2007-01-30: Friday Night Game Reports

Match 1: Team A vs. Team B

In a very close game, Team A beat Team B by a score of 3-1. The Blues put up a much improved performance, closing down the opposition quickly and denying them space in the middle. In fact, the Blues started by far the strongest, peppering the goal with shots and forcing a couple of great saves from Antoine Lagarec. At the half, the scores were tied at 0-0.

It was Marc-Antony Viscosi who opened the scoring for the Blues ten minutes into the second half, turning brilliantly in the box and finishing in the top corner. After such a tight start to the game, it was probably no surprise that Team A would bounce right back. In fact the main surprise was the scorer: Dom Rochon, having beaten three men, finally decided to shoot, and finished with some aplomb in the bottom corner. Soon after, Jorge Gutierrez took advantage of a little confusion in the positioning of a defensive wall to fire in a low shot that left Lagarec unsighted and gave the Reds the lead.

The Blues stepped up the ante and forced the Reds onto the back foot. Alan Farant lobbed a shot onto the crossbar, with Dan Cheney unable to turn the rebound into the unguarded net. Steve Kowlessar continued a superb performance, forcing a exceptional save from Szwarek late in the game. Yet it was Team A that wrapped things up close to the end, Eddie Sebrango combining well with Basil Phillips to score Team A's third goal.

Final Score: Team A 3, Team B 1

Match 2: Team C vs. Team D

The second game was also a close affair, with Team C winning out 5-4, despite some excellent pressure and an outstanding comeback from Marc Labrom's Whites. The form book may have shown the Greens to be firm favourites, but it was Team D that started the stronger. Dudek and Sebrango combined well at the start to leave the Polish midfielder unmarked at the far post, but Dan couldn't finish from Sebrango's excellent pass. Soon after Team C took the lead when youngster Alan Morgan combined brilliantly with Frank Zegers to open the score. Soon after, Tyler Wallace made a great save from Sanjeev Parmar, as Team C started to exert more pressure and began to dominate the game. On 19 minutes, Parmar let fire with a trademark 25 yard shot that went straight into the top corner, and this was followed by a clinical finish from Sam McHugh just before half. There was just time for Roberto Gutierrez to hit the crossbar from 90 centimetres out before half time.

Team D came out strongly in the second half, with Cloutier forcing an excellent save from Morgan Kenny. Mapendere replied for the Greens, turning Labrom and firing a shot against the post. Igor Pietchenko pulled a goal back for the Whites, following an excellent combination between Cloutier and Sebrango. Parmar added a fourth for Team C from close range and then Sebrango made it 4-2 with a good finish. Cloutier narrowed the margin of the score with a fantastic strike from long range, and then Sebrango completed the comeback with a fine goal on the counter attack.

Then with referee Rochon finding injury time from somewhere, Sanjeev Parma popped up to score the winning goal with a viciously curving shot into the top corner.

Final Score: Team C 5, Team D 4