September 30, 2011 CSL--Serbian White Eagles vs London City (by Rocket Robin)

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Result of the Friday September 30, 2011 CSL game between Serbian White Eagles and London City played at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke at 8:00pm.

Serbian White Eagles (all white, red numbers)

....................1 Stefan Avramovic
18 Andre Orlando...5 Ricardo Manguia Perez...4 Mark Jankovic...3 Milos Vucinic
.............7 Kirie Dimitrov...8 Darryl Gomez...15 Milan Rakic
.............6 Mirko Medic...99 Sasa Viciknez (cpt)...11 Milos Scepanovic

Subs:...12 Goran Velimipovic (gk)...13 Sasa Vukoje (fwd)...14 Aleksandar Milkovic (mid)...15 Winston Crozier (def)...20 Marko Miketic (mid) ...27 Nino Velimirovic (def)
team officials:...assistant coach Uros Stamatovic...physio Karolina Bujak

London City (all black, white numbers)

....................33 Fabian Knezevic
23 Christopher Harrington...14 Ermal Murataj...2 Erald Pope...17 Justin Marques
7 Ramaz Al-Hebish...8 Gentjan Drvishi...6 Thomas Beattie...11 Eris Tafaj
................20 Genti Buzali...10 Michael Marcoccia (cpt)

Subs:...1 Scott Chalmers (gk)...21 Scott Mueller (gk)...5 Sean Alden (mid)...15 Younan Samra (fwd)...16 Micah Wohlgeschaffen (mid)
team officials:...head coach Luka Shaqiri...manager Ryan Gauss...medical staff Nathalie Gagnon-Wease

Team officials:...referee Mack Meloche...referee's assistants Steve Senderovich and Joe Piancente...fourth official Michael Anthony Izzo ...(neon yellow shirts, black shorts and socks)

1st Half:...game starts 8:08pm...SWE defends north end on this cold night with a hard raining hard.
45 sec...LC Tafaj cornerkick from left is rolled to LC Dervishi who crosses from 22 yards that's headed away.
2 mins...LC Marcoccia rush to ball up left at 45 yards and slides ball by charging ogalie at 30 yards and sliding LC Tafaj at 12 yards can't connect to open net.
3 min...SWE Scepanovic 25 yard low shot from left is pushed wide right by diving goalie.
3 min...SWE Scepanovic cornerkick from right is caught by goalie.
4 min...SWE Scepanovic taps ball forward at 15 yards and SWE Medic whiffs on 6 yard shot on right.
5 min...SWE Dimitrov cross from25 yards on right has goalie beat charging SWE Gomez to ball.
7 min...SWE Dimitrov cross from 15 yard near right end line has SWE Medic head ball wide right from 5 yards.
8 min...SWE Gomez 30 yard low shot up middle has goalie smother.
10 min...SWE Viciknez in middle at 30 yards rolls pass left and SWE Scepanovic blasts 22 yard shot from left just wide right of net.
14 min...SWE Milan Rakic GOAL...SWE Kirie Dimitrov crosses over from 15 yards on right and SWE Milos Scepanovic whiffs on 10 yard shot but Rakic standing beside him on left shoots 10 yarder into right corner of net beyond goalie Fabian Knezevic.
15 min...LC Beattie rolls 30 yard shot down middle wide left of net.
16 min...LC Tafaj rush down left and passes to LC Al-Hebish on right has 8 yard shot that's stopped by flying goalie.
17 min...SWE Dimitrov gets rebound of own shot from 15 yards at 10 yards on right end line and blasts shot that's deflected behind net by sprawling goalie on right post.
20 min...LC Tafaj cornerkick from left is cleared from box.
22 min...LC Beattie pops up 30 yard freekick from right on header at 12 yards on left and SWE goalie catches.
23 min...SWE Scepanovic 30 yard freekick low from right is directly to goalie who punches ball away.
25 min...SWE Dimitrov cross from 25 yards on right has SWE Medic chest down in box but can't get away good shot from 8 yards.
26 min...LC Dervishi is injured at center line.
28 min...LC sub...Samra replaces injured Dervishi before play resumes.
29 min...SWE goalie beats LC Marcoccia to grab bouncer at 15 yards when defender had slipped.
35 min...SWE Dimitrov 25 yard low cross from right has LC Pope clear.
35 min...SWE Medic cross from 15 yards near right end line wins cornerkick.
35 min...SWE Viciknez cornerkick from right has defender head ball through box wide left of post.
36 min...SWE Gomez cornerkick from left has SWE Dimitrov nod down header at 10 yards in box but ball is cleared.
37 min...SWE Scepanovic cross on rush from 30 yards on left has SWE Medic nod header down middle from 10 yards wide right of net.
38 min...LC sub...Alden replaces Al-Hebish.
39 min...SWE Scepanovic cross from 22 yards on far left has LC Pope kick cledarance.
41 min...SWE Dimitrov rescues ball before it crosses end line and crosses but SWE player's shot is blocked from 12 yards.
42 min...SWE Viciknez cornerkick from left is headed across box and SWE Gomez recovers partial clearance and shoots 15 yarder that's deflected over net.
42 min...SWE Viciknez cornerkick from right has defender head ball wide left for another cornerkick.
43 min...SWE player's cornerkick from left has ball knocked around in box but eventually cleared.
46 min...half ends 8:49pm.

2nd Half:...starts 9:03pm...it's finally stopped raining.
47 min...SWE Dimitrov cross from right has SWE player at 15 yards head ball high on pop and up and SWE Medic bicycle kicks ball from 8 yards that's caught by goalie.
48 min...LC Genti Buzali GOAL...Buzali gets pass from Eris Tafaj on left and blasts 30 yard shot down middle just under bar over the hands of goalie Stefan Avramovic.
50 min...SWE Scepanovic 32 yard freekick from left is short for SWE Gomez but his shot is blocked on edge of box.
51 min...LC Marcoccia is injured at center line falling away from box.
54 min...LC sub...Wohlgeschaffen replaces injured Marcoccia who had not returned to the playing field.
55 min...LC Tafaj rush on left crosses (and is injured on this effort) that is over goalie and LC Beattie shoots 4 yarder on right post and wins cornerkick of goalie.
56 min...LC Harrington low cornerkick from right is partially cleared and LC Buzali shoots low 25 yarder up middle through crowd of players just wide right of post.
60 min...SWE Vucinic cross from 30 yards on left to SWE Medic who spins at 12 yards and shoots up middle that sprawling goalie deflects wide right of post.
61 min...SWE Viciknez cornerkick from right has SWE Scepanovic low shot from 15 yards deflects wide right of post for cornerkick.
61 min...SWE Viciknez cornerkick from right is over players in box.
62 min...LC YELLOW card...Harrington earns it for tackle at LC 32 yards.
65 min...LC Samra rush to through ball bouncer and shoots 20 yarder down middle wide right.
.........SWE YELLOW card...Manguia Perez earns it for bumping LC Samra when he took shot.
67 min...LC Eris Tafaj GOAL...Tafaj takes 22 yard freekick from right that's bent into left corner of net beyond flying goalie.
68 min...SWE Scepanovic cross from right after short cornerkick is over box.
72 min...SWE Scepanovic turns and blasts 20 yarder up middle that flying goalie knocks down but fumbles ball over line for cornerkick on left.
73 min...LC Samra 30 yard shot from right near sideline is caught by goalie.
74 min...SWE Rakic 25 yard shot up middle is stopped by goalie.
75 min...SWE Gomez chips 35 yarder from right bounces through box ahead of charging SWE forward.
77 min...SWE YELLOW card...Orlando earns it for tackle at SWE 30 yard sideline.
78 min...SWE Medic in box taps back to SWE Rakic for shot.
79 min...SWE YELLOW card...Jankovic earned for holding at LC 40 yards.
79 min...LC Samra rolls cross from 18 yards near right end line and goalie dives to save and fumble but recovers.
81 min...SWE sub...Velimirovic replaces Vucinic.
81 min...SWE Viciknez blasts 30 yard freekick from right well high and wide left.
83 min...SWE Rakic flicks header down middle from 8 yards that's hits defender's shoulder. He can't win Penalty kick call on cross from right by SWE Medic.
85 min...SWE Dimitrov 15 yard shot from right wins cornerkick on deflection.
85 min...SWE player's cornerkick from right whistled down for pushing in box.
88 min...LC Buzali pass to LC Samra whose low 15 yard shot saved by diving goalie wide right of net.
90 min...SWE Scepanovic gets partial clearance and shoots into box.
91 min...LC sub...Mueller (a backup goalie) replaces limping Tafaj and plays an outfield position.
91 min...SWE player's cornerkick from right has falling SWE head wide left from 12 yards.
92 min...SWE Viciknez 22 yard shot from right is blocked and SWE Dimitrov shanks skyball from 22 yards on left is high and wide right.
95 min...SWE Manguia Perez throw-in from right is whistled down on edge of box.
95.20 min...game ends 9:53pm.

Final Score:.....Serbian White Eagles..........1...............London City...........2..........

Attendance was about 40 on this cold night with a rain that began hours before the game but stopped by the start of the second half to be replaced by a bitter strong north wind. Maybe not a coincidence therefore that all goals were scored in the south end. There were so few fans they could shelter under the shadow of the press box.

This was a huge upset as London are just playing out their string while White Eagles are a playoff team trying to advance another spot or two up the standings to have an easier first round draw.

The first half was mostly played in midfield or the London end. After the first goal, I was expecting an SWE onslaught and they would pull away. City always had a dangerous counter attack. White Eagles were playing without star striker and captain Alex Braletic who is injured. They were using all-star defender Mirko Medic as their central striker and had Sasa Viciknez play the entire ninety minutes as an attacking midfielder. City had to sub out midfielder Gentjan Dervishi at only 26 minutes because of an injury so brought in Younan Samra.

Referee Mack Meloche gave out a few Yellow cards during nearing the end of the game mostly against SWE. Most important turned out to be the call that resulted in the winning freekick as Younan Samra rushed to a through ball bounced down the middle and shot a 20 yarder wide right of the net but the referee's assistant waved his flag and after consulting with him Meloche gave a Yellow card to SWE defender Ricardo Manguia Perez for jostling him off his run so Samra partially flubbed his shot.

Best non scoring chances were at 2 minutes when LC Michael Marcoccia rushed to the ball up the left at 45 yards and slid the ball by the charging goalie at 30 yards and a sliding LC Eris Tafaj at 12 yards couldn't connect to the open net. 7 minutes had SWE Kirie Dimitrov cross from 15 yards near the right end line and SWE Mirko Medic head the ball wide right from 5 yards. 16 minutes had LC Tafaj rush down the left and pass to LC Ramaz Al-Hebish on right who had his 8 yard shot stopped by the flying goalie. 25 minutes had Dimitrov cross from 25 yards on the right and Medic chest the ball down in the box but not get away a good shot from 8 yards. 37 minutes had SWE Milos Scepanovic cross on a rush from 30 yards on the left and Medic nod a header down the middle from 10 yards wide right. 42 minutes had Viciknez's cornerkick from the left headed across the box and SWE Darryl Gomez recovered the partial clearance and his 15 yard shot was deflected over the net for a cornerkick. Second half 47 minute had Dimitrov cross from the right and a SWE player at 15 yards head a high pop up and Medic get away a bicycle kick from 8 yards between two defenders that the goalie caught. (The next minute, City scored their first goal). 55 minutes had Tafaj rush on the left and crosses (he was injured on this play) that was over the goalie and LC Thomas Beattie shot a 4 yarder from near the right post and wins a cornerkick when the goalie deflects it wide. The resulting cornerkick taken by LC Christopher Harrington was low and partially cleared and LC Genti Buzali shot a low 25 yarder though the crowd of players just wide right of the post. 60 minutes had SWE Milos Vucinic cross from 30 yards on the left to Medic who spun at 12 yards and shot up the middle that the sprawling goalie deflected wide right. 72 minutes had Scepanovic turn and blast a 20 yarder up the middle that the flying goalie knocked down but fumbled over the end line for a cornerkick. 83 minutes had SWE Milan Rakic flick a header down the middle from 8 yards that hit a defender's shoulder but he couldn't win a Penalty kick call. A full five minutes of injury time was played so SWE couldn't complain about any time wasting.

This result is not a confidence booster for White Eagles. The first part of the season they had trouble scoring but got a few 1-0 results to climb near the top. If it's the cold weather that bothered them, there will certainly be more of that for any night games played in the coming month.

White Eagles stay in fourth place with a 12-6-7 record but could be passed by three teams. They have make-up game on Sunday away to Windsor Stars. London City stays in twelfth with a 5-17-3 record with a make-up home game against TFC Academy sometime in the next few weeks. Since neither team can make the playoffs, the game will not have to be squeezed into the next half week.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca

White Eagles starters