May 25, 2013 CSL--Toronto Croatia vs London City (by Rocket Robin)

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Results and details of the Sunday May 25, 2013 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
7 Halburto Harris...4 Sven Arapovic...3 Josip Keran...15 Ainsley Deer
5 Roberto Galle...19 Petar Mingon...22 Bujamic Mladen...8 Hayden Fitzwilliams
...............9 Kresimir Prgomet...10 Tihomir Maletic (cpt)

Subs:...1 Sergio Moralo (gk)...11 Boris Tomac (mid)...16 Josip Strkalj (def)...18 Blazej Skoczylas (fwd)...20 David Alva (mid) ...21 Daniel Niksic (mid)
team officials:...head coach Miodrag Akmadzic...assistant coach Velimir Crljan...manager Ivan Kulis...assistant manager Perica Arapovic ...physio Amanda Liddle

London City (all black, white numbers)

........................1 Vladimir Markotic
17 Justin Marques...10 Zvonko Bakula...11 Branislav Vukomanovic...38 Adam Magier
13 Gent Miftari...15 Nenad Begovic (cpt)...8 Harris Fazlagic...3 Brent Anderson
...............9 Aldin Kukic...30 Younan Samra

Subs:...12 Jovan Stefan Brudiu (gk)...7 Zovko Markian (mid)...16 Klaas Stoker (def)...23 Jasmin Halkic Jr (mid)...28 Brandon Barbosa (fwd)
team officials:...manager Jasmin Halkic

Game officials:...referee Benjamin Jacobs...referee's assistants Allison Enright and Marc Henoud...fourth official Armando Pereira ...(neon yellow shirts, black shorts and socks)

1st Half:...game starts 8:04pm...TC defends south end on this mild evening with a bright sun in the north west for the first half and a wind from the north.
3 min...City goalie dives forward to catch ball before TC Prgomet can get to it at 8 yards.
7 min...TC Maletic 40 yard freekick from right has defenders clear on left side of box. TC Keran blasts partiallly cleared ball low and wide left from 30 yards.
13 min...TC Deer high cross from left is over City box.
15 min...City Kukic is injured at City 45 yards on check.
18 min...City Begovic 45 yard freekick chip that bounces wide left of net.
22 min...City Magier gets back to check TC Maletic off ball after his run up middle.
27 min...City Kukic recovers TC pass (as "handball" shouts ring out) at 30 yards and chips goalie at 8 yards but hits bar and the ball stays out of net.
28 min...City goalie charges forward to clear ball from TC Prgomet.
30 min...TC Deer run on left and pass is centered for charging TC Prgomet to one-touch blast 10 yard shot just wide left of post.
30 min...TC Mingon 35 yard chip over crowd of players caught under bar by goalie.
33 min...City Begovic 40 yard freekick from right has charging City Kukic on left at 8 yards shoot wide right but the offside flag was up.
34 min...TC Fitzwilliams cross from near left end line is just a step ahead of charging TC Maletic.
35 min...TC Maletic cornerkick from right is just over players in box.
36 min...City Begovic 30 yard freekick blast has leaping goalie palm ball over net.
37 min...City Begovic cornerkick from left is just over players in box.
37 min...TC Prgomet charge on right and 25 yard blast has goalie palm ball up and defender clears out of box.
38 min...City Begovic cornerkick from right has City player head in crowd of players at 10 yards not quite able to fully tip header so ball flies wide left of net for goalkick.
43 min...TC Mladen rushes up left and rolls ball ahead to TC Deer who threads pass up middle and TC Maletic is fed through ball to 15 yards and rolls 8 yard shot wide left of net.
44 min...City Nenad Begovic GOAL...City Aldin Kukic from 25 yards on righht rolls pass to 15 yards on left and Begovic rolls in 12 yard shot into right side of net past goalie Antonio Ilic.
46 min...half ends 8:50pm.

2nd Half:...starts 9:06pm.
46 min...TC Maletic 32 yard freekick from right has defender head away on edge of box behind wall of players.
49 min...TC Maletic rushes down left and shoots around City Vukomanovic from 18 yards that's wide left of goal.
53 min...TC Deer is fed pass from middle and he races down left and blasts 15 yard shot well over net from sharp angle.
54 min...TC Fitzwilliams rush down left and rolls cross and TC Maletic whiffs on kick from 7 yards.
54 min...TC players have two blasts blocked on edge of City box.
55 min...TC sub...Alva replaces Galle.
57 min...TC YELLOW card...Fitzwilliams earns it for check on City player at TC 40 yard line.
57 min...City Begovic 45 yard freekick blast from right is caught by goalie.
58 min...TC Keran 35 yard blast down middle over players and wide right of net.
59 min...TC Deer is given ball up left but falls as he tries to roll cross to middle at 15 yards on left near end line.
59 min...TC Alva 28 yard roller is wide right of net.
63 min...TC Maletic rolls through ball pass from 35 yards on right to TC Prgomet who's in alone and instead of shooting, rolls ball forward on pass attempt to left over end line.
65 min...Croatia Tihomir Maletic GOAL...TC Hayden Fitzwilliams on left is given pass and he sends low cross from 15 yards to Maletic who shoots low 5 yarder from middle to right side of net.
66 min...TC Maletic and LC Begovic get a talking to rather than cards by referee on multi player pushing near center circle.
67 min...City Kukic hits right post on quick shot when TC Fitzwilliams loses ball. City Fazlagic then has shot blocked on 10 yard rebound.
69 min...Croatia Kresimir Prgomet GOAL...Prgomet rolls in 15 yarder up middle into right corner of empty net as goalie Vladimir Markotic was just outside the 18 yard box.
73 min...TC Maletic rush up middle and ends with 7 yard shot that's tipped wide right of net by sliding defender.
73 min...TC Maletic cornerkick from right is over players in box.
74 min...TC Prgomet cornerkick from left is over players in box.
75 min...Croatia Bujamic Mladen GOAL...TC Tihomir Maletic pass from 22 yards on right has Mladen bend in 15 yard shot down middle to left corner of net.
78 min...TC sub...Strkalj replaces Mladen.
80 min...City sub...Halkic replaces Fazlagic.
.........TC sub...Niksic replaces Prgomet.
83 min...City sub...Stoker replaces Bakula.
84 min...Croatia RED card...Daniel Niksic.
.........City RED card...Younan Samra.
Both earn direct ejections from referee Benjamin Jacobs for pushing incident on City end line in melee of players.
85 min...City Begovic 40 yard freekick from right has defender on left roll away ball between three City players on left post.
86 min...City sub...Brudiu replaces Markotic team switches goalie.
87 min...City Begovic cornerkick on left wins cornerkick on right as ball knocked over right end line.
87 min...City Begovic cornerkick from right is low and fast breakout by defender.
89 min...City sub...#5 replaces someone although only one not used on the roster listed as #28 Brandon Barbosa.
.........City sub...Markian replaces someone.
89 min...City goalie beats TC Alva to slide and smother through ball.
90 min...TC Maletic holds on and cuts 22 yard shot down middle just wide right of net after cutting in from right.
93 min...Croatia Ainsley Deer GOAL...TC David Alva passes forward from 30 yards down middle for Deer at 15 yards to round substitute goalie Jovan Stefan Brudiu at 10 yards and shoot from right to left side of empty net.
94:24 min...game ends 9:55pm.

Final Score:.....Toronto Croatia......4......London City........1...........

Attendance was about 100 on this mild night with the sun still out for the first half.

City replaced their goalie at 86 minutes and he let in the last goal.

Toronto Croatia introduced two new players to their lineup tonight. Both forward Kresimir Prgomet (from NK Istra 1961 club in Croatia) and Bujamic Mladen (couldn't find which Croatian team he was with) scored in their debuts.

Croatia were missing early chances and Maletic had just missed scoring at 43 minutes and City ran it up field and took the early lead drawing groans from the fans. Croatia never gave up and kept trying and found their timing in the last half hour to pull away.

Croatia's second goal fitted the definition of a delayed call. The goalie was caught out and Prgomet rolled the ball into the empty net. Many thought it would be a hand ball outside the box. The referee first consulted with the assistant in that end and gave the goalie a Yellow card. Then after another conference with the same assistant a goal, not an ejection and not a Penalty call was awarded. That brought big cheers from the fans who'd been upset the three minutes or so it took to sort this play out.

Best non-scoring chances were at 3 minutes when the City goalie dived forward at 8 yards to catch the ball before TC Kresimir Prgomet could get to it. 27 minutes had City Aldin Kukic recover a TC pass with TC players and fans calling for a hand ball at 30 yards and from their chipped the goalie at 8 yards but his shot hit the bar and stayed out. 30 minutes had TC Ainsley Deer run on the left and center a pass for charging TC Pregomet to one-touch a 10 yard blast just wide left of the post. 36 minutes had City Nenad Begovic take a 30 yard freekick blast that the leaping goalie palmed over the net. The next minute had TC Prgomet charge on the right and his 25 yard blast had the goalie palm the ball up and a defender cleared from the box. 43 minutes had TC Bujamic Mladen rush up the left and roll a ball ahead to TC Deer who threaded a through ball pass to TC Tihomir Maletic at 15 yards and he rolled an 8 yard shot wide left of the post. City than took the ball upfield and scored.

2nd Half had at 54 minutes TC Hayden Fitzwilliams rush down the left and roll a cross that TC Maletic whiffed on a kick at 7 yards. 63 minutes had TC Maletic roll a through ball pass from 35 yards on right to TC Prgomet in alone and instead of shooting from 20 yards he passed forward to left but the charging TC Fitzwilliams was just a few steps behind it and the ball rolled out for a City goalkick. A pushing incident broke out at 66 minutes between about six players from each team near the center circle and the referee broke it up and gave out no cards maybe foreshadowing what would happen later. 67 minutes had City Kukic hit the right post on a quick shot when TC Fitzwilliams lost the ball in the TC box. 73 minutes had TC Maletic rush up the middle but ended when his 7 yard shot was tipped wide right by a sliding defender who'd retreated to catch him.

Croatia improves their record to 2-0-0 (not first place but they've played two less games than Kingston FC (who they beat in their first game). London's record falls to 2 ties and 1 loss in 3 games.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca

Toronto Croatia starters