Nuke Soccer

Courtesy Rocket Robin, Soccer In Toronto

Sept 1, 2007
Cove Road, London 5:00 pm
Columbus Clan [4] Windsor Border Stars [3]

Highlights
11 min … Clan Jonathan Poli GOAL
Clan Craig Richards takes 30 yard freekick from the right that’s bent into the box and Poli misses header at 5 yards charging towards it. Clan Tony Gaita rescues ball on left end line and crosses back and Poli boots in 4 yarder from left to top right of net.

12 min … Border Stars Woreth Sampson GOAL…
Sampson gets ball in middle on pass from right and his low 7 yard shot is a roller past goalie Geoff Ayi-Bonte guarding right side of net.

14 min … Border Stars Radek Papiez GOAL
WBS Woreth Sampson in box crosses to open left side for Papiez to charge into shoot 12 yard shot from left into low left side of net with goalie in middle.

20 min … WBS Dan Trosper pushes over Clan Tiarnan King on left side of box. Referee Steve De Piero awards a Penalty kick.

21 min … Clan Tiarnan King GOAL
King’s penalty kick is low to right corner as goalie slides/dives to left.

55 min … Border Stars Radek Papiez GOAL
WBS Woreth Sampson in middle taps ball over to Papiez who blasts 15 yard shot into low right side of net.

75 min … Clan Steve De Blasio GOAL
Clan Tiarnan King rush on right has cross partially cleared and De Blasio boots low 20 yard shot from right to low left corner of net beyond diving goalie.

93 min (added time)…WBS Jonathan Poli GOAL…
Clan Craig Richards 25 yard freekick from near right sideline has WBS goalie knock forward through players but ball is still loose. Poli sends 12 yard shot up middle into right side of net.

94 min … game ends.

Notes
Attendance finished at about 100 people although it started with only about 40 on hot humid late afternoon with the sun coming out from behind the clouds at different times of the game. Columbus was considered the home team for this game although the fans were mostly pro Windsor. The Border Stars were warming up with only nine guys as there were some caught in a traffic jam on the 401 on the 200 km drive from the south west to get here. (Toronto where I’m from is about 200 km away in the east). They ended up with a full team and three subs on the bench. The prospect of silver ball overtime (two 15 minute halves) wouldn’t have been too appealing.

Columbus from Vancouver British Columbia had many names I recognized from years of watching the USL and A-League Vancouver 86ers/Whitecaps once a season when they’d play Toronto Lynx. Tony Gaita and Gino Gaita are brothers and started today’s game.

Both teams looked good offensively but both their defenses looked suspect. Both teams had to have their goalie’s make some good saves or the score could have been doubled. This may not put them in a position to play the other winning semi-finalist Trois-Rivieres Attak who won the evening’s other semi-final.

The Border Stars had won the trophy in 2004 and 2005. London City won in the inaugural 2003 year and Ottawa St Anthony Italia won in 2006 (and didn’t enter to defend this year).

Sept 1, 2007
Cove Road, London 8:38 pm
Trois-Rivieres Attak [2] Italia Shooters [1]

Highlights
15 min … Attak Alex Surprenant pulls down IS Geron Duporte on rush on right of box. Referee Justin Tasev signals for a Penalty kick.

16 min … Shooters Chris Turner GOAL
Turner’s penalty kick is to left side as goalie slides the wrong way.

42 min … Attak Mohammed Nafe GOAL
Attak’s Jean Phillip Etienne on left side of box receives cornerkick from the right and his cross is cleared however Nafe sends in low 40 yard shot through crowd of players and into the net.

48 min (1st half added time) … Attak Boubacar Coulibaly GOAL
Coulibaly has ball at 20 yards on left and turns with goalie off his line and fires low 20 yard shot that deflects off IS Alex Ruhe Lischke and past sprawling goalie Camilo Benzi into short left corner of net.

72 min … Shooters RED card
Defender Andre Stewart given direct ejection for knocking Attak Joe Di Buono near side line after whistle.

97 min (2nd half added time) …Shooters RED card
Jason DeThomasis given direct ejection for a foul and abuse although the game was already over.

Notes
Attendance was about 100 people on this mild night. It’s already dark before the game starts. The crowd was pro-Italia Shooters as it was about 200 km from Toronto. Shooters had beaten the hosts London City 4-2 the night before in the Wild Card game. The players did not stay in the city but drove home and came back the next day.

With Monday’s final now between a British Columbia team and a Quebec team, they’ll be lucky to get 100 people. Tickets were only $10.00.

Shooters lost a lot of their momentum as soon as they went down to ten men. Attak used some time wasting tactics which didn’t impress the referee who added six minutes of added time. The game got very rough in the second half. Funniest Yellow card though was to Nicolas Lesage at 90 minutes when no Attak player moved in to take a freekick from near the edge of the Shooters box. After waiting for someone to come up to the ball, the referee gave Lesage the card when he stepped forward to take the kick.

Shooters roster has swelled to three 2007 PDL Toronto Lynx players as defenders Rick Titus and Alex Ruhe-Lischke (Lynx 2007 MVP) and midfielder Cameron Medwin played all 90 minutes in today’s game. Attak are the farm team of the USL Montreal Impact so any of their players could be called up to the main team.

Shooters wore the worst uniforms I’ve ever seen with white numbers on white shirts. The numbers were whiter than the shirts but not distinguishable from a distance. The fourth official worked out a deal with the announcers box in that he’d hold up a numbers card so they could announce who scored a goal.


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