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June 10, 2023...League1 Ontario Sigma FC vs North Mississauga SC game report (by Rocket Robin)
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Sigma FC (blue socks and shirts, black shorts, white numbers)
.....................31 Dino Bontis
12 Kamran Tejumola...3 Santiago Frias...16 Luka Milidragovic...22 Imani Abiud
...........7 Marcus Caldeira...14 Yousef Helmy...20 Nino Nikolovski
..........8 Faisal Ghaffur (cpt)...18 Miles Green...11 Kevaughn Tavernier
Subs:...1 Rimi Olatunji (gk)...2 Daniel Stampatori...5 Kyle Walton...6 Gabriel Goransson
...15 Joshua Miller...17 Evan Dick...19 Jordan Kalonji...21 Domenico Folino...24 Will Curtis
team officials:...team head coach John Zervos...assistant coach Dominic Rajna...manager Justin Stoddart
...therapist Liam MacPherson
North Mississauga SC (red socks and shirts, black shorts, white numbers)
..........................0 Michael Williams
25 Chidiebere Nnolim...4 Saahb Kular...3 Luca Ragagnin...14 Deshawn Palmer-Agyemang
8 Cameryon Stewart...5 Justin Loginov...10 Frank Previte...11 Lee-Victor Massunda (cpt)
..................17 Karamvir Mehmi...21 Anthony Morano
Subs:...1 Omeed Naeemy (gk)...2 Tremayne Julien...6 Marcel Tesolin...7 Dylan Avila
...9 Kyse Majel...12 Marcus Brooks...22 Mateo Caride...26 Luc Coulombe...27 Inder Thind
team officials:...team head coach Amir Riazi...assistant coaches Adrian Field, Peyvand Mossavat, Siamac Kavianpour,
and Volen Parashkevov...manager Connor Mooney...therapist Sherevin Teymoori
Game officials:...referee Marko Grubisic...referee's assistants John O'Hara and Ryan Rodrigues
...fourth official John Leuser...(neon chartreuse socks and shirts, black shorts)
First Half:...game startrs 1:00pm...Sigma defends north end on this hot afternoon with a hazy sun in the south.
3 min...Sigma Nikolovski breaks through into box and rolls ball under goalie to left corner of net but play ruled offside.
6 min...Sigma Nikolovski cornerkick from left to Sigma Ghaffur and back but low cross is cleared from box.
10 min...NM player has shot blocked on edge of box.
11 min...NM Previte 28 yard freekick on right is caught by goalie on left post.
11 min...Sigma Ghaffur is injured at center line and needs trainer.
12 min...Sigma Tavernier run on lefft end line and he eventually pushed ball to goalie as he tries to get around defender.
15 min...Sigma sub...Goransson replaces injured Ghaffur who had not returned to game. Frias becomes captain.
16 min...Sigma Green eludes slide tackle on edge of box and rolls 8 yarder from sharp right wide left of post.
17 min...Sigma Green is tapped pass and his low 12 yard shot from right is stopped point blank by sliding goalie.
18 min...Sigma players work out short cornerkick from right is wasted when it's eventually crossed over box.
19 min...NM Previte cornerkick has defender head away in middle of box.
20 min...Sigma defenders are abble to stop rush on edge of box and turn it into a Sigma fast break.
25 min...Sigma Tejumola is injured at Sigma 20 yard line and needs trainer.
26 min...Sigma sub...Stampatori replaces injured Tejumola.
28 min...MN Nnolim cross from right is caught by goalie after defender had stopped a low cross and then blocks a shot
on edge of 18 yard box in middle.
31 min...Sigma Nikolovski chips cross from 25 yards and NM Ragagnin clears ball from center of box.
32 min...Sigma Nikolovski blasts 28 yarder over net and back fence.
34 min...Sigma defenders clear NM rush into box preventing a shot on net.
36 min...Sigma Green turns and spins 12 yard shot up middle is caught on left post.
37 min...Sigma Miles Green GOAL...Green is tapped a pass and his 20 yard shot from right is into top left corner of net
past goalie Michael Williams.
39 min...NM YELLOW card...Loginov earns it when he jostles Sigma Tavernier on his run on left and Sigma wins freekick.
40 min...Sigma Caldeira on left bends 25 yard freekick around player wall and goalie catches.
41 min...NM Mehmi bends low cross on run up right. NM Previte blasts 10 yarder from left that sliding goalie stops on near post.
42 min...NM Previte cornerkick from left has leaping Sigma Frias head away in crowd of players in 6 yard box.
44 min...NM Morano gets around Sigma Frias at 40 yards on left and 20 yards hot from sharp left is smothered by goalie
on near post.
46 min...NM Massunda cross from 20 yards on right is chested down and cleared at 15 yards in middle of box.
48 min...half ends 1:48pm.
Halftime: Only the Sigma subs stay out and warm up.
Second Half:...starts 2:06pm.
47 min...Sigma YELLOW card...Stampatori earns it for upending NM player breaking out at NM 35 yard line.
48 min...NM YELLOW card...Nnolim earns it for tripping Sigma Tavernier rushing to NM 40 yard line on left sideline.
49 min...NM Morano fed break away at 40 yards on left and 20 yard low shot has diving goalie save on right post.
51 min...Sigma Tavernier pass from 40 yards on left downfield. Sigma Green hooks midair shot over goalie on one-touch
but wide left from 18 yards.
53 min...Sigma Stampatori eludes defenders with dribbling but sliding shot blocked. Sigma Green rescues ball on right side
of box and chips back to Sigma Palmer-Agyemang 22 yard shot down middle is caught by goalie.
57 min...Sigma goalie is out to 20 yards to clear through ball.
58 min...Sigma Green cuts along 20 yard line from right and in middle blasts shot well high wide left of net.
59 min...Sigma goalie is out again to dribble ball around charging NM Morano and clears on right side of box.
61 min...Sigma Caldeira is finally stopped in box on 1 v 4 run in middle at 15 yards.
62 min...Sigma goalie catches 33 yard chip on right into center of box.
63 min...North Missississauga Lee-Victor Massunda GOAL...Massunda receives pass from NM Deshawn Palmer-Agyemang
from 65 yards has Massunda at 50 yards elude Sigma Santiago Frias for run down left and he rolls 22 yard shot from left
catching inside right corner of net.
65 min...NM sub...Tesolin replaces Loginov.
..........NM sub...Thind replaces Previte.
66 min...Sigma Miles Green blast a 22 yard freekick that hits what looked like to me a head in the NM player wall.
Referee Marko Grubisic rules that it was actually a hand ball and awards Sigma a Penalty kick.
..........North Mississauga RED card Chideibere Nnolim...earns his second Yellow card of the game (his first was
at 47 minutes) for being the guilty player.
68 min...Sigma Marcus Caldeira GOAL...Caldeira rolls his Penalty kick to the left corner of the net beyond the diving
goalie who'd already dived left.
............NM YELLOW card...Head coach Amir Riazi earns it for complaining against all the hand ball PK calls (5-0) against
his team.
70 min...Sigma YELLOW card...Santiago Frias pulls down a NM player in the Sigma box and NM are awarded a Penalty kick.
72 min...North Mississauga Cameryon Stewart GOAL...Stewart rolls his Penalty kick to right side of net as goalie
Dino Bontis slides to left.
73 min...Sigma YELLOW card...Goransson earns it for arm tug on NM Kular at NM 45 yard line.
75 min...NM sub...Avila replaces Morano.
75 min...Sigma Frias chips ball from 65 yards on right finds Sigma Caldeira on bounce and behind defenders and rolls shot
past goalie out who's out to 15 yards but it rolls wide right of the post.
76 min...Sigma sub...Curtis replaces Tavernier.
78 min...NM sub...Brooks replaces Stewart.
80 min...Sigma Stampatori low ross from right edge of box and is picked up by goalie.
81 min...Sigma Caldeira can't deke third challenger while running along left end line.
82 min...Sigma Green 25 yard freekick from slight right low and around player wall and bounces to goalie.
84 min...Sigma sub...Folino replaces Nikolovski.
..........Sigma sub...Dick replaces Abiud.
86 min...Sigma Curtis centers pass along 25 yard line and Sigma Goransson low 25 yard shot is saved by diving goalie.
87 min...Sigma Caldeira is pushed pass by falling player and his 20 yard shot is wide right.
88 min...Sigma Curtis has pass reach him at 10 yards in open but shoots over net.
89 min...Sigma Gorannsson cornerkick from right is headed back from left but Sigma players can't get away shot.
89 min...Sigma Gorannsson chips 25 yarder from right that goalie catches surviving bump but is injured.
90 min...Sigma Caldeira is checked off ball after run into box.
92 min...Sigma YELLOW card...Dick for dissent waiting for long NM freekick.
93 min...Sigma Dick 28 yard freekick from left has NM player heads away. Sigma Dick recross is called offside in crowd
of players in box.
94 min...Sigma Stampatori cross from right has goalie leap and punch ball away.
95 min...Sigma Goransson cornerkick from right has defender on near post head away.
96 min...game ends 2:57pm.
Final Score:...Sigma FC........2......North Mississauga SC........2.......
Attendance grew as the game went on and topped out at about 100 near the end on this hot afternoon with a hazy sun (not smokey at all unlike earlier in the week with forest fire stench in the air). Sun block on exposed skin would have been recommended. This was the first game (and goal) of the season for Miles Green who co-led L1O last season with 23 while playing with Hamilton United Elite (Massimo Ferrin was the other leader on Vaughan Azzurri and this season is with CPL HFX Wanderers). Anthony Morano looked great for North Mississauga as a forward breaking in with his speed. I saw him just last night as a short term signing for CPL York United FC. He didn't get into the game as York was hanging on for a win against Atletico Ottawa. York are last in the U-21 minutes requirement for their league so I'm sure they'd have been happy for a 16 year old to check that column. N Miss goalie Michael Williams is also 16 and played well. The North Miss lineup roster sheet today only had three players not born in the 21st century! Oh so appropriate! N Miss head coach Amir Riazi yelled out after Sigma was awarded the Penalty kick that his team was 0-5 in calls for Pks and then he was awarded with their own two minutes later. Referee Marko Grubisic gave out eight Yellow cards that I counted (four to Sigma) including one to the N Miss head coach. He had to start within two minutes of the Sigma first goal and couldn't stop as the play of both teams just got rougher. Sigma lost two of their starters in the first 26 minutes because of injury so it could be said that it started rough right from kickoff. I asked a Sigma team official when I didn't see Emery Welshman on today's game roster and confirmed he's away in Guyana preparing for the Gold Cup. Sigma could have gone to the top of the table with a win this first game of the day. N Miss were playing the final shorthanded from 66 minutes. The result improves the Sigma record to 5 wins, 1 loss, 3 ties for 18 points and show as second in the standings now that all Saturday's results are in. Over the years with them, they usually start off fast out of the gate but when it's August many players say “Well thanks coach, I'm off to University of Syracuse or University of Akron Zips etc” and the team has to bring in their high school age players when it's playoff time. North Mississauga's record improves to 2 wins, 4 losses, 3 ties for 9 points and are fifteenth in the standings. Some think a Top 12 placing is possible....yes for 2023; BUT the Top 12 is decided by a weighted averaging of 2022 results as well so going into the season prospects looked bleak. I'm not sure why this game was moved to Paramount Fine Foods Fields instead of the original Tim Hortons Field before the CPL Forge FC vs Pacific FC game. Sigma has an obvious historical link with Forge but I'm all for it to catch what might have been the deciding Credit River Cup game. Last year's reverse fixture on Friday June 24th was a 3-1 win for North Mississauga at their then new home of the Mattamy Centre (then known as Churchill Meadows). **This game was part of the Credit River Cup...a four team tourney which counts the regular season games against each other of the participants to win a fan commissioned trophy awarded to the 'best team in the Credit River area (ie Mississauga and Brampton). The tourney relies on the schedule makers. Today was expected to be the coronation of Sigma FC who had won their first two games of the series against Pro Stars FC (Brampton) and Simcoe Country Rovers (Barrie yeah a long story to explain). This was the first game of this year's CRC for North Mississauga. The result means both teams earn a point. Sigma has 7 but have finished their games. Rovers have 3 points but have already played two games, Pro Stars have 0 points and have also played two games. North Mississauga sits third right now but have two more games against the teams that can't catch Sigma. Tough route for NM as in the overall standings those other three teams are definitely expected to be Top 12. It could be the last season for North Mississauga to win their second CRC (their first was in 2019, the inaugural edition) as they are expected to be left behind when League1 Ontario splits into a Top 12 Premier Division leaving North Miss in the second tier with the other three expected to be at the top. I saw no representatives from the CRC here today. I brought my CRC scarf and L1O Game of the Week commentator Pierce Lang pushed the CRC narrative hard during his broadcast after the two of us talked about it pregame. Rocket Robin
North Mississauga SC head coach Amir Riazi
My interview with North Mississauga SC head coach Amir Riazi (21 minutes 10 seconds)
Note: this interview was conducted the day after the game.
Sigma FC starters
North Mississauga SC starters
North Mississauga Anthony Morano (21) takes opening kickoff.
Sigma goalie Michael Williams leaps to catch.
Sigma Imani Abiud (22) takes freekick.
Sigma Miles Green (18) takes second half kickoff.
Simga Faisal Ghaffur (8) dribbles etween defenders.
ball popped up
Sigma Marcus Caldeira (7) rolls in Penalty kick to left side.
North Mississauga Cameryon Stewart (8) will score on this Penalty kick.
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