July 23, 2023 League1 Ontario...Scrosoppi FC vs Sigma FC game report (by Rocket Robin)

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

Result and details of the Sunday July 23, 2023 League1 Ontario Men's Premier Division game between
Scrosoppi FC and Sigma FC played at the Ontario Soccer Centre in Vaughan at 9:00pm.

Scrosoppi FC (all black uniforms, white numbers)

....................1 Andreas Vaikla
...........6 Victor Gallo (cpt)...12 Luke Rankin...3 Luka Frankovich
21 Alexander Zis...15 Anthony Stolar...36 Danny Medeiros...4 Joshua Parades
...........2 Carlo Difeo...8 Tomasz Skublak...99 Taha Ilyass

Subs:...22 Stanislaw Skublak (gk)...9 Mauro Lulli...10 Nikolas Blaskovic...19 Sebastian Lopez
...20 Jace Foster...23 Santiago Ubate...24 Ethan Raulino...27 Ajmal Tesilimi
...66 Baryal Khan
team officials:...team head coach John Yacou...assistant coach Luis Domingos...manager Shayne Griffin
...therapist Michael Wong
Suspended: Manveer Gill (player)

Sigma FC (all white uniforms, blue numbers and shoulders)

......................31 Dino Bontis
24 Daniel Firek...2 Kamran Tejumola...5 Kyule Walton (cpt)...4 Oyegunie Oluwageun
..........8 Evan Dick...14 Yousef Helmy...9 Mile Green
..........17 Ryan Kheedo...7 Marcus Caldeira...11 Hilli Goldhar

Subs:...1 Rimi Olatunji (gk)...3 Simon Guardiero...12 Luc Finelli...18 Hoce Massunda
...19 Ivan Nikolic...20 Nino Niolovski...22 Imani Abiud...23 Kadell Thomas
team officials:...assistant coaches Arlick Ntabana and Dominc Rajna...manager Arlick Ntabana
...therapist Leo Iizuka
Suspended: John Zervos (team official)

Game officials:...referee Ryan Schwenger...referee's assistants Twayne Anderson and Ghassen Touati
...fourth official Melvin Christopher...(red socks and shirts, black shorts)

First Half:...game starts 9:02pm...Scrosoppi defends north end on this mild and damp evening with the setting sun behind the clouds.
15 sec...Scr Skublak has 8 yard rebound shot blocked after goalie dived to stop a low 12 yard shot from the right but gave up
the rebound.
3 min...Sigma Miles Green GOAL...Sigma Marcus Caldeira on run down middle has defender block his progress at 15 yards
but he taps ball left to Green who rolls 10 yarder on left under diving goalie Andreas Vaikla to center of net.
5 min...Scr Stolar flicks pass from 20 yards to Scr Skublak who catches it off his face and ball deflects forward to goalie.
12 min...Scr Zis cornerkick from right has leaping Scr Frankovich head 10 yarder in middle wide left of net.
14 min...Sigma defender blocks shot from 20 yards.
14 min...Sigma Helmy falls on his own trying to cut in to Scr box.
16 min...Scr player blasts 22 yard shot from right high and wide left getting to ball off defender heading ball down.
17 min...Scr Skublak gets through ball pass to set up 2 on 1.
18 min...Sigma Kheedo runs down middle and shoots 20 yarder wide right.
20 min...Scr player's cornerkick from right has Scr Ilyass in middle flick header out left side of box.
23 min...Scr sub...Khan replaces Rankin.
24 min...Sigma goalie is injured in box saving Scr Skublak run to 8 yards. Sigma players start fast breakout
until stopped on edge of Scr box.
24 min...Sigma goalie needs trainer. Players use this time to take a water break.
27 min...play resumes.
28 min...Scr Khan makes key clearance inside Scr box to break up Sigma play.
29 min...Sigma Marcus Caldeira GOAL...Caldeira rush down slight right and low 20 yard shot has goalie stop on near post
but give up rebound. Caldeira beats defender to ball at 8 yards and roofs shot from right into top left corner over
still kneeling goalie.
31 min...Scr Skublak flicks short cross that Scr Ilyass heads 6 yarder to left and flying goalie catches on top left corner.
33 min...Sigma Kheedo cornerkick from left has goalie leap to catch in crowd of players.
34 min...Scr Stolar 45 yard chip from right is just a step ahead of charging Scr Skublak on left post.
36 min...Scr Medeiros is injured in center circle by Sigma Goldhar tackle.
37 min...Scr Medeiros low 15 yard shot is blocked by sliding Sigma Walton.
38 min...Scr YELLOW card...Khan earns it for jersey tug on Sigma Caldeira at Scr 45 yard line.
40 min...Scrosoppi Tomasz Skublak GOAL...Scr Joshua Parades short pass from left to Skublak who shoots 8 yarder
between legs of defender and ball deflects off defender then hitting ground and bounces over sprawling goalie Dino Bontis
into right side of net.
41 min...Sigma Goldhar 15 yarder from left is over crowd of players and high wide right.
42 min...Sigma goalie catches ball near right post on cross from 20 yards on far right.
45 min...Sigma Goldhar is injured at Sigma 40 yard line.
46 min...Scr Frankovich crosses 25 yarder from left that leaping goalie catches but draws quick whistle when bumped
by two Scr players at 6 yards.
49 min...Scr Medeiros runs to bouncer but goalie grabs it at 8 yards beating this through ball pass.
50 min...Scr player's freekick from right on right wins cornerkick on left from defender's header.
51 min...Scr Zis cornerkick from left has defender in rowd of players flick header out and to right.
51 min...half ends 9:53pm.

Halftime: Both teams subs warm up. Only the Sigma starters return to their dressing room.

Second Half:...starts 10:13pm.
halftime sub:...Sigma Massunda replaces Goldhar.
46 min...Scr Parades 40 yard chip has Scr Ilyass on left has 6 yard shot blocked by defender. A teammates rebound is also stopped.
48 min...Scrosoppi Alexander Zis GOAL...Scr Tomasz Skublak rush down right after being set up by partial deflection
and sends high cross past Sigma Kyle Walton. Zis gets to ball and blasts 20 yarder from left into top right corner of net.
49 min...Scr Zis takes short cornerkick from right downfield but ball never gets crossed into box.
50 min...Scr Skublak draws freekick on tackle near left edge of box.
51 min...Scr Zis 25 yard freekick hits head in player wall and deflects wide left.
51 min...Scr Zis cornerkick from left is stopped.
52 min...Scr Skublak can't win Penalty kick on pull down by Sigma Walton rather too easily.
53 min...Scr YELLOW card...Ilyass earns it for pulling down Sigma Green on center lilne near right sideline on run.
55 min...Scr Ilyass and Scr Skublak break on 2 on 1 after long clearance but Skublak is offside at 20 yards.
57 min...Sigma Green chips pass on center has Sigma Massunda receive at 12 yards look to pass and shoots over net when
he takes it himself.
58 min...Scr Skublak has guy jump on his back to make clearance but Scr win cornerkick on Scr Ilyass cross from right.
59 min...Scr Zis cornerkick from right has Scr Ilyass heads 10 yarder down middle just over bar.
61 min...Sigma Kheedo makes great run on left cutting into box.
61 min...Scr Zis cornerkick from left has goalie catch.
62 min...Scr YELLOW card...Parades earns it for tackle on Sigma Caldeira running in at Scr 15 yard line wide of box.
63 min...Sigma goalie out to 35 yards to beat Scr Skublak to through ball in middle.
65 min...Sigma YELLOW card...Dick earns it on delayed call for tackle way upfield before Scr win cornerkick.
66 min...Scr Zis cornerkick from right has ball cleared.
66 min...Scr sub...Lulli replaces Medeiros.
67 min...Sigma goalie grabs loose ball at 5 yards before Scr Skublak can make play.
68 min...Sigma Kheedo low 22 yard shot down middle has goalie smother on dive to left post.
69 min...Scr Zis cross from 22 yards on far right has Skublak head ball just wide from 8 yards on slight left.
71 min...Sigma sub...Nikolovski replaces Firek.
71 min...Sigma Green low 35 yard freekick is stopped.
72 min...Scr Skublak low cross from 25 yards on right has Scr Lulli duck and head 5 yarder into right but is called offside.
73 min...Scr Difeo wins cornerkick on low shot near right end line.
73 min...Scrosoppi Tomasz Skublak GOAL...Scr Alexander Zis crosses from 20 yards on right near end line has Skublak
head 6 yarder forward into left side of net.
74 min...Sigma sub...Finelli replaces Dick.
75 min...Scr Skublak low 30 yarder between players wide right.
78 min...Sigma Nikolovski cornerkick from right has Scr Skublak head away on near post. Sigma player's eventual cross
from left is called offside in 6 yard box.
79 min...Scr Stolar takes hard 22 yard roller from right has goalie stop and crawl forward to pick up rebound.
80 min...Sigma Green is injured at Sigma 45 yard line.
81 min...Sigma sub...Thomas replaces Helmy.
84 min...Sigma YELLOW card...Nikolovski earns it for tackle on Scr Difeo at Sigma 40 yard line.
84 min...Scr Parades is injured at Scr 10 yard line away from play.
86 min...Scr Parades long 40 yard chip has defender leap for clearance header but ball goes off his arm.
88 min...Scr Lulli throw-in on right near cornerflag after stalling around for 'lost ball' to timewaste.
88 min...Sigma sub...Nikolic replaces Tejumola.
89 min...Scr Zis cornerkick from left is short to waste time and they win throw-in.
90 min...Scr sub...Raulino replaces Zis.
94 min...Scr goalie makes save but pushes ball off right post and defenders clear. Sigma win cornerkick.
94 min...Scr goalie is treated for injury. Scr Khan wastes time by having a water bottle on the field.
95 min...Sigma Goldhar low 20 yard shot is saved by goalie on left side of goal.
96 min...Scr Lulli and Scr Skublak have a great effort wasting time on throw-in near right cornerflag winning another.
96 min...game ends 11:04pm.

Final Score:....Scrosoppi FC.......3.......Sigma FC........2..........

Attendance had climbed to a peak of about 90 by halftime but some left after that. This game had a 9:00pm start, ending at 11:04pm. Today the Ontario Soccer Centre was hosting finals of the Milk Up Ontario Cup title. The U-21 Men's final had just ended by 8:00pm with Kleinburg Nobleton SC beating Oriental SC Cambridge 3-2 and teams were being presented with their gold and silver medals.

Hosting games at Ontario Soccer Centre 38 km away from your home field in Milton which is undergoing renovations this season and having to start this late ensures there are no ball kids. Once two balls are kicked over the fence into the poorly lit deep weeds on the other side there's problems with a ball having to be sent in from the fourth official's table after the ball behind the net has disappeared. There are only ever five official game balls. This is frustrating to the visiting team week after week. Scrosoppi have become experts at killing off their games with short cornerkicks and throw-ins near the corner flags and just tapping the ball around. An injury-time injury to the Scrosoppi goaltender was extended even further when play had to be held up when Baryal Khan pointed out to the referee that he still was holding a water bottle at the 25 yard line in the center of the field watching the goalie being treated and there's a rule about not throwing bottles.

This was a great comeback win from Scrosoppi who I don't recall being behind before in any of their wins. They had an hour to make a comeback from the two goal deficit.

Wow another two goal performance for Tomasz Skublak. I saw him score two goals against Simcoe County Rovers just last Saturday. He brings his league leading total to 17 for the season, a three goal lead on Blue Devils FC Adam Czerkawski. Amazing with the team's concentration on defence (only 14 goals against which is one behind Electric City) that rushes often start with a long ball and him on a 1 v 6 rush and yet he can bounce off defenders before taking a shot or passing to a teammate following up. He almost had another two goals by headers tonight.

I watched the game from the sheltered 'treehouse' at midfield. There had been a thunderstorm in the afternoon in my neighbourhood and predictions of more to come which would be another reason for the low attendance. I was able to hear all the coaching from the sidelines. Sigma were getting by without suspended head coach John Zervos and co-manager Justin Stoddart who was a late scratch from the game sheet. Giving sideline commands was one of their assistant coaches Dominic Rajna. John Yacao was giving instructions for Scrosoppi. I had to look it up on Google but maybe only the movie 'The Wolf on Wall Street' dropped more F-bombs than those two tonight. These guys are not going to coach your eight year old but for men it gets their players fired up.

Referee Ryan Schwenger (yes I just saw him last night ref the L1O North Toronto Nitros vs Alliance United game) gave out five Yellow cards (three to Scrosoppi) all for hard tackle or shirt tugging. Once again he was explaining to the coaches and players why he was making calls. No F-bombs were directed his way.

The win improves Scrosoppi's record to 13 wins, 2 losses, 0 ties for 39 points. That keeps them in first place and helps open a gap on the pack chasing them with quite a few stumbling this weekend.

The league has been tracking the teams clinching their top 12 status for the 2024 Premier Division (first tier)/Championship (second tier) split over the last month or two but with only thirteen teams seriously close enough to qualify, they should soon be concentrating on their 2023 playoffs with the top six qualifying and the winner representing League1 Ontario in next year's Canadian Championship.

Scrosoppi now has a nine point lead on the sixth place team and have not quite clinched. Next race is to finish in the top four for a home game and the top two to earn a bye into the semi-final and a home game. If Scrosoppi makes the final, which over the years has always been played at the Ontario Soccer Centre, they will have an advantage with their home games already being here.

Sigma's record falls to 7 wins, 5 losses, and 3 ties for 24 points. They are currently in tenth place, six points out of the playoffs. Things usually get tougher for them from this time of year as they have players leaving the squad to rejoin their NCAA university teams. They have veteran defender Kyle Walton stabilizing their defence (he's usually listed as an assistant coach working in their academy). Veteran forward Kadell Thomas is with the team. He played for CPL Forge FC as recently as last season and started this year with L1O North Mississauga. I expect he's hoping for a call up. He only came in as a sub at 81 minutes. I didn't come across any Forge players dropping down to Sigma, their affiliated club, on tonight's roster to gain playing time.

Rocket Robin
robin.glover.1958@gmail.com
twitter @RocketRobin01

Scrosoppi FC starters