Welcome to the TTP community
Be apart of something great, join today!
The Superlative Azzi Week in Review 2005/06
- Thread starter Hands of Stone
- Start date
- Status
Re: The Superlative Azzi Week in Review
All 14 Premier Division teams saw action this past weekend as the VMSL was able to secure several turf fields throughout the Lower Mainland. The entire schedule consisted of cross-over matches between Group ‘A’ and Group ‘B’ teams. A couple of upsets took place, upsets that could play a huge part in the final standings and the subsequent determination of league championship, Province Cup qualifications, and the dreaded relegation to the first division. Columbus-Clan FC, after defeating Metro-Ford last weekend, once again led the way in the upset department by edging the aspiring ICSF Inter by a 1-0 margin. The struggling West Van FC, on the other hand, surprisingly defeated the Sapperton Rovers 2-1 in what has to be considered a rather major upset.
Friday evening, at Charles Best School in Coquitlam, the Metro-Ford Wolves defeated the AFC Leopards by a 3-1 margin after 90 minutes of non-stop action. The two teams entered the contest with two totally different objectives as the Wolves needed a victory to maintain their slim margin at the top of the Group ‘A’ table, while the Leopards were desperately seeking some points to avoid relegation to the first division. As a result, the match was extremely intense from start to finish and featured some excellent soccer, some marvellous goals, and plenty of entertainment and excitement for the numerous spectators. Russel Huggon opened the scoring at the 10th minute mark on a breakaway after having been stopped by goalkeeper Bobson Sesay on an almost identical opportunity a few moments earlier. The Leopards came back with a vengeance and tied the game up a few minutes later on a great shot from Fredi Malek, a shot that gave young goalkeeper Jonathan Krause absolutely no chance. The second half provided the fans with even more action as neither team seemed to be content with the tie. The skillful and speedy Leopards, led by Malek and BJ Rockson, came surging forward in search of the winning goal but some outstanding defending on the part of Brook Scott and Diaz Kambere held them at bay and allowed the midfield trio of Andrew Veer, Richard Price, and Emilio Bottiglieri to take control of the match. With about 15 minutes left in the game, Bottiglieri unleashed a wicked drive from outside the penalty area that found the back of the net for the winning goal. Bottiglieri then added the insurance marker just before the final whistle when he converted a penalty kick awarded when Azad Palani was tripped inside the box on a partial breakaway. The victory, coupled with ICSF’s loss to Columbus, solidifies Metro-Ford’s hold on first place in the Group ‘A’ standings, while the loss leaves the Leopards only one point ahead of the Burnaby Canadians in the relegation-avoidance battle in Group ‘B’.
On Saturday, at Burnaby Lake West, the Vancouver Firefighters hosted the Norvan Eagles in a match between two “middle-of-the-table” teams. Norvan took advantage of two Firefighter ejections to take a 2-0 lead in the first half and eventually managed to secure a 2-1 victory. To their credit, the Firemen never gave up and, despite playing with only 9 players, made life miserable for the visiting team throughout the second half. Early in the game, Norvan’s James Wilson and Danny Muir combined to set up Sean Regan for the first goal of the match. Regan’s diving header eluded Firefighters’ fine goalkeeper Mike Franks. Immediately thereafter, the Firemen were reduced to 10 men when defender Travis Turner was ejected from the match after receiving his second caution. The Eagles took advantage of the situation and quickly added to their lead when the same trio—Wilson, Muir, and Regan—combined for the second goal. This time it was Danny Muir that provided the finishing touch. Early in the second half, the Firemen received their second red card of the game when Ratish Kumar was sent off for a sloppy tackle. Instead of folding their tents, the Firefighters came roaring back and applied enormous pressure on the young and inexperienced Norvan team. Finally, midway through the second half, the Firemen were awarded a penalty kick that was calmly converted into a goal by Gavin Hobbs. Once again the Firefighters came surging forward in search of the equalizer but the Eagles were able to counter-attack effectively and came close to adding to their lead on 3 separate occasions. However, some brilliant goalkeeping by Mike Franks denied Norvan’s attackers the opportunity to score what would have been the insurance marker. Norvan’s victory changes little in the standings as both teams remain in the middle of their respective tables.
Also on Saturday, and also at Burnaby Lake West, Indo-Akal FC gathered a very important 3 points by defeating the struggling Burnaby Canadians by an emphatic 5-1 score. Indo-Akal pressed right from the start and took a 3-0 lead after only 20 minutes of play. First, Billy Shokar capitalized on a great cross from Jason Sarai to score the opening goal. A few minutes later, Dale Gill blasted a great shot from the edge of the penalty area for what proved to be the winning goal. Then, midway through the first half, Cheetan Jhooty beat 3 Burnaby defenders before scoring the clincher. In the second half, Jhooty added to the lead after receiving a great through ball from Shokar. Newly-signed Paul Bolina rounded out the scoring for Indo-Akal on a goal-mouth scramble late in the game. The Canadians were able to score their only goal of the contest just before the final whistle on a shot by Vince Peragine. The victory improves Indo-Akal’s record to 3-1-8, only 5 points ahead of last place Westside Rino, while Burnaby is still in last place in the Group ‘B’ standings with a record of 2-5-7.
The third Saturday game took place at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver and featured West Van FC and the visiting Sapperton Rovers. The former Trollers, in desperate need of points, played their best game of the season and fully deserved the 2-1 victory over the “hot and cold” Rovers. Sapperton got off to a great start when veteran Ryan McNabb hammered home a left-foot rocket after a nifty 3-way passing play involving veteran Mike Favaro and young Colin Phillips. However, West Van came storming back and tied things up before the halftime whistle when former Whitecap Paul Dailly scored on a well-placed free kick from well outside the penalty area. The home team proceeded to control most of the second half and managed to score the winning goal at about the 70th minute mark when Sean Taylor ripped a shot past Sapperton’s fine goalkeeper Cory Breure. Defensively, West Van’s Trevor Short was brilliant throughout the contest, while Sapperton’s Ed Bradford and Sven Wagner also played extremely well, albeit in a losing cause. As a result of the upset victory, West Van is now 4 points clear of last place in the Group ‘A’ table, while the Rovers drop to third place in Group ‘B’.
Early on Sunday morning Croatia SC met an old foe, Westside Rino, in an all important “relegation-avoidance” battle at Byrne Creek School in Burnaby. Both teams tried desperately to secure all 3 points but, unfortunately, they had to settle for a 1-1 tie. Croatia attacked early and often and pretty much dictated the flow of the game in the first half. Despite their territorial advantage, the Croatians were unable to score in the first half. The closest they came to scoring was at the 5th minute mark when a Matt Mori header bounced off the post and out of danger. Shortly thereafter, Mirko Maras also missed a golden opportunity when he volleyed his shot wide of the net from close range. In the second half, Rino’s boys proved to be more dangerous as they absorbed the Croatian pressure but counter-attacked effectively. At the 75th minute mark, Adrian Kekec scored the opening goal for Croatia when he converted a penalty kick awarded when Matt Mori was taken down inside the Westside box. The goal seemed to serve as a wake-up call for the young Westside lads as they came storming back in search of the equalizer. With 5 minutes remaining in the match, John Chou was able to convert a great corner kick from the foot of Devin Matthews. The single point puts Croatia 2 points clear of last place in the Group ‘B’ table, while Westside Rino is mired in last place in the Group ‘A’ standings.
Later on Sunday morning, also at Byrne Creek School, two of the top teams in the VMSL—Sporting Club of Vancouver and Surrey United—participated in a very high-spirited and intense game that resulted in a 2-2 tie. Sporting should have taken an early lead when GOLDEN BOOT AWARD leader Ryan Dormer rounded Surrey goalkeeper Drew Smiley but proceeded to miss the net with a badly placed left-footed shot. Sporting eventually took the lead at the 25th minute mark when John Blair capitalized on a well-taken corner kick by Mark Gomes and blasted a close-range shot through a maze of players into the net. The Cloverdale-based team came back with a vengeance and tied things up shortly thereafter when Tom Elliott flicked a Steve Millar free kick onto the path of Shawn Blakeway who fired the ball into the net. Before the halftime whistle, Surrey took advantage of their aerial superiority when Millar and Blakeway once again combined to set up young Cameron Wilson for the go-ahead goal. In the second half Surrey United came close to increasing the lead but failed to take advantage of a couple of glorious opportunities. Near the end of the game, United defender Martin Schaefer misplayed a cross by Sheu Fortunato, a defensive blunder that allowed Sporting’s Trevor Rosencrans to score the equalizer. The tie narrows Surrey’s lead at the top of the Group ‘B’ standings to 11 points over second place Columbus, while Sporting Club is now only 3 points behind ICSF Inter in Group ‘A’.
Finally, on Sunday at Burnaby Lake West, the so-called Italian derby (where have all the Italians gone?) took place with the underdog Columbus-Clan FC emerging 1-0 victors over ICSF Inter. Inter dominated the first 15 minutes of the match and came close to scoring on 3 different occasions. Kevin Crouch twice narrowly missed the net, while Andrew Corazza saw one of his patented blazing shots bounce off the post. Columbus came back strongly and Joe Scigliano came very close to giving his team the lead but saw his shot brilliantly saved by goalkeeper Dennis Kindel. The turning point of the match occurred at the 40th minute mark when Inter’s Christian Tropeano—a former Columbus player—was sent off by the referee for a clumsy tackle on Nathan Quan. Before the halftime whistle, Columbus took advantage of the situation and scored what proved to be the winner when Tiernan King rifled a left-footed rocket from well outside the penalty area into the net. Despite playing short-handed, ICSF carried most of the play in the second half and came close to tying the game up on numerous occasions. Columbus goalkeeper, Luca Dalla Pace, had to be at his best as he made several remarkable saves. Defenders Craig Richards and Stefan Leslie also contributed immensely to Columbus’ victory as they held the vaunted Inter attackers at bay for most of the match. The victory catapults Columbus into second place in Group ‘B’, while Inter slips further behind Metro-Ford in the Group ‘A’ table.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: WEST VAN FC for its amazing 2-1 upset victory over the heavily favoured Sapperton Rovers. West Van, near the bottom of the table in Group ‘A’, played a very sound and effective game and, at the end, fully deserved all 3 points. The victory improves West Van’s chances of avoiding relegation to the first division.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Metro-Ford Wolves’ midfielder EMILIO BOTTIGLIERI for his 2-goal performance in his team’s 3-1 victory over the AFC Leopards. Not only did Bottiglieri scored the winning goal and the insurance marker, but he also displayed excellent skills and leadership qualities. For his excellent effort, Bottiglieri will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2006-01-23. The pizza must be consumed on the premises.
zengawonderingwhycolumbusbeatinginterisanupset???
All 14 Premier Division teams saw action this past weekend as the VMSL was able to secure several turf fields throughout the Lower Mainland. The entire schedule consisted of cross-over matches between Group ‘A’ and Group ‘B’ teams. A couple of upsets took place, upsets that could play a huge part in the final standings and the subsequent determination of league championship, Province Cup qualifications, and the dreaded relegation to the first division. Columbus-Clan FC, after defeating Metro-Ford last weekend, once again led the way in the upset department by edging the aspiring ICSF Inter by a 1-0 margin. The struggling West Van FC, on the other hand, surprisingly defeated the Sapperton Rovers 2-1 in what has to be considered a rather major upset.
Friday evening, at Charles Best School in Coquitlam, the Metro-Ford Wolves defeated the AFC Leopards by a 3-1 margin after 90 minutes of non-stop action. The two teams entered the contest with two totally different objectives as the Wolves needed a victory to maintain their slim margin at the top of the Group ‘A’ table, while the Leopards were desperately seeking some points to avoid relegation to the first division. As a result, the match was extremely intense from start to finish and featured some excellent soccer, some marvellous goals, and plenty of entertainment and excitement for the numerous spectators. Russel Huggon opened the scoring at the 10th minute mark on a breakaway after having been stopped by goalkeeper Bobson Sesay on an almost identical opportunity a few moments earlier. The Leopards came back with a vengeance and tied the game up a few minutes later on a great shot from Fredi Malek, a shot that gave young goalkeeper Jonathan Krause absolutely no chance. The second half provided the fans with even more action as neither team seemed to be content with the tie. The skillful and speedy Leopards, led by Malek and BJ Rockson, came surging forward in search of the winning goal but some outstanding defending on the part of Brook Scott and Diaz Kambere held them at bay and allowed the midfield trio of Andrew Veer, Richard Price, and Emilio Bottiglieri to take control of the match. With about 15 minutes left in the game, Bottiglieri unleashed a wicked drive from outside the penalty area that found the back of the net for the winning goal. Bottiglieri then added the insurance marker just before the final whistle when he converted a penalty kick awarded when Azad Palani was tripped inside the box on a partial breakaway. The victory, coupled with ICSF’s loss to Columbus, solidifies Metro-Ford’s hold on first place in the Group ‘A’ standings, while the loss leaves the Leopards only one point ahead of the Burnaby Canadians in the relegation-avoidance battle in Group ‘B’.
On Saturday, at Burnaby Lake West, the Vancouver Firefighters hosted the Norvan Eagles in a match between two “middle-of-the-table” teams. Norvan took advantage of two Firefighter ejections to take a 2-0 lead in the first half and eventually managed to secure a 2-1 victory. To their credit, the Firemen never gave up and, despite playing with only 9 players, made life miserable for the visiting team throughout the second half. Early in the game, Norvan’s James Wilson and Danny Muir combined to set up Sean Regan for the first goal of the match. Regan’s diving header eluded Firefighters’ fine goalkeeper Mike Franks. Immediately thereafter, the Firemen were reduced to 10 men when defender Travis Turner was ejected from the match after receiving his second caution. The Eagles took advantage of the situation and quickly added to their lead when the same trio—Wilson, Muir, and Regan—combined for the second goal. This time it was Danny Muir that provided the finishing touch. Early in the second half, the Firemen received their second red card of the game when Ratish Kumar was sent off for a sloppy tackle. Instead of folding their tents, the Firefighters came roaring back and applied enormous pressure on the young and inexperienced Norvan team. Finally, midway through the second half, the Firemen were awarded a penalty kick that was calmly converted into a goal by Gavin Hobbs. Once again the Firefighters came surging forward in search of the equalizer but the Eagles were able to counter-attack effectively and came close to adding to their lead on 3 separate occasions. However, some brilliant goalkeeping by Mike Franks denied Norvan’s attackers the opportunity to score what would have been the insurance marker. Norvan’s victory changes little in the standings as both teams remain in the middle of their respective tables.
Also on Saturday, and also at Burnaby Lake West, Indo-Akal FC gathered a very important 3 points by defeating the struggling Burnaby Canadians by an emphatic 5-1 score. Indo-Akal pressed right from the start and took a 3-0 lead after only 20 minutes of play. First, Billy Shokar capitalized on a great cross from Jason Sarai to score the opening goal. A few minutes later, Dale Gill blasted a great shot from the edge of the penalty area for what proved to be the winning goal. Then, midway through the first half, Cheetan Jhooty beat 3 Burnaby defenders before scoring the clincher. In the second half, Jhooty added to the lead after receiving a great through ball from Shokar. Newly-signed Paul Bolina rounded out the scoring for Indo-Akal on a goal-mouth scramble late in the game. The Canadians were able to score their only goal of the contest just before the final whistle on a shot by Vince Peragine. The victory improves Indo-Akal’s record to 3-1-8, only 5 points ahead of last place Westside Rino, while Burnaby is still in last place in the Group ‘B’ standings with a record of 2-5-7.
The third Saturday game took place at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver and featured West Van FC and the visiting Sapperton Rovers. The former Trollers, in desperate need of points, played their best game of the season and fully deserved the 2-1 victory over the “hot and cold” Rovers. Sapperton got off to a great start when veteran Ryan McNabb hammered home a left-foot rocket after a nifty 3-way passing play involving veteran Mike Favaro and young Colin Phillips. However, West Van came storming back and tied things up before the halftime whistle when former Whitecap Paul Dailly scored on a well-placed free kick from well outside the penalty area. The home team proceeded to control most of the second half and managed to score the winning goal at about the 70th minute mark when Sean Taylor ripped a shot past Sapperton’s fine goalkeeper Cory Breure. Defensively, West Van’s Trevor Short was brilliant throughout the contest, while Sapperton’s Ed Bradford and Sven Wagner also played extremely well, albeit in a losing cause. As a result of the upset victory, West Van is now 4 points clear of last place in the Group ‘A’ table, while the Rovers drop to third place in Group ‘B’.
Early on Sunday morning Croatia SC met an old foe, Westside Rino, in an all important “relegation-avoidance” battle at Byrne Creek School in Burnaby. Both teams tried desperately to secure all 3 points but, unfortunately, they had to settle for a 1-1 tie. Croatia attacked early and often and pretty much dictated the flow of the game in the first half. Despite their territorial advantage, the Croatians were unable to score in the first half. The closest they came to scoring was at the 5th minute mark when a Matt Mori header bounced off the post and out of danger. Shortly thereafter, Mirko Maras also missed a golden opportunity when he volleyed his shot wide of the net from close range. In the second half, Rino’s boys proved to be more dangerous as they absorbed the Croatian pressure but counter-attacked effectively. At the 75th minute mark, Adrian Kekec scored the opening goal for Croatia when he converted a penalty kick awarded when Matt Mori was taken down inside the Westside box. The goal seemed to serve as a wake-up call for the young Westside lads as they came storming back in search of the equalizer. With 5 minutes remaining in the match, John Chou was able to convert a great corner kick from the foot of Devin Matthews. The single point puts Croatia 2 points clear of last place in the Group ‘B’ table, while Westside Rino is mired in last place in the Group ‘A’ standings.
Later on Sunday morning, also at Byrne Creek School, two of the top teams in the VMSL—Sporting Club of Vancouver and Surrey United—participated in a very high-spirited and intense game that resulted in a 2-2 tie. Sporting should have taken an early lead when GOLDEN BOOT AWARD leader Ryan Dormer rounded Surrey goalkeeper Drew Smiley but proceeded to miss the net with a badly placed left-footed shot. Sporting eventually took the lead at the 25th minute mark when John Blair capitalized on a well-taken corner kick by Mark Gomes and blasted a close-range shot through a maze of players into the net. The Cloverdale-based team came back with a vengeance and tied things up shortly thereafter when Tom Elliott flicked a Steve Millar free kick onto the path of Shawn Blakeway who fired the ball into the net. Before the halftime whistle, Surrey took advantage of their aerial superiority when Millar and Blakeway once again combined to set up young Cameron Wilson for the go-ahead goal. In the second half Surrey United came close to increasing the lead but failed to take advantage of a couple of glorious opportunities. Near the end of the game, United defender Martin Schaefer misplayed a cross by Sheu Fortunato, a defensive blunder that allowed Sporting’s Trevor Rosencrans to score the equalizer. The tie narrows Surrey’s lead at the top of the Group ‘B’ standings to 11 points over second place Columbus, while Sporting Club is now only 3 points behind ICSF Inter in Group ‘A’.
Finally, on Sunday at Burnaby Lake West, the so-called Italian derby (where have all the Italians gone?) took place with the underdog Columbus-Clan FC emerging 1-0 victors over ICSF Inter. Inter dominated the first 15 minutes of the match and came close to scoring on 3 different occasions. Kevin Crouch twice narrowly missed the net, while Andrew Corazza saw one of his patented blazing shots bounce off the post. Columbus came back strongly and Joe Scigliano came very close to giving his team the lead but saw his shot brilliantly saved by goalkeeper Dennis Kindel. The turning point of the match occurred at the 40th minute mark when Inter’s Christian Tropeano—a former Columbus player—was sent off by the referee for a clumsy tackle on Nathan Quan. Before the halftime whistle, Columbus took advantage of the situation and scored what proved to be the winner when Tiernan King rifled a left-footed rocket from well outside the penalty area into the net. Despite playing short-handed, ICSF carried most of the play in the second half and came close to tying the game up on numerous occasions. Columbus goalkeeper, Luca Dalla Pace, had to be at his best as he made several remarkable saves. Defenders Craig Richards and Stefan Leslie also contributed immensely to Columbus’ victory as they held the vaunted Inter attackers at bay for most of the match. The victory catapults Columbus into second place in Group ‘B’, while Inter slips further behind Metro-Ford in the Group ‘A’ table.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: WEST VAN FC for its amazing 2-1 upset victory over the heavily favoured Sapperton Rovers. West Van, near the bottom of the table in Group ‘A’, played a very sound and effective game and, at the end, fully deserved all 3 points. The victory improves West Van’s chances of avoiding relegation to the first division.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Metro-Ford Wolves’ midfielder EMILIO BOTTIGLIERI for his 2-goal performance in his team’s 3-1 victory over the AFC Leopards. Not only did Bottiglieri scored the winning goal and the insurance marker, but he also displayed excellent skills and leadership qualities. For his excellent effort, Bottiglieri will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2006-01-23. The pizza must be consumed on the premises.
zengawonderingwhycolumbusbeatinginterisanupset???
trece verde
Well-Known Member
Re: The Superlative Azzi Week in Review
...it upset da Pantus'
Re: The Superlative Azzi Week in Review
WEEK #16—2006-01-18
Only 4 Premier Division games were played this past weekend as all Vancouver fields were deemed to be unplayable. Once again, the 4 games that were played—all on turf fields—were cross-over matches between Group ‘A’ and Group ‘B’. Oddly, all 4 resulted in victories for Group ‘A’ teams! No huge upsets took place, although ICSF Inter’s narrow, but well-deserved, victory over Surrey United could be classified as a minor surprise.
In the first of the 3 Saturday games, ICSF Inter travelled to Cloverdale to take on the Group ‘B’ leaders, Surrey United. The very skillful Inter boys took the game to the much slower and older Cloverdale team and came close to scoring on 3 separate occasions in the first 15 minutes. First, Andrew Corazza rattled a shot off the post with goalkeeper Drew Smiley well beaten. Then, Mike Tempesta saw his shot cleared off the line by defender Martin Schaefer. Tempesta himself then blasted the rebound off the post. The visitors finally got on the score board at the 30th minute mark on a lethal counter-attack that ended with Andrew Corazza unselfishly passing the ball to Mike Tempesta after slipping the ball past Smiley. Tempesta had no difficulty in tapping the ball into the net for the game’s first goal. Inter could have added to the lead but, once again, were denied by the woodwork as Joseph Marrello saw his shot bounce off the crossbar just before the halftime whistle. Early in the second half, ICSF added to its lead when speedy Sheldon Maistry blew by 2 Surrey United defenders before setting up a wide-open Corazza for an easy tap-in. Shortly thereafter, Inter scored what proved to be the winner in very similar fashion as Corazza reversed roles and set up Kevin Crouch for yet another easy tap-in. After struggling for the entire first half and most of the second half, the Cloverdale-based team finally woke up—mostly due to the late insertion of veteran Niall Thompson—and proceeded to put ICSF on its heels for the last 20 minutes. First, Shawn Blakeway scored his 9th goal of the season to narrow the margin and then another veteran, Steve Millar, scored Surrey second goal on a penalty kick. All in all, however, ICSF fully deserved the 3 points and thus remains in contention for the Group ‘A’ title. Despite the loss, Surrey United remains solidly in first place in Group ‘B’, 11 points ahead of the idle Columbus-Clan FC.
Later on Saturday, at Burnaby Lake West, Sporting Club defeated the struggling Burnaby Canadians by a rather emphatic 4-1 margin. Despite getting off to a slow start, Sporting took a 1-0 lead into the dressing room as a result of a goal by Mark Gomes who blasted the ball into the top corner of the net after a Steve Dormer shot had been cleared off the line by a Burnaby defender. Early in the second half, Sporting added to its lead when Trevor Rosencrans beat 3 Canadians defenders before laying the ball off to young Sheu Fortunato who emulated Rosencrans by slipping by 2 defenders before depositing the ball into the net for what proved to be the winning goal. At this point the Canadians narrowed the margin on a goal by Milad Rahmati but Sporting Club came roaring back and secured the insurance marker when another youngster—Steve Frazao—set up Steve Dormer for the Sporting’s third goal. Late in the game, Matt Omerod was finally rewarded for his fine play throughout the match with Sporting’s 4th goal of the game. Earlier, Omerod had hit the crossbar 3 times and had headed the ball just wide of the net on 2 separate occasions. The victory solidifies Sporting Club’s hold on third place in the Group ‘A’ table, only 3 points behind second place ICSF Inter. The Burnaby Canadians, on the other hand, are mired in last place in the Group ‘B’ standings, 4 points behind the AFC Leopards. It should be noted that the Canadians lost 3 points due to the use of an ineligible player in an earlier game.
The third Saturday game took place at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver where 2 teams with potential relegation problems, West Van FC and the AFC Leopards, met in an all-important match. In the end, the former Trollers managed to beat the visiting Leopards by a 2-0 score in a well-played and entertaining affair. West Van FC controlled most of the game and fully deserved the all-important 3 points even though the Leopards had their moments and came close to scoring on a few occasions. Veteran Paul Dailly, celebrating the birth of his second son, opened the scoring midway through the first half when he took advantage of some sloppy defending on the part of the Leopards and calmly slotted the ball past a bewildered goalkeeper. Sean Taylor could have added a second goal near the end of the first half but had his blistering long-range shot saved brilliantly by the Leopards’ young goalkeeper, Chris Kyd. In the second half, West Van continued to dominate proceedings but was unable to score the insurance marker until late in the game when another veteran, Mike Dodd, capped off an impressive individual performance by putting the last nail in the Leoapards’ coffin. Defensively, Darin Burr and Trevor Short played very well for West Van, while former professional Charles Gbeke was a going concern throughout the contest for AFC. The victory gives West Van a bit of breathing space near the bottom of the Group ‘A’ standings, while the Leopards remain 4 points clear of the Burnaby Canadians at the bottom of Group ‘B’.
Finally, on Tuesday evening at William Griffin Park in North Vancouver, the Group ‘A’ leading Metro-Ford Wolves defeated the Norvan Eagles by a 3-0 margin. The Wolves opened the scoring early in the match when youth call-up Matthew Besuschko found himself at the right place at the right time on a brilliant cross from Connor Cregg-Guinan that was flicked on by Emilio Bottiglieri. Besuschko had no difficulty slamming the ball home from close range. A few minutes later, Cregg-Guinan and Besuschko reversed roles as the two youngsters combined for the second goal, this one scored by Cregg-Guinan. Late in the match, another youngster, Milan Francisty, took advantage of an uncharacteristic blunder on the part of goalkeeper Giancarlo Martino to score the third Metro-Ford goal, also from close range. The defensive quartet of Aaron Beattie, Steve Mitchell, Brook Scott, and Andy McCulloch made life relatively easy for young goalkeeper Jonathan Krause as he recorded his first ever Premier Division shutout. Former Whitecap, Andrew Veer, was outstanding in the middle of the park, easily the best player on the pitch. The victory improves Metro-Ford’ record to 11-2-1, good for first place in the Group ‘A’ standings, while the Eagles drop to 5-1-7 in the middle of the Group ‘B’ pack.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: ICSF INTER for its almost-perfect performance in the 3-2 victory over league-leading Surrey United. Inter dominated proceeding for three-quarters of the match and, despite falling asleep during the last 20 minutes, fully deserved the all-important 3 points. As a result, ICSF remains in contention for the Group ‘A’ title.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: ICSF Inter’s forward ANDREW CORAZZA for his superb performance in his team’s 3-2 victory over Surrey United. Corazza scored one goal and set up the other two with his impeccable skills and calmness. For his excellent effort, Corazza will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2006-01-30. The pizza must be consumed on the premises.
WEEK #16—2006-01-18
Only 4 Premier Division games were played this past weekend as all Vancouver fields were deemed to be unplayable. Once again, the 4 games that were played—all on turf fields—were cross-over matches between Group ‘A’ and Group ‘B’. Oddly, all 4 resulted in victories for Group ‘A’ teams! No huge upsets took place, although ICSF Inter’s narrow, but well-deserved, victory over Surrey United could be classified as a minor surprise.
In the first of the 3 Saturday games, ICSF Inter travelled to Cloverdale to take on the Group ‘B’ leaders, Surrey United. The very skillful Inter boys took the game to the much slower and older Cloverdale team and came close to scoring on 3 separate occasions in the first 15 minutes. First, Andrew Corazza rattled a shot off the post with goalkeeper Drew Smiley well beaten. Then, Mike Tempesta saw his shot cleared off the line by defender Martin Schaefer. Tempesta himself then blasted the rebound off the post. The visitors finally got on the score board at the 30th minute mark on a lethal counter-attack that ended with Andrew Corazza unselfishly passing the ball to Mike Tempesta after slipping the ball past Smiley. Tempesta had no difficulty in tapping the ball into the net for the game’s first goal. Inter could have added to the lead but, once again, were denied by the woodwork as Joseph Marrello saw his shot bounce off the crossbar just before the halftime whistle. Early in the second half, ICSF added to its lead when speedy Sheldon Maistry blew by 2 Surrey United defenders before setting up a wide-open Corazza for an easy tap-in. Shortly thereafter, Inter scored what proved to be the winner in very similar fashion as Corazza reversed roles and set up Kevin Crouch for yet another easy tap-in. After struggling for the entire first half and most of the second half, the Cloverdale-based team finally woke up—mostly due to the late insertion of veteran Niall Thompson—and proceeded to put ICSF on its heels for the last 20 minutes. First, Shawn Blakeway scored his 9th goal of the season to narrow the margin and then another veteran, Steve Millar, scored Surrey second goal on a penalty kick. All in all, however, ICSF fully deserved the 3 points and thus remains in contention for the Group ‘A’ title. Despite the loss, Surrey United remains solidly in first place in Group ‘B’, 11 points ahead of the idle Columbus-Clan FC.
Later on Saturday, at Burnaby Lake West, Sporting Club defeated the struggling Burnaby Canadians by a rather emphatic 4-1 margin. Despite getting off to a slow start, Sporting took a 1-0 lead into the dressing room as a result of a goal by Mark Gomes who blasted the ball into the top corner of the net after a Steve Dormer shot had been cleared off the line by a Burnaby defender. Early in the second half, Sporting added to its lead when Trevor Rosencrans beat 3 Canadians defenders before laying the ball off to young Sheu Fortunato who emulated Rosencrans by slipping by 2 defenders before depositing the ball into the net for what proved to be the winning goal. At this point the Canadians narrowed the margin on a goal by Milad Rahmati but Sporting Club came roaring back and secured the insurance marker when another youngster—Steve Frazao—set up Steve Dormer for the Sporting’s third goal. Late in the game, Matt Omerod was finally rewarded for his fine play throughout the match with Sporting’s 4th goal of the game. Earlier, Omerod had hit the crossbar 3 times and had headed the ball just wide of the net on 2 separate occasions. The victory solidifies Sporting Club’s hold on third place in the Group ‘A’ table, only 3 points behind second place ICSF Inter. The Burnaby Canadians, on the other hand, are mired in last place in the Group ‘B’ standings, 4 points behind the AFC Leopards. It should be noted that the Canadians lost 3 points due to the use of an ineligible player in an earlier game.
The third Saturday game took place at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver where 2 teams with potential relegation problems, West Van FC and the AFC Leopards, met in an all-important match. In the end, the former Trollers managed to beat the visiting Leopards by a 2-0 score in a well-played and entertaining affair. West Van FC controlled most of the game and fully deserved the all-important 3 points even though the Leopards had their moments and came close to scoring on a few occasions. Veteran Paul Dailly, celebrating the birth of his second son, opened the scoring midway through the first half when he took advantage of some sloppy defending on the part of the Leopards and calmly slotted the ball past a bewildered goalkeeper. Sean Taylor could have added a second goal near the end of the first half but had his blistering long-range shot saved brilliantly by the Leopards’ young goalkeeper, Chris Kyd. In the second half, West Van continued to dominate proceedings but was unable to score the insurance marker until late in the game when another veteran, Mike Dodd, capped off an impressive individual performance by putting the last nail in the Leoapards’ coffin. Defensively, Darin Burr and Trevor Short played very well for West Van, while former professional Charles Gbeke was a going concern throughout the contest for AFC. The victory gives West Van a bit of breathing space near the bottom of the Group ‘A’ standings, while the Leopards remain 4 points clear of the Burnaby Canadians at the bottom of Group ‘B’.
Finally, on Tuesday evening at William Griffin Park in North Vancouver, the Group ‘A’ leading Metro-Ford Wolves defeated the Norvan Eagles by a 3-0 margin. The Wolves opened the scoring early in the match when youth call-up Matthew Besuschko found himself at the right place at the right time on a brilliant cross from Connor Cregg-Guinan that was flicked on by Emilio Bottiglieri. Besuschko had no difficulty slamming the ball home from close range. A few minutes later, Cregg-Guinan and Besuschko reversed roles as the two youngsters combined for the second goal, this one scored by Cregg-Guinan. Late in the match, another youngster, Milan Francisty, took advantage of an uncharacteristic blunder on the part of goalkeeper Giancarlo Martino to score the third Metro-Ford goal, also from close range. The defensive quartet of Aaron Beattie, Steve Mitchell, Brook Scott, and Andy McCulloch made life relatively easy for young goalkeeper Jonathan Krause as he recorded his first ever Premier Division shutout. Former Whitecap, Andrew Veer, was outstanding in the middle of the park, easily the best player on the pitch. The victory improves Metro-Ford’ record to 11-2-1, good for first place in the Group ‘A’ standings, while the Eagles drop to 5-1-7 in the middle of the Group ‘B’ pack.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: ICSF INTER for its almost-perfect performance in the 3-2 victory over league-leading Surrey United. Inter dominated proceeding for three-quarters of the match and, despite falling asleep during the last 20 minutes, fully deserved the all-important 3 points. As a result, ICSF remains in contention for the Group ‘A’ title.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: ICSF Inter’s forward ANDREW CORAZZA for his superb performance in his team’s 3-2 victory over Surrey United. Corazza scored one goal and set up the other two with his impeccable skills and calmness. For his excellent effort, Corazza will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2006-01-30. The pizza must be consumed on the premises.
Re: The Superlative Azzi Week in Review
Slower and older? I resemble that remark.
First goal - Sketchy.
Second goal - It certainly makes it way easier to "blow by" two Surrey defenders when you have a good 5 yard (offside) head start.
Could have added more before half time? Marrello's shot that bounced off the bar was a wicked shank that came from the far right corner of the 18 after he fluffed the cross.
He also failed to mention the two we had cleared off the line in the first, but other than that he nailed it on the head. Really as bad as we were it still could have been 5-5.
Lets just clarify a few things about Azzi's report and his attempt to make his weekly bird cage liner emphaticly more exciting...
Slower and older? I resemble that remark.
First goal - Sketchy.
Second goal - It certainly makes it way easier to "blow by" two Surrey defenders when you have a good 5 yard (offside) head start.
Could have added more before half time? Marrello's shot that bounced off the bar was a wicked shank that came from the far right corner of the 18 after he fluffed the cross.
He also failed to mention the two we had cleared off the line in the first, but other than that he nailed it on the head. Really as bad as we were it still could have been 5-5.
Re: The Superlative Azzi Week in Review
WEEK #17—2006-01-24
All 7 Premier Division games were played this past weekend as most Vancouver fields were deemed to be playable. All the games were closely-contested and resulted in ties or very narrow victories. With the exception of Westside Rino’s loss at the hands of the Burnaby Canadians, very little was settled as far as the major issues—first place, Province Cup qualification, and relegation avoidance—are concerned. Westside’s loss, however, could very well mean that the team that has been in the VMSL’s Premier Division for the longest consecutive number of years could suffer the indignity of relegation.
Things got off to a flying start on Friday evening at Byrne Creek School in Burnaby where Sporting Club of Vancouver continued to impress by edging the Sapperton Rovers by a narrow 1-0 margin. Sporting was bolstered by a trio of recent signings—striker David Griffiths, midfielder Brent Branker, and defender Kevan Cameron—as all 3 played a major role in the shutout victory. Sporting Club applied most of the pressure in the first half, but goalkeeper Cory Breure was equal to the task making a few difficult saves to preserve the scoreless tie at the halfway mark. The second half was more evenly played as the Rovers began to exert some pressure of their own. As often happens, however, it was Sporting Club that scored the decisive goal midway through the second half when Brent Branker’s well-timed through ball found the feet of young midfielder Steve Frazao. Frazao made the most out of the opportunity as he beat Breure with a brilliant shot for the game’s only goal. Reserve Sporting netminder, Mike Halford, was then called upon to make a brilliant save off a header by Paul Favaro to maintain his clean sheet. Defensively, Mark Gomes was a standout for Sporting Club, while veterans Ed Bradford and Brian Donald were rock-solid for the Rovers. The result keeps alive Sporting Club’s chances of catching ICSF Inter in the race for second place in the Group ‘A’ standings, while the loss has the reverse effect on Sapperton’s hopes of reaching second place in Group ‘B’.
In the first of the 3 Saturday games, Columbus-Clan travelled to Ambleside Park in West Vancouver take on the revitalized West Van FC in a match that did not live up to its high expectations. Columbus needed all 3 points to solidify its hold on second place in the Group ‘B’ table, while West Van is still trying desperately to gain a spot in the Province Cup. Unfortunately, the final 1-1 result did not help either team a great deal. Columbus opened the scoring midway through the first half as veteran Joe Scigliano sent Tiernan King flying down the right flank with an impeccable pass. King then unleashed a wicked shot from the top of the box that forced West Van’s goalkeeper, Jamie Locke, to make a great save. Young Pammi Birring, however, was in the right place at the right time as he tapped the ball into the net for the go-ahead goal. The second half provided a much more inspired performance from both teams as they created several excellent goal-scoring opportunities. Finally, at the 70th minute mark, West Van equalized on a brilliant scissors’ kick from veteran Mike Dodd. Columbus thus retains its slim second place advantage over the Sapperton Rovers in the Group ‘B’ standings, while West Van is still in the middle of the Group ‘A’ table.
Also on Saturday, at Burnaby Lake West, Surrey United maintained its emphatic lead at the top of the Group ‘B’ standing by virtue of a 2-0 victory over the Vancouver Firefighters. The Firemen, led by young forward Lucas Barrett, had the bulk of the play in the first half but were unable to penetrate a very solid Surrey backline. In the second half, the Cloverdale-based team seemed to snap out of its drowsiness and started to take the game to the Firemen. Near the end of the match, just as everyone fully expected the game to end in a 0-0 tie, Surrey United’s Shawn Blakeway fired a rather speculative shot towards the Firefighters’ net. With goalkeeper Mike Franks well-placed, it looked like an innocuous attempt at goal but, unfortunately for the Firemen, defender Rob Toth inadvertently deflected the ball past a bewildered Franks for the winning goal. Immediately thereafter, Surrey took advantage of the Firefighters’ shocked state by scoring the insurance marker on a clear breakaway by young Cam Wilson. As mentioned earlier, the victory solidifies Surrey’s lead in the Group ‘B’ table, while the Firemen remain in the middle of the Group ‘A’ standings.
Later on Saturday, also at Burnaby Lake West, two cellar-dwelling teams—Burnaby Canadians from Group ‘B’ and Westside Rino from Group ‘A’—met in a do-or-die affair. Both teams desperately needed the 3 point to retain their chances of avoiding relegation. In the end, the Canadians were able to secure a hard-fought 2-1 victory that keeps their hopes of remaining in the Premier Division alive. Burnaby took an early lead when Bryan Jacoboni scored as he converted a fine pass from Luckasz Cimoszko into the go-ahead goal. Midway through the second half, Meysam Soltani took advantage of a couple of Westside defensive blunders to score what proved to be the winning goal. Soon thereafter, Devin Matthews made things interesting by scoring Westside’s lone goal by it was too little, too late for Rino’s boys. The loss leaves Westside mired in last place in the Group ‘A’ standings, with little hope of catching the much-improved Indo-Akal FC and West Van FC.
Sunday’s action featured a well-played game at Hastings Bowl in Vancouver between Group ‘A’ leaders Metro-Ford Wolves and the struggling Croatia SC from Group ‘B’. After an entertaining 90 minutes of action, the Wolves went home with a narrow 1-0 victory. Despite the fact that Metro-Ford held a 23-point advantage over the Croatians, the game was very evenly contested and could easily have had a different result. The first half was rather uneventful as both teams seemed a little afraid of taking unnecessary chances. In the second half, however, the game opened up as the tension slowly disappeared and the numerous spectators were given many more opportunities to cheer for their team. Croatia’s best scoring chance came at about the 60th minute mark when newly-signed Steve Dickinson saw his powerful shot brilliantly saved by young goalkeeper Jonathan Krause. Metro-Ford got the winner at the 80th minute mark when a punt from Krause was twice flicked on—by midfielders Andrew Veer and Rob Sing—to a streaking Emilio Bottiglieri, who raced in all alone and deposited the ball behind goalkeeper Andrew Haines for the lone goal of the match. The Croatians came storming back in a desperate attempt to get the equalizer and were almost rewarded when young Adrian Kekec, on a set-up from former Whitecap Nick Dasovic, saw his close-range shot miss the net by inches. The victory maintains Metro-Ford’s significant lead at the top of the Group ‘A’ table, while Croatia SC remains in the relegation zone in Group ‘B’
Also on Sunday, at McNair School in Richmond, Indo-Akal FC hosted the AFC Leopards in another very important game between two teams in danger of relegation. The match featured several shifts in momentum as both teams took turns attacking and defending. The Leopards opened the scoring very early in the game on a goalmouth scramble that was finished off by BJ Rockson after several Indo-Akal defenders failed to clear the ball. The home team rallied back tenaciously and created a number of goal-scoring chances. But, due to the excellent defending of the part of AFC’s Bobson Sesay, as well as some poor finishing by Indo-Akal forwards, it was the Leopards that added their second goal on a well-executed counter-attack. Former professional Charles Gbeke slotted home the ball to give his team a rather comfortable 2-0 halftime lead. Indo-Akal continued to press in the second half and was finally rewarded at about the 70th minute mark when Surinder Janda’s header, on a cross by Jas Singh, found the back of the net. The momentum, however, shifted again and the Leopards regained their 2-goal lead when Charles Gbeke scored his second goal of the match on a well-placed shot. At this point, with only 10 minutes remaining in the game, it seemed that the game was out of Indo-Akal’s reach. In fact, AFC missed a golden opportunity to score what surely would have been the clincher on a 5 on 1 break but failed to take advantage of the situation and allowed Indo-Akal to narrow the margin on a subsequent counter-attack as Cheetan Jhooty scored on a breakaway from a great pass from Jason Sarai. It was not until injury time that Indo-Akal’s remarkable perseverance paid off as another Sarai cross was handled in the box by an AFC defender. Cheetan Jhooty scored on the ensuing penalty kick just before the final whistle. Defensively, Jas Singh kept the Indo-Akal backline in shape as several of his teammates were forced to push forward in search of the elusive equalizer. The tie puts Indo-Akal 6 points clear of last place in Group ‘A’, while the Leopards are only 2 points out the relegation zone in Group ‘B’.
Finally, on Monday evening at Confederation Park in North Vancouver, Group ‘A’ powerhouse, ICSF Inter narrowed defeated the Norvan Eagles by a 2-1 margin. Despite the fact that ICSF had the majority of the play in the early going, it was Norvan that took the early lead as Drew Gelley converted a penalty kick awarded when James Wilson was tripped inside the penalty area. In the second half the Eagles applied some early pressure but failed to capitalize on their advantage despite some excellent work by Alan McInoe, Sean Regan, and Jamie Dunnett. Eventually ICSF settled down and, led by the outstanding play of midfielder VJ Kos, began to exert some of its own pressure. Midway through the second half, Kevin Crouch scored the equalizer on a great set-up by Kos and, with very little time left of the clock, scored the winner—again assisted by Kos. Norvan replied tenaciously and, well into injury time, nearly tied things up as Blair Robertson saw his free kick hit the crossbar with the goalkeeper well beaten. All in all, a fine match between two good teams! The victory keeps Inter in the hunt for first place in the Group ‘A’ standings, while Norvan remains in the middle of the pack in Group ‘B’.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: SURREY UNITED for its clinical performance in the 2-0 victory over the always-tough Firefighters. Surrey absorbed a lot of early pressure from the Firemen but managed to remain calm and eventually took over the reins of the match, scoring 2 goals in the last 5 minutes to gain all 3 points. As a result, Surrey remains solidly in first place in the Group ‘B’ standings.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: ICSF Inter’s forward KEVIN CROUCH for his superb performance in his team’s 2-1 victory over Norvan Eagles. With his team down by a goal, Crouch scored two great goals in the late stages of the match to claim all 3 points for his team. For his excellent effort, Crouch will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2006-02-07. The pizza must be consumed on the premises.
WEEK #17—2006-01-24
All 7 Premier Division games were played this past weekend as most Vancouver fields were deemed to be playable. All the games were closely-contested and resulted in ties or very narrow victories. With the exception of Westside Rino’s loss at the hands of the Burnaby Canadians, very little was settled as far as the major issues—first place, Province Cup qualification, and relegation avoidance—are concerned. Westside’s loss, however, could very well mean that the team that has been in the VMSL’s Premier Division for the longest consecutive number of years could suffer the indignity of relegation.
Things got off to a flying start on Friday evening at Byrne Creek School in Burnaby where Sporting Club of Vancouver continued to impress by edging the Sapperton Rovers by a narrow 1-0 margin. Sporting was bolstered by a trio of recent signings—striker David Griffiths, midfielder Brent Branker, and defender Kevan Cameron—as all 3 played a major role in the shutout victory. Sporting Club applied most of the pressure in the first half, but goalkeeper Cory Breure was equal to the task making a few difficult saves to preserve the scoreless tie at the halfway mark. The second half was more evenly played as the Rovers began to exert some pressure of their own. As often happens, however, it was Sporting Club that scored the decisive goal midway through the second half when Brent Branker’s well-timed through ball found the feet of young midfielder Steve Frazao. Frazao made the most out of the opportunity as he beat Breure with a brilliant shot for the game’s only goal. Reserve Sporting netminder, Mike Halford, was then called upon to make a brilliant save off a header by Paul Favaro to maintain his clean sheet. Defensively, Mark Gomes was a standout for Sporting Club, while veterans Ed Bradford and Brian Donald were rock-solid for the Rovers. The result keeps alive Sporting Club’s chances of catching ICSF Inter in the race for second place in the Group ‘A’ standings, while the loss has the reverse effect on Sapperton’s hopes of reaching second place in Group ‘B’.
In the first of the 3 Saturday games, Columbus-Clan travelled to Ambleside Park in West Vancouver take on the revitalized West Van FC in a match that did not live up to its high expectations. Columbus needed all 3 points to solidify its hold on second place in the Group ‘B’ table, while West Van is still trying desperately to gain a spot in the Province Cup. Unfortunately, the final 1-1 result did not help either team a great deal. Columbus opened the scoring midway through the first half as veteran Joe Scigliano sent Tiernan King flying down the right flank with an impeccable pass. King then unleashed a wicked shot from the top of the box that forced West Van’s goalkeeper, Jamie Locke, to make a great save. Young Pammi Birring, however, was in the right place at the right time as he tapped the ball into the net for the go-ahead goal. The second half provided a much more inspired performance from both teams as they created several excellent goal-scoring opportunities. Finally, at the 70th minute mark, West Van equalized on a brilliant scissors’ kick from veteran Mike Dodd. Columbus thus retains its slim second place advantage over the Sapperton Rovers in the Group ‘B’ standings, while West Van is still in the middle of the Group ‘A’ table.
Also on Saturday, at Burnaby Lake West, Surrey United maintained its emphatic lead at the top of the Group ‘B’ standing by virtue of a 2-0 victory over the Vancouver Firefighters. The Firemen, led by young forward Lucas Barrett, had the bulk of the play in the first half but were unable to penetrate a very solid Surrey backline. In the second half, the Cloverdale-based team seemed to snap out of its drowsiness and started to take the game to the Firemen. Near the end of the match, just as everyone fully expected the game to end in a 0-0 tie, Surrey United’s Shawn Blakeway fired a rather speculative shot towards the Firefighters’ net. With goalkeeper Mike Franks well-placed, it looked like an innocuous attempt at goal but, unfortunately for the Firemen, defender Rob Toth inadvertently deflected the ball past a bewildered Franks for the winning goal. Immediately thereafter, Surrey took advantage of the Firefighters’ shocked state by scoring the insurance marker on a clear breakaway by young Cam Wilson. As mentioned earlier, the victory solidifies Surrey’s lead in the Group ‘B’ table, while the Firemen remain in the middle of the Group ‘A’ standings.
Later on Saturday, also at Burnaby Lake West, two cellar-dwelling teams—Burnaby Canadians from Group ‘B’ and Westside Rino from Group ‘A’—met in a do-or-die affair. Both teams desperately needed the 3 point to retain their chances of avoiding relegation. In the end, the Canadians were able to secure a hard-fought 2-1 victory that keeps their hopes of remaining in the Premier Division alive. Burnaby took an early lead when Bryan Jacoboni scored as he converted a fine pass from Luckasz Cimoszko into the go-ahead goal. Midway through the second half, Meysam Soltani took advantage of a couple of Westside defensive blunders to score what proved to be the winning goal. Soon thereafter, Devin Matthews made things interesting by scoring Westside’s lone goal by it was too little, too late for Rino’s boys. The loss leaves Westside mired in last place in the Group ‘A’ standings, with little hope of catching the much-improved Indo-Akal FC and West Van FC.
Sunday’s action featured a well-played game at Hastings Bowl in Vancouver between Group ‘A’ leaders Metro-Ford Wolves and the struggling Croatia SC from Group ‘B’. After an entertaining 90 minutes of action, the Wolves went home with a narrow 1-0 victory. Despite the fact that Metro-Ford held a 23-point advantage over the Croatians, the game was very evenly contested and could easily have had a different result. The first half was rather uneventful as both teams seemed a little afraid of taking unnecessary chances. In the second half, however, the game opened up as the tension slowly disappeared and the numerous spectators were given many more opportunities to cheer for their team. Croatia’s best scoring chance came at about the 60th minute mark when newly-signed Steve Dickinson saw his powerful shot brilliantly saved by young goalkeeper Jonathan Krause. Metro-Ford got the winner at the 80th minute mark when a punt from Krause was twice flicked on—by midfielders Andrew Veer and Rob Sing—to a streaking Emilio Bottiglieri, who raced in all alone and deposited the ball behind goalkeeper Andrew Haines for the lone goal of the match. The Croatians came storming back in a desperate attempt to get the equalizer and were almost rewarded when young Adrian Kekec, on a set-up from former Whitecap Nick Dasovic, saw his close-range shot miss the net by inches. The victory maintains Metro-Ford’s significant lead at the top of the Group ‘A’ table, while Croatia SC remains in the relegation zone in Group ‘B’
Also on Sunday, at McNair School in Richmond, Indo-Akal FC hosted the AFC Leopards in another very important game between two teams in danger of relegation. The match featured several shifts in momentum as both teams took turns attacking and defending. The Leopards opened the scoring very early in the game on a goalmouth scramble that was finished off by BJ Rockson after several Indo-Akal defenders failed to clear the ball. The home team rallied back tenaciously and created a number of goal-scoring chances. But, due to the excellent defending of the part of AFC’s Bobson Sesay, as well as some poor finishing by Indo-Akal forwards, it was the Leopards that added their second goal on a well-executed counter-attack. Former professional Charles Gbeke slotted home the ball to give his team a rather comfortable 2-0 halftime lead. Indo-Akal continued to press in the second half and was finally rewarded at about the 70th minute mark when Surinder Janda’s header, on a cross by Jas Singh, found the back of the net. The momentum, however, shifted again and the Leopards regained their 2-goal lead when Charles Gbeke scored his second goal of the match on a well-placed shot. At this point, with only 10 minutes remaining in the game, it seemed that the game was out of Indo-Akal’s reach. In fact, AFC missed a golden opportunity to score what surely would have been the clincher on a 5 on 1 break but failed to take advantage of the situation and allowed Indo-Akal to narrow the margin on a subsequent counter-attack as Cheetan Jhooty scored on a breakaway from a great pass from Jason Sarai. It was not until injury time that Indo-Akal’s remarkable perseverance paid off as another Sarai cross was handled in the box by an AFC defender. Cheetan Jhooty scored on the ensuing penalty kick just before the final whistle. Defensively, Jas Singh kept the Indo-Akal backline in shape as several of his teammates were forced to push forward in search of the elusive equalizer. The tie puts Indo-Akal 6 points clear of last place in Group ‘A’, while the Leopards are only 2 points out the relegation zone in Group ‘B’.
Finally, on Monday evening at Confederation Park in North Vancouver, Group ‘A’ powerhouse, ICSF Inter narrowed defeated the Norvan Eagles by a 2-1 margin. Despite the fact that ICSF had the majority of the play in the early going, it was Norvan that took the early lead as Drew Gelley converted a penalty kick awarded when James Wilson was tripped inside the penalty area. In the second half the Eagles applied some early pressure but failed to capitalize on their advantage despite some excellent work by Alan McInoe, Sean Regan, and Jamie Dunnett. Eventually ICSF settled down and, led by the outstanding play of midfielder VJ Kos, began to exert some of its own pressure. Midway through the second half, Kevin Crouch scored the equalizer on a great set-up by Kos and, with very little time left of the clock, scored the winner—again assisted by Kos. Norvan replied tenaciously and, well into injury time, nearly tied things up as Blair Robertson saw his free kick hit the crossbar with the goalkeeper well beaten. All in all, a fine match between two good teams! The victory keeps Inter in the hunt for first place in the Group ‘A’ standings, while Norvan remains in the middle of the pack in Group ‘B’.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: SURREY UNITED for its clinical performance in the 2-0 victory over the always-tough Firefighters. Surrey absorbed a lot of early pressure from the Firemen but managed to remain calm and eventually took over the reins of the match, scoring 2 goals in the last 5 minutes to gain all 3 points. As a result, Surrey remains solidly in first place in the Group ‘B’ standings.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: ICSF Inter’s forward KEVIN CROUCH for his superb performance in his team’s 2-1 victory over Norvan Eagles. With his team down by a goal, Crouch scored two great goals in the late stages of the match to claim all 3 points for his team. For his excellent effort, Crouch will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2006-02-07. The pizza must be consumed on the premises.
Re: The Superlative Azzi Week in Review
WEEK #19—2006-02-07
Despite the horrendous weather conditions, all 7 Premier Division games were played this past weekend. Oddly, all the matches ended in one-goal victories, proving once again the amazing, but often disputed, competitiveness of the VMSL’s Premier Division. At the end of the weekend’s activities only one issue was settled: Surrey United clinched first place in the Group ‘B’ standings! The battle to avoid relegation in both groups remained undecided as a couple of teams—the AFC Leopards and Westside Rino—still have a remote chance of staying in the Premier Division. This coming weekend will feature several interesting matches as the regular season is approaching the end—at least for some teams.
In the first of three Saturday games—played at Cloverdale Athletic Park—Group ‘B’ leading Surrey United needed a win against the visiting Sapperton Rovers to clinch the group title. After 90 minutes of bizarre action—due to the incredibly windy conditions—the Cloverdale-based team was able to lay claim to the Group ‘B’ crown by edging the Rovers 1-0. It should be noted that this is the 4th time in 5 years that Surrey United has won the Group ‘B’ title. Surrey United was forced to play against the wind in the first half and, as a result, spent most of the 45 minutes defending tenaciously while the Rovers tried desperately to make the most out of the noticeable advantage. In actual fact, however, it was the home team that had the best chances to score as Dave Hleucka flashed a header wide of the post and young Vince Stewart saw his low shot roll agonizingly wide of the post. At the other end of the pitch, veteran Kent Waechter saw his shot hit the cross-bar before the ball was scrambled clear by a Surrey defender. As expected, the second half told a totally different story as Surrey United surged forward looking to the all-important go-ahead goal. Finally, at about the 75th minute mark, young Justin Carvery fed a great through ball to league-leading goalscorer Shawan Blakeway who directed a low shot past a diving Cory Breure towards the Sapperton net. In a desperate attempt to clear the ball off the goal line, defender Ed Bradford inadvertently steered the ball into the net for the game’s only goal. Surrey goalkeeper Paul Shepherd earned the shutout with a stellar performance, while Sapperton defenders Ed Bradford and Brian Donald, as well as young midfielder Stefano Pannu, played well in a losing cause. The loss leaves the Rovers in third place in the Group ‘B’ table, 6 points behind Columbus-Clan FC.
Also on Saturday, at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver, Sporting Club edged West Van FC by a 1-0 margin after an entertaining 90 minutes of play. Sporting Club controlled most of the action as the narrow margin of victory does not tell the entire story of the match. Newly-signed Brent Branker scored the lone goal of the contest midway through the first half as he dribbled by 2 West Van defenders before clinically depositing the ball in the back of the net. In the second half, Sporting Club once again demonstrated its superiority with another recently transferred player—David Griffiths—leading the way with an excellent performance. Unfortunately for Griffiths—and Sporting Club—the goal post got in the way on 2 different occasions preventing the Portuguese team from extending its lead. The victory keeps Sporting Club’s chances of catching ICSF Inter in the Group ‘A’ table alive, while West Van FC is still not out of the relegation zone in the same group.
The third Saturday game took place at Burnaby Lake West between the two cellar dwellers in Group ‘B’: Burnaby Canadians and AFC Leopards. Both teams desperately needed the 3 points in their attempt to avoid the dreaded relegation. In the end, the Canadians prevailed by a 3-2 margin and now seem destined to remain in the Premier Division. The Leopards took an early 1-0 lead when former professional Charles Gbeke scored on a fine individual effort. Burnaby, however, bounced back with David McPhail taking advantage of a horrendous defensive blunder to tie the score. Before the halftime whistle, Gordon Chin gave the Canadians the lead on a brilliantly-executed free kick from the edge of the penalty area. Soon thereafter, Burnaby’s goalkeeper Adam Alvaro made a phenomenal save to deny Gbeke the opportunity to tie the game. In the second half, Milad Rahmati gave Burnaby an insurmountable 2-goal lead as he raced in all alone before slotting the ball into the back of the net. Gbeke’s second goal of the game made the last 20 minutes quite interesting as the Leopards came surging forward looking to the equalizer. However, the Burnaby defence—led by the inspired play of Bryan Jacoboni—proved to be impenetrable. As a result of the victory, the Canadians are now 1 point ahead of the Leopards in the Group ‘B’ standings with both teams having a game remaining in their schedules.
On Sunday, in the first of 3 games, the first place Metro-Ford Wolves and the last place Westside Rino engaged in a very interesting contest at Hillcrest Park in Vancouver. As the final score—1-0 in favour of the Wolves—would indicate, the game was closely-contested and extremely hard-fought. Both teams needed all 3 points but for totally different reasons: the Wolves to maintain their lead at the top of the Group ‘A’ table and Rino’s lads to avoid relegation to the first division. Metro-Ford had most of the play in the early going and were denied two excellent goal-scoring opportunities—one by the cross-bar and the other by an outstanding save by goalkeeper Srdjan Djekanovic, both on shots by Russel Huggon. Westside, however, responded in kind and—led by the inspired play of Steve DeBlasio and Devin Matthews—came close to taking the lead on a couple of occasions. Very late in the match, Russel Huggon was able to finish off a clever 3-way passing play—involving Aaron Beattie and Jay Gangnes—to score the lone goal of the contest. Special mention should also be made of the Wolves’ goalkeeper Mathew Bird who was outstanding throughout the contest in thwarting Westside’s numerous attempts at goal. The victory solidifies Metro-Ford’s hold on first place in the Group ‘A’ standings, while Westside Rino remains mired in last place in the same group.
Also on Sunday, at Adanac Park in Vancouver, Croatia SC edged Columbus-Clan by a 2-1 margin in a match involving 2 Group ‘B’ teams. Once again the result demonstrated the parity that exists in the VMSL’s Premier Division as Columbus is near the top of the table while Croatia—prior to the game—was still fighting to avoid relegation. The Croatians fully deserved the victory as they dictated the pace of the match from the opening whistle to the midway point of the second half. Young Adrian Kekec opened the scoring at about the 15th minute mark when he converted a penalty kick awarded when he himself was tripped in the box. Kekec had been sent in all alone by a clever pass from newcomer Mike Masi. Led by the brilliant performances of midfielders Masi, Steve Dickinson, and former Whitecap Nick Dasovic, Croatia SC continued to dominate play and added another goal late in the first half. Once again Masi was involved as he sent Dickinson flying down the right flank with an immaculate pass. Dickinson, after beating a couple of Columbus defenders, cut the ball back onto the path of Adrian Kekec who calmly slotted it home for what proved to be the winning goal. Early in the second half, Steve Dickinson audaciously chipped the ball over the Columbus goalkeeper, Luca Dalla Pace, only to have it come to a complete halt on the muddy goal line. After absorbing more Croatia pressure, Columbus finally woke up midway through the second half and started to create some goalscoring opportunities of its own. First, Tony Gaita raced in all alone only to have his shot saved brilliantly by Croatia’s young goalkeeper, Andrew Haines. Then, with about 15 minutes remaining in the match, Giovanni Valente took advantage of a rugby-style scrum to blast home Columbus’ only goal. The rest of the game was totally one-sided with Columbus applying all the pressure and Croatia desperately, and in the end successfully, defending its lead. The victory enables the Croatians to breathe a sigh of relief as they are now out of the relegation zone, while the loss prevents Columbus from claiming second place in Group ‘B’.
The third, and last, Sunday game was played at Burnaby Lake West between ICSF Inter and the Vancouver Firefighters. Despite the fact that Inter had much more at stake than the Firefighters, it was the latter team that seemed more determined to gain all 3 points. The final result, 1-0 in favour of ICSF, certainly does not tell the entire tale of the match as Inter appeared sluggish and uninterested for most of the contest. The Firemen, on the other hand, controlled the flow of play but were ineffectual in their finishing attempts. Inter was finally able to lay claim to all 3 points when, in the late going, Jesse Dhami converted a clever pass from Andrew Corazza into the winning goal. The victory keeps ICSF’s slim hopes of catching the Metro-Ford Wolves at the top of the Group ‘A’ table alive, while the Firefighters remain in the middle of the table in the same group.
Finally, on Monday evening at Confederation Park in North Vancouver (yes, there is a Confederation Park in North Van!) the Norvan Eagles hosted Indo-Akal FC in another very important “relegation-avoidance” match. Both teams needed some points to stay clear of the relegation zone and the spirit of the match clearly showed their passionate desire to capture the victory. Unfortunately, this desire was not translated into fine performances but rather into some unnecessarily physical and unsporting play. After a rather ugly 90 minutes of play, Indo-Akal finally prevailed by a 2-1 margin. Indo-Akal opened the scoring at about the 15th minute mark when Paul Bolina found CJ Jhooty down the right wing with a perfectly-executed pass. Jhooty’s shot/cross was inadvertently deflected into the net by Norvan’s defender Leo Nash for the go-ahead goal. Shortly thereafter, Jhooty and Nash were involved in a needless tussle that resulted in Nash being cautioned for an overly physical foul and Jhooty being ejected for totally unnecessary retaliation. Despite playing with only 10 men, it was Indo-Akal that added to its margin when a controversial penalty kick was awarded against Norvan. Nash’s dissent resulted in his second caution—and subsequent ejection, leaving both teams with only 10 players. Dale Gill converted the penalty kick to give Indo-Akal a 2-0 halftime lead. In the second half, the Eagles pressed hard to get on the scoreboard. They were rewarded midway through the half when Blake Burgon scored from close range. The rest of the game was played mostly in the Indo-Akal half of the field as Norvan tried desperately to even the score. The Indo-Akal defence, however, held on for the all-important 3 points. Mathematically, both teams remain in the relegation zone in their respective groups.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: BURNABY CANADIANS for their spirited, and successful, effort in defeating the AFC Leopards by a 3-2 margin in an all-important “relegation-avoidance” match. As a result of the victory the Canadians are now a point ahead of the Leopards with only 1 game remaining for each team. A loss by the Canadians would have meant relegation to the first division, while a tie also would have favoured the Leopards.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Croatia SC’s young ADRIAN KEKEC for his 2-goal performance in his team’s impressive 2-1 victory over powerful Columbus-Clan FC. Kekec displayed a very high degree of maturity and composure in scoring both of the goals. For his excellent effort, KEKEC will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2006-02-21. The pizza must be consumed on the premises.
WEEK #19—2006-02-07
Despite the horrendous weather conditions, all 7 Premier Division games were played this past weekend. Oddly, all the matches ended in one-goal victories, proving once again the amazing, but often disputed, competitiveness of the VMSL’s Premier Division. At the end of the weekend’s activities only one issue was settled: Surrey United clinched first place in the Group ‘B’ standings! The battle to avoid relegation in both groups remained undecided as a couple of teams—the AFC Leopards and Westside Rino—still have a remote chance of staying in the Premier Division. This coming weekend will feature several interesting matches as the regular season is approaching the end—at least for some teams.
In the first of three Saturday games—played at Cloverdale Athletic Park—Group ‘B’ leading Surrey United needed a win against the visiting Sapperton Rovers to clinch the group title. After 90 minutes of bizarre action—due to the incredibly windy conditions—the Cloverdale-based team was able to lay claim to the Group ‘B’ crown by edging the Rovers 1-0. It should be noted that this is the 4th time in 5 years that Surrey United has won the Group ‘B’ title. Surrey United was forced to play against the wind in the first half and, as a result, spent most of the 45 minutes defending tenaciously while the Rovers tried desperately to make the most out of the noticeable advantage. In actual fact, however, it was the home team that had the best chances to score as Dave Hleucka flashed a header wide of the post and young Vince Stewart saw his low shot roll agonizingly wide of the post. At the other end of the pitch, veteran Kent Waechter saw his shot hit the cross-bar before the ball was scrambled clear by a Surrey defender. As expected, the second half told a totally different story as Surrey United surged forward looking to the all-important go-ahead goal. Finally, at about the 75th minute mark, young Justin Carvery fed a great through ball to league-leading goalscorer Shawan Blakeway who directed a low shot past a diving Cory Breure towards the Sapperton net. In a desperate attempt to clear the ball off the goal line, defender Ed Bradford inadvertently steered the ball into the net for the game’s only goal. Surrey goalkeeper Paul Shepherd earned the shutout with a stellar performance, while Sapperton defenders Ed Bradford and Brian Donald, as well as young midfielder Stefano Pannu, played well in a losing cause. The loss leaves the Rovers in third place in the Group ‘B’ table, 6 points behind Columbus-Clan FC.
Also on Saturday, at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver, Sporting Club edged West Van FC by a 1-0 margin after an entertaining 90 minutes of play. Sporting Club controlled most of the action as the narrow margin of victory does not tell the entire story of the match. Newly-signed Brent Branker scored the lone goal of the contest midway through the first half as he dribbled by 2 West Van defenders before clinically depositing the ball in the back of the net. In the second half, Sporting Club once again demonstrated its superiority with another recently transferred player—David Griffiths—leading the way with an excellent performance. Unfortunately for Griffiths—and Sporting Club—the goal post got in the way on 2 different occasions preventing the Portuguese team from extending its lead. The victory keeps Sporting Club’s chances of catching ICSF Inter in the Group ‘A’ table alive, while West Van FC is still not out of the relegation zone in the same group.
The third Saturday game took place at Burnaby Lake West between the two cellar dwellers in Group ‘B’: Burnaby Canadians and AFC Leopards. Both teams desperately needed the 3 points in their attempt to avoid the dreaded relegation. In the end, the Canadians prevailed by a 3-2 margin and now seem destined to remain in the Premier Division. The Leopards took an early 1-0 lead when former professional Charles Gbeke scored on a fine individual effort. Burnaby, however, bounced back with David McPhail taking advantage of a horrendous defensive blunder to tie the score. Before the halftime whistle, Gordon Chin gave the Canadians the lead on a brilliantly-executed free kick from the edge of the penalty area. Soon thereafter, Burnaby’s goalkeeper Adam Alvaro made a phenomenal save to deny Gbeke the opportunity to tie the game. In the second half, Milad Rahmati gave Burnaby an insurmountable 2-goal lead as he raced in all alone before slotting the ball into the back of the net. Gbeke’s second goal of the game made the last 20 minutes quite interesting as the Leopards came surging forward looking to the equalizer. However, the Burnaby defence—led by the inspired play of Bryan Jacoboni—proved to be impenetrable. As a result of the victory, the Canadians are now 1 point ahead of the Leopards in the Group ‘B’ standings with both teams having a game remaining in their schedules.
On Sunday, in the first of 3 games, the first place Metro-Ford Wolves and the last place Westside Rino engaged in a very interesting contest at Hillcrest Park in Vancouver. As the final score—1-0 in favour of the Wolves—would indicate, the game was closely-contested and extremely hard-fought. Both teams needed all 3 points but for totally different reasons: the Wolves to maintain their lead at the top of the Group ‘A’ table and Rino’s lads to avoid relegation to the first division. Metro-Ford had most of the play in the early going and were denied two excellent goal-scoring opportunities—one by the cross-bar and the other by an outstanding save by goalkeeper Srdjan Djekanovic, both on shots by Russel Huggon. Westside, however, responded in kind and—led by the inspired play of Steve DeBlasio and Devin Matthews—came close to taking the lead on a couple of occasions. Very late in the match, Russel Huggon was able to finish off a clever 3-way passing play—involving Aaron Beattie and Jay Gangnes—to score the lone goal of the contest. Special mention should also be made of the Wolves’ goalkeeper Mathew Bird who was outstanding throughout the contest in thwarting Westside’s numerous attempts at goal. The victory solidifies Metro-Ford’s hold on first place in the Group ‘A’ standings, while Westside Rino remains mired in last place in the same group.
Also on Sunday, at Adanac Park in Vancouver, Croatia SC edged Columbus-Clan by a 2-1 margin in a match involving 2 Group ‘B’ teams. Once again the result demonstrated the parity that exists in the VMSL’s Premier Division as Columbus is near the top of the table while Croatia—prior to the game—was still fighting to avoid relegation. The Croatians fully deserved the victory as they dictated the pace of the match from the opening whistle to the midway point of the second half. Young Adrian Kekec opened the scoring at about the 15th minute mark when he converted a penalty kick awarded when he himself was tripped in the box. Kekec had been sent in all alone by a clever pass from newcomer Mike Masi. Led by the brilliant performances of midfielders Masi, Steve Dickinson, and former Whitecap Nick Dasovic, Croatia SC continued to dominate play and added another goal late in the first half. Once again Masi was involved as he sent Dickinson flying down the right flank with an immaculate pass. Dickinson, after beating a couple of Columbus defenders, cut the ball back onto the path of Adrian Kekec who calmly slotted it home for what proved to be the winning goal. Early in the second half, Steve Dickinson audaciously chipped the ball over the Columbus goalkeeper, Luca Dalla Pace, only to have it come to a complete halt on the muddy goal line. After absorbing more Croatia pressure, Columbus finally woke up midway through the second half and started to create some goalscoring opportunities of its own. First, Tony Gaita raced in all alone only to have his shot saved brilliantly by Croatia’s young goalkeeper, Andrew Haines. Then, with about 15 minutes remaining in the match, Giovanni Valente took advantage of a rugby-style scrum to blast home Columbus’ only goal. The rest of the game was totally one-sided with Columbus applying all the pressure and Croatia desperately, and in the end successfully, defending its lead. The victory enables the Croatians to breathe a sigh of relief as they are now out of the relegation zone, while the loss prevents Columbus from claiming second place in Group ‘B’.
The third, and last, Sunday game was played at Burnaby Lake West between ICSF Inter and the Vancouver Firefighters. Despite the fact that Inter had much more at stake than the Firefighters, it was the latter team that seemed more determined to gain all 3 points. The final result, 1-0 in favour of ICSF, certainly does not tell the entire tale of the match as Inter appeared sluggish and uninterested for most of the contest. The Firemen, on the other hand, controlled the flow of play but were ineffectual in their finishing attempts. Inter was finally able to lay claim to all 3 points when, in the late going, Jesse Dhami converted a clever pass from Andrew Corazza into the winning goal. The victory keeps ICSF’s slim hopes of catching the Metro-Ford Wolves at the top of the Group ‘A’ table alive, while the Firefighters remain in the middle of the table in the same group.
Finally, on Monday evening at Confederation Park in North Vancouver (yes, there is a Confederation Park in North Van!) the Norvan Eagles hosted Indo-Akal FC in another very important “relegation-avoidance” match. Both teams needed some points to stay clear of the relegation zone and the spirit of the match clearly showed their passionate desire to capture the victory. Unfortunately, this desire was not translated into fine performances but rather into some unnecessarily physical and unsporting play. After a rather ugly 90 minutes of play, Indo-Akal finally prevailed by a 2-1 margin. Indo-Akal opened the scoring at about the 15th minute mark when Paul Bolina found CJ Jhooty down the right wing with a perfectly-executed pass. Jhooty’s shot/cross was inadvertently deflected into the net by Norvan’s defender Leo Nash for the go-ahead goal. Shortly thereafter, Jhooty and Nash were involved in a needless tussle that resulted in Nash being cautioned for an overly physical foul and Jhooty being ejected for totally unnecessary retaliation. Despite playing with only 10 men, it was Indo-Akal that added to its margin when a controversial penalty kick was awarded against Norvan. Nash’s dissent resulted in his second caution—and subsequent ejection, leaving both teams with only 10 players. Dale Gill converted the penalty kick to give Indo-Akal a 2-0 halftime lead. In the second half, the Eagles pressed hard to get on the scoreboard. They were rewarded midway through the half when Blake Burgon scored from close range. The rest of the game was played mostly in the Indo-Akal half of the field as Norvan tried desperately to even the score. The Indo-Akal defence, however, held on for the all-important 3 points. Mathematically, both teams remain in the relegation zone in their respective groups.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: BURNABY CANADIANS for their spirited, and successful, effort in defeating the AFC Leopards by a 3-2 margin in an all-important “relegation-avoidance” match. As a result of the victory the Canadians are now a point ahead of the Leopards with only 1 game remaining for each team. A loss by the Canadians would have meant relegation to the first division, while a tie also would have favoured the Leopards.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Croatia SC’s young ADRIAN KEKEC for his 2-goal performance in his team’s impressive 2-1 victory over powerful Columbus-Clan FC. Kekec displayed a very high degree of maturity and composure in scoring both of the goals. For his excellent effort, KEKEC will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2006-02-21. The pizza must be consumed on the premises.
Re: The Superlative Azzi Week in Review
WEEK #20—2006-02-14
Once again, a full slate of Premier Division games was played this past weekend as a couple of major issued were finally settled. First, as a result of their 4-0 loss to ICSF Inter and—more importantly—AFC Leopards 4-2 victory over Columbus-Clan, the Burnaby Canadians are now officially relegated to Division 1. Secondly, the Metro-Ford Wolves clinched first place in the Group ‘A’ table by defeating the talented, but struggling, West Van FC. This means that the Wolves will now have to play Surrey United in a playoff game to determine the overall championship. League play will now take a breather since the first round of the Imperial Cup is slated to begin this coming weekend with several interesting matches involving Premier Division teams being scheduled.
Things got off to a flying start on Friday evening at Charles Best School where the Metro-Ford Wolves clinched first place in Group ‘A’ by defeating the visiting West Van FC by a 2-0 score. After surviving some early pressure by the former Trollers, the Wolves settled down and eventually took the lead with a great goal by youth call-up Matthew Besuschko in the dying moments of the first half. The second half was more or less a repeat of the first as the more experienced—and much more physical—West Van team tried desperately to get the equalizer. However, some exceptional defending on the part of Brook Scott and Richard Price—along with Mathew Bird’s marvellous goalkeeping—kept the visiting team off the score sheet. The fact that two of West Van’s best players—Mike Dodd and Paul Dailly—were unable to play the entire game due to injuries certainly played a huge part in the outcome of the match. Very late in the game, young Connor Cregg-Guinan scored the insurance marker to put the game out of West Van’s reach. As mentioned earlier, the Wolves have now been declared Group ‘A’ champions, while West Van is still in the relegation zone, albeit 6 points ahead of Westside Rino.
On Saturday, at South Memorial Park in Vancouver, Sporting Club remained in the running for second place in the Group ‘A’ standings by defeating the Vancouver Firefighters by a 3-1 margin. Early in the first half, Sporting Club took the lead on a nifty 3-way passing play involving Dario Ruiz, Steve Frazao, and Steve Dormer who slotted the ball home for the game’s opening goal. Also in the first half, the two Steves—Frazao and Dormer—once again combined for what proved to be the winning goal as Dormer volleyed home an immaculate cross from Frazao. After Frazao had missed a penalty kick, the Firemen rallied back in the second half and made things interesting when Karl Sandberg scored their first, and only, goal. Late in the game, however, Ryan Dormer—a candidate for the GOLDEN BOOT AWARD—outmuscled a defender before scoring the clincher. The victory leaves Sporting Club 3 points behind ICSF Inter in the battle for second place in Group ‘A’. Each team has 3 games remaining in the regular schedule. The Firemen, on the other hand, remain in the middle of the Group ‘A’ table—still hoping to lay claim to a Province Cup slot.
On Sunday, five very important matches took place as the relegation issue was at stake in each and every game. At Hastings Bowl in Vancouver, Columbus-Clan FC hosted the desperate AFC Leopards in a match that fully lived up to its expectations. Both teams needed the victory but for totally different reasons: Columbus to retain its slim lead over the Sapperton Rovers in their battle for second place and the Leopards to leap-frog over the Burnaby Canadians and thus avoid relegation to the first division. The Leopards got off to a rather shaky start and allowed Columbus to dictate the pace of the game for most of the first half. Columbus capitalized on AFC’s obvious tension by scoring the opening goal midway through the first half when Tiernan King’s well-executed free kick sailed over the defensive wall onto the path of Joe Scigliano who neatly back-heeled the ball into the far corner of the net to give Columbus a well-deserved 1-0 halftime lead. The second half, however, told a totally different story as the Leopards were able to settle down and play with more composure and determination. AFC was rewarded by scoring 3 unanswered goals—2 by Charles Gbeke and 1 by Freddy Malek—in rapid succession to take an insurmountable 3-1 lead. Not to be outdone, Columbus bounced back and narrowed the margin on a brilliant effort by Tiernan King as he finished off a great pass from Pammi Birring. The Leopards were able to survive the considerable pressure exerted by Columbus and eventually scored the clinching goal—once again from the foot of Charles Gbeke. It should be noted that newly-signed former professional—Huffman Eja-Tabe—was outstanding in his AFC debut. His high level of skill and speed drove the Columbus defenders to distraction throughout the match. As a result of the victory, the Leopards are now officially out of the relegation zone, while Columbus’ loss opens the door for the Sapperton Rovers to lay claim to second place in Group ‘B’.
Meanwhile, at Adanac Park, ICSF Inter—playing without several regular starters—totally dominated the Burnaby Canadians and eventually went home with a decisive 4-0 victory. Early in the game, Inter took the lead when Laurent Scaligine set up Sheldon Maistry for a relatively easy tap-in. Late in the first half, Scaligine once again was the provider as he unselfishly passed the ball to Joseph Marrello who hammered it home for the second goal. In the second half, Marrello repeated his earlier feat by blasting home a long-range shot while Kevin Crouch scored his 9th goal of the season in the late going to round our the scoring. The victory leaves ICSF 3 points ahead of Sporting Club in the battle for second place in Group ‘A’, while the loss puts an end to Burnaby’s hopes of staying in the Premier Division.
Also on Sunday, at McNair’s virtually unplayable field in Richmond, Croatia SC was able to edge Indo-Akal FC by a 3-2 score despite playing most of the second half with only 10 men—due to the ejection on newly-signed Mike Masi. The game provided the numerous spectators with a lot of action despite the horrendous field conditions. Indo-Akal took the early lead when Jason Sarai—after making a brilliant run—was fouled inside the box. On the ensuing penalty kick, Dale Gill slotted the ball home for the game’s opening goal. In the second half, after Masi’s red card ejection, an Aaron Keay free kick eluded Indo’s experienced goalkeeper Didar Sandhu and was calmly headed home by Graeme Zucko. The goal provided some much-needed momentum for the under-manned Croatians as they proceede to take the lead as Aaron Keay capitalized on another blunder by Sandhu to easily score the go-ahead goal. Indo-Akal bounced back and equalized on a well-taken shot by Dale Gill after some excellent work by Marcelo Giunto. Indo-Akal continued to exert pressure on the Croatia defence in search of what might have been the winning goal but the Croatians—led by the excellent play of Darko Jelic—held tight. With only a few minutes left in the game, Croatia’s Goran Vitic scored the winner on a near-post rocket after receiving a brilliant pass from Steve Dickinson. All in all, an excellent match played by two very determined teams! The result leaves Croatia in the middle of the Group ‘B’ table, while Indo-Akal remains in the relegation zone in Group ‘A’, albeit 6 points ahead of the struggling Westside Rino.
Also on Sunday, at Hillcrest Park in Vancouver, the Sapperton Rovers edged the luckless Westside Rino by a 2-1 margin after a very well-played and exciting 90 minutes of action. Rino’s boys, desperate for points, surged forward from the opening whistle but left themselves vulnerable at the back as the Rovers counter-attacked frequently and dangerously. The opening goal came at the 25th minute mark on one of the aforementioned counter-attacks as Ted Ullrich hammered home a neat cross from Mike Favaro. On a few of other occasions, Westside goalkeeper Srdjan Djekanovic was called upon to make some brilliant saves to keep his team in the game. Early in the second half, Sapperton’s Paul Raposo was ejected from the match giving Westside the opportunity to even things up. In fact, Jonathan Poli scored the equalizer on a great individual effort. Near the end of the match, Sapperton coach Bryan Wevers made the substitution of the year as he inserted himself into the contest. Shortly thereafter, Wevers scored the winning goal on yet another set-up from veteran Mike Favaro. The victory keeps Sapperton in the running for second place in the ‘B’ Group, while Westside seems destined to be relegated—for the first time ever—to Division 1.
Finally, in a rather lacklustre match played at Kinsman Stadium, Surrey United edged the struggling Norvan Eagles 1-0. Defender Thomas Elliott scored the lone goal of the contest in one of the very few scoring opportunities in the match. In actual fact, the result was rather meaningless since Surrey had already clinched first place in the Group ‘B’ table, while the Eagles—as a result of Burnaby Canadians’ loss—were out of the relegation zone.
This coming weekend the Imperial Cup playdowns will begin with several interesting matches taking place. On Saturday, the Sapperton Rovers will meet the rejuvenated AFC Leopards at Queen’s Park Stadium, while on Sunday Westside Rino will host Croatia SC at Hillcrest Park. Also on Sunday, in another all-Premier Division matchup, Columbus-Clan will take on West Van FC at Hastings Bowl.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: AFC LEOPARDS for their amazing performance in defeating the highly-regarded Columbus-Clan by a 4-2 margin. The Leopards, in desperate search of all 3 points to avoid relegation, trailed 1-0 at halftime but came back to fully deserve the victory with a brilliant second-half effort. As a result of the victory, AFC leap-frogs over the Burnaby Canadians and thus remains in the Premier Division.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: AFC Leopards’ CHARLES GBEKE for his sensational 3-goal performance in his team’s impressive 4-2 victory over powerful Columbus-Clan FC. With his team trailing 1-0 at halftime, Gbeke took matters into his own hands and scored 3 brilliant second half goals. For his excellent effort, GBEKE will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2006-02-28. The pizza must be consumed on the premises.
WEEK #20—2006-02-14
Once again, a full slate of Premier Division games was played this past weekend as a couple of major issued were finally settled. First, as a result of their 4-0 loss to ICSF Inter and—more importantly—AFC Leopards 4-2 victory over Columbus-Clan, the Burnaby Canadians are now officially relegated to Division 1. Secondly, the Metro-Ford Wolves clinched first place in the Group ‘A’ table by defeating the talented, but struggling, West Van FC. This means that the Wolves will now have to play Surrey United in a playoff game to determine the overall championship. League play will now take a breather since the first round of the Imperial Cup is slated to begin this coming weekend with several interesting matches involving Premier Division teams being scheduled.
Things got off to a flying start on Friday evening at Charles Best School where the Metro-Ford Wolves clinched first place in Group ‘A’ by defeating the visiting West Van FC by a 2-0 score. After surviving some early pressure by the former Trollers, the Wolves settled down and eventually took the lead with a great goal by youth call-up Matthew Besuschko in the dying moments of the first half. The second half was more or less a repeat of the first as the more experienced—and much more physical—West Van team tried desperately to get the equalizer. However, some exceptional defending on the part of Brook Scott and Richard Price—along with Mathew Bird’s marvellous goalkeeping—kept the visiting team off the score sheet. The fact that two of West Van’s best players—Mike Dodd and Paul Dailly—were unable to play the entire game due to injuries certainly played a huge part in the outcome of the match. Very late in the game, young Connor Cregg-Guinan scored the insurance marker to put the game out of West Van’s reach. As mentioned earlier, the Wolves have now been declared Group ‘A’ champions, while West Van is still in the relegation zone, albeit 6 points ahead of Westside Rino.
On Saturday, at South Memorial Park in Vancouver, Sporting Club remained in the running for second place in the Group ‘A’ standings by defeating the Vancouver Firefighters by a 3-1 margin. Early in the first half, Sporting Club took the lead on a nifty 3-way passing play involving Dario Ruiz, Steve Frazao, and Steve Dormer who slotted the ball home for the game’s opening goal. Also in the first half, the two Steves—Frazao and Dormer—once again combined for what proved to be the winning goal as Dormer volleyed home an immaculate cross from Frazao. After Frazao had missed a penalty kick, the Firemen rallied back in the second half and made things interesting when Karl Sandberg scored their first, and only, goal. Late in the game, however, Ryan Dormer—a candidate for the GOLDEN BOOT AWARD—outmuscled a defender before scoring the clincher. The victory leaves Sporting Club 3 points behind ICSF Inter in the battle for second place in Group ‘A’. Each team has 3 games remaining in the regular schedule. The Firemen, on the other hand, remain in the middle of the Group ‘A’ table—still hoping to lay claim to a Province Cup slot.
On Sunday, five very important matches took place as the relegation issue was at stake in each and every game. At Hastings Bowl in Vancouver, Columbus-Clan FC hosted the desperate AFC Leopards in a match that fully lived up to its expectations. Both teams needed the victory but for totally different reasons: Columbus to retain its slim lead over the Sapperton Rovers in their battle for second place and the Leopards to leap-frog over the Burnaby Canadians and thus avoid relegation to the first division. The Leopards got off to a rather shaky start and allowed Columbus to dictate the pace of the game for most of the first half. Columbus capitalized on AFC’s obvious tension by scoring the opening goal midway through the first half when Tiernan King’s well-executed free kick sailed over the defensive wall onto the path of Joe Scigliano who neatly back-heeled the ball into the far corner of the net to give Columbus a well-deserved 1-0 halftime lead. The second half, however, told a totally different story as the Leopards were able to settle down and play with more composure and determination. AFC was rewarded by scoring 3 unanswered goals—2 by Charles Gbeke and 1 by Freddy Malek—in rapid succession to take an insurmountable 3-1 lead. Not to be outdone, Columbus bounced back and narrowed the margin on a brilliant effort by Tiernan King as he finished off a great pass from Pammi Birring. The Leopards were able to survive the considerable pressure exerted by Columbus and eventually scored the clinching goal—once again from the foot of Charles Gbeke. It should be noted that newly-signed former professional—Huffman Eja-Tabe—was outstanding in his AFC debut. His high level of skill and speed drove the Columbus defenders to distraction throughout the match. As a result of the victory, the Leopards are now officially out of the relegation zone, while Columbus’ loss opens the door for the Sapperton Rovers to lay claim to second place in Group ‘B’.
Meanwhile, at Adanac Park, ICSF Inter—playing without several regular starters—totally dominated the Burnaby Canadians and eventually went home with a decisive 4-0 victory. Early in the game, Inter took the lead when Laurent Scaligine set up Sheldon Maistry for a relatively easy tap-in. Late in the first half, Scaligine once again was the provider as he unselfishly passed the ball to Joseph Marrello who hammered it home for the second goal. In the second half, Marrello repeated his earlier feat by blasting home a long-range shot while Kevin Crouch scored his 9th goal of the season in the late going to round our the scoring. The victory leaves ICSF 3 points ahead of Sporting Club in the battle for second place in Group ‘A’, while the loss puts an end to Burnaby’s hopes of staying in the Premier Division.
Also on Sunday, at McNair’s virtually unplayable field in Richmond, Croatia SC was able to edge Indo-Akal FC by a 3-2 score despite playing most of the second half with only 10 men—due to the ejection on newly-signed Mike Masi. The game provided the numerous spectators with a lot of action despite the horrendous field conditions. Indo-Akal took the early lead when Jason Sarai—after making a brilliant run—was fouled inside the box. On the ensuing penalty kick, Dale Gill slotted the ball home for the game’s opening goal. In the second half, after Masi’s red card ejection, an Aaron Keay free kick eluded Indo’s experienced goalkeeper Didar Sandhu and was calmly headed home by Graeme Zucko. The goal provided some much-needed momentum for the under-manned Croatians as they proceede to take the lead as Aaron Keay capitalized on another blunder by Sandhu to easily score the go-ahead goal. Indo-Akal bounced back and equalized on a well-taken shot by Dale Gill after some excellent work by Marcelo Giunto. Indo-Akal continued to exert pressure on the Croatia defence in search of what might have been the winning goal but the Croatians—led by the excellent play of Darko Jelic—held tight. With only a few minutes left in the game, Croatia’s Goran Vitic scored the winner on a near-post rocket after receiving a brilliant pass from Steve Dickinson. All in all, an excellent match played by two very determined teams! The result leaves Croatia in the middle of the Group ‘B’ table, while Indo-Akal remains in the relegation zone in Group ‘A’, albeit 6 points ahead of the struggling Westside Rino.
Also on Sunday, at Hillcrest Park in Vancouver, the Sapperton Rovers edged the luckless Westside Rino by a 2-1 margin after a very well-played and exciting 90 minutes of action. Rino’s boys, desperate for points, surged forward from the opening whistle but left themselves vulnerable at the back as the Rovers counter-attacked frequently and dangerously. The opening goal came at the 25th minute mark on one of the aforementioned counter-attacks as Ted Ullrich hammered home a neat cross from Mike Favaro. On a few of other occasions, Westside goalkeeper Srdjan Djekanovic was called upon to make some brilliant saves to keep his team in the game. Early in the second half, Sapperton’s Paul Raposo was ejected from the match giving Westside the opportunity to even things up. In fact, Jonathan Poli scored the equalizer on a great individual effort. Near the end of the match, Sapperton coach Bryan Wevers made the substitution of the year as he inserted himself into the contest. Shortly thereafter, Wevers scored the winning goal on yet another set-up from veteran Mike Favaro. The victory keeps Sapperton in the running for second place in the ‘B’ Group, while Westside seems destined to be relegated—for the first time ever—to Division 1.
Finally, in a rather lacklustre match played at Kinsman Stadium, Surrey United edged the struggling Norvan Eagles 1-0. Defender Thomas Elliott scored the lone goal of the contest in one of the very few scoring opportunities in the match. In actual fact, the result was rather meaningless since Surrey had already clinched first place in the Group ‘B’ table, while the Eagles—as a result of Burnaby Canadians’ loss—were out of the relegation zone.
This coming weekend the Imperial Cup playdowns will begin with several interesting matches taking place. On Saturday, the Sapperton Rovers will meet the rejuvenated AFC Leopards at Queen’s Park Stadium, while on Sunday Westside Rino will host Croatia SC at Hillcrest Park. Also on Sunday, in another all-Premier Division matchup, Columbus-Clan will take on West Van FC at Hastings Bowl.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: AFC LEOPARDS for their amazing performance in defeating the highly-regarded Columbus-Clan by a 4-2 margin. The Leopards, in desperate search of all 3 points to avoid relegation, trailed 1-0 at halftime but came back to fully deserve the victory with a brilliant second-half effort. As a result of the victory, AFC leap-frogs over the Burnaby Canadians and thus remains in the Premier Division.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: AFC Leopards’ CHARLES GBEKE for his sensational 3-goal performance in his team’s impressive 4-2 victory over powerful Columbus-Clan FC. With his team trailing 1-0 at halftime, Gbeke took matters into his own hands and scored 3 brilliant second half goals. For his excellent effort, GBEKE will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2006-02-28. The pizza must be consumed on the premises.
Re: The Superlative Azzi Week in Review
WEEK #22—2006-02-28
The second round of the Imperial Cup was played this past weekend and, as a result, only one Premier Division game—between West Van FC and Indo-Akal—was scheduled. Unlike last weekend, when no huge upsets occurred, a couple of surprising results took place with the heavily-favoured Croatia SC and the defending Province Cup champions Sporting Club being eliminated by a couple of underdogs: Norvan Eagles and WFC Rangers respectively.
Two games took place on Friday evening, both involving a Premier Division team against a Division 1 counterpart. In both instances the Premier Division team prevailed by a rather decisive margin. At Port Moody Town Centre, the Metro-Ford Wolves easily defeated the aspiring Lobbans Hellas by a 4-0 score with Connor Cregg-Guinan leading the way with two goals. The first goal was a thing of beauty as Cregg-Guinan headed the ball past Lobbans’ fine goalkeeper, Marco Durante, on a great cross from youth call-up Matthew Besuschko. Russel Huggon and Diaz Kambere rounded out the scoring with a goal a piece. The Wolves will now take on the Norvan Eagles in the quarter-final round of the Imperial Cup.
The other Friday evening game was played at Byrne Creek School and featured the Premier Division Vancouver Firefighters and the Division 1 Club Ireland. The Firemen struggled a bit in the first half against the stubborn visitors but eventually got into the groove and won by a comfortable 3-0 margin. Lucas Barrett opened the scoring midway through the first half with his first of two goals when he took advantage of a long throw-in by Gavin Hobbs that caught the Club Ireland defence flat-footed. Former Whitecap Jeff Skinner added the insurance marker early in the second half on a blazing free kick from well outside the box. Barrett then put the game out of Club Ireland’s reach as he raced past 2 defenders before slotting the ball into the back of the net. The Firefighters’ next opponents will be the heavily-favoured ICSF Inter in what promises to be the match of the week! The game is scheduled for Sunday at Adanac Park starting at 2:00 p.m.
On Sunday, at Hastings Bowl in Vancouver, the young and energetic Norvan Eagles upset the talented, but sometimes under-achieving, Croatia SC by a 3-1 margin. Norvan took the early lead as Sean Regan converted a brilliant cross from Blake Burgon into the go-ahead goal. The goal seemed to serve as a wake-up call for the Croatians as they stormed back in search of the equalizer, an equalizer that finally arrived at the 15th minute mark of the second half when Aaron Keay took advantage of a goal-mouth scramble to blast the ball into the net. A few minutes later, Croatia SC came close to taking the lead on another goal-mouth scramble but some tenacious and desperate defending on the part of the Eagles kept the score tied at 1-1. Despite the fact that the Croatians, led by the excellent play of Niko Marcina, continued to dominate in their search of the winning goal, it was Norvan that took advantage of a couple of defensive blunders to score twice in rapid succession. First, a poor clearance by a Croatia defender was intercepted by Drew Gelley who proceeded to unleash a powerful shot from well outside to box for the Eagles’ winning goal. Then, a weak back-pass destined for goalkeeper Andrew Haines was gobbled up by Brendan Stabeno who set up Victor Collins for Norvan’s third goal. The Eagles’ next opponents will be the Metro-Ford Wolves on Friday evening at Mundy Park #4 in Coquitlam.
Also on Sunday, at South Memorial Park in Vancouver, the upset of the year took place as the first division WFC Rangers edged the defending Province Cup champions, Sporting Club of Vancouver, by a 1-0 margin. Sporting Club allowed the Rangers to dominate the entire first half of play, perhaps due to the fact that the Portuguese team was a tad over-confident but mostly as a result of the superlative play of WFC’s John Graham. In any case, the aspiring Rangers tried desperately to prove that they belong in the Premier Division and, in the end, succeeded beyond their expectations. Despite their first half territorial edge, the Rangers were unable to secure the victory until early in the second half when veteran Marcus Felderer received a perfect pass from Don May before blasting the ball past the Sporting goalkeeper for the game’s lone goal. As often happens, the goal served as a wake-up call for Sporting Club but, in the end, the Rangers were able to survive some enormous and persistent pressure to preserve the margin of victory. A couple of WFC veterans, defender Mike Mosher and goalkeeper Mike Wicken, were instrumental in holding the desperate Sporting Club forwards at bay. The WFC Rangers will now take on yet another heavily-favoured Premier Division team—Surrey United—in the next round of the Imperial Cup.
The third Sunday game, played at Cloverdale Athletic Park, saw the Group ‘B’ champions, Surrey United, defeat the Sapperton Rovers by a 3-1 score. United had to come from behind to secure the victory as the visiting Rovers took the early lead when centre-back Kent Waechter headed home a Mike Favaro free kick. Surrey equalized a few minutes later when Todd Stauber’s pass found Gareth Wilkshire down the right flank. Wilkshire’s shot eluded Sapperton goalkeeper Cory Breure, probably as a result of a slight deflection on its way to the net. Surrey United then proceeded to take the lead before the halftime whistle as Ryan Hopp hammered home a low shot from inside the penalty area. The Rovers—led by the excellent play of Ryan McNabb and Mike Favaro—came out of the second half starting blocks with a vengeance in search of the equalizer but some excellent defending on the part of Steve Millar and Tom Elliot, as well as some magnificent goalkeeping by Drew Smiley, maintained Surrey’s narrow lead. Late in the game, United was able to score the clincher when former national team player Niall Thompson showed some quick thinking as his swiftly-taken free-kick caught the Rovers’ defence off guard. Speedy Cam Wilson took advantage of the situation as he ran past two flat-footed defenders before hammering the ball past a stunned Cory Breure. As mentioned earlier, Surrey United will now face the upstart WFC Rangers in the quarter-finals of the Imperial Cup.
Also on Sunday, at Hastings Bowl in Vancouver, Columbus-Clan FC easily defeated City FC Blaze by an emphatic 4-0 scoreline. Columbus came flying out of the starting gate and scored in the first minute of play when a couple of veterans—Frank Mollica and Joe Scigliano—combined for the opening goal. Mollica sent Scigliano in all alone and the former GOLDEN BOOT AWARD winner made no mistake in depositing the ball into the net. Soon thereafter, Scigliano became the provider as he set up Tiernan King who, after beating two defenders, slotted the ball home. Late in the first half, free-kick specialist Craig Ricahrds, set up defender Bernd Schieweke for the third goal on a brilliant diving header. Midway through the second half, Pammi Birring rounded out the scoring on a fine individual effort as he beat several defenders on his way to the Blaze penalty area. Defensively, Scott McEachern, Frank Mollica, and Luca Bellisomo played extremely well for Columbus. The winner of the Pegasus – Burnaby Canadians match will play the Clan in the next round of the Imperial Cup.
Finally, also on Sunday at Adanac Park in Vancouver, another mismatch between a Premier Division team—ICSF Inter—and a Division 1 team—Wickham FC—took place. The final result, 5-0 in favour of Inter, comes as no surprise as the “Italians” dominated proceedings from start to finish. Only one goal was scored in the first half as Tim Perry set up Christian Tropeano for what proved to be the winning goal. Kevin Crouch continued his impressive seasonal performance by scoring 2 second half goals, both on long-range shots. Defender Matt Judd, on a header, and Laurent Scaligine rounded out the scoring. ICSF will now take on the Vancouver Firefighters in the quarter-finals of the Imperial Cup.
The only Premier Division league game played this past weekend took place on Saturday at Ambleside Park where two desperate Group ‘A’ teams—West Van FC and Indo-Akal FC—faced off in a make-up game. Both teams had been eliminated from further Imperial Cup play the previous week and both were in dire need of a victory to avoid relegation the first division. Furthermore, both teams are still in contention to possibly gain a berth in the Province Cup playdowns. The intensity of the match proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that there was a lot at stake as both teams tried desperately to lay claim to the 3 points. After a very evenly-played 90 minutes of non-stop action, the match was resolved very late in the game when Indo-Akal’s Marcelo Giunto finished off a clever 3-way passing play—with Paul Bolina and CJ Jhooty—for the game’s lone goal. The victory puts Indo-Akal out of the relegation zone, while West Van is still struggling near the bottom of the Group ‘A’ table.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: WFC RANGERS for their amazing performance in their 1-0 upset victory over defending Province Cup champions Sporting Club of Vancouver in the Imperial Cup playdowns. Led by defender Mike Mosher, goalkeeper Mike Wicken, and forward John Graham the veteran first division Rangers were not at all intimidated by the heavily-favoured Premier Division team and, in the end, were full value for their victory. The Rangers now face yet another difficult task as they take on the Group ‘B’ champions, Surrey United, in the quarter-finals of the Imperial Cup. The winner will go on to the Province Cup!
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Norvan Eagles’ DREW GELLEY for his spectacular 30-metre drive that resulted in the winning goal against the heavily-favoured Croatia SC. Most spectators will agree that Gelley’s goal could easily be considered the “GOAL OF THE YEAR” in the VMSL! For his excellent effort, GELLEY will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2006-03-14. The pizza must be consumed on the premises.
WEEK #22—2006-02-28
The second round of the Imperial Cup was played this past weekend and, as a result, only one Premier Division game—between West Van FC and Indo-Akal—was scheduled. Unlike last weekend, when no huge upsets occurred, a couple of surprising results took place with the heavily-favoured Croatia SC and the defending Province Cup champions Sporting Club being eliminated by a couple of underdogs: Norvan Eagles and WFC Rangers respectively.
Two games took place on Friday evening, both involving a Premier Division team against a Division 1 counterpart. In both instances the Premier Division team prevailed by a rather decisive margin. At Port Moody Town Centre, the Metro-Ford Wolves easily defeated the aspiring Lobbans Hellas by a 4-0 score with Connor Cregg-Guinan leading the way with two goals. The first goal was a thing of beauty as Cregg-Guinan headed the ball past Lobbans’ fine goalkeeper, Marco Durante, on a great cross from youth call-up Matthew Besuschko. Russel Huggon and Diaz Kambere rounded out the scoring with a goal a piece. The Wolves will now take on the Norvan Eagles in the quarter-final round of the Imperial Cup.
The other Friday evening game was played at Byrne Creek School and featured the Premier Division Vancouver Firefighters and the Division 1 Club Ireland. The Firemen struggled a bit in the first half against the stubborn visitors but eventually got into the groove and won by a comfortable 3-0 margin. Lucas Barrett opened the scoring midway through the first half with his first of two goals when he took advantage of a long throw-in by Gavin Hobbs that caught the Club Ireland defence flat-footed. Former Whitecap Jeff Skinner added the insurance marker early in the second half on a blazing free kick from well outside the box. Barrett then put the game out of Club Ireland’s reach as he raced past 2 defenders before slotting the ball into the back of the net. The Firefighters’ next opponents will be the heavily-favoured ICSF Inter in what promises to be the match of the week! The game is scheduled for Sunday at Adanac Park starting at 2:00 p.m.
On Sunday, at Hastings Bowl in Vancouver, the young and energetic Norvan Eagles upset the talented, but sometimes under-achieving, Croatia SC by a 3-1 margin. Norvan took the early lead as Sean Regan converted a brilliant cross from Blake Burgon into the go-ahead goal. The goal seemed to serve as a wake-up call for the Croatians as they stormed back in search of the equalizer, an equalizer that finally arrived at the 15th minute mark of the second half when Aaron Keay took advantage of a goal-mouth scramble to blast the ball into the net. A few minutes later, Croatia SC came close to taking the lead on another goal-mouth scramble but some tenacious and desperate defending on the part of the Eagles kept the score tied at 1-1. Despite the fact that the Croatians, led by the excellent play of Niko Marcina, continued to dominate in their search of the winning goal, it was Norvan that took advantage of a couple of defensive blunders to score twice in rapid succession. First, a poor clearance by a Croatia defender was intercepted by Drew Gelley who proceeded to unleash a powerful shot from well outside to box for the Eagles’ winning goal. Then, a weak back-pass destined for goalkeeper Andrew Haines was gobbled up by Brendan Stabeno who set up Victor Collins for Norvan’s third goal. The Eagles’ next opponents will be the Metro-Ford Wolves on Friday evening at Mundy Park #4 in Coquitlam.
Also on Sunday, at South Memorial Park in Vancouver, the upset of the year took place as the first division WFC Rangers edged the defending Province Cup champions, Sporting Club of Vancouver, by a 1-0 margin. Sporting Club allowed the Rangers to dominate the entire first half of play, perhaps due to the fact that the Portuguese team was a tad over-confident but mostly as a result of the superlative play of WFC’s John Graham. In any case, the aspiring Rangers tried desperately to prove that they belong in the Premier Division and, in the end, succeeded beyond their expectations. Despite their first half territorial edge, the Rangers were unable to secure the victory until early in the second half when veteran Marcus Felderer received a perfect pass from Don May before blasting the ball past the Sporting goalkeeper for the game’s lone goal. As often happens, the goal served as a wake-up call for Sporting Club but, in the end, the Rangers were able to survive some enormous and persistent pressure to preserve the margin of victory. A couple of WFC veterans, defender Mike Mosher and goalkeeper Mike Wicken, were instrumental in holding the desperate Sporting Club forwards at bay. The WFC Rangers will now take on yet another heavily-favoured Premier Division team—Surrey United—in the next round of the Imperial Cup.
The third Sunday game, played at Cloverdale Athletic Park, saw the Group ‘B’ champions, Surrey United, defeat the Sapperton Rovers by a 3-1 score. United had to come from behind to secure the victory as the visiting Rovers took the early lead when centre-back Kent Waechter headed home a Mike Favaro free kick. Surrey equalized a few minutes later when Todd Stauber’s pass found Gareth Wilkshire down the right flank. Wilkshire’s shot eluded Sapperton goalkeeper Cory Breure, probably as a result of a slight deflection on its way to the net. Surrey United then proceeded to take the lead before the halftime whistle as Ryan Hopp hammered home a low shot from inside the penalty area. The Rovers—led by the excellent play of Ryan McNabb and Mike Favaro—came out of the second half starting blocks with a vengeance in search of the equalizer but some excellent defending on the part of Steve Millar and Tom Elliot, as well as some magnificent goalkeeping by Drew Smiley, maintained Surrey’s narrow lead. Late in the game, United was able to score the clincher when former national team player Niall Thompson showed some quick thinking as his swiftly-taken free-kick caught the Rovers’ defence off guard. Speedy Cam Wilson took advantage of the situation as he ran past two flat-footed defenders before hammering the ball past a stunned Cory Breure. As mentioned earlier, Surrey United will now face the upstart WFC Rangers in the quarter-finals of the Imperial Cup.
Also on Sunday, at Hastings Bowl in Vancouver, Columbus-Clan FC easily defeated City FC Blaze by an emphatic 4-0 scoreline. Columbus came flying out of the starting gate and scored in the first minute of play when a couple of veterans—Frank Mollica and Joe Scigliano—combined for the opening goal. Mollica sent Scigliano in all alone and the former GOLDEN BOOT AWARD winner made no mistake in depositing the ball into the net. Soon thereafter, Scigliano became the provider as he set up Tiernan King who, after beating two defenders, slotted the ball home. Late in the first half, free-kick specialist Craig Ricahrds, set up defender Bernd Schieweke for the third goal on a brilliant diving header. Midway through the second half, Pammi Birring rounded out the scoring on a fine individual effort as he beat several defenders on his way to the Blaze penalty area. Defensively, Scott McEachern, Frank Mollica, and Luca Bellisomo played extremely well for Columbus. The winner of the Pegasus – Burnaby Canadians match will play the Clan in the next round of the Imperial Cup.
Finally, also on Sunday at Adanac Park in Vancouver, another mismatch between a Premier Division team—ICSF Inter—and a Division 1 team—Wickham FC—took place. The final result, 5-0 in favour of Inter, comes as no surprise as the “Italians” dominated proceedings from start to finish. Only one goal was scored in the first half as Tim Perry set up Christian Tropeano for what proved to be the winning goal. Kevin Crouch continued his impressive seasonal performance by scoring 2 second half goals, both on long-range shots. Defender Matt Judd, on a header, and Laurent Scaligine rounded out the scoring. ICSF will now take on the Vancouver Firefighters in the quarter-finals of the Imperial Cup.
The only Premier Division league game played this past weekend took place on Saturday at Ambleside Park where two desperate Group ‘A’ teams—West Van FC and Indo-Akal FC—faced off in a make-up game. Both teams had been eliminated from further Imperial Cup play the previous week and both were in dire need of a victory to avoid relegation the first division. Furthermore, both teams are still in contention to possibly gain a berth in the Province Cup playdowns. The intensity of the match proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that there was a lot at stake as both teams tried desperately to lay claim to the 3 points. After a very evenly-played 90 minutes of non-stop action, the match was resolved very late in the game when Indo-Akal’s Marcelo Giunto finished off a clever 3-way passing play—with Paul Bolina and CJ Jhooty—for the game’s lone goal. The victory puts Indo-Akal out of the relegation zone, while West Van is still struggling near the bottom of the Group ‘A’ table.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: WFC RANGERS for their amazing performance in their 1-0 upset victory over defending Province Cup champions Sporting Club of Vancouver in the Imperial Cup playdowns. Led by defender Mike Mosher, goalkeeper Mike Wicken, and forward John Graham the veteran first division Rangers were not at all intimidated by the heavily-favoured Premier Division team and, in the end, were full value for their victory. The Rangers now face yet another difficult task as they take on the Group ‘B’ champions, Surrey United, in the quarter-finals of the Imperial Cup. The winner will go on to the Province Cup!
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Norvan Eagles’ DREW GELLEY for his spectacular 30-metre drive that resulted in the winning goal against the heavily-favoured Croatia SC. Most spectators will agree that Gelley’s goal could easily be considered the “GOAL OF THE YEAR” in the VMSL! For his excellent effort, GELLEY will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2006-03-14. The pizza must be consumed on the premises.
cerebral smallsy
Well-Known Member
Re: The Superlative Azzi Week in Review
why the bold type? locker room material?
why the bold type? locker room material?
Hands of Stone
New Member
- Thread starter
- #37
Re: The Superlative Azzi Week in Review
WEEK #24—2006-03-14
Once again, the premature closure of ALL Vancouver fields created havoc in the VMSL schedule this past weekend as the majority of the scheduled matches had to be postponed. Fortunately, some games were played in other districts—including 3 Premier Division matches and an Imperial Cup quarter-final. Two issues remain unresolved as a result of this past weekend’s activities: the relegation-avoidance battle between and West Van FC and Westside Rino, while 4 teams—Firefighters, West Van FC, Croatia SC, and Norvan Eagles—are still in the running for the last 2 Province Cup slots.
On Saturday, at Burnaby Lake West, the Sapperton Rovers upset the rather lacklustre Metro-Ford Wolves by a well-earned 2-0 margin, thus keeping the race for second place in Group ‘B’ alive. In fact, the Rovers and Columbus-Clan are now tied for second place, with Sapperton having a game in hand. The Rovers got off to a great start against the Group ‘A’ champions Wolves and, led by the fine play of forwards Trevor Todd and Ted Ullrich, exerted an incredible amount of pressure on the Metro-Ford defenders. After missing several glorious opportunities, Sapperton finally took the lead at the 25th minute mark as a result of a clever 3-way passing play involving Luke Hogan, Ted Ullrich, and Colin Phillips who clinically beat goalkeeper Mat Bird with a well-placed, low shot to the far post. The Rovers continued to attack as young Stefano Pannu and veteran Luke Hogan drove the flat-footed Metro-Ford defence to distraction with their speed and skill. The second half, however, was much more evenly-played as the Wolves made a few key substitutions that seemed to change the flow of the game. Metro-Ford came close to tying things up midway through the second half when former Rover Emilio Bottiglieri took advantage of a goalmouth scramble to blast a wicked shot towards the Sapperton net. Goalkeeper Cory Breure, however, lived up to his reputation by making a phenomenal save to preserve his team’s lead and his clean sheet. Very late in the game, just before the full time whistle, veteran Ryan McNabb hammered home the insurance marker after winning a 50/50 challenge with goalkeeper Mat Bird. Defensively, Sapperton’s Ed Bradford turned in a remarkably solid performance aided and abetted by Kent Waechter and Jeff Rogers, while veteran Paul Favaro once again demonstrated his immeasurable ability to control the midfield. As stated earlier, the Rovers are now in the driver’s seat in the race for second place in Group ‘B’.
On Sunday, at Richmond High School, the Vancouver Firefighters crept a little closer to gaining a slot in the Province Cup playdowns by defeating the rather unlucky Indo-Akal FC by a 3-0 margin. Despite missing several starters, Indo-Akal put up a valiant battle in the first half as the 0-0 halftime score would indicate. The second half started out in much the same fashion with both teams taking turns creating goal scoring opportunities. Excellent goalkeeping on the part of Firefighters’ Mike Franks and Indo-Akal’s Steve Grewal—filling in for the injured Didar Sandhu—kept the game scoreless until the 70th minute mark. At this point, a well-taken corner kick by Gavin Hobbs was headed back by Jeff Skinner to a wide-open Bob Anderson who calmly tapped the ball into the Indo-Akal net for what proved to be the winning goal. Shortly thereafter, Indo’s Harbinder Chohan was ejected for having received his second caution and the Firefighters proceeded to dominate the remainder of the contest. Two late goals by Chris Jarvie and Phil Lensky put the game out of Indo-Akal’s reach. Defensively, Steve McAuley and Greg Pears were rock-solid for the Firemen, while Jeff Skinner dictated the pace of the game in his midfield position.
Also on Sunday, at Burnaby Lake West, a rather lethargic ICSF Inter managed to edge the desperate Westside Rino by a 2-1 score. Inter seemed to lack interest during the entire first half and was quite fortunate to be down by only one goal after 45 minutes of play. Some outstanding goalkeeping on the part of Dennis Kindel kept the score respectable as Rino’s boys seemed much more motivated than their more experienced opponents. Westside’s go-ahead goal came at about the 30th minute mark when Nick Slaney capitalized on a speculative long ball that found him all alone at the far post. The second half told a totally different story as ICSF, aided by the insertion of a few fresh legs, came roaring back in search of the equalizer. Brian Van Schagen came very close to tying things up at the 65th minute mark but one of his patented free kicks bounced off the crossbar and out of danger. A few minutes later, on a Westside counter-attack, Steve Deblasio saw his shot brilliantly saved by Dennis Kindel. Soon thereafter, however, Inter’s Andrew Corazza made a great run down the left flank before crossing the ball to an unmarked Alex Marrello who calmly slotted the ball into the net for the equalizer. At this point, Westside’s defender Jonathan Poli was ejected for having received his second caution and Inter took advantage of the situation by exerting even more pressure on the short-handed Westside lads. ICSF was rewarded late in the match when yet another Corazza run found a wide-open Cristiano Tropeano at the edge of the goal area. As a result, Tropeano scored the easiest goal of his career as he tapped the ball home for the winning goal. The victory keeps Inter 3 points ahead of the idle Sporting Club in the battle for second place in Group ‘A’, while Westside Rino now needs a major miracle to remain in the Premier Division!
The last quarter-final Imperial Cup game—featuring the heavily-favoured Columbus-Clan and Pegasus FC—was also played on Sunday at Burnaby Lake West. After a rather tame and uneventful start, Columbus took the lead midway through the first half when young defender Luca Bellisomo headed home a well-placed free kick by Craig Richards. Early in the second half, after Columbus had taken over the reins of the match, Joe Scigliano beat two Pegasus defenders, rounded the goalkeeper, and calmly deposited the ball into the net for the second goal. Craig Richards was also instrumental in setting up Columbus’ third goal as beat several defenders before setting up Tiernan King who proceeded to fire a marvellous shot past Pegasus’ goalkeeper. Defensively, Frank Mollica played superbly throughout the contest, while Scott McCechern also performed extremely well in his midfield position. Columbus will now face the Metro-Ford Wolves in the Imperial Cup semi-finals. The other semi-final match will feature Surrey United and ICSF Inter. Both games will be played this Sunday, March 19, at Coquitlam Town Centre Stadium. The first game, between Metro-Ford and Columbus will get underway at 1:00 p.m., while the second match—Surrey United and ICSF Inter—will begin at 3:30 p.m.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: SAPPERTON ROVERS for their excellent performance in defeating the heavily-favoured Metro-Ford Wolves by a 2-0 score. The Rovers totally dominated the first half of play and could easily have been leading by 3 or 4 goals at the break. In the second half, Sapperton withstood some constant Metro-Ford pressure and eventually scored the insurance marker to put the game out of the Wolves’ reach. As a result of the victory, the Rovers remain in contention for second place in the Group ‘B’ standings.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: ICSF Inter’s ANDREW CORAZZA for his amazing performance in his team’s hard-earned 2-1 victory over the desperate Westside Rino. With his team down by a goal, Corazza took matters into his own hands and set up for the tying and the winning goal with splendid runs and immaculate passes. For his excellent effort, CORAZZA will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2006-03-28. The pizza must be consumed on the premises.
Why do the Inter guys allways get the pizza pie?
WEEK #24—2006-03-14
Once again, the premature closure of ALL Vancouver fields created havoc in the VMSL schedule this past weekend as the majority of the scheduled matches had to be postponed. Fortunately, some games were played in other districts—including 3 Premier Division matches and an Imperial Cup quarter-final. Two issues remain unresolved as a result of this past weekend’s activities: the relegation-avoidance battle between and West Van FC and Westside Rino, while 4 teams—Firefighters, West Van FC, Croatia SC, and Norvan Eagles—are still in the running for the last 2 Province Cup slots.
On Saturday, at Burnaby Lake West, the Sapperton Rovers upset the rather lacklustre Metro-Ford Wolves by a well-earned 2-0 margin, thus keeping the race for second place in Group ‘B’ alive. In fact, the Rovers and Columbus-Clan are now tied for second place, with Sapperton having a game in hand. The Rovers got off to a great start against the Group ‘A’ champions Wolves and, led by the fine play of forwards Trevor Todd and Ted Ullrich, exerted an incredible amount of pressure on the Metro-Ford defenders. After missing several glorious opportunities, Sapperton finally took the lead at the 25th minute mark as a result of a clever 3-way passing play involving Luke Hogan, Ted Ullrich, and Colin Phillips who clinically beat goalkeeper Mat Bird with a well-placed, low shot to the far post. The Rovers continued to attack as young Stefano Pannu and veteran Luke Hogan drove the flat-footed Metro-Ford defence to distraction with their speed and skill. The second half, however, was much more evenly-played as the Wolves made a few key substitutions that seemed to change the flow of the game. Metro-Ford came close to tying things up midway through the second half when former Rover Emilio Bottiglieri took advantage of a goalmouth scramble to blast a wicked shot towards the Sapperton net. Goalkeeper Cory Breure, however, lived up to his reputation by making a phenomenal save to preserve his team’s lead and his clean sheet. Very late in the game, just before the full time whistle, veteran Ryan McNabb hammered home the insurance marker after winning a 50/50 challenge with goalkeeper Mat Bird. Defensively, Sapperton’s Ed Bradford turned in a remarkably solid performance aided and abetted by Kent Waechter and Jeff Rogers, while veteran Paul Favaro once again demonstrated his immeasurable ability to control the midfield. As stated earlier, the Rovers are now in the driver’s seat in the race for second place in Group ‘B’.
On Sunday, at Richmond High School, the Vancouver Firefighters crept a little closer to gaining a slot in the Province Cup playdowns by defeating the rather unlucky Indo-Akal FC by a 3-0 margin. Despite missing several starters, Indo-Akal put up a valiant battle in the first half as the 0-0 halftime score would indicate. The second half started out in much the same fashion with both teams taking turns creating goal scoring opportunities. Excellent goalkeeping on the part of Firefighters’ Mike Franks and Indo-Akal’s Steve Grewal—filling in for the injured Didar Sandhu—kept the game scoreless until the 70th minute mark. At this point, a well-taken corner kick by Gavin Hobbs was headed back by Jeff Skinner to a wide-open Bob Anderson who calmly tapped the ball into the Indo-Akal net for what proved to be the winning goal. Shortly thereafter, Indo’s Harbinder Chohan was ejected for having received his second caution and the Firefighters proceeded to dominate the remainder of the contest. Two late goals by Chris Jarvie and Phil Lensky put the game out of Indo-Akal’s reach. Defensively, Steve McAuley and Greg Pears were rock-solid for the Firemen, while Jeff Skinner dictated the pace of the game in his midfield position.
Also on Sunday, at Burnaby Lake West, a rather lethargic ICSF Inter managed to edge the desperate Westside Rino by a 2-1 score. Inter seemed to lack interest during the entire first half and was quite fortunate to be down by only one goal after 45 minutes of play. Some outstanding goalkeeping on the part of Dennis Kindel kept the score respectable as Rino’s boys seemed much more motivated than their more experienced opponents. Westside’s go-ahead goal came at about the 30th minute mark when Nick Slaney capitalized on a speculative long ball that found him all alone at the far post. The second half told a totally different story as ICSF, aided by the insertion of a few fresh legs, came roaring back in search of the equalizer. Brian Van Schagen came very close to tying things up at the 65th minute mark but one of his patented free kicks bounced off the crossbar and out of danger. A few minutes later, on a Westside counter-attack, Steve Deblasio saw his shot brilliantly saved by Dennis Kindel. Soon thereafter, however, Inter’s Andrew Corazza made a great run down the left flank before crossing the ball to an unmarked Alex Marrello who calmly slotted the ball into the net for the equalizer. At this point, Westside’s defender Jonathan Poli was ejected for having received his second caution and Inter took advantage of the situation by exerting even more pressure on the short-handed Westside lads. ICSF was rewarded late in the match when yet another Corazza run found a wide-open Cristiano Tropeano at the edge of the goal area. As a result, Tropeano scored the easiest goal of his career as he tapped the ball home for the winning goal. The victory keeps Inter 3 points ahead of the idle Sporting Club in the battle for second place in Group ‘A’, while Westside Rino now needs a major miracle to remain in the Premier Division!
The last quarter-final Imperial Cup game—featuring the heavily-favoured Columbus-Clan and Pegasus FC—was also played on Sunday at Burnaby Lake West. After a rather tame and uneventful start, Columbus took the lead midway through the first half when young defender Luca Bellisomo headed home a well-placed free kick by Craig Richards. Early in the second half, after Columbus had taken over the reins of the match, Joe Scigliano beat two Pegasus defenders, rounded the goalkeeper, and calmly deposited the ball into the net for the second goal. Craig Richards was also instrumental in setting up Columbus’ third goal as beat several defenders before setting up Tiernan King who proceeded to fire a marvellous shot past Pegasus’ goalkeeper. Defensively, Frank Mollica played superbly throughout the contest, while Scott McCechern also performed extremely well in his midfield position. Columbus will now face the Metro-Ford Wolves in the Imperial Cup semi-finals. The other semi-final match will feature Surrey United and ICSF Inter. Both games will be played this Sunday, March 19, at Coquitlam Town Centre Stadium. The first game, between Metro-Ford and Columbus will get underway at 1:00 p.m., while the second match—Surrey United and ICSF Inter—will begin at 3:30 p.m.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: SAPPERTON ROVERS for their excellent performance in defeating the heavily-favoured Metro-Ford Wolves by a 2-0 score. The Rovers totally dominated the first half of play and could easily have been leading by 3 or 4 goals at the break. In the second half, Sapperton withstood some constant Metro-Ford pressure and eventually scored the insurance marker to put the game out of the Wolves’ reach. As a result of the victory, the Rovers remain in contention for second place in the Group ‘B’ standings.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: ICSF Inter’s ANDREW CORAZZA for his amazing performance in his team’s hard-earned 2-1 victory over the desperate Westside Rino. With his team down by a goal, Corazza took matters into his own hands and set up for the tying and the winning goal with splendid runs and immaculate passes. For his excellent effort, CORAZZA will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2006-03-28. The pizza must be consumed on the premises.
Why do the Inter guys allways get the pizza pie?
Re: The Superlative Azzi Week in Review
Inter with the sweep of pizza again...
WEEK #25—2006-03-21
The Imperial Cup semi-finals were played on Sunday at Cloverdale Athletic Park in front of a large contingent of enthusiastic spectators. The games, originally scheduled for Town Centre Stadium in Coquitlam, had to be moved to the Surrey facility due to a double-booking error. While both games were hard-fought and highly-contested, it must be said that neither provided the level of competition that most spectators anticipated. In the end, both Vancouver teams prevailed, meaning that the final will consist of yet another “Italian” derby.
The first game, between the Group ‘A’ champions Metro-Ford Wolves and Columbus-Clan FC, was closely-contested from start to finish and eventually ended in a 1-0 victory for Columbus. The Italians came out of the starting gate with more intensity and took the game to Metro-Ford in the early going. The Wolves seemed to settle down in the second part of the first half and created several goal-scoring opportunities of their own. However, the excellent goalkeeping of Metro-Ford’s Mat Bird and Columbus’ Luca Dalla Pace kept the game scoreless at the half. The second half was more or less a repeat of the first, as both teams tried hard to get the go-ahead goal only to be stymied by some excellent defending—particularly by Columbus’ Luca Bellisomo and the Wolves’ Brook Scott—and some very steady goalkeeping. Finally, with about 15 minutes remaining in regulation time, Columbus was able to break the tie as Craig Richards and Tiernan King combined to send Rob Cairns in all alone. Cairns clinically finished his opportunity for the game’s lone goal. Columbus thus advances to the Imperial Cup final against ICSF Inter.
The second semi-final game, between Surrey United and ICSF Inter, was dominated from start to finish by the younger and seemingly fitter ICSF boys as Surrey United failed to generate any meaningful offensive threat. In fact, the final score of 4-0 in Inter’s favour pretty much tells the tale of the game. ICSF opened the scoring at the 20th minute mark as youth call-up Alex Marrello sent Andrew Corazza flying down the left flank with a brilliant pass. Corazza proceeded to beat a defender before crossing the ball onto the path of a streaking Laurent Scaligine who then calmly headed the ball past the Surrey United goalkeeper, Drew Smiley. A few minutes later, a long-range low shot from Brian VanSchagen gave Smiley little chance as it found its way into the corner of the Surrey net. It should be mentioned that VanSchagen had been set up by a Kevin Crouch clever back pass. Near the end of the first half, VanSchagen hammered yet another long-range, left-footed shot—this one into the top corner of the net—past a stunned Drew Smiley. The second half was more evenly played, mostly due to the fact that ICSF seemed content with the scoreline. This, despite the fact that Surrey United played most of the second half with only 10 men due to the expulsion of Gareth Wilkshire. The final goal came late in the game with Brian VanSchagen once again in the limelight as he set up Kevin Crouch with a rare and unusual right-footed cross. Crouch found himself all alone at the far post and easily headed the ball past a bewildered Smiley. ICSF Inter will now play Columbus-Clan in the Imperial Cup final on Sunday at Coquitlam Town Centre. This will be Inter’s second straight Imperial Cup final appearance.
On Saturday, in Premier Division league action, the Sapperton Rovers hosted the Vancouver Firefighters at Terry Hughes Park in New Westminster. After a hard-fought, but not very exciting, 90 minutes of play, the Firemen prevailed by a 1-0 score on an opportunistic second-half goal by young Lucas Barrett. Barrett took full advantage of some poor communication between Sapperton’s goalkeeper Cory Breure and veteran defender Kent Waechter to loop the ball over Breure’s head and into the net for the game’s lone goal. Defensively, Steve McAuley played extremely well for the Firefighters, making life relatively easy for goalkeeper Mike Franks, whose only saves came in the first half on poorly-executed shots by Trevor Todd. The victory assures the Firemen a spot in the Province Cup, while the Rovers need at least a tie in their last game of the season—against Columbus-Clan—to secure second place in the Group ‘B’ table.
On Sunday, at Confederation Park in North Vancouver, the Norvan Eagles kept their hopes of reaching the Province Cup playdowns alive by defeating their cross-town rivals, West Van FC, by a 2-0 margin. The young Eagles and the veteran former Trollers engaged in a hotly-contested affair with most of the play taking place in the middle of the park and, as a result, few goalscoring chances being generated. In the first half, in fact, only two opportunities deserve to be mentioned: on the first, West Van’s Ryan Carphin’s shot was awkwardly saved by Norvan’s goalkeeper Giancarlo Martino, while at the other end of the pitch, Corey Birza headed a Blake Burgon cross wide of the net. In the second half, the midfield battle between West Van’s Mike Dodd and Paul Dailly and Norvan’s Nick Duran and Matt Brewster continued to be the highlight of the game with the West Van veterans trying desperately, but unsuccessfully, to take control of the match. The telling moment of the contest came midway through the second half when Norvan’s Blake Burgon broke down the right flank before executing a perfect cross onto the path of 19-year old Alan McInoe. McInoe then proceeded to slot the ball home for his first Premier Division goal. At the point, West Van threw caution to the wind and began to exert constant pressure on the young Norvan defence. Goalkeeper Giancarlo Martino, however, rose to the occasion several times to maintain his clean sheet. Near the end of the game, with West Van desperately pushing forward for the equalizer, speedy Mike Baldin combined with Victor Jones to set up Alan McInoe for his second goal of the game. Norvan now needs a victory against Westside Rino to secure a spot in the Province Cup playdowns, while West Van remains in the relegation zone in the Group ‘A’ table. West Van needs at least a point against ICSF Inter or, alternatively, a loss or a tie by Westside Rino against Norvan to remain in the Premier Division.
The third league make-up game was played on Sunday at Adanac Park in Vancouver between Croatia SC and Sporting Club of Vancouver. The game provided the numerous spectators with a lot of excitement as both teams tried desperately to gain all 3 points. As often happens, however, the final 1-1 result does not help either team in their different and separate quests. In fact, Sporting Club remains 2 points behind ICSF Inter in the battle for second place in the Group ‘A’ table, while Croatia SC failed to clinch the last Province Cup slot as a result of the tie. Both teams came close to taking the lead in the early going as Sporting’s goalkeeper Brian Brum made a great save on a Steve Dickinson shot. Shortly thereafter, it was Sporting’s turn when Mike Gomes saw his header—on a fine cross from Trevor Rosencrans—go just wide of the net. Sporting continued to press and GOLDEN BOOT AWARD candidate Ryan Dormer failed to score what would have been his 12th goal of the season when he missed the net on a header. Croatia came roaring back and almost took the lead when Niko Marcina saw his wicked, swerving free kick bounce off the goalpost. The second half was not as well-played as the first as both teams resorted to a more physical, and sometimes chippy, style of play. As a result, Sporting’s Ryan Dormer was ejected from the game for violent conduct midway through the second half leaving the Portuguese team short-handed for the remaining of the game. Despite playing with only 10 men, it was Sporting that took the lead when young Steve Frazao showed a lot of patience and composure when he picked up a poor clearance by a Croatian defender, dribbled by the goalkeeper, and deposited the ball into the back of the net. Very late in the game, with the Croatians desperately looking for the equalizer, Aaron Keay scored the ugliest goal of the season as he kneed the ball into the net on a massive and bizarre goal-mouth scramble. As a result of the tie, Croatia SC will now have to cheer for Westside Rino in its game against the Norvan Eagles. A tie, or a Westside victory, will guarantee the Croatians a spot in the Province Cup.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: ICSF INTER for its remarkable effort in defeating the Group ‘B’ champions, Surrey United, by an emphatic 4-0 score. Led by the excellent play of midfielders Joseph Marrello, Brian VanSchagen, and youth call-up Alex Marrello, ICSF dominated every aspect of the match, and fully deserved the wide margin of victory. As a result, ICSF Inter will now play fellow-Italians, Columbus-Clan, in the coveted Imperial Cup final.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: ICSF Inter’s BRIAN VAN SCHAGEN for his astonishing performance in his team’s 4-0 Imperial Cup semi-final victory over Surrey United. Not only did VanSchagen score two brilliant goals—both long-range, left-footed shots—but he also set up Kevin Crouch for the fourth goal with an uncharacteristic right-foot cross! For his excellent effort, VAN SCHAGEN will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2006-04-07. The pizza must be consumed on the premises.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Inter with the sweep of pizza again...
WEEK #25—2006-03-21
The Imperial Cup semi-finals were played on Sunday at Cloverdale Athletic Park in front of a large contingent of enthusiastic spectators. The games, originally scheduled for Town Centre Stadium in Coquitlam, had to be moved to the Surrey facility due to a double-booking error. While both games were hard-fought and highly-contested, it must be said that neither provided the level of competition that most spectators anticipated. In the end, both Vancouver teams prevailed, meaning that the final will consist of yet another “Italian” derby.
The first game, between the Group ‘A’ champions Metro-Ford Wolves and Columbus-Clan FC, was closely-contested from start to finish and eventually ended in a 1-0 victory for Columbus. The Italians came out of the starting gate with more intensity and took the game to Metro-Ford in the early going. The Wolves seemed to settle down in the second part of the first half and created several goal-scoring opportunities of their own. However, the excellent goalkeeping of Metro-Ford’s Mat Bird and Columbus’ Luca Dalla Pace kept the game scoreless at the half. The second half was more or less a repeat of the first, as both teams tried hard to get the go-ahead goal only to be stymied by some excellent defending—particularly by Columbus’ Luca Bellisomo and the Wolves’ Brook Scott—and some very steady goalkeeping. Finally, with about 15 minutes remaining in regulation time, Columbus was able to break the tie as Craig Richards and Tiernan King combined to send Rob Cairns in all alone. Cairns clinically finished his opportunity for the game’s lone goal. Columbus thus advances to the Imperial Cup final against ICSF Inter.
The second semi-final game, between Surrey United and ICSF Inter, was dominated from start to finish by the younger and seemingly fitter ICSF boys as Surrey United failed to generate any meaningful offensive threat. In fact, the final score of 4-0 in Inter’s favour pretty much tells the tale of the game. ICSF opened the scoring at the 20th minute mark as youth call-up Alex Marrello sent Andrew Corazza flying down the left flank with a brilliant pass. Corazza proceeded to beat a defender before crossing the ball onto the path of a streaking Laurent Scaligine who then calmly headed the ball past the Surrey United goalkeeper, Drew Smiley. A few minutes later, a long-range low shot from Brian VanSchagen gave Smiley little chance as it found its way into the corner of the Surrey net. It should be mentioned that VanSchagen had been set up by a Kevin Crouch clever back pass. Near the end of the first half, VanSchagen hammered yet another long-range, left-footed shot—this one into the top corner of the net—past a stunned Drew Smiley. The second half was more evenly played, mostly due to the fact that ICSF seemed content with the scoreline. This, despite the fact that Surrey United played most of the second half with only 10 men due to the expulsion of Gareth Wilkshire. The final goal came late in the game with Brian VanSchagen once again in the limelight as he set up Kevin Crouch with a rare and unusual right-footed cross. Crouch found himself all alone at the far post and easily headed the ball past a bewildered Smiley. ICSF Inter will now play Columbus-Clan in the Imperial Cup final on Sunday at Coquitlam Town Centre. This will be Inter’s second straight Imperial Cup final appearance.
On Saturday, in Premier Division league action, the Sapperton Rovers hosted the Vancouver Firefighters at Terry Hughes Park in New Westminster. After a hard-fought, but not very exciting, 90 minutes of play, the Firemen prevailed by a 1-0 score on an opportunistic second-half goal by young Lucas Barrett. Barrett took full advantage of some poor communication between Sapperton’s goalkeeper Cory Breure and veteran defender Kent Waechter to loop the ball over Breure’s head and into the net for the game’s lone goal. Defensively, Steve McAuley played extremely well for the Firefighters, making life relatively easy for goalkeeper Mike Franks, whose only saves came in the first half on poorly-executed shots by Trevor Todd. The victory assures the Firemen a spot in the Province Cup, while the Rovers need at least a tie in their last game of the season—against Columbus-Clan—to secure second place in the Group ‘B’ table.
On Sunday, at Confederation Park in North Vancouver, the Norvan Eagles kept their hopes of reaching the Province Cup playdowns alive by defeating their cross-town rivals, West Van FC, by a 2-0 margin. The young Eagles and the veteran former Trollers engaged in a hotly-contested affair with most of the play taking place in the middle of the park and, as a result, few goalscoring chances being generated. In the first half, in fact, only two opportunities deserve to be mentioned: on the first, West Van’s Ryan Carphin’s shot was awkwardly saved by Norvan’s goalkeeper Giancarlo Martino, while at the other end of the pitch, Corey Birza headed a Blake Burgon cross wide of the net. In the second half, the midfield battle between West Van’s Mike Dodd and Paul Dailly and Norvan’s Nick Duran and Matt Brewster continued to be the highlight of the game with the West Van veterans trying desperately, but unsuccessfully, to take control of the match. The telling moment of the contest came midway through the second half when Norvan’s Blake Burgon broke down the right flank before executing a perfect cross onto the path of 19-year old Alan McInoe. McInoe then proceeded to slot the ball home for his first Premier Division goal. At the point, West Van threw caution to the wind and began to exert constant pressure on the young Norvan defence. Goalkeeper Giancarlo Martino, however, rose to the occasion several times to maintain his clean sheet. Near the end of the game, with West Van desperately pushing forward for the equalizer, speedy Mike Baldin combined with Victor Jones to set up Alan McInoe for his second goal of the game. Norvan now needs a victory against Westside Rino to secure a spot in the Province Cup playdowns, while West Van remains in the relegation zone in the Group ‘A’ table. West Van needs at least a point against ICSF Inter or, alternatively, a loss or a tie by Westside Rino against Norvan to remain in the Premier Division.
The third league make-up game was played on Sunday at Adanac Park in Vancouver between Croatia SC and Sporting Club of Vancouver. The game provided the numerous spectators with a lot of excitement as both teams tried desperately to gain all 3 points. As often happens, however, the final 1-1 result does not help either team in their different and separate quests. In fact, Sporting Club remains 2 points behind ICSF Inter in the battle for second place in the Group ‘A’ table, while Croatia SC failed to clinch the last Province Cup slot as a result of the tie. Both teams came close to taking the lead in the early going as Sporting’s goalkeeper Brian Brum made a great save on a Steve Dickinson shot. Shortly thereafter, it was Sporting’s turn when Mike Gomes saw his header—on a fine cross from Trevor Rosencrans—go just wide of the net. Sporting continued to press and GOLDEN BOOT AWARD candidate Ryan Dormer failed to score what would have been his 12th goal of the season when he missed the net on a header. Croatia came roaring back and almost took the lead when Niko Marcina saw his wicked, swerving free kick bounce off the goalpost. The second half was not as well-played as the first as both teams resorted to a more physical, and sometimes chippy, style of play. As a result, Sporting’s Ryan Dormer was ejected from the game for violent conduct midway through the second half leaving the Portuguese team short-handed for the remaining of the game. Despite playing with only 10 men, it was Sporting that took the lead when young Steve Frazao showed a lot of patience and composure when he picked up a poor clearance by a Croatian defender, dribbled by the goalkeeper, and deposited the ball into the back of the net. Very late in the game, with the Croatians desperately looking for the equalizer, Aaron Keay scored the ugliest goal of the season as he kneed the ball into the net on a massive and bizarre goal-mouth scramble. As a result of the tie, Croatia SC will now have to cheer for Westside Rino in its game against the Norvan Eagles. A tie, or a Westside victory, will guarantee the Croatians a spot in the Province Cup.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: ICSF INTER for its remarkable effort in defeating the Group ‘B’ champions, Surrey United, by an emphatic 4-0 score. Led by the excellent play of midfielders Joseph Marrello, Brian VanSchagen, and youth call-up Alex Marrello, ICSF dominated every aspect of the match, and fully deserved the wide margin of victory. As a result, ICSF Inter will now play fellow-Italians, Columbus-Clan, in the coveted Imperial Cup final.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: ICSF Inter’s BRIAN VAN SCHAGEN for his astonishing performance in his team’s 4-0 Imperial Cup semi-final victory over Surrey United. Not only did VanSchagen score two brilliant goals—both long-range, left-footed shots—but he also set up Kevin Crouch for the fourth goal with an uncharacteristic right-foot cross! For his excellent effort, VAN SCHAGEN will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2006-04-07. The pizza must be consumed on the premises.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Hands of Stone
New Member
- Thread starter
- #39
Re: The Superlative Azzi Week in Review
WEEK #26—2006-03-28
The Imperial Cup final and the VMSL Premier Division final were played on Sunday at Coquitlam’s Town Centre Stadium. The numerous spectators were treated to two well-played and closely-contested games that ended in narrow victories for Columbus-Clan—2-1 over ICSF Inter—and Surrey United—1-0 over Metro-Ford Wolves.
The Imperial Cup final, between Columbus-Clan and ICSF Inter lived up to its expectations as both teams exhibited a large degree of skill and competitiveness. At the end, Columbus prevailed by a 2-1 margin despite the fact that Inter had taken the early lead on a great left-footed shot by Andrew Corazza. Near the end of the first half, Columbus replied with a magnificent strike by Craig Richards who volleyed home a cross from Tiernan King. ICSF was denied what would have been the go-ahead goal early in the second half on a controversial off-side call when defender VJ Kos scored what many thought was a perfectly good goal. Columbus proceeded to take advantage of the situation and began to take control of the match and finally got the winner when Tiernan King once again worked his way down the right flank before crossing an immaculate ball to Joe Scigliano who headed it past the outstretched hands of goalkeeper Dennis Kindel. Near the end of the match, Scigliano was expelled from the game for serious foul play leaving Columbus short-handed for the last few minutes. Inter pressed hard for the equalizer but the Columbus defence, led by Tony Gaita, held on and preserved the narrow margin of victory. For his excellent defensive performance throughout the match, Tony Gaita was named the Most Valuable Player of the game and will receive a prize of a dinner for two, compliments of the Golden Boot Caffe`.
The second game of the day, the VMSL Premier Division final, featured two teams that—despite having won their “group” title—had been unceremoniously knocked out of the Imperial Cup competition the previous week. Therefore, both Surrey United and the Metro-Ford Wolves had something to prove and their performances on the day showed that they had come out of their “Imperial Cup hangover”. The Wolves applied the early pressure and came close to scoring the go-ahead goal had it not been for some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Surrey’s Drew Smiley. On one occasion, with Smiley clearly beaten, it was defender Brian Fowler who rose to the occasion in blocking Richard Price’s wicked shot from outside the area. From that point onward, Surrey United gradually raised its game to the level to which we have become accustomed and started to create its own chances. On one of them, Shawn Blakeway’s speculative chip shot eluded goalkeeper Mathew Bird but grazed the crossbar. In the second half, Surrey continued to press forward in search of the victory. Sixteen-year old youth call-up, Scott MacDonald, looked impressive at left back and ventured forward on numerous occasions, linking up well with teammate Justin Carvery. The pair combined well and was nearly rewarded when a MacDonald cross found a diving Niall Thompson whose spectacular header was saved brilliantly by goalkeeper Mathew Bird. Soon thereafter, MacDonald once again sent a great ball into the middle of the area, a ball that Thompson quickly converted into the game’s lone goal. Metro-Ford’s Emilio Bottiglieri came close to tying things up in the late going, but his long-range free kick was once again brilliantly saved by Smiley. For his excellent contribution to his team’s 1-0 victory, Surrey United’s Scott MacDonald was selected as the Most Valuable Player of the match and will receive a prize of a dinner for two, compliments of the Golden Boot Caffe`. It should be noted that this marks the third time in 5 years that Surrey United, under the guidance of coach Martin Foden, has captured the coveted VMSL Premier Division title.
In league play on Friday evening at Byrne Creek School in Burnaby, the Norvan Eagles and Westside Rino settled for a 0-0 tie, a result that helps neither team. Both teams desperately needed a victory for different reasons: Norvan to leap-frog over Croatia SC and thus capture the last available slot in the Province Cup playdowns and Westside to maintain its slim hopes of avoiding relegation to the first division alive. The draw, however, sealed the fate of both teams as the Eagles are now officially out of the Province Cup and Rino’s boys will have to battle in the first division to regain promotion to the top ranks. It should also be noted that the Vancouver Olympics were officially promoted to the Premier Division as a result of a narrow, although somewhat sloppy, 1-0 victory over Royal United. The victory, coupled with WFC Rangers’ loss to Wickham FC, elevates the Olympics to the top level of the VMSL. The one highlight of the game, the Olympics’ winning goal, came midway through the second half when an impeccably taken free kick by Thomas Low was headed home by Frank Randazzo.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: COLUMBUS-CLAN FC for its amazing come-from-behind victory over powerhouse ICSF Inter in the Imperial Cup final. Columbus survived some early pressure from ICSF, conceded an early goal by Andrew Corazza, but came storming back to finally win the match by a 2-1 score with Criag Richards and Joe Scigliano scoring two brilliant goals. This marks the first time since 1980 that Columbus has won the coveted Imperial Cup!
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Columbus-Clan’s central defender TONY GAITA and Surrey United’s left back SCOTT MACDONALD for their superlative efforts in leading their teams to narrow, but well-earned, victories over ICSF Inter and Metro-Ford Wolves respectively. For their excellent efforts, GAITA and MACDONALD will receive a prize of a dinner for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2006-04-14.
Congrats ClanBus on the Imperial win, lots of ex Burnaby Canadians on that team.
WEEK #26—2006-03-28
The Imperial Cup final and the VMSL Premier Division final were played on Sunday at Coquitlam’s Town Centre Stadium. The numerous spectators were treated to two well-played and closely-contested games that ended in narrow victories for Columbus-Clan—2-1 over ICSF Inter—and Surrey United—1-0 over Metro-Ford Wolves.
The Imperial Cup final, between Columbus-Clan and ICSF Inter lived up to its expectations as both teams exhibited a large degree of skill and competitiveness. At the end, Columbus prevailed by a 2-1 margin despite the fact that Inter had taken the early lead on a great left-footed shot by Andrew Corazza. Near the end of the first half, Columbus replied with a magnificent strike by Craig Richards who volleyed home a cross from Tiernan King. ICSF was denied what would have been the go-ahead goal early in the second half on a controversial off-side call when defender VJ Kos scored what many thought was a perfectly good goal. Columbus proceeded to take advantage of the situation and began to take control of the match and finally got the winner when Tiernan King once again worked his way down the right flank before crossing an immaculate ball to Joe Scigliano who headed it past the outstretched hands of goalkeeper Dennis Kindel. Near the end of the match, Scigliano was expelled from the game for serious foul play leaving Columbus short-handed for the last few minutes. Inter pressed hard for the equalizer but the Columbus defence, led by Tony Gaita, held on and preserved the narrow margin of victory. For his excellent defensive performance throughout the match, Tony Gaita was named the Most Valuable Player of the game and will receive a prize of a dinner for two, compliments of the Golden Boot Caffe`.
The second game of the day, the VMSL Premier Division final, featured two teams that—despite having won their “group” title—had been unceremoniously knocked out of the Imperial Cup competition the previous week. Therefore, both Surrey United and the Metro-Ford Wolves had something to prove and their performances on the day showed that they had come out of their “Imperial Cup hangover”. The Wolves applied the early pressure and came close to scoring the go-ahead goal had it not been for some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Surrey’s Drew Smiley. On one occasion, with Smiley clearly beaten, it was defender Brian Fowler who rose to the occasion in blocking Richard Price’s wicked shot from outside the area. From that point onward, Surrey United gradually raised its game to the level to which we have become accustomed and started to create its own chances. On one of them, Shawn Blakeway’s speculative chip shot eluded goalkeeper Mathew Bird but grazed the crossbar. In the second half, Surrey continued to press forward in search of the victory. Sixteen-year old youth call-up, Scott MacDonald, looked impressive at left back and ventured forward on numerous occasions, linking up well with teammate Justin Carvery. The pair combined well and was nearly rewarded when a MacDonald cross found a diving Niall Thompson whose spectacular header was saved brilliantly by goalkeeper Mathew Bird. Soon thereafter, MacDonald once again sent a great ball into the middle of the area, a ball that Thompson quickly converted into the game’s lone goal. Metro-Ford’s Emilio Bottiglieri came close to tying things up in the late going, but his long-range free kick was once again brilliantly saved by Smiley. For his excellent contribution to his team’s 1-0 victory, Surrey United’s Scott MacDonald was selected as the Most Valuable Player of the match and will receive a prize of a dinner for two, compliments of the Golden Boot Caffe`. It should be noted that this marks the third time in 5 years that Surrey United, under the guidance of coach Martin Foden, has captured the coveted VMSL Premier Division title.
In league play on Friday evening at Byrne Creek School in Burnaby, the Norvan Eagles and Westside Rino settled for a 0-0 tie, a result that helps neither team. Both teams desperately needed a victory for different reasons: Norvan to leap-frog over Croatia SC and thus capture the last available slot in the Province Cup playdowns and Westside to maintain its slim hopes of avoiding relegation to the first division alive. The draw, however, sealed the fate of both teams as the Eagles are now officially out of the Province Cup and Rino’s boys will have to battle in the first division to regain promotion to the top ranks. It should also be noted that the Vancouver Olympics were officially promoted to the Premier Division as a result of a narrow, although somewhat sloppy, 1-0 victory over Royal United. The victory, coupled with WFC Rangers’ loss to Wickham FC, elevates the Olympics to the top level of the VMSL. The one highlight of the game, the Olympics’ winning goal, came midway through the second half when an impeccably taken free kick by Thomas Low was headed home by Frank Randazzo.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: COLUMBUS-CLAN FC for its amazing come-from-behind victory over powerhouse ICSF Inter in the Imperial Cup final. Columbus survived some early pressure from ICSF, conceded an early goal by Andrew Corazza, but came storming back to finally win the match by a 2-1 score with Criag Richards and Joe Scigliano scoring two brilliant goals. This marks the first time since 1980 that Columbus has won the coveted Imperial Cup!
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Columbus-Clan’s central defender TONY GAITA and Surrey United’s left back SCOTT MACDONALD for their superlative efforts in leading their teams to narrow, but well-earned, victories over ICSF Inter and Metro-Ford Wolves respectively. For their excellent efforts, GAITA and MACDONALD will receive a prize of a dinner for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2006-04-14.
Congrats ClanBus on the Imperial win, lots of ex Burnaby Canadians on that team.
whataboutbob
Well-Known Member
Re: The Superlative Azzi Week in Review
You know what's going to be said.......
Hands of Stone said:
You know what's going to be said.......
- Status
