August 14, 2011 CSL--Toronto Croatia vs London City (by Rocket Robin)

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Result of the Sunday August 14th, 2011 CSL game between Toronto Croatia and London City played at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke at 8:00pm.

Toronto Croatia (blue socks, white shorts and numbers, red shirts)

.........................12 Antonio Ilic
...........4 Sven Arapovic...7 Halburto Harris...15 Ainsley Deer
23 Tonci Pirija (cpt)...14 Augustin DeMedina...11 Boris Tomac...16 Marin Vucemilovic Grgic...8 Hayden Fitzwilliams
.................18 Bozenko Lesina...10 Tihomir Maletic

Subs:...1 Sandi Matika (gk)...5 Jonatan Bustamante (mid)...6 Mario Kulis (def)...9 Hugo Herrera (fwd)...19 Niko Pesa (fwd) ...20 Alex Arbelo (mid...25 Daniel Niksic (mid)
team officials:...head coach Velimir Crljan...assistant manager Perica Arapovic...massage therapist Rachel Leroux

London City (all black, white numbers)

.......................33 Fabian Knezevic
20 Genti Buzali...16 David Herriman Duke...18 Brody Van Gestel...11 Eris Tafaj
14 Ermal Murataj (cpt)...12 Matsuo Yo...6 Thomas Beattie...17 Justin Marques
.................7 Elvir Gigolaj...15 Younan Samra

Subs:...1 Scott Chalmer (gk)...4 Brent Anderson (def)...10 Michale Marcoccia (mid)...23 Christohpher Harrington (mid)...27 Reece Benjamin (def)
team officials:...head coach Luka Shaquir...manager Ryan Gauss...medical staff Nathalie Gagnon-Wease

Game officials:...referee Yusri Rudolf...assistant referee's Johnathan Carter and Ben Jacobs...fourth official Armando Pereira...(neon yellow shirts, black shorts and socks)

1st Half:...game starts 8:04pm...TC defends south end.
1 min...TC Maletic cornerkick from right is knocked around but whistled down in box.
2 min...TC Deer cross unplayed through box from left.
3 min...TC Vucemilovic Grgic 22 yard low shot from right is saved near near post.
4 min...TC Vucemilovic Grgic 22 yard shot is wide right into outside webbing of net.
6 min...TC Fitzwilliams rush around defenders but wins cornerkick on 12 yard deflection.
7 min...TC Pirija cornerkick from left is through box and TC Vucemilovic Grgic shoots wide right.
11 min...TC Lesina pass just behind TC Fitzwilliams charging at 8 yards.
12 min...TC Lesina is pushed off ball at 12 yards but turns and fires 15 yarder down middle wide left.
14 min...City Samra 40 yard blast from right is caught by goalie.
16 min...TC YELLOW card...Fitzwilliams earns it for push with City Buzali on TC sideline at 39 yards.
17 min...City Beattie 45 yard freekick from right is cleared from edge of box.
It starts to rain hard.
20 min...TC Piraja taps over 35 yard freekick from left and TC Tomac nearer middle blasts 30 yarder well high and right.
23 min...TC Maletic charges to chipped through ball and 25 yard shot is blocked by goalie at 8 yards and defender clears.
25 min...City Gigolaj from 15 yards taps ball right to City Samra who blasts 7 yarder that goalie pushes wide right.
25 min...City player's cornerkick from right is crossed back and forth.
26 min...City player's freekick from left is headed away by nearest defender.
28 min...TC Pirija cornerkick from left is whistled down in box.
33 min...City Tafaj cornerkick from left has TC player head ball away. City Marques 35 yard cross is caught by goalie.
34 min...TC Bozenko Lesina GOAL...TC Ainsley Deer passes forward from 30 yards on left to Lesina who chips sliding goalie at 15 yards to right side of net.
It's now stopped raining.
36 min...City Beattie 40 yard freekick from left has goalie crumble to block and then crawls when City Gigolaj takes ball but paly is flagged down.
39 min...City Duke 55 yard chip from right is through players and bounces to goalie.
41 min...City YELLOW card...Beattie earns it for trip on TC Maletic at City 30 yards.
42 min...TC Maletic 35 yard card freekick is headed away and TC Lezina ends with 30 yard chip from left is caught by goalie.
43 min...City Beattie 35 yard freekick from right sideline has TC Maletic nearest player head away on edge of box.
44 min...TC Deer rush on left and crosses behind net from 22 yards.
47 min...City Buzali 30 yard freekick down middle is high and wide right.
47 min...half ends 8:51pm.

2nd Half:...starts 9:07pm...no rain.
halftime sub:...TC Bustamante replaces Tomac.
47 min...TC Bustamante rolls pass through defenders just step ahead of TC Fitzwilliams charging in at 8 yards.
47 min...TC Bustamante 25 yard shot down middle in crowd is low and wide left.
48 min...TC Bozenko Lesina GOAL...Lesina crosses from 15 yards along the end line has goalie Fabian Knezevic palm the ball into his own net. TC Tihomir Maletic was ready to head the ball in from 1 yard on the right post unless the goalie was able to palm it sideways and over the bar.
52 min...City Tafaj rush down middle and taps pass from 15 yards to City Gigolaj who blasts 12 yarder over net.
53 min...TC Lesina pushes ball on left over end line.
54 min...TC Vucemilofic Grgic cross into box on right.
55 min...TC sub...Herrera replaces Lesina.
56 min...TC YELLOW card...Bustamante earns it for stepping on City player sliding at City 50 yard line.
58 min...City player's 30 yard freekick has ball cleared.
59 min...TC YELLOW card...Herrera earns it for a tackle.
60 min...City Samra on rush has three defenders check him off ball and doesn't get away shot.
62 min...TC Maletic blasts 15 yard shot over net from left on clear shot chance.
64 min...TC DeMedina 25 yard freekick from left hits wall and deflects over net.
65 min...TC Bustamante cornerkick from left has defender head through box.
66 min...TC Maletic cornerkick from right is over players in box.
68 min...City sub...Harrington replaces Yo.
71 min...TC sub...Niksic replaces Vucemilofic Grgic.
73 min...TC Arapovic dives back in box to concede cornerkick on City player cross from right.
74 min...City Moraoccia 20 yard shot from right is low and smothered by goalie on right post.
75 min...TC DeMedina 40 yard low shot up middle is wide right.
77 min...TC YELLOW card...DeMedina earns it for knocking away ball after whistle at TC 40 yards.
78 min...City Tomac cross from left has City Beattle not able to turn header.
79 min...City sub...Benjamin replaces Murataj.
80 min...City YELLOW card...Benjamin earns it for tackle tripping TC DeMedina flipping him at City 40 yards.
82 min...TC DeMedina low 22 yard shot from right is saved by goalie.
83 min...TC Maletic gets break on left and goalie makes point blank save at 15 yards.
83 min...TC sub...Kulis replaces DeMedina.
83 min...TC Bustamante cornerkick from left is scuffed by TC Herrera nearest player and defender clears from 6 yard box.
87 min...City Tafaj blasts partial clearance is well over net from 12 yards on left.
88 min...City YELLOW card...Gigolaj earns it for pushing over City players and kicks at him at center line.
90 min...TC Niksic blasts 25 yard shot from right is well over net.
92 min...TC sub...Pesa replaces Maletic.
94 min...TC Bustamante cornerkick from right has defenders clear.
94 min...City Harrington(?) blasts low shot through box wide left from 12 yards after scramble in box.
95 min...TC Bustamante gets TC Herrera's tapped back pass from 12 yards and blasts 20 yarder over net.
95 min...game ends 9:57pm.

Final Score:......Toronto Croatia.........2...........London City...........0.............

Attendance was about 80 on this warm but wet evening. With a crowd that small, most could shelter under the press box. It started to rain hard just after 15 minutes although the area had rain for much of the afternoon already. Since this was field turf, the field was not effected. The rain stopped after about twenty minutes.

Antonio Ilic earned the shutout for Croatia. The team hasn't allowed a goal since a 2-2 tie on July 22nd against Brampton City United. Since then their scores have been 1-0, 1-0, 2-0, and 3-0 against (respectively) York Region Shooters, Brantford Galaxy, Capital City FC, and Mississauga Eagles. Tonight's backline was really only the trio of Sven Arapovic, Halburto Harris, and Ainsley Deer.

London's best chances came at 25 minutes when Elvir Gigolaj from 15 yards tapped the ball right to Younan Samra who blasted a 7 yarder that the goalie pushed wide right of the post. At 52 minutes Eris Tafaj rushed down the middle and tapped a pass from 15 yards to Gigolaj who blasted a 12 yarder over the net. Toronto Croatia's best non-goal chance was at 62 minutes when Tihomir Maletic in the clear on the left blasted a 15 yard shot over the net.

Referee Yusri Rudolf kept the game in check with what I counted as five Yellow cards for Croatia and two for London.

Toronto Croatia completes a perfect weekend as they also won on Friday night against Mississauga Eagles. Their record now improves to 9-2-4 for 31 points and fifth place. They hold three to five games in hand on all the teams ahead of them except first place SC Toronto although they have been the only team to beat SCT all this season. 23 goals for isn't the greatest record but only 9 goals against in 15 games is tied with SCT for the stingiest defence. London's record falls to 1-10-3 and thirteenth in the league.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca

Croatia starters