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Result and details of the Saturday July 31, 2021 League1 Ontario game between North Toronto Nitros and Masters FA
played at Downsview Park in North York at 8:30pm.
Eddy Davire...
North Toronto Nitros (green socks and shirts, black shorts, white names and numbers)
.............................1 Quinn Stahmre
..........13 Andrew Tenai...25 Thomas MacCarone...5 Aleesandro Farigone
17 Daniel Casa (cpt)...6 Noah Pereira...66 Gabriel Mikan...8 Rahbar Khan
.........10 Abul-Azeez Babwale..12 Jaylen Drummond...9 Jstin Santos
Subs:...36 Daniel Delo (gk)...2 Oliver Wales...23 Asher Barnes...27 Aidan Hugo
...28 Matthew Lee...31 Bilal Reslan...32 Evan Jardim...34 Zhith Silva Fonseca...99 Kai Martin
team officials:...team head coach Marko Milanovic...assistant coaches Aloysius Adolf, Billy Wilson,
Crhis Vickers, Justin Bernier, Marc Maunder, Sam Gevaux, and Shawn Sawyers
Masters FA Saints (all white including numbers with a darkening pink blending in on the jersey)
..........................1 Spiridon Koskinas
70 Yasin Shahwan...17 Joe Anderson...6 Eddy Dabire...16 Adam Czerkawski
14 Triston Frankson (cpt)...10 Matthew Groves...11 Osman Hussein...13 Terrell Spencer
....................7 francis Ameyaw...9 Shaquille Agard
Subs:...00 Daniel Buckley (gk)...2 Anthony Wright...3 Justin Robertson...4 Bryson Brown
...8 Samer Hamade...12 Stefan Nikolic...15 George Owusu...19 Amichia Christian Eric Romeo
...20 Jalen Henry
team officials:...team head coach Rick Titus...assistant coach Devon Porter...manager Hubert Groves
Game officials:...referee Filip Dujic...referee's assistants Marko Grubisic and Onurcan Gokkaya
fourth official unknown...(all black uniforms)
First Half:...game starts 8:36pm...NTN defends west end. A misty rain had stopped before the game started
but it would rain harder later and it was windbreaker weather.
1 min...MFA player rolls pass from middle forward and to right and MFA Anderson takes low 15 yard shot has sliding goalie
stop at 6 yards on right side.
4 min...MFA defenders clear 30 yard freekick into box.
5 min...MFA Spencer runs to left end line and cuts in cross that MFA Ameyaw in all alone heads 5 yarder down middle
well over net.
10 min...NTN Babwale eludes sliding tackle at 22 yards and recovers ball on right and has 12 yard shot blocked by sliding goalie.
13 min...MFA YELLOW card...Frankson earns it for tackle on 2 v 1 bteak at 25 yard line.
14 min...NTN Khan blasts 30 yard freekick into wall than chips rebound and NTN Mikan at 8 yards on right heads into left corner
of net but is flagged offside.
18 min...NTN Khan 33 yard freekick up middle is just wide left.
20 min...MFA Groves 25 yard freekick from left is low and sliding defender clears at 10 yards.
23 min...MFA Spencer runs to left end line and cross is partially cleared by defender but MFA can't get away shot.
27 min...NTN goalie dives out to left to smother through ball pass before MFA Groves falls over him at 10 yards.
28 min...NTN Babwale dekes defender wide to try 20 yard shot but other defender blocks shot.
30 min...MFA Agard cross from 25 yards on far left has goalie catch in 6 yard box.
37 min...MFA Agard 30 yard shot from left lands on top of the net just missing the top right corner.
40 min...NTN Justin Santos GOAL...A crowd of players were in the center of the Masters' box but Santos was found open
on the left and shoots 10 yarder into the right corner of the net past goalie Spirodon Koskinas.
40 min...MFA Ameyaw passes from right is through 6 yard box and MFA Hussein can't connect on 3 yarder on left post.
41 min...MFA sub...Owusu replaces Anderson.
43 min...NTN Khan low 25 yarder up middle is smothered by goalie.
46 min...NTN Babwale eludes defender on right but low cross from 20 yards has another defender clear.
47 min...half ends 8:23pm.
Halftime: I receive a warning from Alliance coach Ilya Orlov (Alliance is playing the L1O University League this season).
He said that in a month 90% of these teams are going to lose their best players going back to school. I certainly remember
what happened to his team just before playoff time. They lost a two game series 10-0 and 5-0 with a completely different roster.
Some teams have seen that coming with this season's late start and are playing in the 'Champions League' this season. Maybe next
season they'll be back but with the league having more than 20 teams and more joining each year, I can see this being almost
like promotion and relegation with teams ducking back and forth.
Second Half:...starts 9:38pm.
Halftime sub:...Masters Nikolic replaces Groves.
................NTN Martin replaces Casa.
46 min...Masters Stefan Nikolic GOAL...Nikolic blasts a 28 yard freekick from the slight right and NTN Thomas MacCarone
raises his leg at 5 yards to try to stop shot but tips it into right corner of net.
48 min...Masters Tyrell Spencer GOAL...Masters Stefan Nikolic rushes to the right end line and sends in low cross that
a crowd of Masters forwards, NTN defenders, and NTN goalie Quinn Stahmre all miss on edge of 6 yard box. Charging Spencer
blasts 15 yarder from left into right corner of net.
51 min...NTN Martin 35 yard freekick from right has goalie punch ball away in crowd of players on left edge of 6 yard box.
52 min...Masters Agard is injured near center line and needs trainer.
54 min...NTN goalie is out to 22 yards to chest away ball. Masters Frankson gets ball back at 18 yards on right and rolls shot
under goalie who got a piece of it but defender clears off line.
55 min...Masters sub...Robertson replaces Owusu.
57 min...NTN Santos on rush blasts 25 yarder from slight left well over net.
58 min...NTN sub...Wales replaces Farigone.
59 min...Masters sub...Hamade replaces Frankson. (Czerkawski becomes captain).
61 min...Masters player is injured in center circle and needs trainer.
62 min...Masters sub...Wright replaces Dabire.
65 min...NTN Pereira is injured near center circle and needs trainer.
64 min...NTN Martin on rush runs ball over right end line.
66 min...NTN YELLOW card...Wales earns it for sliding tackle at NTN 12 yard line.
67 min...Masters Nikolic 25 yard freekick from right has defender in crowd of players head ball away at 2 yards.
68 min...Masters sub...Henry replaces Shahwan.
.........Masters sub...Romeo replaces Ameyaw.
.........NTN sub...Reslan replaces Pereira.
70 min...Masters Nikolic rush down middle with defender to beat and taps left to open Masters Spencer and his
low 12 yard blast is stopped by sprawling goalie.
73 min...NTN Khan 28 yard freekick from sharp left is deflected off NTN player at 6 yards and wide left for goalkick.
75 min...NTN sub...Barnes replaces Drummond.
81 min...NTN Khan is injured near center line when he tumbles over sliding Masters player. Masters are awarded the freekick.
86 min...NTN sub...Hugo replaces Khan.
87 min...NTN Santos 25 yard freekick from right is well over net.
88 min...NTN Santos cornerkick from right has collisions in box but referee whistled for a Masters freekick.
90 min...Masters player's long throw in from left is cleared from NTN box.
92 min...NTN Babwale is injured at Masters 50 yard line.
93 min...Masters Nikolic cornerkick from right has players miss ball on left post and ball bounces out for a goalkick.
95 min...NTN Mikan injercepts Masters Nikolic clearance and sends 25 yard blast down middle well over net.
97 min...game ends 10:30pm.
Final Score:...North Toronto Nitros.....1.....Masters FA Saints......2.....
Attendance was about 150 for this return to the league for Nitros. Quite a few travelling supporters. Most people brought an umbrella as it had been raining during the day and there was more to come so that would keep people away. Admission was free tonight. We all had to wear a mask to come get in through the gates. There was a L1O Women's Division game before out game started...they are getting by with only seven teams at their highest level this year. Masters are the defending champions of L1O (last season played was 2019). Tonight head coach Rick Titus looked like a genius when he subbed in midfielder Stefan Nikolic at halftime and he scored one minute after coming on and assisting on the winning goal two minutes after that. Titus answered me after the game that the team is still being assembled and have not had a chance to practice altogether as a team. There were some of the late signings in the stands tonight. Masters were called offside many times in the second half or they may have rolled up the score. I expect they'll have to practice their timing. This wasn't a great night for accuracy. There was a handheld scoreboard but it was facing the players' benches not for us fans. The reason was there is no electricity on the other side of the field. The other side of the field has a scoreboard for Ryerson (a university miles away in downtown Toronto) but land is scarce there so the school comes up here to play. Nitros coach Marko Milanovic says the team has a good relationship with Ryerson and they may be allowed to use their scoreboard for future games. I was interested as the old Nitros had players from the University of Toronto and would start each season at Varsity Stadium (in downtown Toronto) until school started and then were pushed to Esther Shiner Stadium in North York then to this community stadium at Downsview Park (right beside Toronto FC's BMO Training Ground). The U of T players would move on when NTN stopped playing in L1O with a new team, Alliance United which had players from the U of T and Markham FC and Wexford SC and they played at Centennial College in Scarborough (an eastern suburb in Toronto). Scoreboard for me wasn't a must as I have used 'wrist watch' time for years and converted when I got home. Worse things were there was no sound so no announcements of goals and substitutions, the rain that fell made taking notes difficult, the lighting wasn't so good so it was dark to see to the far side of the field and watch the substitution sign being held up. Worse was the hard to see Masters uniforms. All white including numbers with a graduating pink running up to the shoulder is hard enough to see in the daylight but at night it's almost impossible. This will not play well on One Soccer where Masters will get some exposure playing in a qualifying round of the Canadian Championship against York United FC of the CPL.
North Toronto Nitros starters
Masters FA Saints starters
Captains Daniel Casa (17) of NTN and Triston Frankson (14) of Masters at the coin toss.
Masters Matthew Groves (10) takes freekick.
Action deep in Masters end.
Players are ready to start the second half.
Masters Stefan Nikolic (12) lines up freekick.
Post game interview with Masters FA head coach Rick Titus (audio by Rocket Robin)
Post game interview with North Toronto head coach Marko Milanovic (audio by Rocket Robin)
back to 2021 League 1 Ontario Men's index
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