to score the opening goal when Mark Gomes’ corner was headed towards the Sapperton net by Mike Gomes only to have Postma pull off another great save. On this occasion, however, John Blair picked up the rebound and slotted the ball home from close range. At the 15th minute mark, the Rovers bounced back and knotted the score when Jason Pierotti took advantage of an unusual defensive blunder on the part of Woody Bradford and proceeded to race in all alone and deposit the ball in the back of the net, behind goalkeeper Steve London. The remainder of the first half was quite evenly played as both teams took turns attacking and defending. Early in the second half—at about the 50th minute mark—veteran Delta goalkeeper Steve London pulled off an amazing save on what appeared to be an unstoppable long-range drive by Mark McQuade. The save seemed to inspire the visitors as they took the lead shortly thereafter when Brett Livingstone’s cross was headed home by Mike Gomes. The Rovers tried desperately to get the equalizer but a couple of brilliant saves by Steve London—on shots by Rhys Volkenant and Rob Sing—maintained Delta’s narrow lead. At the other end of the pitch, Simon Postma kept the Rovers in the match with a phenomenal save on a great shot by John Blair. At the 80th minute mark, Delta’s newly-signed Jacob Starheim put the game out of Sapperton’s reach when he calmly converted a great pass from Amar Mander into the insurance marker. Delta’s goalkeeper Steve London turned in yet another superlative performance, while midfielders Brett Livingstone and Mike Gomes—as well as defender John Blair and forward Jacob Starheim—also deserve special mention. For the Rovers, forward Jason Pierotti was a going concern as he drove the aging Delta defenders to distraction with his penetrating runs, while midfielders Kyle Phillips and Jeff Rogers worked hard throughout the contest. The victory elevates Delta United into a 4th place tie with Columbus in the Premier Division standings, while the Rovers drop 11th place—tied with ICST Pegasus.
SURREY UNITED FIREFIGHTERS - CROATIA SC 2-1:
Also on Saturday, at Cloverdale Athletic Park in Surrey, the Firefighters edged the unfortunate Croatians by a 2-1 score after a very evenly-played and highly-contested 90 minutes of action. Surrey United came flying out of the starting gate and took the lead at the 3rd minute mark when veteran defender Robbie Wilson intercepted an errant Croatian pass and immediately set up a wide-open Andrew Proctor at the edge of the penalty area. Without a moment’s hesitation, Proctor took two strides and hammered a powerful shot to the top corner of the Croatian net for the go-ahead goal. However, Surrey’s lead lasted only a few minutes as the Croatians levelled the score at the 10th minute mark when they capitalized on a Surrey United turnover by quickly counter-attacking and eventually scoring the equalizer. The counter-attack was initiated by Johnny Sulentic whose pass found a streaking Selim Nahdi. Nahdi then proceeded to beat a couple of Surrey defenders before squaring the ball to Kresimir Bebic whose unstoppable shot found the bottom corner of the net. The Croatians kept pressing and came close to taking the lead on a few occasions but some poor finishing—as well as some exceptional goalkeeping on the part of Paul Shepherd kept them the score tied until the 40th minute mark. In particular, at the 21st minute mark, veteran Chris Craveiro beat a couple of Surrey United defenders before setting up Kresimir Bebic, whose shot was subsequently saved by Shepherd in brilliant fashion. Also, at the 35th minute mark, Darko Jelic won a loose ball at the edge of the Surrey penalty area, set up Johnny Sulentic, whose shot agonizingly missed the net by mere inches. Soon thereafter, the Firemen scored what proved to be the winning goal when some great work on the part of Rizal Ganief resulted in Lucas Barrett racing in on goal and slotting the ball into the net, past the outstretched fingertips of goalkeeper Didar Sandhu. Croatia SC had a great chance to score the equalizer early in the second half but a 2-way passing play involving Corey Sanford and Chris Craveiro was poorly finished by Andre` Teixeira as he missed the net from close range. At the other end of the pitch, Surrey United also came close to adding to its lead but former Whitecaps goalkeeper Didar Sandhu rose to the occasion and prevented Angus Burke from scoring on a breakaway. At about the 60th mark, the Firefighters were reduced to 10 men when Lucas Barrett was sent off for having received his second caution. At this point, the Croatians threw caution to the wind in a desperate attempt to score the equalizer. However, their numerous chances went awry, most due to the brilliant goalkeeping of Paul Shepherd. The hard-earned victory keeps Surrey United’s chances of winning the league title alive, while Croatia SC drops to an unusual 10th place with a mediocre 4-2-6 record.
WESTSIDE FC - SERBIAN WHITE EAGLES 2-1:
The third Saturday game was played at Andy Livingstone Park in Vancouver between the aspiring Westside FC and the last place White Eagles. Once again, the match was hard-fought and evenly-contested and ended in a 2-1 decision in favour of the Westsiders. Early in the match, Jay Kent-Hume came close to opening the score for the home team but his close-range shot was brilliantly saved by Serbian goalkeeper Tomas Kobylka. At the 25th minute mark, Kent-Hume was finally able to beat Kobylka as he looped a long-range half-volley over the goalkeeper’s head to give Westside FC the well-deserved early lead. Very shortly thereafter, the Westsiders doubled their lead as John Stonehocker’s shot was redirected into the goal by Daniel Gazzola. It should be mentioned that Stonehocker had originally been set up by a great build–up involving Ian Sandilands and Sam Wallace. Late in the first half, the White Eagles narrowed the margin when a well-taken free kick by David Hill was inadvertently deflected into his own net by defender Chris Mehuys. The White Eagles came flying out of the starting blocks in the second half, in a desperate attempt to score the equalizer. However, some excellent goalkeeping on the part of veteran Geoff Ayi-Bonte kept the visitors off the scoresheet during the entire second half. In particular, Ayi-Bonte pulled off some great saves on shots by Majo Bratic, David Hill, and Sasa Vucenovic. To add insult to the White Eagles’ injury, Brandon Ferridge twice hit the crossbar with Ayi-Bonte well-beaten. At the other end of the pitch, Wyatt Sedin-Johnstone had his powerful header—on a cross by Eric Peters—brilliantly saved by Tomas Kobylka. Also, Cedric Lunel and James Brown were unfortunate not to score for Westside FC as their shots rang off the woodwork and out of danger. Defensively, Andrew Czalij and Chris Mehuys played extremely well for the home team, while Joel Malour, Stefan Kalaba, and Brinder Kang were towers of strength in the White Eagles backline. The victory solidifies Westside’s hold on 6th place in the Premier Division standings, while the White Eagles remain all alone in last place, with only 4 points from 12 games.
METRO-FORD WOLVES - COLUMBUS FC 1-0:
The lone Sunday game was played at Adanac Park in Vancouver and featured two of the top teams in the VMSL Premier Division: the Metro-Ford Wolves and Columbus FC. After a very well-played and exciting 90 minutes of action, the league-leading Wolves walked away with a narrow, 1-0 victory. Numerous spectators witnessed an excellent match, played between two inspired teams in search of the Premier Division title. Both teams were missing some key players and used their CAT system to fill in their spots. In fact, Columbus used several veterans that normally play in the Masters’ Division, while Metro-Ford brought up numerous Under 21 and Under 18 call-ups. Both teams created many goalscoring chances but some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Columbus’ Thomas Lindley and Metro-Ford’s Lucas Menz kept the game scoreless till the dying moments. Midway through the first half, Metro-Ford’s Russel Huggon set up Alfredo Valente with an impeccable pass, but Valente’s shot was brilliantly saved by Thomas Lindley. Shortly thereafter, at the other end of the pitch, Columbus’ Dave McPhail—after having received a great pass from Steve DeBlasio—was stymied by young Metro-Ford goalkeeper Lucas Menz. Late in the match, Jovan Blagojevic played a clever one-two with Alfredo Valente but, once again, Thomas Lindley came up with a brilliant save. Columbus replied in kind and came very close to scoring when veteran Craig Richards’ shot was once again brilliantly saved by Menz. In the 89th minute, the Wolves finally took the lead when young defender Kia Miezahossein floated an excellent ball into the danger zone, allowing Brayden Gant to flick it onto Russel Huggon, who in turn flicked it onto the path of Emilio Bottiglieri. The veteran calmly brought the ball down before hammering the winning goal into the top corner of the Columbus net. Just before the final whistle, Columbus almost knotted the score but goalkeeper Lucas Menz was able to preserve the victory—and his first shutout—with a brilliant save on a shot by veteran Dave Dorazio. The Metro-Ford defensive quartet—Kia Mirzahossein, Matt Besuschko, Brook Scott, and youth call-up Connor Ayre—were rock-solid throughout the contest, while young midfielders Brayden Gant and Devin Phelan were once again outstanding as they kept the talented Columbus midfielders in check for large spells of the game. Defender Blair Robertson anchored the Columbus backline—composed of Robbie Cairns, Jeff DeBlasio, and Nathan Quan—very diligently, while midfielder Jamie Olsen worked hard throughout the entire 90 minutes. The victory preserves Metro-Ford’s unbeaten streak, while Columbus drops to 4th place, with a 8-1-4 record.
TEAM OF THE WEEK:
Metro-Ford Wolves for their remarkable victory over the very talented Columbus FC by a 1-0 margin. Led by an excellent performance by Under 21 call-ups Lucas Menz, Brayden Gant, Devin Phelan, Kia Mirzahossein, and Jovan Blagojevic—as well as Under 18 call-up Connor Ayre—the Wolves were able to gain the all-important 3 points with a late goal by veteran Emilio Bottiglieri. As a result of the all-important victory, Metro-Ford remains undefeated—and in first place in the VMSL Premier Division table.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
West Van FC’s forward MILAD RAHMATI for his incredible performance in his team’s 4-1 victory over Akal FC. Throughout the match, Rahmati drove his opponents to distraction with his penetrating runs and amazing skills. He also played a major part in all of West Van’s goals as he scored one and set up 3 others. For his magnificent performance, MILAD RAHMATI will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2010-12-01.
PREMIER DIVISION # Team GP W T L GF GA PTS
1 Coq. Metro-Ford Wolves"A 12 9 3 0 26 12 30
2 West Van FC "A" 12 8 1 3 22 11 25
3 Surrey Utd Firefighters" 11 7 2 2 22 13 23
4 Delta United 12 7 1 4 22 18 22
5 Columbus FC 12 7 1 4 21 11 22
6 Westside FC "A" 12 5 4 3 14 12 19
7 ICSF Inter "A" 12 4 3 5 17 15 15
8 Rich. FC Hibernians 12 4 3 5 14 15 15
9 Akal FC "A" 12 3 5 4 17 21 14
10 Croatia SC 12 4 2 6 14 16 14
11 ICST Pegasus "A" 12 3 2 7 14 20 11
12 Sapperton Rovers "A" 12 3 2 7 12 20 11
13 Punjab Hurricanes 12 1 4 7 15 26 7
14 Serbian White Eagles 11 1 1 9 6 26 4
1 Coq. Metro-Ford Wolves"A 12 9 3 0 26 12 30
2 West Van FC "A" 12 8 1 3 22 11 25
3 Surrey Utd Firefighters" 11 7 2 2 22 13 23
4 Delta United 12 7 1 4 22 18 22
5 Columbus FC 12 7 1 4 21 11 22
6 Westside FC "A" 12 5 4 3 14 12 19
7 ICSF Inter "A" 12 4 3 5 17 15 15
8 Rich. FC Hibernians 12 4 3 5 14 15 15
9 Akal FC "A" 12 3 5 4 17 21 14
10 Croatia SC 12 4 2 6 14 16 14
11 ICST Pegasus "A" 12 3 2 7 14 20 11
12 Sapperton Rovers "A" 12 3 2 7 12 20 11
13 Punjab Hurricanes 12 1 4 7 15 26 7
14 Serbian White Eagles 11 1 1 9 6 26 4
- Admin
- #29
It seems to be a great race at the top of the table so far and with 1 game and half a season still to go, there are a lot of great matchups still to come!
I wonder if the league is going to promote any of these matchups a bit better? Have Azzi's report on Tuesday and Ruben's weekend promo on Friday...
I wonder if the league is going to promote any of these matchups a bit better? Have Azzi's report on Tuesday and Ruben's weekend promo on Friday...
With just Sapperton left to play in the first half of the season, Metro Ford has not lost a single game yet. That's quite remarkable, considering they always seem to have a lot of youth call ups in the mix, at least according to the weekly reports. It sure says a lot about the club and the future of this particular premier team. Well done to Metro Ford.
It will also be very interesting how the bottom of the table sorts itself out in the 2nd half of the season. Serbia has dug themselves a hole but after that I would say there are still 7 or 8 teams capable of finding themselves in the bottom 3 at the end of the season. I think Hurricanes are a very dangerous team and I would not be surprised if they managed to stay up, especially if they are adding some university players.
Having seen all the teams in the league except for Croatia, it does seem to me like the overall level of play in the premier league has decreased over last season. Ironically, our team is not doing as well as we did last year
I guess part of the reason for the decline in play is because the league is watered down this year (thanks to Cloughie) and we have also lost a few of the top players like TK and Tino, who jumped ship to the top league in the province. Another contributing factor might be the fact that last season's league games were more important to everyone due to the perception that the bcpl was happening and everyone wanted to finish top 4, hang on, top 6, well maybe top 8. Top 10 anyone? Ah yes, those were the days.
I guess The left over Pizza's aint enough to keep these guys around. What happens over the next few years as more guys jump ship. Where does that leave the league? Ruby and Will need to do a better job of not keeping the guy's they have but making the league more attractive. Facilities & Sponsorships would be a start. Right now the money seems to flow in the valley and the vmsl seems just happy to stay out of the Red. Honestly ,I thought the change in prez would make the VMSL more progressive, but the website proved otherwise.
Since no one else will say it I am. Will is still running things here. He has Ruben attached by strings playing puppets. I don't know this as fact, just the way i see it .
Since no one else will say it I am. Will is still running things here. He has Ruben attached by strings playing puppets. I don't know this as fact, just the way i see it .
I noticed Azad Palani scored on the weekend but he is suspended as a coach in the FVSL. I wanted to make sure the 48 hours had passed before I mentioned this but I thought this topic came up last year and if you are red carded you can't even coach or be apart of youth soccer or any BC sanctioned soccer during that time period. Not trying to stir up trouble by any means or have someone lose points, which is why I waited, but is Azad not ineligible to play. Is Peg unaware of this suspension or have the rules changed?
hog wash
Did I mention the FVSL Premier all have the same match balls? Go thing we put we put a business plan in place first.
PS. You can have Cuca back
stirstir
Shouldn't you thank Azzi or the angry mob of conspiracy theorists that halted the start of the BCPL and subsequently for the 14 team watered down VMSL? (you said it, not me) Had it gone ahead you would still be in a 8 or 10 team VMSL premier. Also, if the league title is less important now because teams are not playing to get into the BCPL why was it stopped if everyone wanted in? Just say'n.With just Sapperton left to play in the first half of the season, Metro Ford has not lost a single game yet. That's quite remarkable, considering they always seem to have a lot of youth call ups in the mix, at least according to the weekly reports. It sure says a lot about the club and the future of this particular premier team. Well done to Metro Ford.
It will also be very interesting how the bottom of the table sorts itself out in the 2nd half of the season. Serbia has dug themselves a hole but after that I would say there are still 7 or 8 teams capable of finding themselves in the bottom 3 at the end of the season. I think Hurricanes are a very dangerous team and I would not be surprised if they managed to stay up, especially if they are adding some university players.
Having seen all the teams in the league except for Croatia, it does seem to me like the overall level of play in the premier league has decreased over last season. Ironically, our team is not doing as well as we did last year
Did I mention the FVSL Premier all have the same match balls? Go thing we put we put a business plan in place first.
PS. You can have Cuca back
stirstir
Re: hog wash
rare footage
I actually agree with most of your post.
stillwaitingforaddresstosendbeerI.O.U.
rare footage
I actually agree with most of your post.
stillwaitingforaddresstosendbeerI.O.U.
Attachments
It looks that MF found a perfect mix of veteran players and young talent they have. A few interesting facts about their youth teams:
1. 1992s MF won National Championship recently
2. 1992a MF won last season's Provincials, League, and League Cup (apparently this team has a few players that played for Whitecaps/Mountain and won North American Championship a couple of years ago).
This MF success is a proof that all Premier teams should have youth categories. The word is that some Premier teams are trying hard lately to tie a knot with some youth clubs.
Anyway, with a lot of great veterans in the mix and two obviously very talented generations (1991s and 1992s) it will be interesting how MF is going to handle all of them after January 15, 2011. I assume some university/college players are also coming back soon. A lot of good players for 18-20 spots with Wolves A but, I guess, a good competition cannot hurt.
Captain Shamrock
Well-Known Member
Yes, RL RCD........that was the main purpose of merging Club Ireland and Richmond United.........so we will all be under the umbrella of the youth organisations............so far it has not happened, which is extremely disappointing for everyone.
Re: hog wash
Of course Azzi and the teams are part to blame for the watered down leage. And I will say it again, it is definitely watered down this year. The premier teams waited too long to voice their true opinions about the bcpl and Azzi did not communicate very clearly what was happening from day one. Azzi and the league also dropped the ball in a massive way when we had a chance to keep the league at 12 teams after the bcpl folded. That was a no brainer in my opinion but why beat a dead horse. But...the root of the bcpl was Cloughie...there is a quote somewhere on this site where he referred to me as one of the people that "ruined his plan" (think Scooby Doo and those meddling kids). So he gets the lions share of the blame on the vmsl being watered down this season. Having said that, we like Cloughie now because he is in our league and he has also banned burgundy kit. He also fancys a samosa or 12.
At the end of the day, having the vmsl watered down this year and then decreasing to 12 and then 10 teams in the next 2 seasons is far better than accepting the bcpl the way it was structured and delivered to us last year. If the bcpl had gone through with 6 vmsl teams, the premier league would be an absolute shambles this season...and so would the fvsl premier division. And to answer your question, of course premier teams were trying their absolute best to finish in the top 4 or top 6 or whatever last year....every team at least wanted the opportunity to be able to decide on where they would be playing this year. And ultimatley the top 6 teams and virtually ever other team spoke quite loudly on where that would be.
As for Tino, any more comments could be construed as tampering, as he is currently under contract.
Of course Azzi and the teams are part to blame for the watered down leage. And I will say it again, it is definitely watered down this year. The premier teams waited too long to voice their true opinions about the bcpl and Azzi did not communicate very clearly what was happening from day one. Azzi and the league also dropped the ball in a massive way when we had a chance to keep the league at 12 teams after the bcpl folded. That was a no brainer in my opinion but why beat a dead horse. But...the root of the bcpl was Cloughie...there is a quote somewhere on this site where he referred to me as one of the people that "ruined his plan" (think Scooby Doo and those meddling kids). So he gets the lions share of the blame on the vmsl being watered down this season. Having said that, we like Cloughie now because he is in our league and he has also banned burgundy kit. He also fancys a samosa or 12.
At the end of the day, having the vmsl watered down this year and then decreasing to 12 and then 10 teams in the next 2 seasons is far better than accepting the bcpl the way it was structured and delivered to us last year. If the bcpl had gone through with 6 vmsl teams, the premier league would be an absolute shambles this season...and so would the fvsl premier division. And to answer your question, of course premier teams were trying their absolute best to finish in the top 4 or top 6 or whatever last year....every team at least wanted the opportunity to be able to decide on where they would be playing this year. And ultimatley the top 6 teams and virtually ever other team spoke quite loudly on where that would be.
As for Tino, any more comments could be construed as tampering, as he is currently under contract.
- Thread starter
- #40
Re:
2010-11-30
*
PREMIER DIVISION – DAY 14
Three huge upsets took place this past weekend as the 3 top teams in the Premier Division—Metro-Ford, Surrey United, and West Van FC—dropped 1-0 decisions to Richmond FC, Serbian White Eagles, and Westside FC respectively. As a result, nothing much changed at the top of the standings with the exception of Delta United climbing into a third place tie with West Van FC as a result of its narrow 2-1 victory over ICSF Inter. The two bottom-feeders—Punjab Hurricanes and Serbian White Eagles—each won their second game of the season and therefore kept their hopes of avoiding relegation alive.
WESTSIDE FC* --* WEST VAN FC* *1-0:* On Saturday, at Andy Livingstone Park in Vancouver, Westside FC* upset the visiting West Van FC by a narrow 1-0 margin. *Both teams got off to a rather tentative start and created very few goalscoring opportunities in the early going. However, at the 30th minute mark, Westside FC took the lead when James Brown broke through the West Van defence and cleverly chipped the ball over the outstretched hands of goalkeeper Marco Durante for what proved to be the winning goal. The visitors bounced back tenaciously and only some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Westside’s Rowan Anders kept the score level till the halftime whistle. In particular, shots by Corey Birza and Ryan Glanville were brilliantly saved by Anders, while Milad Rahmati and Leo Nash were unable to finish off a couple of golden opportunities. In the second half, Westside deployed a ‘defend and counterattack’ strategy as the former Trollers pushed forward relentlessly in search of the equalizer. West Van’s best chances came on shots by Marco Mayer, Paul Dailly, and Ryan Glanville but Rowan Anders once again rose to the occasion and pulled off some miraculous saves to keep the score at 1-0 till the final whistle. At the other end of the pitch, on what appeared to be a lethal counterattack, Jay Kent-Hume was unable to score Westside’s insurance goal as he was denied by a phenomenal save on the part of Marco Durante. Westside’s defensive quartet—Sam Wallace, Andrew Czalij, Graeme Webber, and Chris Mehuys—played very well throughout the contest, while Rowan Anders fully deserved his clean sheet with an outstanding goalkeeping performance. The hard-earned victory places Westside FC in 6th place in the standings—with a 6-4-3 record—while West Van FC remains in 3rd place with 25 points.
RICHMOND FC HIBERNIANS* -* METRO-FORD WOLVES* 1-0:* Also on Saturday afternoon, at Coquitlam Town Centre, the visiting Hibernians put an end to Metro-Ford’s 12-game unbeaten streak by edging the Premier Division leaders by a 1-0 score after a hard-fought 90 minutes of play. Both teams got off to a rather lethargic start, with numerous turnovers by both sides. Midway through the first half, however, things started to change as Richmond FC began controlling the game with some excellent passing. At the 30th minute mark, Richmond’s midfielder Chase Wickham beat a couple of Metro-Ford defenders before playing a perfect ball to Brad Caldwell who quickly set up Taj Sangara, whose subsequent rocket of a shot was brilliantly saved by goalkeeper Lucas Menz. Wickham and Sangara then took turns in missing the net on clear-cut chances, while—at the other end of the pitch—young Devin Phelan’s shot bounced off the crossbar with goalkeeper Luke O’Shea well-beaten. The second half was more or less a repeat of the latter part of the first, with both teams taking turns attacking and defending. Chase Wickham and Brad Caldwell once again came close to scoring for the Hibs but their shots barely missed the target. The Wolves also came close to taking the lead on a couple of occasions but a header by Carlo Basso—on a shot/cross by Russel Huggon—was amazingly saved by O’Shea, while former Whitecap Alfredo Valente inexplicably missed a sitter after having been set up by Jovan Blagojevic. However, at the 77th minute mark, Brad Caldwell and Chase Wickham combined to set up the ever-dangerous Taj Sangara who brilliantly slotted the ball into the bottom corner of the net for what proved to be the winning goal. Richmond’s defensive backline—composed of Stu Walters, Mike Revell, Conor Radil, and Marcus Brougham—played extremely well throughout the contest as they assisted O’Shea in gathering the shutout. Needless to say, midfielder Chase Wickham and forwards Brad Caldwell and Taj Sangara were going concerns during the entire game, as they drove the young Metro-Ford defenders to distraction. For the Wolves, young defenders Sam Coulter and Paul Clerc acquitted themselves quite well, while veteran midfielder Russel Huggon turned in a superlative performance, albeit in a losing cause. The victory keeps the Hibernians in the middle of the pack in the Premier Division standings—with an even 5-3-5 record, while the Wolves remain in first place despite losing their unbeaten record.
PUNJAB HURRICANES *-* SAPPERTON ROVERS* 7-0:* The third Saturday game was played at Newton Athletic Park and featured two struggling teams: the hosting Punjab Hurricanes and the visiting Sapperton Rovers. Both teams were in desperate need of points, due to the fact that they are both mired in the relegation zone. After 90 minutes of one-sided action, the Hurricanes walked away with a clear-cut 7-0 victory, thus elevating them within 1 point of the Rovers. Newly-signed Roman Doutkevich opened the scoring at the 10th minute mark as he converted a great pass from Cam Hundal into the winning goal with a blistering shot from the edge of the penalty area. A couple of minutes later, Doutkevich scored his second goal of the match, this time on a breakaway after having been set up by a well-placed through ball from Josh Bennett. Midway through the first half, another newly-signed player—Gagan Josan—repeated Doutkevich original effort as he blasted a brilliant shot from the top of the box into the top left corner of the Sapperton net. Just before the halftime whistle, Josan became the provider as he sent Manvir Brar racing in on goal with a picture-perfect pass. Brar had no difficulty in the depositing the ball into the back of the net, thus giving the Hurricanes a 4-0 halftime lead. The second half was more or less a repeat of the first as the home team dominated proceedings from start to finish. At around the 75th minute mark, Roman Doutkevich was fouled inside the penalty area by Sapperton’s Rhys Volkenant, resulting in a penalty kick being awarded to the Punjab Hurricanes, as well as a red card issued to Volkenant. On the ensuing spot shot, Roman Doutkevich slotted the ball home for his third goal of the game. Shortly thereafter, Gagan Josan scored his second goal of the match, while Joey Brar completed the massacre late in the match with a fine header. As mentioned earlier, the Hurricanes are now at 10 points, only 1 behind the struggling Rovers.
DELTA UNITED* -* ICSF INTER* 2-1:* On Sunday, at Dennis Elson Park in Delta, the red-hot Delta United won its fourth consecutive game by defeating the visiting ‘Italians’ by a 2-1 margin. The home team took the lead at the 15th minute mark when Phil Lensky beat a couple of Inter defenders before setting up a wide-open Shawn Blakeway who then slotted the ball home without a moment’s hesitation. *Delta United continued to press and came close to doubling the score on a couple of occasions, but Phil Lensky’s shots barely missed the net. Early in the second half, Inter knotted the score when young Domenic Delli Santi cut in from the left flank to the top corner of the penalty area before unleashing an unstoppable rocket into the far corner of the net, giving goalkeeper Steve London no chance whatsoever. However, at the 60th minute mark, Delta United bounced back and scored the winning goal when Harp Khakh’s brilliant cross was headed home by a diving Mike Gomes. A few minutes later, Shawn Blakeway’s header was brilliantly saved by Inter’s goalkeeper Erman Ozkan. Late in the game, Delta’s Brett Livingstone missed a couple of glorious goalscoring chances as he fired his shots wide of the net. Delta’s veteran defender Woody Bradford once again turned in a rock-solid performance, *while another veteran—forward Shawn Blakeway—was a constant thorn on the side of the Inter defenders throughout the match. For Inter, young Dom Delli Santi and Lui Pantusa were outstanding in the middle of the park, while forward Mike D’Agostino and midfielder Joseph Marrello also played remarkably well, albeit in a losing cause. *Delta’s fourth consecutive victory elevates them to a third place—tied with West Van FC—with 25 points, while ICSF Inter remains in the middle of the pack, with a mediocre 4-3-6 record.
SERBIAN WHITE EAGLES* -* SURREY UNITED FIREFIGHTERS* 1-0:* Also on Sunday evening, at Burnaby Lake West Complex, the White Eagles bounced back from an earlier embarrassing loss at the hands of Surrey United by defeating the visiting Firemen by a 1-0 score. The heavily-favoured visitors struggled to break down a resolute Serbian defence, despite enjoying a massive territorial and possession advantage. Despite carrying most of the play, the defending VMSL Premier Division champions were unable to finish any of their scoring chances and, as a result, the White Eagles walked away with a hard-earned victory. The lone goal of the match was scored at the 33rd minute mark when Nemanja Okuka and Sidd Achuthin combined to set up Bobby Jhutty who proceeded to chip the ball over Paul Shepherd, the Surrey United goalkeeper. A few minutes later, the Firefighters were denied the equalizer when goalkeeper Richard Goddard pulled off a semi-miraculous save on a well-struck free kick by Rizal Ganief. The second half pattern was more or less the same as the first, with Surrey dominating territorially but failing to penetrate the Serbian defence. The visitors came close to scoring at the 56th minute mark when Lucas Barrett rose to meet a Steve Kindel cross, but looped his header just over the crossbar. Despite all the pressure, Surrey’s best scoring chance came at the 85th minute mark when an unlikely blunder by goalkeeper Richard Goddard allowed Ryan Reynolds to pounce on the loose ball and steer a shot towards the empty net. Unfortunately for the Firemen, defender Derrick Bassi—the only BC player on Canada’s Under 20 national team—was able to clear the ball off the goal line and out of danger. The entire Serbian backline—anchored by Joel Maloul, Derrick Bassi, and Kyle Knees—played remarkably well throughout the contest while goalkeeper Richard Goddard pulled off numerous brilliant saves to fully earn his remarkable clean sheet. The White Eagles’ victory keeps their chances of avoiding relegation alive, while the Firemen’s loss denies them the opportunity to close the gap on first place Metro-Ford.
ICST PEGASUS* -* AKAL FC* 2-1: **The third Sunday evening game was played at Newton Athletic Park in Surrey between ICST Pegasus and Akal FC. At the end of a very hard-fought 90 minutes of non-stop action, the visiting team walked away with a very important 2-1 victory. Akal FC defended and counter-attacked very well throughout the contest but—at the end of the day—the strategy failed as Pegasus was able to gather all three points with a late goal by Meysam Soltani. Pegasus took the lead at the 20th minute mark when Diaz Kambere slotted the ball home from the top of the box after having received a pin-point pass from Niko Marcina. Pegasus came close to doubling its lead on a couple of occasions, but efforts by Marcina and Kambere narrowly missed the target. However, Akal managed to score the equalizer just before the halftime whistle when Abu Hussein headed home a well-taken free kick by Javid Khan. The second half was more or less a carbon copy of the first, with Pegasus doing most of the attacking, while Akal—led by a marvellous performance by Sarpreet Pahal—defended tenaciously and effectively. However, very late in the match, a speculative cross by David Samra was controlled skillfully by Meysam Soltani who then proceeded to half-volley the ball into the back of the net for the winning goal. Pegasus defenders Paul Bahia and Deep Toor played extremely well, while Niko Marcina and Diaz Kambere worked very hard in their midfield roles. The all-important victory elevates ICST Pegasus out of the relegation zone, with 14 points—the same as Akal FC.
SURREY UNITED FIREFIGHTERS* -* SERBIAN WHITE EAGLES* 6-0:* On Wednesday, November 17, at Cloverdale Athletic Park, the Surrey United Firefighters totally demolished the visiting Serbian White Eagles by an emphatic 6-0 margin in a Day 1 make-up game. While the Firefighters enjoyed the territorial advantage for most of the early going, they had to wait until the 28th minute mark to open the scoring. Following a broken play from a corner kick, Rizal Ganief picked up a loose ball and fired a cross into the middle of the box for teammate Angus Burke, who headed home the opening goal. The floodgates then opened up and 5 minutes later Burke increased the lead with another close range header—on a great cross from young Raki Amijee. Three minutes before the halftime break United added its third goal when a well-placed through ball from Vince Stewart sent former Whitecap captain Jeff Clarke racing down the right flank. Clarke’s subsequent low cross was hammered home by Angus Burke as he completed his hat-trick in fine fashion. Just before the halftime whistle, the White Eagles came very close to reducing the margin when Brandon Ferridge lifted the ball over goalkeeper Drew Smiley, only to have defender Mason Webb clear it off the goal-line. The Firefighters continued to dominate during the second half but had to wait until the 68th minute mark to increase their lead as Andrew Proctor’s great cross was lashed home by Angus Burke, for his 4th goal of the match. Substitute player/coach Niall Thompson added Surrey United’s fifth goal 10 minutes later when he skillfully chipped the ball into the net after having received a clever pass from Vince Stewart. Late in the game, Surrey United rounded out the scoring when young substitute Sean Einarrson latched onto a poor clearance and quickly hammered a low shot into the Serbian net from the top of the penalty area.
TEAMS OF THE WEEK:* Serbian White Eagles, Westside FC, and Richmond FC Hibernians for their amazing upset victories over the overwhelming favourites Surrey United, West Van FC, and Metro-Ford Wolves respectively. All three games ended in 1-0 victories for the underdogs with the goals scored by Bobby Jhutty (Serbian White Eagles), James Brown (Westside FC), and Taj Sangara (Richmond FC). As a result of the 3 upsets, the standings at the top of the table remain the same, with Metro-Ford, Surrey United, and West Van still leading the pack.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: *Serbian White Eagles’ goalkeeper RICHARD GODDARD for his amazing performance in his team’s 1-0 upset victory over the heavily-favoured Surrey United Firefighters. Time after time, Goddard rose to the occasion and pulled off some semi-miraculous saves to keep his team in the match. For his magnificent performance, RICHARD GODDARD will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of *THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2010-12-15.*
2010-11-30
*
PREMIER DIVISION – DAY 14
Three huge upsets took place this past weekend as the 3 top teams in the Premier Division—Metro-Ford, Surrey United, and West Van FC—dropped 1-0 decisions to Richmond FC, Serbian White Eagles, and Westside FC respectively. As a result, nothing much changed at the top of the standings with the exception of Delta United climbing into a third place tie with West Van FC as a result of its narrow 2-1 victory over ICSF Inter. The two bottom-feeders—Punjab Hurricanes and Serbian White Eagles—each won their second game of the season and therefore kept their hopes of avoiding relegation alive.
WESTSIDE FC* --* WEST VAN FC* *1-0:* On Saturday, at Andy Livingstone Park in Vancouver, Westside FC* upset the visiting West Van FC by a narrow 1-0 margin. *Both teams got off to a rather tentative start and created very few goalscoring opportunities in the early going. However, at the 30th minute mark, Westside FC took the lead when James Brown broke through the West Van defence and cleverly chipped the ball over the outstretched hands of goalkeeper Marco Durante for what proved to be the winning goal. The visitors bounced back tenaciously and only some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Westside’s Rowan Anders kept the score level till the halftime whistle. In particular, shots by Corey Birza and Ryan Glanville were brilliantly saved by Anders, while Milad Rahmati and Leo Nash were unable to finish off a couple of golden opportunities. In the second half, Westside deployed a ‘defend and counterattack’ strategy as the former Trollers pushed forward relentlessly in search of the equalizer. West Van’s best chances came on shots by Marco Mayer, Paul Dailly, and Ryan Glanville but Rowan Anders once again rose to the occasion and pulled off some miraculous saves to keep the score at 1-0 till the final whistle. At the other end of the pitch, on what appeared to be a lethal counterattack, Jay Kent-Hume was unable to score Westside’s insurance goal as he was denied by a phenomenal save on the part of Marco Durante. Westside’s defensive quartet—Sam Wallace, Andrew Czalij, Graeme Webber, and Chris Mehuys—played very well throughout the contest, while Rowan Anders fully deserved his clean sheet with an outstanding goalkeeping performance. The hard-earned victory places Westside FC in 6th place in the standings—with a 6-4-3 record—while West Van FC remains in 3rd place with 25 points.
RICHMOND FC HIBERNIANS* -* METRO-FORD WOLVES* 1-0:* Also on Saturday afternoon, at Coquitlam Town Centre, the visiting Hibernians put an end to Metro-Ford’s 12-game unbeaten streak by edging the Premier Division leaders by a 1-0 score after a hard-fought 90 minutes of play. Both teams got off to a rather lethargic start, with numerous turnovers by both sides. Midway through the first half, however, things started to change as Richmond FC began controlling the game with some excellent passing. At the 30th minute mark, Richmond’s midfielder Chase Wickham beat a couple of Metro-Ford defenders before playing a perfect ball to Brad Caldwell who quickly set up Taj Sangara, whose subsequent rocket of a shot was brilliantly saved by goalkeeper Lucas Menz. Wickham and Sangara then took turns in missing the net on clear-cut chances, while—at the other end of the pitch—young Devin Phelan’s shot bounced off the crossbar with goalkeeper Luke O’Shea well-beaten. The second half was more or less a repeat of the latter part of the first, with both teams taking turns attacking and defending. Chase Wickham and Brad Caldwell once again came close to scoring for the Hibs but their shots barely missed the target. The Wolves also came close to taking the lead on a couple of occasions but a header by Carlo Basso—on a shot/cross by Russel Huggon—was amazingly saved by O’Shea, while former Whitecap Alfredo Valente inexplicably missed a sitter after having been set up by Jovan Blagojevic. However, at the 77th minute mark, Brad Caldwell and Chase Wickham combined to set up the ever-dangerous Taj Sangara who brilliantly slotted the ball into the bottom corner of the net for what proved to be the winning goal. Richmond’s defensive backline—composed of Stu Walters, Mike Revell, Conor Radil, and Marcus Brougham—played extremely well throughout the contest as they assisted O’Shea in gathering the shutout. Needless to say, midfielder Chase Wickham and forwards Brad Caldwell and Taj Sangara were going concerns during the entire game, as they drove the young Metro-Ford defenders to distraction. For the Wolves, young defenders Sam Coulter and Paul Clerc acquitted themselves quite well, while veteran midfielder Russel Huggon turned in a superlative performance, albeit in a losing cause. The victory keeps the Hibernians in the middle of the pack in the Premier Division standings—with an even 5-3-5 record, while the Wolves remain in first place despite losing their unbeaten record.
PUNJAB HURRICANES *-* SAPPERTON ROVERS* 7-0:* The third Saturday game was played at Newton Athletic Park and featured two struggling teams: the hosting Punjab Hurricanes and the visiting Sapperton Rovers. Both teams were in desperate need of points, due to the fact that they are both mired in the relegation zone. After 90 minutes of one-sided action, the Hurricanes walked away with a clear-cut 7-0 victory, thus elevating them within 1 point of the Rovers. Newly-signed Roman Doutkevich opened the scoring at the 10th minute mark as he converted a great pass from Cam Hundal into the winning goal with a blistering shot from the edge of the penalty area. A couple of minutes later, Doutkevich scored his second goal of the match, this time on a breakaway after having been set up by a well-placed through ball from Josh Bennett. Midway through the first half, another newly-signed player—Gagan Josan—repeated Doutkevich original effort as he blasted a brilliant shot from the top of the box into the top left corner of the Sapperton net. Just before the halftime whistle, Josan became the provider as he sent Manvir Brar racing in on goal with a picture-perfect pass. Brar had no difficulty in the depositing the ball into the back of the net, thus giving the Hurricanes a 4-0 halftime lead. The second half was more or less a repeat of the first as the home team dominated proceedings from start to finish. At around the 75th minute mark, Roman Doutkevich was fouled inside the penalty area by Sapperton’s Rhys Volkenant, resulting in a penalty kick being awarded to the Punjab Hurricanes, as well as a red card issued to Volkenant. On the ensuing spot shot, Roman Doutkevich slotted the ball home for his third goal of the game. Shortly thereafter, Gagan Josan scored his second goal of the match, while Joey Brar completed the massacre late in the match with a fine header. As mentioned earlier, the Hurricanes are now at 10 points, only 1 behind the struggling Rovers.
DELTA UNITED* -* ICSF INTER* 2-1:* On Sunday, at Dennis Elson Park in Delta, the red-hot Delta United won its fourth consecutive game by defeating the visiting ‘Italians’ by a 2-1 margin. The home team took the lead at the 15th minute mark when Phil Lensky beat a couple of Inter defenders before setting up a wide-open Shawn Blakeway who then slotted the ball home without a moment’s hesitation. *Delta United continued to press and came close to doubling the score on a couple of occasions, but Phil Lensky’s shots barely missed the net. Early in the second half, Inter knotted the score when young Domenic Delli Santi cut in from the left flank to the top corner of the penalty area before unleashing an unstoppable rocket into the far corner of the net, giving goalkeeper Steve London no chance whatsoever. However, at the 60th minute mark, Delta United bounced back and scored the winning goal when Harp Khakh’s brilliant cross was headed home by a diving Mike Gomes. A few minutes later, Shawn Blakeway’s header was brilliantly saved by Inter’s goalkeeper Erman Ozkan. Late in the game, Delta’s Brett Livingstone missed a couple of glorious goalscoring chances as he fired his shots wide of the net. Delta’s veteran defender Woody Bradford once again turned in a rock-solid performance, *while another veteran—forward Shawn Blakeway—was a constant thorn on the side of the Inter defenders throughout the match. For Inter, young Dom Delli Santi and Lui Pantusa were outstanding in the middle of the park, while forward Mike D’Agostino and midfielder Joseph Marrello also played remarkably well, albeit in a losing cause. *Delta’s fourth consecutive victory elevates them to a third place—tied with West Van FC—with 25 points, while ICSF Inter remains in the middle of the pack, with a mediocre 4-3-6 record.
SERBIAN WHITE EAGLES* -* SURREY UNITED FIREFIGHTERS* 1-0:* Also on Sunday evening, at Burnaby Lake West Complex, the White Eagles bounced back from an earlier embarrassing loss at the hands of Surrey United by defeating the visiting Firemen by a 1-0 score. The heavily-favoured visitors struggled to break down a resolute Serbian defence, despite enjoying a massive territorial and possession advantage. Despite carrying most of the play, the defending VMSL Premier Division champions were unable to finish any of their scoring chances and, as a result, the White Eagles walked away with a hard-earned victory. The lone goal of the match was scored at the 33rd minute mark when Nemanja Okuka and Sidd Achuthin combined to set up Bobby Jhutty who proceeded to chip the ball over Paul Shepherd, the Surrey United goalkeeper. A few minutes later, the Firefighters were denied the equalizer when goalkeeper Richard Goddard pulled off a semi-miraculous save on a well-struck free kick by Rizal Ganief. The second half pattern was more or less the same as the first, with Surrey dominating territorially but failing to penetrate the Serbian defence. The visitors came close to scoring at the 56th minute mark when Lucas Barrett rose to meet a Steve Kindel cross, but looped his header just over the crossbar. Despite all the pressure, Surrey’s best scoring chance came at the 85th minute mark when an unlikely blunder by goalkeeper Richard Goddard allowed Ryan Reynolds to pounce on the loose ball and steer a shot towards the empty net. Unfortunately for the Firemen, defender Derrick Bassi—the only BC player on Canada’s Under 20 national team—was able to clear the ball off the goal line and out of danger. The entire Serbian backline—anchored by Joel Maloul, Derrick Bassi, and Kyle Knees—played remarkably well throughout the contest while goalkeeper Richard Goddard pulled off numerous brilliant saves to fully earn his remarkable clean sheet. The White Eagles’ victory keeps their chances of avoiding relegation alive, while the Firemen’s loss denies them the opportunity to close the gap on first place Metro-Ford.
ICST PEGASUS* -* AKAL FC* 2-1: **The third Sunday evening game was played at Newton Athletic Park in Surrey between ICST Pegasus and Akal FC. At the end of a very hard-fought 90 minutes of non-stop action, the visiting team walked away with a very important 2-1 victory. Akal FC defended and counter-attacked very well throughout the contest but—at the end of the day—the strategy failed as Pegasus was able to gather all three points with a late goal by Meysam Soltani. Pegasus took the lead at the 20th minute mark when Diaz Kambere slotted the ball home from the top of the box after having received a pin-point pass from Niko Marcina. Pegasus came close to doubling its lead on a couple of occasions, but efforts by Marcina and Kambere narrowly missed the target. However, Akal managed to score the equalizer just before the halftime whistle when Abu Hussein headed home a well-taken free kick by Javid Khan. The second half was more or less a carbon copy of the first, with Pegasus doing most of the attacking, while Akal—led by a marvellous performance by Sarpreet Pahal—defended tenaciously and effectively. However, very late in the match, a speculative cross by David Samra was controlled skillfully by Meysam Soltani who then proceeded to half-volley the ball into the back of the net for the winning goal. Pegasus defenders Paul Bahia and Deep Toor played extremely well, while Niko Marcina and Diaz Kambere worked very hard in their midfield roles. The all-important victory elevates ICST Pegasus out of the relegation zone, with 14 points—the same as Akal FC.
SURREY UNITED FIREFIGHTERS* -* SERBIAN WHITE EAGLES* 6-0:* On Wednesday, November 17, at Cloverdale Athletic Park, the Surrey United Firefighters totally demolished the visiting Serbian White Eagles by an emphatic 6-0 margin in a Day 1 make-up game. While the Firefighters enjoyed the territorial advantage for most of the early going, they had to wait until the 28th minute mark to open the scoring. Following a broken play from a corner kick, Rizal Ganief picked up a loose ball and fired a cross into the middle of the box for teammate Angus Burke, who headed home the opening goal. The floodgates then opened up and 5 minutes later Burke increased the lead with another close range header—on a great cross from young Raki Amijee. Three minutes before the halftime break United added its third goal when a well-placed through ball from Vince Stewart sent former Whitecap captain Jeff Clarke racing down the right flank. Clarke’s subsequent low cross was hammered home by Angus Burke as he completed his hat-trick in fine fashion. Just before the halftime whistle, the White Eagles came very close to reducing the margin when Brandon Ferridge lifted the ball over goalkeeper Drew Smiley, only to have defender Mason Webb clear it off the goal-line. The Firefighters continued to dominate during the second half but had to wait until the 68th minute mark to increase their lead as Andrew Proctor’s great cross was lashed home by Angus Burke, for his 4th goal of the match. Substitute player/coach Niall Thompson added Surrey United’s fifth goal 10 minutes later when he skillfully chipped the ball into the net after having received a clever pass from Vince Stewart. Late in the game, Surrey United rounded out the scoring when young substitute Sean Einarrson latched onto a poor clearance and quickly hammered a low shot into the Serbian net from the top of the penalty area.
TEAMS OF THE WEEK:* Serbian White Eagles, Westside FC, and Richmond FC Hibernians for their amazing upset victories over the overwhelming favourites Surrey United, West Van FC, and Metro-Ford Wolves respectively. All three games ended in 1-0 victories for the underdogs with the goals scored by Bobby Jhutty (Serbian White Eagles), James Brown (Westside FC), and Taj Sangara (Richmond FC). As a result of the 3 upsets, the standings at the top of the table remain the same, with Metro-Ford, Surrey United, and West Van still leading the pack.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: *Serbian White Eagles’ goalkeeper RICHARD GODDARD for his amazing performance in his team’s 1-0 upset victory over the heavily-favoured Surrey United Firefighters. Time after time, Goddard rose to the occasion and pulled off some semi-miraculous saves to keep his team in the match. For his magnificent performance, RICHARD GODDARD will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of *THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2010-12-15.*
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