August 7, 2021 League1 Ontario Men's Premier--Sigma FC vs Blue Devils FC game report (by Rocket Robin)

..........................

Sigma FC (white socks and numbers, black shorts, blue shirts)

......................31 Christopher Kalongo
16 Klaidi Cela...5 Kyle Walton (cpt)...15 Aaron D'Souza
6 Faisal Ghaffur...12 Mateo Marques...10 Mohamed Alshakman...22 Maina Ngobia
.......19 Robert Cleary...11 Kai Garvey...17 Kadell Thomas

Subs:...1 Carter Osborne (gk)...2 Samuel Valentine...3 Nicholas Correa...4 Santiago Frias
...9 Jason Squeo...18 Amir Shirazi...20 Charlie Anagho-Ntamark...21 Gregory Moulopoulos
team officials:...team head coach John Zervos...assistant coaches David Igreja and Philip Opassinis
...therapist Liam MacPherson

Blue Devils (navy socks, shorts, and numbers, white shirts)

...................1 Lucas Birnstingle
18 Carlo Difeo...4 Matt Monteiro...6 Victor Gallo (cpt)...3 Luka Frankovich
7 Matt Santos...24 Marcus Channer...17 Brandon Durarte...8 Emmanuel Issac
...........12 Cyrus Rollocks...16 Khody Ellis

Subs:...26 Manuel Dirube (gk)...10 Dre Neptune...11 Jesse Bibby...13 Frank Previte
...15 Ben Cates...21 Guramol Pabla...22 Tristan Gayle...25 Leaford Allen
team officials:...team head coach Duncan Wilde...assistant coaches Billy Steele, Brett Mosen, and Glenn McNamara
...manager Kim Ashton...therapist Mark Heathcote

Game officials:...referee John Leuser...referee's assistants Nivan Raizada and Onurcan Gokkaya
...fourth official not listed...(neon Yellow shirts, black shorts and socks)

First Half:...game starts 1:08pm. Sigma defends north end on this hot and overcast afternoon.
3 min...BD Issac has to leave game because of bloody face says referee ordering him off until it's treated.
5 min...BD Rollocks 12 yard low shot from left has goalie slide on near post and deflect wide left.
5 min...Sigma goalie catches BD Difeo cornerkick from left on near post.
7 min...Sigma Ghaffur chips 25 yarder from right between players in box and goalie catches.
9 min...BD Ellis run on right and sharp angle low shot from 15 yards stopped by goalie sliding forward. BD Rollocks
has 15 yard rebound in middle blocked by defender.
12 min...BD Difeo cornerkick from left is well over players in box and out for goalkick.
13 min...Sigma YELLOW card...Cleary earns it for kicking ball after being called offside.
15 min...BD Issac cornerkick from left is just over leaping players in box.
16 min...BD Issac blasts 25 yard loose ball down middle high and wide right of top corner of net.
18 min...Sigma Thomas long run on left and high cross is over players in box.
19 min...Sigma goalie picks up through ball pass just a step ahead of charging BD Rollocks.
20 min...there's raindrops starting to fall.
21 min...Sigma Alshakman 20 yard shot between players up middle is caught by goalie on right side.
25 min...BD Gallo trips up Sigma Alshakman on left side of box but no call is made.
26 min...now it's raining hard.
27 min...A water break is called in the rain.
29 min...game resumes.
33 min...BD Difeo low cross from right near end line and diving goalie pushes ball across box and charging BD Ellis
blasts 15 yarder from left well over net and wide right.
34 min...Blue Devils Matt Santos GOAL...Santos bumps Sigma Kyle Walton off the ball just inside the left side
of box and takes low 12 yard shot from left into the right side of the net over sprawling goalie Christopher Kalongo.
37 min...BD Rollocks cross from right has defender head out of box.
38 min...BD Channer chips cross from 30 yards has sliding BD Rollocks not able to redirect on left endline.
40 min...BD Issac 30 yard bouncer from slight left bounces wide right of net.
41 min...BD Duarte low cross after run to right corner flag is batted down and grabbed by goalie.
46 min...BD Difeo cross from right is into box has Sigma Walton clear.
48 min...half ends. It's stopped raining!

Second Half:...starts 2:11pm.
49 min...BD Issac squeezes between two defender on run up left and 12 yard shot is batted down by goalie and picked up.
50 min...BD Rollocks blasts 12 yarder from left tha goalie stops on short side post.
52 min...BD Issac cornerkick from left has Sigma Walton duck in crosd of players and head ball out right side of box.
54 min...Sigma Alshakman cornerkick from right has deffender head away in 6 yard box.
55 min...BD Rollocks fed through ball pass and 20 yard shot is well over net.
59 min...Sigma Klaidi Cela GOAL...Sigma Kyle Walton takes 25 yard freekick from near the right cornerflag.
Cela charges to 5 yards on left post and heads ball into center of net just under bar beating goalie Lucas Birnstingle.
61 min...Sigma sub...Squeo replaces Cleary.
63 min...BD Issac bends 20 yard shot through players wide right of goal.
64 min...BD Ellis cross from left end lien has goalie outjump BD Rollocks for ball as they crash together.
65 min...Sigma sub...Frias replaces Marques.
67 min...Sigma YELLOW card...Walton earns it for dissent.
69 min...Sigma Walton 25 yard freekick is bent into right back post behind net.
70 min...BD sub...Allen replaces Santos.
71 min...BD Allen on left rolls 22 yard shot around defender and goalie runs right to smother ahead of BD Rollocks.
74 min...BD YELLOW card...*Either Channer or Difeo earned it for something. I didn't notice when the other player earned
his card.
74 min...A water break is called. This must have been scheduled at the start of the match because the temperature had dropped
from 29C to 19C.
76 min...Sigma sub...Castello replaces Garvey.
...........Sigma sub...Shirazi replaces Alshakman.
76 min...game restarts.
78 min...Sigma Walton 40 yard freekick from left has defender head away.
78 min...Sigma Shirazi cross from right has BD Difeo head away wide left of box.
79 min...Sigma player's cornerkick from left has goalie punch ball upward and ball is cleared.
81 min...Sigma Thomas 25 yard cross from might deflects on bounce for goalie to grab.
82 min...BD sub...Previte replaces Channer.
84 min...Blue Devils RED card...Victor Gallo earns ejection from referee John Leuser for dissent. He was complaning
about how slow injured Sigma Kadell Thomas was in leaving the field. (This may have been his second Yellow card
but it was hard to tell some of the cards given out in the heavy rain falling earlier).
85 min...Sigma sub...Anagho-Ntamark replaces injured Thomas.
87 min...BD sub...Gayle replaces Rollocks.
88 min...Sigma Anagho-Ntamark rolls ball forward up middle for Sigma Shirazi to roll 15 yarder to goalie in center of net.
90 min...Sigma sub...Valentine replaces D'Souza.
92 min...BD Issac cornerkick from left has defender on near side clear.
93 min...BD goalie beats Sigma player to through ball bouncer.
95 min...Sigma Walton heads away BD Previte cross from left into box.
97 min...game ends 3:03pm.

Final Score:....Sigma FC.........1........Blue Devils FC.....1.......

There won't be a video record of this game as while the camera operator was protected by his recently purchased umbrella,
the camera at the top of the pole of his equipment was frazzled by the hard rain. Not only couldn't he film from the 30 minute
mark but I expect he lost anything he filmed up to that point.

CPL team Forge FC have a relationship with Sigma FC as this is where about 1/3 of their team came from to start Forge in 2019.
I noticed two players for Forge came back to Sigma this early season. Forge's first ever goal scorer Kadell Thomas was a starter
and defender Klaidi Cela were both starters today. Thomas scored what most fans think was the CPL Goal of the Year in 2020 in the
Island Games when he deked about five guys along the end line and scored. I'm sure both guys are playing their way back on to the
2021 Forge roster.

Just like last night (this stadium doubles as the home of North Mississauga) there was no electrical power so no scoreboard
nor PA system.

Post game interview with Blue Devils FC head coach Duncan Wilde (audio by Rocket Robin)
My questions: What did you think of today's game?
What was the overall reason for the rebrand and the relationships with other clubs?
How did you acquire these L1O experienced players from other teams?
What was it like briefly coaching (as a fill-in) the Toronto Lady Lynx team for some time in the 2014 season?
(asked because five former Lady Lynx players just won the gold medal at the Olympics yesterday playing for Canada)

Post game interview with Sigma FC head coach John Zervos (audio by Rocket Robin)
My questions: How did you feel about today's game?
What are you doing this year when your college kids are leaving?
How will you cope playing in the Credit River Cup with October matches?
How proud are you of your three guys playing so well for Canada in the Gold Cup?
How does it work with you picking back up players that played with CPL Forge FC?

Sigma FC starters