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Report on the Friday May 27, 2005 CPSL game between Durham Storm and St Catharines Roma Wolves played at Civic Stadium in Oshawa at 9:00pm.

Durham Flames (all dark green, white numbers and trim)

.............................1 Craig Williams
14 Matt Gennaro...22 Scott McDavid...13 Brent Martin...17 Neil Randfield
..............6 Ciaron Thomson...7 Adam Vickers...10 Paul Boyle
..............15 Edson Breceda...12 Fitzroy Powell...19 Craig Patton

Subs:...25 Devon Spiers (gk)...3 Paul Rayment (mid)...4 Matt Gardiner (def)...11 Shane Circelli (mid)...16 Fitzroy Caesar (--)...20 Mark Fennell (def)
team officials:...manager Rob Shauffer...head coach Doug Paterson...assistant coach Paul Rayment...general manager John O'Neill...physio John Cooke

St Catharines Roma Wolves (burgundy socks and shirts, black shorts, peach shoulders)

...........................1 Claudio Perri
26 Dan Gallagher...11 Frank Delpriore...29 Geoffrey Attard...2 John Gallo
18 Carlo Arghittu...23 Dana Heimbecker...24 Mirnes Biscevic...19 Nick Aragona
..................9 Julio Sanchez...10 Jerry Cino

Subs:...4 Matt Waddington...7 Pablo Nivas...20 Stephen King...30 Derek Mancuso
team officials:...manager Pat Voila...head coach Tom Bernard...assistant coach Miro...trainer Angelo Pizzacalla

Game officials:...referee Vito Curalli...referee's assistants Isaac Raymond and Manuel Orellano...fourth official Grace Iafrate...(yellow shirts, black shorts and socks)

1st Half:...game starts 9:05pm...DF defend north end.
Mayor John Gray takes the opening kickoff on this wet field which made it easy to get in sliding tackles.
2 min...DS Breceda 30 yard mid air blast from right is well high and wide left.
12 min...W goalie charges out to boot away through ball ahead of DS Breceda.
15 min...DS Vickers on right rolls cross through box.
16 min...DS Boyle weak roller on edge of box easily cleared.
17 min...DS Boyle blasts 25 yard freekick well high wide left of net.
21 min...DS YELLOW card...Boyle for tripping W Arghittu cutting across near edge of box.
21 min...W player's freekick from 20 yards booted well over net wide left.
22 min...DS goalie catches high ball in box in crowd of players.
23 min...W Sanchez cross from left is headed over end line by defender.
24 min...W Arghittu cornerkick from left flick headed by W player. W Biscevic on right mid air 10 yard kick blasted high over net.
25 min...W Biscevic cornerkick from right is partially cleared, W player's high ball from 25 yards is caught by goalie.
27 min...W Arghittu 25 yard freekick skips through box and sprawling goalie blocks it. Ball is cleared.
28 min...DS Breceda 35 yard freekick from right is punched out of box by W goalie, DS Gennaro crosses back into box and ball headed away by defender.
31 min...W Delpriore ends furious action with 18 yard shot on partial clearance just wide left of goal.
32 min...DS defenders prevent W Sanchez from getting away shot in box.
33 min...DS Powell 25 low shot from right wide left.
35 min...W Boyle has two shots blocked in box.
37 min...DS Powell 25 yard blast that flying goalie pushes wide left of goal.
38 min...DS player's cornerkick from left is headed away.
38 min...W Arghittu 15 yard shot from extreme left is wide right.
40 min...DS goalie catches 20 yard shot from crowd of players.
42 min...DS Gennaro crosses roller from right, DS Powell rolls 12 yard roller wide right when he changes direction and cuts in shot.
44 min...W player cross from right end line is just high over bar and bounces out left of box.
44 min...W Aragona 35 cross from left caught by goalie in crowd of players.
46 min...W Biscevic on right sends high cross over box.
46 min...half ends 9:51pm.

2nd Half:...starts 10:06pm.
47 min...W Arghittu cornerkick from right has W Aragana 8 yard header just wide right of net.
49 min...DS Thomson cross from left has DS players 20 yard shot that sprawling goalie stops.
52 min...W Biscevic 30 yard freekick through players and diving goalie pushes ball wide right.
52 min...W Arghittu cornerkick from right starts furious action on edge of box.
54 min...DS goalie dives out to prevent W Arghittu from deking him as ball cleared off defender finds W Arghittu in alone in box with back to goal.
55 min...W Biscevic cornerkick from right has W Arghittu head from left across box but ball cleared.
56 min...W player runs on left and cross over box.
57 min...W Arghittu 12 yard shot in crowd is over net.
58 min...DS Breceda run through middle and two shot attempts blocked by retreating defender.
58 min...W Biscevic run up middle and 30 yard shot is blocked and covered by goalie.
59 min...W players rush up middle on 3 on 3 and finishes with 10 yard shot.
60 min...DS sub...Fennell replaces Randfield.
60 min...DS Patton 20 yard shot in crowd of players hits crossbar.
61 min...W sub...Waddington replaces Delpriore.
62 min...DS Powell 20 yard shot from left has goalie block and ball pushed wide left.
63 min...DS YELLOW card...Boyle for preventing W breakout near center circle.
64 min...W Arghittu controlls ball after checks and 15 yard blast hits defender and deflects back off Arghittu and over net.
65 min...W King misses connecting on 3 yarder on right post as ball deflects through box but wins cornerkick.
66 min...W Attard 30 yard low snake shot from right is stopped by goalie.
67 min...W #22 (who is he?) tipped up on rush.
68 min...W Biscevic 25 yard freekick blast into wall of players on edge of box.
70 min...W player's freekick from 30 yards on left has partial clearance. W Nivas (when did he come on?) blasts 25 yard shot up middle just wide right.
73 min...DS sub...someone replaces Breceda.
74 min...W goalie dives forward to grab low rolled cross from left after long DS run.
76 min...DS sub...Gardiner replaces Gennaro.
76 min...DS Vickers 35 yard freekick well wide right.
77 min...W Waddington 25 yard shot through crowd of players wide right.
78 min...DS Circelli (when did he come on?) run on right after defender slips and sharp angle 20 yard shot is wide left across box.
82 min...DS sub...someone replaces Patton.
83 min...W goalie catches bounced 25 yard freekick from right.
85 min...DS Thomson defender pops up header onto top of own net to prevent cross.
86 min...W King cornerkick starts furious action, ending with DS goalie sliding to grab loose ball knocked into box.
87 min...W Biscevic 15 yard blast deflected back (after W King cornerkick from right) has W player miss bicycle kick from 10 yards.
88 min...DS goalie makes point blank shot on 10 yard shot from left.
89 min...DS goalie punches away cornerkick from left.
91 min...W Arghittu injured at cornerflag on sliding tackle wins cornerkick on left.
91 min...game ends 10:52pm.

Final Score:......Durham Storm..........0..........St Catharines Roma Wolves.............0.............

Attendance was about 120 on this mild night played on a wet field. There was a threat that the rain of earlier in the evening which soaked the field and seats would return. That could have kept the crowd low for this season opener. The late 9:00pm starting time kept the number of children down but was great for me driving in from Toronto well after the rush hour(s) along the 401.

This game featured both East and West Conference doormats from the 2004 season. The teams between them had won a total of 5 games out of 40 last year. I'm sure the schedule was rigged with the idea that the winner would surprisingly be in first place with this only being the second league game of the season.

The game started off slow with few chances but changed by the 55 minute mark with rush after rush by each team making the game exciting. Best chances were at the 24th minute when Wolves Carlo Arghittu's corner kick from the left was flick headed by a Wolves player and Wolves Mirnes Biscevic on right blasted a 10 yard kick well over the net. Three minutes later Arghittu skipped a 25 yard free kick through the box and the sprawling goalie blocks it. At the 37 minute mark Storm Fitzroy Powell got away a 25 yard blast that flying goalie pushed wide left of goal. Powell got another chance at the 42 minute mark when Matt Gennaro gave him a low cross and he changed and direction and cut in a shot wide right.

In the second half the Storm goalie dived out to prevent Arghittu from deking him at 54 minutes as a ball cleared off a defender found him in the box all alone with his back to the goal. Storm Edson Breceda ran up the middle and had two shot attempts blocked by a retreating defender. Storm Craig Patton at 60 minutes blasted a 20 yard shot in a crowd of players that hit the underside of the crossbar but the ball stayed out of the net. At 65 minutes Stephen King for the Wolves missed connecting on a 3 yarder on the right post as the ball deflected through the box. At 70 minutes a Wolves free kick from 30 yards on the left has partial clearance blasted just wide right from 25 yards by Pablo Nivas.

Craig Williams earned the shutout for the Storm and Claudio Perri from the Roma Wolves did likewise. Both goalies made some good serves and weren't afraid to come out and challenge the shooters but the strikers should have done much better. Last year the Storm only scored 17 goals and the Wolves 27. The Storm had the worst defence last year surrendering 77 goals so tonight's result was certainly an improvement.

Referee Vito Curalli didn't need to give out many cards for this rather tame game but there were a lot of sliding tackles

The tie was a fair result for the play. Scores of 1-1, 2-2 or even 3-3 would have been just as believable but I'd wonder if even one goal would have tilted the play of this game.

The Storm added to their scoring punch over the winter by signing Fitzroy Powell from Vaughan Shooters and Craig Patton from Metro Lions and putting them in the game as strikers with Edson Breceda. Wolves long time captain and coach Lucio Ianiero retired. His long career stretched all the way back to Canadian Soccer League Toronto Blizzard and Hamilton Steelers from the 1980s. This year the Wolves head coach is Tom Bernard.

The next CPSL game is scheduled for Sunday with Vaughan Shooters hosting CPSL playoff champions Toronto Croatia at The Soccer Centre in Vaughan at 7:00pm. The whole day starting with afternoon games involving teenagers is a fundraiser for The Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation for breast cancer research.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca

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