Friday August 22nd, 2008

Coming into Friday night’s game the Italia Shooters knew that a win over division rivals Toronto Croatia would put the Vaughan team 10 points ahead of them in the standings. The last time these two teams met the Shooters won a thriller in front of a hostile Croatian crowd, scoring two goals in the last four minutes of the game. With the game being played at the Croatians home venue, The Shooters knew that winning this game would prove to be a difficult challenge. The game began at a slow pace, as both teams respected each others ability to score, and realized that an early mistake could prove costly. The Shooters first opportunity came in the 13^th minute as they were awarded a free-kick just outside of the Croatian penalty box. The ensuing free-kick was driven into the home team’s penalty area and forced the Croatian keeper to make a great save, although he could not control the rebound. With the goalie on the ground, Shooter forward Kedian Leckie gathered the ball quickly and tapped in the games first goal. The early lead quieted the home crowd and took away the home team’s advantage. With this huge swing in momentum the Shooters used it to their advantage and took control of the game. In the 20^th minute the Shooters pressured paid-off, as Leckie broke threw the Croatian backline and scored his second of the match. Down two goals, the Croatians tried to weather the storm and were happy to end the first half without surrendering anymore goals.

Sunday August 24th, 2008

The Shooters came into their home game Sunday with the outright lead in the CSL standings, and five points ahead today’s opponent second place Serbian White Eagles. The last meeting between these two sides saw the Shooters win an extremely physical encounter 2-1, with one red card and nine yellows given. With a win the Shooters would be eight points ahead of the White Eagles in the international division standings. A win would prove to be difficult, as the Shooters had 7 starters out of the line-up, including leading goal scorer Frank Jonke.

The game got off to a quick pace, as both teams tried to take control of the game early on. The majority of the opening 15 minutes was a battle for midfield superiority, limiting any goal scoring opportunities for either side. At the 18^th minute mark the White Eagles were awarded a seemingly harmless free-kick from about 30 yards out. The resultant kick was driven over the Shooters penalty area and appeared to be headed out of bounds, when out of now where a Serbian player threw himself into the air and knocked in the games first goal. With the early lead the White Eagles speed of play began to slow, and the away team was satisfied at sitting back and absorbing any pressure. The White Eagles lack of play allowed the Shooters to enjoy the lion’s share of possession, and began to bombard the White Eagles goal with shots. After several missed scoring opportunities, Shooters winger Doug Sereti finally scored a deserved equalizer for the home team in the 39^th minute. Sereti took a perfectly placed through-ball from midfielder Murphy Wiredu and easily manoeuvred past the Serbian keeper and knocked in the equalizing goal.