Hands of Stone
New Member
WEEK #1–2005-09-13
The first weekend of the 2005-2006 season got off to a flying start as 7 very competitive and exciting Premier Division games were played in various locations of the Lower Mainland. Only one game ended in a rather lop-sided score and even that match was closely contested until its dying moments.
On Saturday, at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver, West Van FC (formerly the Trollers) hosted a new-look Metro-Ford Wolves in a Group ‘A’ match-up. The final result, 4-1 in favour of the Wolves, is a little misleading as two of the goals came in the dying moments of the match. The Wolves, with numerous young players in their line-up, took the game to the older and more experienced home team for the first 25 minutes of the match but then seemed to falter as the more physical West Van side bounced back with some tenacious and aggressive tackling. Metro-Ford took the lead at about the 25th minute mark when newcomer Russ Huggon was tripped in the box. On the ensuing penalty kick Huggon beat goalkeeper Tyler Silvestre with a well-placed shot. Late in the first half, defender Trevor Short restored parity by heading home a brilliantly-taken free kick by newly-signed (and former Whitecap) Oliver Heald. In the second half, Metro-Ford’s younger legs and superior fitness paid enormous dividends and it wasn’t long before another newcomer, Emilio Bottiglieri, scored what proved to be the winning goal. Late in the match, two Metro-Ford substitutes, Connor Cregg-Guinan and Azad Palani, scored the insurance markers. Kingsley Jones and Aaron Beattie had outstanding games in the Metro-Ford backline, while Short was his usual combative self on the West Van defence.
Also on Saturday, in a Group ‘B’ match played at Queen’s Park Stadium in New Westminster, the Sapperton Rovers got off to a good start by edging the newly-promoted Norvan Eagles by a 2-1 margin. Both teams had numerous goal-scoring chances and both goalkeepers, Norvan’s Giancarlo Martino and Sapperton’s Cory Breure, made some excellent saves throughout the match. Veteran Paul Favaro opened the scoring for the Rovers early in the second half with a looping shot to the far post. Soon thereafter, Sean Regan equalized for the Eagles as he picked up a rebound from a shot by teammate Greg Muir. Late in the game, Colin Phillips scored the winner for the Rovers as he unleashed an unstoppable rocket to the top corner of the net from just outside the penalty box. All in all, the Rovers deserved the victory even though the Eagles demonstrated that they fully deserve to be in the very competitive Premier Division of the VMSL.
Saturday’s third game featured last season’s Group ‘B’ champions, Surrey United, against the always tough AFC Leopards. The game, played at Cloverdale Athletic Park, proved to be an entertaining affair with both teams concentrating on the game and displaying a great deal of discipline. In the end, Surrey United emerged 2-1 victors after a hard-fought encounter. After a bright start by Surrey, the visitors took the lead at about the 20th minute mark on a counter-attack that found the Surrey defence outnumbered and flat-footed. Newly-signed Steve Dickinson raced in all alone only to have Surrey’s goalkeeper Drew Smiley make a fine save. Unfortunately for Surrey, the rebound fell onto the path of Sean Ross who half-volleyed the ball into the back of the net. Ten minutes later Surrey equalized when newly-acquired Steve Millar sent one of his notorious long balls into the AFC third of the field. Forward Shawn Blakeway flicked the ball to Ryan Hopp who proceeded to chip it past goalkeeper Koostra Nair. Late in the match, Surrey United got the winner when Jamie Spendlove and Blakeway carved out an opening for Hopp to score his second goal of the match.
The fourth Saturday game, a Group ‘B’ affair, took place at Burnaby Lake West and featured the Burnaby Canadians and Croatia SC. The game ended in a 0-0 tie, thanks mostly to the outstanding goalkeeping of Burnaby’s Adam Alvaro. The match started out slowly as both teams seemed tentative and reluctant to attack. Midway through the first half Croatia SC started controlling the play by creating several golden goal-scoring opportunities. In particular, Chris Brown and young Goran Vitic had excellent chances to break the scoreless tie but failed to capitalize. In the second half, Croatia continued to press but was denied the winning goal by some outstanding goalkeeping on the part of Burnaby’s Adam Alvaro. In particular, Alvaro made two incredible saves: the first on a shot by Kreso Vitic and, late in the game, on a blast by veteran Petar Sulentic. As a result of the tie, Croatia SC and the Burnaby Canadians are in the middle of the pack in the Group ‘B’ standings.
On Sunday, in a cross-over match played at Kensington Park in Vancouver, Group ‘B’ Columbus-Clan FC opened the season by taking on the defending Province Cup champions, Sporting Club of Group ‘A’. The match lived up to its expectations as both teams tried hard to take home all 3 points. In the end, however, Columbus emerged victorious by a 2-1 margin. Sporting Club opened the scoring midway through the first half when Trevor Rosencrans was sent in all alone by a brilliant pass from Ryan Dormer. Columbus responded immediately and was rewarded when last season’s GOLDEN BOOT AWARD winner, Joe Scigliano knotted the score with a cleverly-placed free kick from just outside the penalty area. In the second half, Sporting dominated proceedings and had several goal-scoring opportunities denied by offside calls. However, at about the 70th minute mark, Columbus’ Stefan Leslie was sent in all alone by an Andrea Bellisomo through ball and found the back of the net for the winning goal. Defensively, Frank Mollica and Tony Gaita had excellent games for Columbus, while Chris Verdi played very well in the Sporting midfield. Also, Carlos Batista was outstanding in his unusual goalkeeping role for Sporting Club.
Also on Sunday, at Adanac Park in Vancouver, a Group ‘A’ match took place between last season’s VMSL champions ICSF Inter and newly-promoted Indo-Akal. The final 2-1 score in Inter’s favour pretty much reflected the flow of the game as the home team created a few more goal-scoring opportunities during the contest. Inter started the game with reckless abandon in search of an early goal. The best early chance came at the 8th minute mark when a Mike Tempesta free kick found a wide open Kevin Crouch in the middle of the Indo-Akal penalty box. A great save by Didar Sandhu, however, denied Crouch the chance for the go-ahead goal. Indo-Akal gradually got back into the game and proceeded to produce some goal-scoring opportunities of its own but the match remained scoreless throughout the first half. About midway through the second half a brilliant run by newly-acquired Laurent Scaligine gave ICSF the all-important first goal. Scaligine ran past several defenders before slamming the ball towards the net. As luck would have it, an Indo-Akal defender got the last, and crucial, touch and deflected the ball past a stunned Sandhu. Soon thereafter, Indo-Akal tied things up after Dennis Kindel made a couple of great saves in the ICSF goal. After one of these saves, Kyle McDiarmid picked up the rebound and put the ball behind Kindel for the equalizer. Inter was not to be denied, however, and came roaring back once again led by the excellent play of Laurent Scaligine. Once again Scaligine roared by a couple of defenders down the right flank before placing a perfect cross onto the path of Sheldon Maistry who calmly deposited the ball into the net for the winning goal.
Finally, on Sunday at Hillcrest Park in Vancouver, the Firefighters and Westside Rino engaged in an interesting Group ‘A’ battle that resulted in a 3-2 victory for the Firemen. The home team lead 2-0 at halftime on goals by Trevor Bourne and Chris Jarvie. Early in the second half the Firefighters increased their lead when Jarvie scored his second goal of the contest. Rino’s team came roaring back and made things rather uncomfortable for the Firemen by scoring 2 late goals. However, it was a classic example of too little, too late as the Firemen held on for the narrow victory. Jorge DeVicente and Dave Snarch scored the goals for Westside.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: COLUMBUS-CLAN FC for its excellent performance in defeating the defending PROVINCE CHAMPIONS, Sporting Club, by a narrow 2-1 margin. Columbus defended extremely well throughout the match and scored 2 great goals the gain the all-important 3 points.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: ICSF Inter’s LAURENT SCALIGINE for his impressive performance in his team’s 2-1 victory over Indo-Akal. With the game scoreless midway through the second half, Scaligine took matters into his own hands by scoring the opening goal and then setting up the winner after Indo-Akal had tied things up. Both goals were the result of Scaligine’s brilliant skills and exceptional speed. For his excellent performance, SCALIGINE will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2005-09-28. The pizza must be consumed on the premises.
The first weekend of the 2005-2006 season got off to a flying start as 7 very competitive and exciting Premier Division games were played in various locations of the Lower Mainland. Only one game ended in a rather lop-sided score and even that match was closely contested until its dying moments.
On Saturday, at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver, West Van FC (formerly the Trollers) hosted a new-look Metro-Ford Wolves in a Group ‘A’ match-up. The final result, 4-1 in favour of the Wolves, is a little misleading as two of the goals came in the dying moments of the match. The Wolves, with numerous young players in their line-up, took the game to the older and more experienced home team for the first 25 minutes of the match but then seemed to falter as the more physical West Van side bounced back with some tenacious and aggressive tackling. Metro-Ford took the lead at about the 25th minute mark when newcomer Russ Huggon was tripped in the box. On the ensuing penalty kick Huggon beat goalkeeper Tyler Silvestre with a well-placed shot. Late in the first half, defender Trevor Short restored parity by heading home a brilliantly-taken free kick by newly-signed (and former Whitecap) Oliver Heald. In the second half, Metro-Ford’s younger legs and superior fitness paid enormous dividends and it wasn’t long before another newcomer, Emilio Bottiglieri, scored what proved to be the winning goal. Late in the match, two Metro-Ford substitutes, Connor Cregg-Guinan and Azad Palani, scored the insurance markers. Kingsley Jones and Aaron Beattie had outstanding games in the Metro-Ford backline, while Short was his usual combative self on the West Van defence.
Also on Saturday, in a Group ‘B’ match played at Queen’s Park Stadium in New Westminster, the Sapperton Rovers got off to a good start by edging the newly-promoted Norvan Eagles by a 2-1 margin. Both teams had numerous goal-scoring chances and both goalkeepers, Norvan’s Giancarlo Martino and Sapperton’s Cory Breure, made some excellent saves throughout the match. Veteran Paul Favaro opened the scoring for the Rovers early in the second half with a looping shot to the far post. Soon thereafter, Sean Regan equalized for the Eagles as he picked up a rebound from a shot by teammate Greg Muir. Late in the game, Colin Phillips scored the winner for the Rovers as he unleashed an unstoppable rocket to the top corner of the net from just outside the penalty box. All in all, the Rovers deserved the victory even though the Eagles demonstrated that they fully deserve to be in the very competitive Premier Division of the VMSL.
Saturday’s third game featured last season’s Group ‘B’ champions, Surrey United, against the always tough AFC Leopards. The game, played at Cloverdale Athletic Park, proved to be an entertaining affair with both teams concentrating on the game and displaying a great deal of discipline. In the end, Surrey United emerged 2-1 victors after a hard-fought encounter. After a bright start by Surrey, the visitors took the lead at about the 20th minute mark on a counter-attack that found the Surrey defence outnumbered and flat-footed. Newly-signed Steve Dickinson raced in all alone only to have Surrey’s goalkeeper Drew Smiley make a fine save. Unfortunately for Surrey, the rebound fell onto the path of Sean Ross who half-volleyed the ball into the back of the net. Ten minutes later Surrey equalized when newly-acquired Steve Millar sent one of his notorious long balls into the AFC third of the field. Forward Shawn Blakeway flicked the ball to Ryan Hopp who proceeded to chip it past goalkeeper Koostra Nair. Late in the match, Surrey United got the winner when Jamie Spendlove and Blakeway carved out an opening for Hopp to score his second goal of the match.
The fourth Saturday game, a Group ‘B’ affair, took place at Burnaby Lake West and featured the Burnaby Canadians and Croatia SC. The game ended in a 0-0 tie, thanks mostly to the outstanding goalkeeping of Burnaby’s Adam Alvaro. The match started out slowly as both teams seemed tentative and reluctant to attack. Midway through the first half Croatia SC started controlling the play by creating several golden goal-scoring opportunities. In particular, Chris Brown and young Goran Vitic had excellent chances to break the scoreless tie but failed to capitalize. In the second half, Croatia continued to press but was denied the winning goal by some outstanding goalkeeping on the part of Burnaby’s Adam Alvaro. In particular, Alvaro made two incredible saves: the first on a shot by Kreso Vitic and, late in the game, on a blast by veteran Petar Sulentic. As a result of the tie, Croatia SC and the Burnaby Canadians are in the middle of the pack in the Group ‘B’ standings.
On Sunday, in a cross-over match played at Kensington Park in Vancouver, Group ‘B’ Columbus-Clan FC opened the season by taking on the defending Province Cup champions, Sporting Club of Group ‘A’. The match lived up to its expectations as both teams tried hard to take home all 3 points. In the end, however, Columbus emerged victorious by a 2-1 margin. Sporting Club opened the scoring midway through the first half when Trevor Rosencrans was sent in all alone by a brilliant pass from Ryan Dormer. Columbus responded immediately and was rewarded when last season’s GOLDEN BOOT AWARD winner, Joe Scigliano knotted the score with a cleverly-placed free kick from just outside the penalty area. In the second half, Sporting dominated proceedings and had several goal-scoring opportunities denied by offside calls. However, at about the 70th minute mark, Columbus’ Stefan Leslie was sent in all alone by an Andrea Bellisomo through ball and found the back of the net for the winning goal. Defensively, Frank Mollica and Tony Gaita had excellent games for Columbus, while Chris Verdi played very well in the Sporting midfield. Also, Carlos Batista was outstanding in his unusual goalkeeping role for Sporting Club.
Also on Sunday, at Adanac Park in Vancouver, a Group ‘A’ match took place between last season’s VMSL champions ICSF Inter and newly-promoted Indo-Akal. The final 2-1 score in Inter’s favour pretty much reflected the flow of the game as the home team created a few more goal-scoring opportunities during the contest. Inter started the game with reckless abandon in search of an early goal. The best early chance came at the 8th minute mark when a Mike Tempesta free kick found a wide open Kevin Crouch in the middle of the Indo-Akal penalty box. A great save by Didar Sandhu, however, denied Crouch the chance for the go-ahead goal. Indo-Akal gradually got back into the game and proceeded to produce some goal-scoring opportunities of its own but the match remained scoreless throughout the first half. About midway through the second half a brilliant run by newly-acquired Laurent Scaligine gave ICSF the all-important first goal. Scaligine ran past several defenders before slamming the ball towards the net. As luck would have it, an Indo-Akal defender got the last, and crucial, touch and deflected the ball past a stunned Sandhu. Soon thereafter, Indo-Akal tied things up after Dennis Kindel made a couple of great saves in the ICSF goal. After one of these saves, Kyle McDiarmid picked up the rebound and put the ball behind Kindel for the equalizer. Inter was not to be denied, however, and came roaring back once again led by the excellent play of Laurent Scaligine. Once again Scaligine roared by a couple of defenders down the right flank before placing a perfect cross onto the path of Sheldon Maistry who calmly deposited the ball into the net for the winning goal.
Finally, on Sunday at Hillcrest Park in Vancouver, the Firefighters and Westside Rino engaged in an interesting Group ‘A’ battle that resulted in a 3-2 victory for the Firemen. The home team lead 2-0 at halftime on goals by Trevor Bourne and Chris Jarvie. Early in the second half the Firefighters increased their lead when Jarvie scored his second goal of the contest. Rino’s team came roaring back and made things rather uncomfortable for the Firemen by scoring 2 late goals. However, it was a classic example of too little, too late as the Firemen held on for the narrow victory. Jorge DeVicente and Dave Snarch scored the goals for Westside.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: COLUMBUS-CLAN FC for its excellent performance in defeating the defending PROVINCE CHAMPIONS, Sporting Club, by a narrow 2-1 margin. Columbus defended extremely well throughout the match and scored 2 great goals the gain the all-important 3 points.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: ICSF Inter’s LAURENT SCALIGINE for his impressive performance in his team’s 2-1 victory over Indo-Akal. With the game scoreless midway through the second half, Scaligine took matters into his own hands by scoring the opening goal and then setting up the winner after Indo-Akal had tied things up. Both goals were the result of Scaligine’s brilliant skills and exceptional speed. For his excellent performance, SCALIGINE will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2005-09-28. The pizza must be consumed on the premises.