2011-2012 Weekly Reports
2011-09-12
PREMIER DIVISION – WEEK 1
The 2011-2012 season got off to a flying start as all six Premier Division matches were played on Saturday at the newly-constructed Trillium Park in Vancouver’s eastside. No major upsets took place as the favourites managed to defeat the underdogs, albeit by narrow margins. Only 1 match ended in a tie, as the Richmond Hibernians and the Metro-Ford Wolves battled to a hard-fought 1-1 draw.
SURREY UNITED FIREFIGHTERS – NORVAN PACIFIC 2-1: The season kicked off at 12:00 noon on Saturday, September 10 with the newly-promoted Norvan Pacific taking on the defending champions, Surrey United. After a rather lacklustre 90 minutes, the Firefighters walked away with a narrow 2-1 victory. Surrey United took the lead at the 30th minute mark when Vince Stewart’s free kick was headed towards the Norvan goal by Kris Robazza. Ryan Reynolds then took advantage of some hesitation on the part of the Norvan defenders, pounced on the ball and sent it directly into the back of the net for the opening goal. Surrey United then missed several opportunities to add a second goal, especially on chances by Ryan Reynolds and Kris Robazza. In the second half, Norvan Pacific tried hard to get back into the match and finally succeeded at the 60th minute mark when Matt Hartwell converted a fine pass from Alex Wilson into the tying goal. However, the Firefighters bounced back and scored the winning goal at the 75th minute mark when Sean Einnarson deflected a shot by Matthew Rosenlund into the Norvan net for what proved to be the winning goal. Late in the game, it appeared that Surrey United had scored the insurance marker but playing-coach Niall Thompson was judged to be in an offside position and therefore his goal—on a brilliant header—was nullified. Defensively, Robbie Wilson, Steve Kindel, and Vince Stewart played remarkably well in a winning cause for the Firefighters, while Tony Paerio, Matt Brewster, and Brent Dodge also performed admirably on the Norvan backline. It should also be mentioned that newcomer Dave O’Connor made a very successful VMSL debut in the Norvan midfield as he demonstrated various admirable qualities.
ROVERS UNITED - DELTA UNITED HURRICANES 3-2: Two newly-renamed teams, the Rovers and the Hurricanes, also kicked off at 12:00 noon on the adjacent West field and also battled extremely hard in search of the 3 valuable points. At the end of the day, however, it was the Rovers—formerly the Sapperton Rovers—that walked away with all 3 points as a result of a 3-2 victory. The Rovers took the lead at about the 15th minute mark when Bobby Jhutty scored an amazing goal when he received a pass from Rizal Ganief, flicked the ball over a Delta defender and full-volleyed it into the back of the net from just inside the penalty area. Twenty minutes later, the Hurricanes tied things up when Gagan Josan and Steve Millar combined to set up Amar Bains who easily slotted the ball home from close range. Early in the second half, Delta United took the lead when Geoff Kosub converted a penalty kick—awarded when Gagan Josan was taken down inside the penalty box by Jason Pierotti. The Hurricanes almost added to their lead on a couple of occasions, but efforts by Paminder Birring and Gagan Josan just barely missed the net. The Rovers, however, fought back with tenacity and were rewarded with two late goals to lay claim on all 3 points. On the first goal—at about the 75th minute mark—Colin Phillips, Bobby Jhutty, and Jason Pierotti combined to set up Rizal Ganief whose first shot was brilliantly saved by goalkeeper Drew Smiley. Ganief, however, picked up the rebound and easily slotted the ball into the back of the net. On the second—and winning—goal, Ganief was sent flying towards goal on a breakaway on a great pass from Bobby Jhutty. Needless the say, the newly-signed Ganief made no mistake in scoring the winning goal. Defensively, Jeff Rogers, Gary Chahal, and Kevin Brooker played superbly for the Rovers, while midfielders Colin Phillips and Bobby Jhutty controlled the middle of the park with composure and skill. For the Hurricanes, goalkeeper Drew Smiley pulled off a couple of semi-miraculous saves, while midfielders Gagan Josan and Manvir Brar worked tirelessly during the entire 90 minutes.
RICHMOND FC HIBERNIANS - METRO-FORD WOLVES 1-1: At 2:00 p.m.—on the East field—the Hibernians and the Wolves battled relentlessly for the entire 90 minutes but had to settle for a 1-1 tie—a result that appeared to be disappointing for both teams. Richmond FC dominated proceedings during the entire first half as the very young and inexperienced Wolves seemed to be a little nervous. The Hibernians were rewarded for their dominance at about the 25th minute mark when Darren Prentice sent Alan Chivers flying down the left flank with an impeccable pass. Chivers—without a moment’s hesitation—fired the ball into the back of the Metro-Ford net for the game’s opening goal. Late in the first half, Richmond’s Tommy Brooke and Peter Chivers came close to doubling their team’s lead but missed golden opportunities from close range. The second half told a totally different story as the young Wolves bounced back with grit and determination. Led by the tireless effort of midfielder Sang Yoon Hwang—as well as the skillful performance of veteran Alfredo Valente—the Wolves slowly got back into the match and started creating some goalscoring opportunities of their own. Finally, at about the 75th minute mark, veteran Russel Huggon was able to equalize as he converted a great pass from young Domenic Delli Santi into the tying goal. Late in the match, Metro-Ford came very close to claiming all three points but young Alex Hoffer inexplicably floundered an excellent close-range goalscoring chance. All in all, however, the final 1-1 result appeared to be a fair one as both teams worked very hard throughout the contest.
ICST PEGASUS - ICSF INTER 3-1: Also at 2:00 p.m.—but on the adjacent West field—ICST Pegasus, the Provincial Cup champions—and hopefully soon to be crowned Canadian National champions—defeated ICSF Inter by a rather comfortable 3-1 margin. Despite the fact that both teams created many goalscoring opportunities, the match remained scoreless until the 70th minute mark when ICST Pegasus took the lead when Meysam Soltani finished off a brilliant 3-way passing play—also involving Reynold Stewart and Sahil Sandhu. However, ICSF Inter bounced back tenaciously and evened the score shortly thereafter when Pavi Dhillon took advantage of a counter-attack and slotted the ball home on a partial breakaway. The BC champions, however, fought back and regained the lead at the 80th minute mark when young Sahil Sandhu beat a couple of Inter defenders at the edge of the penalty area before blasting an unstoppable shot into the top corner of the net. Late in the match, Meysam Soltani put the ‘Italians’ out of their misery by scoring the insurance marker after having been set up by midfielder Niko Marcina. Despite the loss, Inter performed admirably and came close to scoring on several occasions. In particular, midfielders Joseph Marrello, Paul Dhudwal, and Brian VanSchagen turned in excellent performances, while forward Adam Wallace was a constant threat throughout the contest. For Pegasus, forward Sahil Sandhu was his usual speedy self and drove the Inter defenders to distraction with his penetrating runs. Also, Ryan Powell, Omari Aldridge, and Diaz Kambere were a thorn on the Inter defenders’ side as they created numerous excellent goalscoring chances.
COLUMBUS FC - CROATIA SC 3-1: At 4:00 p.m.—on the East field—the Adriatic Derby took place with Columbus FC managing to defeat Croatia SC by a 3-1 margin. After missing a golden opportunity at the 10th minute mark, Croatia’s Sandro Rajic made amends for his previous faux pas by giving his team the lead 5 minutes later. On this occasion, former professional Johnny Sulentic sent Michael Brkich flying down the right flank with a great through ball. Brkich then proceeded to cross the ball to an unmarked Sandro Rajic whose subsequent header was brilliantly saved by Columbus’ goalkeeper, Thomas Lindley. However, Rajic was able to pick up the rebound and deposit the ball into the back of the net from close range for the game’s opening goal. The ‘Italians’ bounced back tenaciously and were able to knot the score midway through the first half when Steve DeBlasio caught the Croatian defenders off guard with a great through ball that sent Kazupori Kikuchi flying in on goal. Kikuchi made no mistake and easily scored the equalizer. In the second half, Columbus FC controlled the tempo of the game and took the lead when Blair Robertson converted a well-taken free kick by Steve DeBlasio into what proved to be the winning goal. Late in the match, newcomer Donald Kambere rounded out the scoring for Columbus as he outraced the Croatian defenders before slotting the ball behind goalkeeper Didar Sandhu. Defender Stefano Pannu, midfielder Kozo Manome, and forward Steve DeBlasio played extremely well for the ‘Italians’, while defender Ivan Prpic, midfielder Sandro Rajic, and forward Johnny Sulentic turned in excellent performances for Croatia SC, albeit in a losing cause.
WEST VAN FC - WESTSIDE FC 2-0: The final match of the day also kicked off at 4:00 p.m. on the West field and coincidentally featured two ‘West’ teams: West Van FC and Westside FC. At the end of the day, the former Trollers walked away with a well-deserved 2-0 victory. The heavily-favoured West Van team had to wait till the 40th minute mark to score the go-ahead goal as young veteran Ryan Glanville beat a couple of Westside defenders before blasting a far-post shot into the corner of the net from an awkward angle. Westside FC responded positively and exerted some pressure in an attempt to score the equalizer. Led by Anthony Doran, David Andreyhuck, and Andre` Herath, the Westsiders caused numerous problems to the West Van backline, but were unable to knot the score. At the other end of the pitch, Ryan Glanville, Jesse Fetterley, Corey Birza, and Gary Anderson also had good scoring opportunities but the Westside FC defence—led by Chris Mehuys—thwarted all the goalscoring chances. Early in the second half, West Van’s Leo Nash was expelled from the match for having committed a serious foul play infraction, thus reducing his team to 10 players for the remainder of the contest. However, despite playing short-handed, West Van FC continued to show a lot of composure and managed to secure the victory late in the game when two Under 21 call-ups—Tristan Wallis-Mayer and Stefan Crameri—combined to score the insurance marker. It was a great through ball by Crameri that set up Wallis-Mayer who proceeded to beat a couple of Westside defenders before blasting the ball into the net from the edge of the penalty area.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: COLUMBUS FC for its clinical performance in defeating the very talented Croatia SC by a clear-cut 3-1 margin. Led by the fine play of defender Stefano Pannu, midfielder Kozo Manome, and forward Steve DeBlasio, Columbus FC got off to a great seasonal start and fully deserved the victory.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Rovers United’s forward RIZAL GANIEF for his amazing performance in his team’s 3-2 victory over the talented Delta United Hurricanes. Not only did Ganief work tirelessly throughout the entire match, but he also scored 2 of his team’s 3 goals. For his outstanding performances this past week, RIZAL GANIEF will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2011-09-29
2011-09-12
PREMIER DIVISION – WEEK 1
The 2011-2012 season got off to a flying start as all six Premier Division matches were played on Saturday at the newly-constructed Trillium Park in Vancouver’s eastside. No major upsets took place as the favourites managed to defeat the underdogs, albeit by narrow margins. Only 1 match ended in a tie, as the Richmond Hibernians and the Metro-Ford Wolves battled to a hard-fought 1-1 draw.
SURREY UNITED FIREFIGHTERS – NORVAN PACIFIC 2-1: The season kicked off at 12:00 noon on Saturday, September 10 with the newly-promoted Norvan Pacific taking on the defending champions, Surrey United. After a rather lacklustre 90 minutes, the Firefighters walked away with a narrow 2-1 victory. Surrey United took the lead at the 30th minute mark when Vince Stewart’s free kick was headed towards the Norvan goal by Kris Robazza. Ryan Reynolds then took advantage of some hesitation on the part of the Norvan defenders, pounced on the ball and sent it directly into the back of the net for the opening goal. Surrey United then missed several opportunities to add a second goal, especially on chances by Ryan Reynolds and Kris Robazza. In the second half, Norvan Pacific tried hard to get back into the match and finally succeeded at the 60th minute mark when Matt Hartwell converted a fine pass from Alex Wilson into the tying goal. However, the Firefighters bounced back and scored the winning goal at the 75th minute mark when Sean Einnarson deflected a shot by Matthew Rosenlund into the Norvan net for what proved to be the winning goal. Late in the game, it appeared that Surrey United had scored the insurance marker but playing-coach Niall Thompson was judged to be in an offside position and therefore his goal—on a brilliant header—was nullified. Defensively, Robbie Wilson, Steve Kindel, and Vince Stewart played remarkably well in a winning cause for the Firefighters, while Tony Paerio, Matt Brewster, and Brent Dodge also performed admirably on the Norvan backline. It should also be mentioned that newcomer Dave O’Connor made a very successful VMSL debut in the Norvan midfield as he demonstrated various admirable qualities.
ROVERS UNITED - DELTA UNITED HURRICANES 3-2: Two newly-renamed teams, the Rovers and the Hurricanes, also kicked off at 12:00 noon on the adjacent West field and also battled extremely hard in search of the 3 valuable points. At the end of the day, however, it was the Rovers—formerly the Sapperton Rovers—that walked away with all 3 points as a result of a 3-2 victory. The Rovers took the lead at about the 15th minute mark when Bobby Jhutty scored an amazing goal when he received a pass from Rizal Ganief, flicked the ball over a Delta defender and full-volleyed it into the back of the net from just inside the penalty area. Twenty minutes later, the Hurricanes tied things up when Gagan Josan and Steve Millar combined to set up Amar Bains who easily slotted the ball home from close range. Early in the second half, Delta United took the lead when Geoff Kosub converted a penalty kick—awarded when Gagan Josan was taken down inside the penalty box by Jason Pierotti. The Hurricanes almost added to their lead on a couple of occasions, but efforts by Paminder Birring and Gagan Josan just barely missed the net. The Rovers, however, fought back with tenacity and were rewarded with two late goals to lay claim on all 3 points. On the first goal—at about the 75th minute mark—Colin Phillips, Bobby Jhutty, and Jason Pierotti combined to set up Rizal Ganief whose first shot was brilliantly saved by goalkeeper Drew Smiley. Ganief, however, picked up the rebound and easily slotted the ball into the back of the net. On the second—and winning—goal, Ganief was sent flying towards goal on a breakaway on a great pass from Bobby Jhutty. Needless the say, the newly-signed Ganief made no mistake in scoring the winning goal. Defensively, Jeff Rogers, Gary Chahal, and Kevin Brooker played superbly for the Rovers, while midfielders Colin Phillips and Bobby Jhutty controlled the middle of the park with composure and skill. For the Hurricanes, goalkeeper Drew Smiley pulled off a couple of semi-miraculous saves, while midfielders Gagan Josan and Manvir Brar worked tirelessly during the entire 90 minutes.
RICHMOND FC HIBERNIANS - METRO-FORD WOLVES 1-1: At 2:00 p.m.—on the East field—the Hibernians and the Wolves battled relentlessly for the entire 90 minutes but had to settle for a 1-1 tie—a result that appeared to be disappointing for both teams. Richmond FC dominated proceedings during the entire first half as the very young and inexperienced Wolves seemed to be a little nervous. The Hibernians were rewarded for their dominance at about the 25th minute mark when Darren Prentice sent Alan Chivers flying down the left flank with an impeccable pass. Chivers—without a moment’s hesitation—fired the ball into the back of the Metro-Ford net for the game’s opening goal. Late in the first half, Richmond’s Tommy Brooke and Peter Chivers came close to doubling their team’s lead but missed golden opportunities from close range. The second half told a totally different story as the young Wolves bounced back with grit and determination. Led by the tireless effort of midfielder Sang Yoon Hwang—as well as the skillful performance of veteran Alfredo Valente—the Wolves slowly got back into the match and started creating some goalscoring opportunities of their own. Finally, at about the 75th minute mark, veteran Russel Huggon was able to equalize as he converted a great pass from young Domenic Delli Santi into the tying goal. Late in the match, Metro-Ford came very close to claiming all three points but young Alex Hoffer inexplicably floundered an excellent close-range goalscoring chance. All in all, however, the final 1-1 result appeared to be a fair one as both teams worked very hard throughout the contest.
ICST PEGASUS - ICSF INTER 3-1: Also at 2:00 p.m.—but on the adjacent West field—ICST Pegasus, the Provincial Cup champions—and hopefully soon to be crowned Canadian National champions—defeated ICSF Inter by a rather comfortable 3-1 margin. Despite the fact that both teams created many goalscoring opportunities, the match remained scoreless until the 70th minute mark when ICST Pegasus took the lead when Meysam Soltani finished off a brilliant 3-way passing play—also involving Reynold Stewart and Sahil Sandhu. However, ICSF Inter bounced back tenaciously and evened the score shortly thereafter when Pavi Dhillon took advantage of a counter-attack and slotted the ball home on a partial breakaway. The BC champions, however, fought back and regained the lead at the 80th minute mark when young Sahil Sandhu beat a couple of Inter defenders at the edge of the penalty area before blasting an unstoppable shot into the top corner of the net. Late in the match, Meysam Soltani put the ‘Italians’ out of their misery by scoring the insurance marker after having been set up by midfielder Niko Marcina. Despite the loss, Inter performed admirably and came close to scoring on several occasions. In particular, midfielders Joseph Marrello, Paul Dhudwal, and Brian VanSchagen turned in excellent performances, while forward Adam Wallace was a constant threat throughout the contest. For Pegasus, forward Sahil Sandhu was his usual speedy self and drove the Inter defenders to distraction with his penetrating runs. Also, Ryan Powell, Omari Aldridge, and Diaz Kambere were a thorn on the Inter defenders’ side as they created numerous excellent goalscoring chances.
COLUMBUS FC - CROATIA SC 3-1: At 4:00 p.m.—on the East field—the Adriatic Derby took place with Columbus FC managing to defeat Croatia SC by a 3-1 margin. After missing a golden opportunity at the 10th minute mark, Croatia’s Sandro Rajic made amends for his previous faux pas by giving his team the lead 5 minutes later. On this occasion, former professional Johnny Sulentic sent Michael Brkich flying down the right flank with a great through ball. Brkich then proceeded to cross the ball to an unmarked Sandro Rajic whose subsequent header was brilliantly saved by Columbus’ goalkeeper, Thomas Lindley. However, Rajic was able to pick up the rebound and deposit the ball into the back of the net from close range for the game’s opening goal. The ‘Italians’ bounced back tenaciously and were able to knot the score midway through the first half when Steve DeBlasio caught the Croatian defenders off guard with a great through ball that sent Kazupori Kikuchi flying in on goal. Kikuchi made no mistake and easily scored the equalizer. In the second half, Columbus FC controlled the tempo of the game and took the lead when Blair Robertson converted a well-taken free kick by Steve DeBlasio into what proved to be the winning goal. Late in the match, newcomer Donald Kambere rounded out the scoring for Columbus as he outraced the Croatian defenders before slotting the ball behind goalkeeper Didar Sandhu. Defender Stefano Pannu, midfielder Kozo Manome, and forward Steve DeBlasio played extremely well for the ‘Italians’, while defender Ivan Prpic, midfielder Sandro Rajic, and forward Johnny Sulentic turned in excellent performances for Croatia SC, albeit in a losing cause.
WEST VAN FC - WESTSIDE FC 2-0: The final match of the day also kicked off at 4:00 p.m. on the West field and coincidentally featured two ‘West’ teams: West Van FC and Westside FC. At the end of the day, the former Trollers walked away with a well-deserved 2-0 victory. The heavily-favoured West Van team had to wait till the 40th minute mark to score the go-ahead goal as young veteran Ryan Glanville beat a couple of Westside defenders before blasting a far-post shot into the corner of the net from an awkward angle. Westside FC responded positively and exerted some pressure in an attempt to score the equalizer. Led by Anthony Doran, David Andreyhuck, and Andre` Herath, the Westsiders caused numerous problems to the West Van backline, but were unable to knot the score. At the other end of the pitch, Ryan Glanville, Jesse Fetterley, Corey Birza, and Gary Anderson also had good scoring opportunities but the Westside FC defence—led by Chris Mehuys—thwarted all the goalscoring chances. Early in the second half, West Van’s Leo Nash was expelled from the match for having committed a serious foul play infraction, thus reducing his team to 10 players for the remainder of the contest. However, despite playing short-handed, West Van FC continued to show a lot of composure and managed to secure the victory late in the game when two Under 21 call-ups—Tristan Wallis-Mayer and Stefan Crameri—combined to score the insurance marker. It was a great through ball by Crameri that set up Wallis-Mayer who proceeded to beat a couple of Westside defenders before blasting the ball into the net from the edge of the penalty area.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: COLUMBUS FC for its clinical performance in defeating the very talented Croatia SC by a clear-cut 3-1 margin. Led by the fine play of defender Stefano Pannu, midfielder Kozo Manome, and forward Steve DeBlasio, Columbus FC got off to a great seasonal start and fully deserved the victory.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Rovers United’s forward RIZAL GANIEF for his amazing performance in his team’s 3-2 victory over the talented Delta United Hurricanes. Not only did Ganief work tirelessly throughout the entire match, but he also scored 2 of his team’s 3 goals. For his outstanding performances this past week, RIZAL GANIEF will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2011-09-29