Hitmen best in West
Aug 8, 2003 Author: Soccer Online - It's Called Futbol

August 8, 2003, Brampton --

Hugo Herrara and Phil Ionadi continued to perform heroically for the Hitmen, as they led their teammates to a 2-1 victory over a plucky Hamilton Thunder squad that played one man short for all but 15 minutes of last night’s match.

Herrera, who has five goals after just three CPSL games, opened the scoring on a pleasant Thursday evening at Brian Timmis Stadium. In the 14th minute, the opportunistic striker tapped in a rebound from close range past Roberto Ferrari in the Hamilton goal.

The situation quickly moved from bad to worse for the Thunder when its Croatian recruit, Srjdan Markovic, received two yellow cards before 15 minutes of the match had elapsed. The tall defender was dismissed from the game, leaving his team a man short for the duration.

In the 32nd minute, Phil Ionadi blasted a 30-yard first-time left footer that dipped and swerved before eluding Ferrari and crashing into the back of the net. “It was a great pass from Adolfo Mella,” said Ionadi modestly of his long-range strike. “I just hit it.”

The Hitmen came out for the second half clearly overconfident. Hamilton, on the other hand, took the time to regroup during the intermission, under the command of its second new coach within a three-week period, Manuel Goncalves Gomes. The renowned Portuguese instructor began the second half by inserting substitutes who had been starting under the previous Hamilton coaches, Duncan Wilde and Ivan Markovic. Miles O’Connor and Dave Simpson quickly made their presence felt on the field; the game’s momentum swung in favour of Hamilton.

Simpson broke through alone on Hitmen goalkeeper Roy Blanche on three occasions just after the halftime break, but failed to score on each occasion. The Hitmen players appeared to be content to sit on their lead – a complacency which almost proved to be their undoing. A casual pass by Herrero at midfield with three minutes left in the match led to Kevin De Serpa’s goal to bring the Thunder to within a goal of Brampton. Herrero’s misplaced pass found the feet of Simpson, who slotted a perfectly paced ball to De Serpa, who rounded Ferrari and thumped the ball into the gaping net.

The match concluded with the boisterous Thunder fans exhorting their team to push forward for an equalizer in injury time, but Brampton redoubled its defensive efforts and hung on for the victory.

“We have to fix a few things,” remarked the team’s manager, Hector Marinaro Sr., after the match. “But the team is coming along. We just have to put together a complete game. When a team plays a man down, they tend to put more energy into the game. We needed to match their energy in the second half.”

Simpson, who had just returned to the Thunder line-up after playing for Canada’s U-20 team at a tournament in Houston, was disappointed after the match. “It’s my job to create opportunities and to finish them. I didn’t do that today.” The tall, powerful Thunder striker added that he was optimistic that his new coach will turn around the squad’s recent poor form.

The victory pushes the Hitmen to the top of the CPSL’s Western Conference with a 5-1-3 won-lost-tied record. The Thunder remains a point back of the St. Catharines Roma Wolves, having played one less game. Hamilton’s won-lost-tied record falls to 4-2-3, but are a mere three points shy of the Brampton.

Futnotes: Dave Simpson scored two goals in his first appearance for Canada’s U-20s in tournament play at the U.S. Soccer Festival in Houston last week.

Hamilton’s new coach, Manuel Goncalves Gomes, has quite a resume. He has coached successfully at club level, for Benfica, and for Portugal’s national team at the Japan-Korea World Cup in 2002.

Match Rating: 4 out of 5: A most peculiar game, but with a dramatic finish! Both goalkeepers seemed to be fighting the ball. The expulsion of Markovic seemed a tad harsh. From a neutral spectator’s standpoint, the red card ruined what looked to be a promising match – two teams with equal records and the winner going top of the table. Hamilton’s determined second half effort, culminating in De Serpa’s goal, brought the game back to life after a predictable first 45 minutes. Brian Timmis Stadium and the Thunder fans together provide the best live-soccer atmosphere in the CPSL, I wager. Nice playing surface, bleachers close to the field and noisy fans, Kudos to the event staff for keeping everybody happy.

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