Report: Ottawa Royals 2, Rockers 0

Royals beat Rockers to seal second spot in OCSL
September 6, 2007

Ottawa Royals finished their season in some style, turning in a solid performance to defeat high-flying Rockers United 2-0 at Maple Leaf, leapfrogging them in the process to seal second place in the standings.

Sylvain Clouthier scored twice late in the encounter to give the home side the points, after an entertaining and competitive match. Jeff Dennis turned in an excellent performance, setting up Clouthier’s first goal and excelling in the second half.

The match marked the Royals’ third straight shut out and the team has scored ten unanswered goals in the process.

A final flurry on the injury and unavailability list meant an experimental line up in part, with Dom Rochon sufficiently recovered from injury to play 90 minutes. Frank Dicaria donned the goalkeeping gloves, with Frank Zegers, Kevin Sheehan and James MacMillan in the back three. Dimitri Koutras started out right, with Ewan Lyttle in the defensive midfield role, Rochon partnered by Matt D’Angelo in an offensive midfield unit, and Jeff Dennis out left. Up front, Sylvain Clouthier and Ryan Devereaux were the two principle target men.

The game started as it carried on for much of the first half; both sides cancelling each other out and creating the occasional good chance that was either just wide or forced a good save from the keeper. Nonetheless, there was a pleasing flow to the game and it was played in a good spirit and was generally very competitive.

The Royals first good chance came on 22 minutes. Koutras played a good ball into to Ryan Devereaux, who cut in from the right and fired a thunderous shot at Romero in the Rockers goal. Romero could only parry the ball away, but recovered sufficiently to grasp it at the second chance.

The visitors were quick to respond and on 27 minutes, the excellent Jamar Dixon hit the outside of Dicaria’s post from an acute angle.

The Royals defended well in numbers, and despite the occasional fright, closed the Rockers down quickly and snuffed out any danger.

In the second half though, the tempo of the Royals’ game changed and the home side took control of the match. With Clouthier moved to right midfield and D’Angelo up front, the Royals had more purpose and vigour about their game, and fed both Clouthier and Dennis on numerous occasions.

On 50 minutes, Dicaria’s long clearance was controlled by D’Angelo, who swivelled and released Devereaux with one move. Devereaux was unable to keep his shot down and it flew inches over the crossbar.

The Royals forced a series of corners and Devereaux made space for another effort on 56 minutes.

The only surprise about the opening goal was that it took so long to come. On 84 minutes, Jeff Dennis received the ball on the left-hand side of the box and looped in a centre for Clouthier, who had made an angled run from the right. Timing his movement to perfection, Clouthier met the ball on the 6-yard box and powered it past the helpless Romero with his head.

On 90 minutes, Matt D’Angelo was upended in the box and the Royals were awarded a penalty. With Steve Kowlessar absent, Clouthier stepped up and thrashed it past the helpless keeper to make it 2-0 for the home team.

It was an excellent second-half performance from the Royals, who stepped up to the plate when faced with one of the stronger teams in the OCSL. Let’s not forget that the Rockers had already beaten both the Royals and St. Anthony’s this season – and this was only their second defeat of the season – so this was a very good win against an up-and-coming young side.

Jeff Dennis shaded Sylvain Clouthier for man-of-the-match, with Kevin Sheehan receiving an honourable mention.

Man of the Match: 3 points – Jeff Dennis, 2 points – Sylvain Clouthier, 1 point – Kevin Sheehan

Statistics
Ottawa Royals
1-Frank Dicaria; 8-Frank Zegers (20-Ewan Lyttle, 70), 18-Kevin Sheehan, 3-James MacMillan; 20-Ewan Lyttle (9-Dan Deganutti, 30), 11-Dom Rochon, 12-Matt D’Angelo (21-Dimitri Koutras, 87), 13-Jeff Dennis, 21-Dimitri Koutras (5-Alan Morgan, 30); 7-Sylvain Clouthier, 19-Ryan Devereaux


Yellow Cards: none

Goals: Sylvain Clouthier (84 mins, 90 mins penalty)

Rockers United
1-Jose Romero, 3-Phil Janzen, 21-Jessie Bergins, 15-Newton Carnegie, 6-Michael Daguilh, 14-Justin Dasah, 10-Jamar Dixon, 20-Dakin Drake, 16-Andrew Latty, 18-Donald MacGregor, 9-Alan Nkasham, 8-Phil Amahazion, 7-Huffman Eja-Tabe, 22-Kingsley Cunningham, 2-Julian Rodriguez, 13-Belance Ricardo, 19-Etienne Feno, 5-Geoff Shitanda, 4-Chris Callander, 17-Philippe Savary

Yellow Cards: none

Goals: none

Season Tally:
Goals: Devereaux, 16; D’Angelo, 12; Boyle 8; Clouthier, 7; Koutras, J. Gutierrez, Kowlessar 5; MacMillan 4; Ntwari 3; Brooks, Cheney 1

Assists: Boyle, Brooks, 10; Deganutti, 5; , D’Angelo, Koutras, Kowlessar, Rochon 4; Clouthier, Dennis, J. Gutierrez, 3;, Devereaux, Donnard, Ntwari, 2; Lyttle, Morgan 1

Report: Lions de Hull 0, Ottawa Royals 4

Royals tame Lions in second straight shutout
August 30, 2007

Ottawa Royals won its third straight league game last night, recording its second straight shut out and defeating OCSL opponents by 4-0 for the second week in a row. Dimitri Koutras scored two well-taken goals, and Matt D’Angelo and Sylvain Clouthier scored the others, as the Royals dominated their Quebec opponents.

There was a distinct end-of-season feel to the game at Du Plateau, and despite their reduced numbers, the visitors were still able to field a strong side. Frank Dicaria returned in goal, and Frank Zegers, James MacMillan and Kevin Sheehan lined up in defence. In midfield, Dimitri Koutras played right and Thierry Ntwari left, with Alan Morgan getting his first start in central midfield along side Ewan Lyttle and Jeff Dennis. Matt D’Angelo and Ryan Devereaux teamed up together in attack.

The Royals pretty much dominated proceedings from the outset and opened the scoring early through an excellent goal from Dimitri Koutras. Ryan Devereaux worked well initially to get the ball to Jeff Dennis, whose fine through ball freed Koutras on the right. Koutras cut into the penalty area and let go an unstoppable shot, which cannoned in off the far post.

On 15 minutes, Matt D’Angelo doubled the score, taking advantage of Alan Morgan’s pass to calmly beat the keeper and score from 20 yards.

The game had a pleasing ebb and flow to it with the Royals doing just enough to keep the home side at bay and create chances of their own.

In the second half, the Royals had a lot more pep about their game and on 49 minutes, Sylvain Clouthier made the score 3-0. Clouthier took an eternity before rounding the keeper, but his finish was clinical.

On 81 minutes, the Royals scored their fourth thanks to Dimitri Koutras. Koutras latched onto a pass from Boyle and smashed the ball through the legs of the onrushing keeper Bignal.

All in all, it was good performance from the Royals, who have now scored twelve goals in their last three games.

Man of the Match: 3 points – Kevin Sheehan, 2 points – Dimitri Koutras, 1 point – Alan Morgan

Statistics
Ottawa Royals
1-Frank Dicaria; 8-Frank Zegers, 11-Kevin Sheehan, 3-James MacMillan; 21-Dimitri Koutras (19-Ryan Devereaux, 55 mins), 18-Ewan Lyttle, 13-Jeff Dennis (17-Richard Boyle, 22 mins), 5-Alan Morgan, 4-Thierry Ntwari (13-Jeff Dennis, 36 mins); 19-Ryan Devereaux (14-Matt D’Angelo, 36 mins, 21-Dimitri Koutras 66 mins), 14-Matt D’Angelo (7-Sylvain Clouthier, 22 mins)

Yellow Cards: none

Goals: Dimitri Koutras (4, 86 mins), Matt D'Angelo (15 mins), Sylvain Clouthier (49 mins)

Lions de Hull
1-Marc Bugras; 2-Thomas Binye, 3-Martin Lambert, 17-Mohammed Diarra, 16-Henri-Joel Anniré, 16-Mohamed Haj, 12-Moise Momkouro, 4-Ismael Domibra, 15-Dona Selega, 11-Garba Sanda, 14-Sébastien Babineau, 13-Hésham Daher, 8-Hassan-Zarry Konate

Yellow Cards: none

Goals: none

Season Tally:
Goals: Devereaux, 16; D’Angelo, 12; Boyle 8; Clouthier, Koutras, J. Gutierrez, Kowlessar 5; MacMillan 4; Ntwari 3; Brooks, Cheney 1

Assists: Boyle, Brooks, 10; Deganutti, 5; , D’Angelo, Koutras, Kowlessar, Rochon 4; Clouthier, J. Gutierrez, 3; Dennis, Devereaux, Donnard, Ntwari, 2; Lyttle, Morgan 1

Report: Ottawa Royals 4, Capital United 0

Royals cruise past Capital United to 4-0 victory
August 23, 2007

Ottawa Royals won their second straight match on Thursday, comfortably beating Capital United by a score of 4-0. Ryan Devereaux added to his growing reputation as one of the league’s finest finishers with two well-executed goals, while James MacMillan and Dan Cheney each scored one.

With Ewan Lyttle unable to start with a recurrence of his hamstring strain and Frank Dicaria not match fit, Michael Adams named striker Sylvain Clouthier in goal, with call up Kevin Sheehan at central defence, alongside Frank Zegers and Dan Deganutti. Thierry Ntwari started at right midfield, Jeff Dennis on the left, and James MacMillan, Jorge Gutierrez and Dimitri Koutras down the spine. Canadian University star Matt D’Angelo partnered the Halifax hit-man upfront.

The Royals opened the score early in the game, when on 5 minutes, Devereaux judged the wet conditions to perfections. Standing over a free kick some 20 yards out, Devereaux thumped a skidder along the ground, which Shaienks-Desrochers was unable to keep out.

On 10 minutes, Gutierrez came close to doubling the score with a blistering shot from well outside the box that just missed the upright by inches.

The Royals were dominating the encounter, passing the ball around comfortably in midfield and not allowing the visitors to settle on the ball. On 25 minutes, MacMillan got his name on the scoreboard following some fine work by Ntwari on the right. Ntwari collected a ball deep in the box and pulled it back to MacMillan who slotted home with aplomb.

The Royals maintained their pressure and Devereaux and Di Angelo both looked threatening from set pieces and open play.

The second half was a much chippier encounter with Capital United obviously sitting and seething about having to play a game this late in the season during the interval.

But the Royals were a match for anything that Capital United threw at them. On 62 minutes, Di Angelo fed Devereaux with an excellent through ball. Devereaux advanced into the box, rounded Wasslen in the visitors goal with ease and slotted in the Royals third goal of the evening.

The visitors were brighter in the second half, playing several of their Carleton players. Dovi had a good chance on 67 minutes, but blazed high over the bar.

On 78 minutes, Cheney finished off the scoring when his electric change of pace left all the defenders for dead. Racing into the box, he blasted the ball past Wasslen into the top corner of the net.

The game finished early because of bad light, which was the only decision the referee got right on the evening.


Man of the Match: 3 points – Ryan Devereaux, 2 points – Kevin Sheehan, 1 point – Dan Cheney

Statistics
Ottawa Royals
1- Sylvain Clouthier; 8-Frank Zegers, 11-Kevin Sheehan, 9-Dan Deganutti; 14-Jorge Gutierrez, 3-James MacMillan, 4-Thierry Ntwari (12-Dan Cheney, 46 mins), 21-Dimitri Koutras (5-Alan Morgan, 30 mins), 13-Jeff Dennis; 23-Ryan Devereaux, 14-Matt D’Angelo (21-Dimitri Koutras, 75 mins)

Yellow Cards: Dan Deganutti

Goals: Ryan Devereaux (5, 62 mins), James MacMillan (25 mins), Dan Cheney (78 mins)

Capital United
1-Nicholas Shaienks-Desrochers (1-Karl Wasslen, 46 mins), 46-Ahmad Berjawi, 17-Matthew Glendenning, 7-Julien Holdrinet, 2-Christophe Perrault, 4-Nick Sonsini, 8-Mohamed Nabil Fidou, 16-George Anthony El Asmar, 18-Alex Dovi, 15-Amedeo Falsetto

Yellow Cards: none

Goals: none

Season Tally:
Goals: Devereaux, 16; D’Angelo, 11; Boyle 8; J. Gutierrez, Kowlessar 5; Clouthier, MacMillan 4; Koutras, Ntwari 3; Brooks, Cheney 1

Assists: Brooks, 10; Boyle, Deganutti, 5; Koutras, Kowlessar, Rochon 4; Clouthier, D’Angelo, J. Gutierrez, 3; Devereaux, Donnard, Ntwari, 2; Dennis, Lyttle, 1

2007 Ottawa Cup Winners

Report: Nepean Hotspurs 3, Ottawa Royals 4

Royals win the Ottawa Cup with defiant display
August 19, 2007

A Ryan Devereaux hattrick paved the way for the Ottawa Royals to win the Ottawa Cup on Sunday, defeating a brave Nepean Hotspurs side at the last and helping the Blues come back from a two-goal deficit.

The Royals were struggling to field a starting eleven at the beginning of the match, but could at least count on Antoine Lagarec in the nets, restoring Sylvain Clouthier to his striker’s role after his heroics in Thursday’s game against the Rockers.

With Alan Farant, Dom Rochon, Thierry Ntwari and Dimitri Koutras all playing injured, until Richard Boyle’s arrival ten minutes before kick off, the Royals had eleven players. Boyle’s arrival was timely, because within 90 seconds of the start, Rochon’s injury flared up again and he had to leave the field.

The Royals started brightly and Dimitri Koutras, playing out right, had the first opportunity to score on 4 minutes, following some good work from Thierry Ntwari on the left. Ntwari was having a bright opening on the left flank, causing Nepean’s right back all sorts of problems with his pace. On 7 minutes, his incisive pass to Steve Kowlessar almost produced the opening goal.

The Royals play followed a similar pattern to most games this season. Inventive and bright approach play that created chances for the hardworking attacking players. The Royals midfield, comprising Jorge Gutierrez, Steve Kowlessar and Richard Boyle, was winning most of the challenges, and not allowing the Hotspurs to settle.

On 25 minutes, the Royals almost opened the scoring. Ryan Devereaux had drifted out right to retrieve a ball, beat his man, cut to the by-line and then whipped in a cross for Richard Boyle. Boyle’s first time volley cannoned off the cross bar and went out for a goal kick.

Within two minutes though, the Royals were a goal down. Having started very well, the defence for once failed to deal with a bouncing ball and Mackey was on hand to belt the ball past the blameless Lagarec.

The Royals responded – and within four minutes, the excellent Devereaux almost found the equalizer, forcing an excellent save out of Rassi in the Nepean goal.

But on 35 minutes, the Royals went further behind following a well-taken goal by Allard.

This time, the Royals sparked into life – and within five minutes, they were back on level terms. First, on 38 minutes, Clouthier’s precise and powerful free kick from 20 yards out left Rassi no chance – and then sixty seconds later, Steve Kowlessar’s perfectly weighted pass released Ryan Devereaux at the edge of the box, and the Halifax striker curled the ball around the advancing keeper into the roof of the net.

The tide seemed to have turned, and the Royals mounted the pressure, stretching Nepean on the flanks and penetrating through the middle. On 40 minutes, late arrival Dan Deganutti had a powerful shot well saved and then sixty seconds later, Clouthier missed by inches following more excellent approach work.

The Royals were not to be denied, however, and on 44 minutes, Devereaux scored his second of the afternoon, converting at the second attempt from a Sylvain Clouthier pass.

In the second half, the game continued its frantic pace and somewhat against the run of play, Nepean managed an equalizer on 53 minutes, well taken by Barbosa.

The game was then dominated by the Royals, who probed and pushed, looking for their fourth goal. Clouthier and Devereaux both came close, but were denied by last-gasp defending or good goalkeeping.

Any counter attacks from the Hotspurs team were snuffed out by the excellent defensive core of James MacMillan, Frank Zegers, Alan Farant and Dan Deganutti.

As both teams began to tire in the merciless sun, it looked as if extra time would be needed to decide the final.

But from somewhere, the Royals found a little extra strength. Thierry Ntwari was awarded a free kick to the left of the penalty area, which Jorge Gutierrez stood over and took. He whipped in the ball with pace to the penalty area, where Devereaux twisted in mid-air to glance a header over the defenders into the roof of the net.

On the balance of play, it was no more than the Royals deserved – and was a fitting reward for the courage and strength shown by the team under very difficult and testing circumstances.

James MacMillan, stand-in captain for Dominic Rochon, lifted the trophy, which provides some consolation to the team for its efforts during a difficult season.

Man of the Match: 3 points – Ryan Devereaux, 2 points – James MacMillan, 1 point – Sylvain Clouthier

Statistics
Ottawa Royals
1-Antoine Lagarec; 8-Frank Zegers, 3-James MacMillan, 16-Alan Farant (4-Thierry Ntwari, 68); 21-Dimitri Koutras (9-Dan Deganutti, 35), 15-Steve Kowlessar, 14-Jorge Gutierrez, 11-Dom Rochon (17-Richard Boyle, 1), 4-Thierry Ntwari (21-Dimitri Koutras, 56); 20-Sylvain Clouthier, 23-Ryan Devereaux

Yellow Cards: Richard Boyle, James MacMillan

Goals: Sylvain Clouthier (38 mins), Ryan Devereaux (39, 44, 90 mins)

Nepean Hotspurs
1-Alex Rassi, 21-Adam Knight, 4-Sean Mackey, 5-Mahmoud Matar, 6-Bryan Fracassi, 7-Matt Akehurst, 9-Feraidon Yary, 10-Ramon Canales, 11-Paul Seymour, 12-Brendan Potter, 14-Tokunbo Ojo, 16-Jamie Allard, 21-Luis Barbosa, 18-Matthew Ouies, 20-Nikolay Belevski, 230-Mario Maniscallo, 15-Richard Poulton

Yellow Cards: Feraidon Yary, Ramon Canales, Richard Poulton

Goals: Sean Mackey (27 mins), Jamie Allard (35 mins), Luis Barbosa (53 mins)

Season Tally:
Goals: Devereaux, 14; D’Angelo, 11; Boyle 8; J. Gutierrez, Kowlessar 5; Clouthier, 4; Koutras, MacMillan, Ntwari 3; Brooks, 1

Assists: Brooks, 10; Boyle, Deganutti, 5; Koutras, Kowlessar, Rochon 4; Clouthier, J. Gutierrez, 3; D’Angelo, Devereaux, Donnard, 2; Dennis, Lyttle, Ntwari 1

Report: Rockers 1, Ottawa Royals 0

Brave Royals Go Down with a Fight
August 16, 2007

With barely eleven men left on their roster, Ottawa Royals were defeated 1-0 at Mooney’s Bay by a fine young Rockers side, their ranks swelled with Ottawa Fury players.

This was not an abject defeat however. Far from it. With no goalkeeper and striker Sylvain Clouthier “volunteered” to go in nets, captain Dom Rochon damaging his calf in the pre-game warm up, and Dan Deganutti absent until minutes before kick off, the Royals still held their heads up high and played a solid and committed game of football. Even after Donald MacGregor’s poached goal on 38 minutes, the Royals still looked the likelier of the two teams to score.

With Clouthier in nets, Michael Adams aligned Frank Zegers, James MacMillan and Kevin Sheehan at the back, with Ewan Lyttle, Jorge Gutierrez and Steve Kowlessar in the middle, Alan Farant and Dimitri Koutras on the flanks, and Richard Boyle and Ryan Devereaux up front.

Both sides started well – and it seemed the Rockers were keen to test out Clouthier in goal. On 5 minutes, Jorge Gutierrez caught a Rockers player in the face with his elbow while jumping for the ball. Amahazion played no further part in the game, and from that time on, Gutierrez was a marked man.

The Royals were the more dominant side, slightly, and Boyle and Devereaux combined well up front, being well fed by the excellent Steve Kowlessar.

On 16 minutes, the injury curse struck again, as Ewan Lyttle had to leave the field with a hamstring strain. Still the Royals probed, and Devereaux was proving a real handful for the home side defence.

On 38 minutes, MacGregor took advantage of a moment of uncertainty in the Royals defence to head the ball home and give the Rockers the lead.

In the second half, the Royals started to gradually take command of the game, although the home side was always dangerous on the counter and was nothing less than committed. Clouthier in goal was proving to have an excellent move, and when Alan Morgan replaced him in nets on 74 minutes, it was to move Clouthier up front and play with three.

Immediately the Royals stepped it up another notch, with Devereaux and Clouthier combining extremely well.

However, the Rockers held out till the final whistle and handed the Royals their second defeat on the bounce. A disappointing result, but a good performance from the visitors.

Man of the Match: 3 points – Steve Kowlessar, 2 points – Sylvain Clouthier, 1 point – Kevin Sheehan

Statistics
Rockers
1-Andrew Fines; 5-Geoff Shitanda, 15-Chris Callander, 8-Phil Amahazion, 13-Phil Appollon, 9-Jessie Berfins, 6-Michael Daguilh, 14-Justin Dasah, 10-Jamar Dixon, 20-Dakin Drake, 7-Huffman Eta-Tabe, 3-Philip Janzen, 16-Andrew Latty, 18-Donald MacGregor, 22-Paul Kihara, 17-Musa Kargbo

Goals: Denis MacGregor, 38 mins
Yellow Card: Huffman Eja tabe

Ottawa Royals
1-Sylvain Clouthier (5-Alan Morgan, 74); 3-James MacMillan, 12-Frank Zegers, 6-Kevin Sheehan; 21-Dimitri Koutras (13-Jeff Dennis, 46 mins), 17-Richard Boyle, 16-Alan Farant, 15-Steve Kowlessar, 2-Ewan Lyttle (9-Dan Deganutti, 16 mins); 19-Ryan Devereaux, 18-Jorge Gutierrez

Yellow Cards: None
Goals: None

Season Tally:
Goals: D’Angelo, Devereaux 11; Boyle 8; J. Gutierrez, Kowlessar 5; Clouthier, Koutras, MacMillan, Ntwari 3; Brooks, 1

Assists: Brooks, 10; Boyle, Deganutti, 5; Koutras, Rochon 4; Kowlessar, 3; Clouthier, D’Angelo, Devereaux, Donnard, J. Gutierrez, 2; Dennis, Lyttle, Ntwari 1

Report: Ottawa Royals 2, Gloucester Hornets 3

Lacklustre Royals get what they deserve
August 9, 2007

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Ottawa Royals, fresh from three convincing victories over tough opposition, were supposed to turn up, play well and pick up three easy points against basement dwellers Gloucester Hornets.

Apparently neither side read the script.

The result was a game of abject quality, where neither side was capable of stringing together a succession of decent passes, where basic mistakes were compounded with low intensity, where both sides struggled to get out of first gear, where communication and concentration were basically next to nil.

Gloucester Hornets deserved their victory. Fully and completely. There were no controversial decisions and no inexplicable offside calls. Gloucester Hornets have done the double over the Ottawa Royals, who appear to have learned nothing in the process.

The seeds of this latest humiliation were sown in training on Tuesday, where 11 people ambled through the motions during drills and then slowed down during the 5-a-side game at the end. The lack of intensity and desire was carried through to the game.

Make no mistake, this was a watershed defeat for the Royals.

The Royals started with their 3-5-2 system in place. Tyler Wallace was in goal, not fully recovered from his dislocated finger perhaps, and a back three of Marc Anthony Viscosi, Frank Zegers and Alan Farant. In midfield, Jonathan Brooks played his last game of the season before heading down to the States for college, Dom Rochon, Steve Kowlessar and Richard Boyle formed an offensive trio in the middle, and Dan Deganutti was on the left. Dimitri Koutras and Sylvain Clouthier led the attack.

The game started with the Royals on the offensive. On 3 minutes, Koutras was released by Boyle but his first time shot missed the target.

On 9 minutes, Gloucester took the lead, somewhat against the run of play, it has to be said. With Wallace in no man’s land and the defence at sixes and sevens, Wellington had the easy job of slipping the ball into the empty net.

The Royals were stunned and struggled to respond. Passes were underhit, channels unused, challenges not made. Still the home team managed to create a couple of chances, all of which were missed.

On 31 minutes, Michael Adams replaced Alan Farant with Jorge Gutierrez, dropping Dan Deganutti back to left back.

The response was instantaneous. With his first touch of the ball, Gutierrez released Clouthier who elected to blast the ball from the edge of the area. Lemieux made a good save to keep the visitors in front.

Two minutes later though, the scores were even. Clouthier whipped in a strong free kick that Lemieux could only parry. In rushed Gutierrez to nod the ball past him into the net.

It seemed as if the Royals had sparked into life. Several more chances were created and spurned, but at least the home side had moved into a higher gear for a brief period.

At half time, Adams replaced the hard-working Koutras with rookie striker Thierry Ntwari – but it was Gloucester who scored next, two minutes after the break.

Following a good period of Royals pressure, the Hornets broke quickly and Walker capitalized on abysmal defending to beat Wallace. Once more, avoidable mistakes lead to goals conceded.

On 65 minutes, Wellington scored his second goal of the game from the right wing.

Trailing 3-1 at home, the Royals finally started to exert an influence on the game. On came Kevin Sheehan to offer more height at set pieces and on 80 minutes, Boyle came back on for Lyttle, moving up front to provide a three-pronged attack.

As the Royals finally started fighting for every ball, they forced Gloucester back into their own half, penning them into the area and probing at every opportunity. Lemieux made a couple more fine saves to keep the visitors in the lead.

On 86 minutes though, the pressure finally started to pay dividends. Thierry Ntwari’s glancing header from Brooks’ corner hit the back of the net. And the Royals continued to pour forward in search of the equalizer.

On 90 minutes, Kevin Sheehan nearly got it, when his header was cleared off the line and Brooks’ resulting shot was hit over the bar.

It was too little, too late though for the Royals, who were left to rue 80 minutes of poor football.

There needs to be a response from the team now, starting in the very next training session and carrying on through to the end of the season. With four league games and the Ottawa Cup final left to play, there needs to be a refocusing of players and a reaffirmation of commitment.

Or else we may as well just not bother showing up.

Man of the Match: 3 points – Dom Rochon, 2 points – Kevin Sheehan, 1 point – Jorge Gutierrez

Statistics
Ottawa Royals
1-Tyler Wallace; 16-Alan Farant (18-Jorge Gutierrez (31 mins); 3-Frank Zegers (6-Kevin Sheehan, 69 mins), 20-Marc Anthony Viscosi; 14-Jonathan Brooks, 17-Richard Boyle (13-Jeff Dennis, 36 mins), 11-Dom Rochon, 15-Steve Kowlessar (2-Ewan Lyttle, 57 mins; 17-Richard Boyle, 80 mins), 9-Dan Deganutti; 8-Sylvain Clouthier, 21-Dimitri Koutras (4-Thierry Ntwari, 46 mins)
Substitute not used: 5-Alan Morgan,

Yellow Cards: None

Goals: Jorge Gutierrez (33 mins); Thierry Ntwari (86 mins)

Gloucester Hornets
1-Matt Lemieux; 16-Cyril Dehoppre, 2-Jason Da Costa, 4-Kwek Francis, 5-Stephane Lemay, 10-Nicko Stoikis, 12-Brendan Walker, 15-Schipy Joffy,11-Pat Violette, 9-Andrew Gilchrist, 17-Andrew Peterson, 8-Pat Wellington

Yellow Cards: Stephane Lemay, Pat Wellington

Goals: Pat Wellington (9, 65 mins); Brendan Walker (47 mins)

Season Tally:
Goals: D’Angelo, Devereaux 11; Boyle 8; J. Gutierrez, Kowlessar 5; Clouthier, Koutras, MacMillan, Ntwari 3; Brooks, 1

Assists: Brooks, 10; Boyle, Deganutti, 5; Koutras, Rochon 4; Kowlessar, 3; Clouthier, D’Angelo, Devereaux, Donnard, J. Gutierrez, 2; Dennis, Lyttle, Ntwari 1

Report: Internationals 0, Ottawa Royals 4

Royals record first league clean sheet in third win over Internationals
August 2, 2007

Ottawa Royals recorded their third league win on the trot last night, beating the Internationals by a comfortable margin and at the same time notching up their first clean sheet in the league. Ryan Devereaux scored twice, James MacMillan headed his traditional goal and Richard Boyle scored a late long-range rocket to defeat the home side 4-0.

With legendary defender Marc Labrom making his final appearance for the Royals before transferring to Pretoria with work, the Royals were keen to get their third win of the season over the Internationals with which to send him off. Numerous injuries and absences had taken its toll on the line up, with Frank Zegers, Tyler Wallace, Frank Dicaria, Sanjeev Parmar, Roberto Gutierrez, Jorge Gutierrez, Alic Edgar, Matt D’Angelo and Greg Donnard all unavailable. On the plus side, Marc Anthony Viscosi was almost recovered from his hamstring injury and had declared himself fit, as had Dan Deganutti, who sustained knee knack against St. Anthony’s on Sunday.

The Royals started with its now favoured 3-5-2 formation with Antoine Lagarec in goal, a back three of Marc Labrom, James MacMillan and Alan Farant, Jon Brooks on the right of midfield and Richard Boyle on the left, Ewan Lyttle playing in front of the defence, Dom Rochon and Steve Kowlessar in the middle, and a front two of Sylvain Clouthier and Ryan Devereaux.

The Royals started the game at breakneck speed, dominating the play and barely allowing the home team out of its own half. After a couple of close calls, Ryan Devereaux finally opened the scoring on 4 minutes.

Brooks stripped Ianni on the right of the field and crossed it in deep to Boyle at the far side of the penalty area. Brooks controlled and passed the ball into the box to meet Devereaux’s incisive run. Devereaux took it first time on his instep and placed it past Dobbie’s despairing dive into the corner of the net.

The Royals kept composure and continued to play the ball around – yet gave the impression of being in second gear for much of the next 10 minutes. In defence, Lagarec marshalled his troops well, and Farant – who was making his first full start and his first appearance as a defender – looked confident and composed.

The visitors then moved into top gear again and for 5 minutes simply fizzed the ball around the field, using the width well. Half chances fell to Devereaux and Clouthier, but it wasn’t until Boyle picked up the ball on the right and set off on a mazy run towards the box that the possession started to pay dividends. Beating man after man, Boyle slalomed like an Olympic water-skier before laying a ball off to Clouthier and moving for the return pass. Somehow Ianni managed to get a toe to it before Boyle and deflected it out for a corner.

But the danger was not cleared. Brooks moved over to take the corner and whipped in a teasing cross to the box. MacMillan rose above the defence and powered his header past Dobbie into the net.

It seemed that there may be a repeat of the 7-0 rout from the Ontario Cup in early June, but full credit to the Internationals, they refused to be awed and kept fighting for every ball. Indeed, straight after the second goal, they seemed to enjoy a good spell of possession and wee on top for a while. However, with Lyttle staying solid in front of the defence, Lagarec was seldom tested.

The Royals once again relaxed and as a result the play became scrappy. Despite the huge channels that were opening up on the flanks, the passes seldom reached Brooks or Boyle and the visitors were penned in a little. On 35 minutes though, Rochon played an excellent ball behind MacDonald and Ianni to release Brooks. Brooks outpaced the defenders but hurried his shot, which flew high and wide.

On 40 minutes, Clouthier pulled up short holding his hamstring. It does not appear to be as serious as initially thought, but could still keep the talismanic striker out of the next fixture at Gloucester. Koutras came on to replace him and took up his position alongside Devereaux.

On the stroke of halftime, Steve Kowlessar struck a good free kick that Dobbie did well to get behind, denying Devereaux a second goal by smothering the rebound on the second attempt.

At half time, Michael Adams replaced Richard Boyle with Jeff Dennis and emphasised the need to use the channels and close down the spaces in midfield. The Royals came out for the second half and looked to implement the tactics. The Internationals became more physical in their approach, picking up 4 yellow cards in the second half (all for fouls) with Iyad Dakka in particular lucky to remain on the field.

The game became very scrappy and on 60 minutes, Alan Morgan replaced the hero of the hour Marc Labrom, who chose his final appearance as a Royal to suffer his annual back spasm. Ewan Lyttle moved to defence. Five minutes later, Adams switched it around again, taking off captain Dom Rochon and risking Marc Antony Viscosi in defence. Lyttle moved back to his defensive midfield position.

It seemed as if the Royals were paying for their exertions of Sunday, with the Internationals starting to play decent balls in behind the defence. On 73 minutes, James MacMillan put in some outstanding defensive work, chasing back Andujar and blocking the initial shot, before sticking out a toe to knock the ball away form the onrushing and supporting Santo.

On 75 minutes, Ewan Lyttle, who had had a fine game but was tiring rapidly, was replaced by Boyle and sixty seconds later Thierry Ntwari replaced the hardworking Dimitri Koutras.

Boyle exerted a good influence on the final stages of the game, holding up play well and linking with the excellent Ryan Devereaux and the speedy Ntwari. On 87 minutes, the growing influence that the Royals had had paid dividends when Devereaux finished off a superb piece of football involving Boyle and Ntwari. Released behind the defence, Devereaux sped into the area and then slipped the ball under the diving body of Dobbie.

As the clock wound down, Boyle applied the coup de grace as the teams moved into injury time. Receiving the ball 10 yards outside the area, he turned and moved the ball outside the defender before striking a viciously swerving and dipping shot over Dobbie and into the roof of the net.

The 4-0 score perhaps flattered the Royals, but overall the visitors were the stronger of the two sides and deserved their win.

The three points consolidates the Royals in second position behind St. Anthony’s. Next up is Gloucester Hornets at Maple Leaf on August 9th. The Royals hope the ongoing injury crisis will clear somewhat by then, but know already that they will be without Ryan Devereaux and James MacMillan, with Clouthier doubtful.

Man of the Match: 3 points – Antoine Lagarec, 2 points – Marc Labrom, 1 point – James MacMillan

Statistics

Internationals

1-Sean Dobbie; 2-Mike Domanski, 4-Chris Marins, 79-Jeff Cowan, 6-Milan Dakka, 7-Greg Andujar, 8-Sol Ashrafi, 9-Eugenio Burnier, 10-Iyad Dakka, 11-Gilson Calei, 12-Marco Ianni. 13-Chris Nolan, 14-Peter Mapendere, 15-Steve Walker, 17-Tom MacDonald, 19-Paolo Alves, 20-Joris Graziotin, 21-Jose Sanchez, 22-Claudio Santo, 18-Mike Hoffler

Yellow Cards: Mike Domanski, Greg Andujar, Iyad Dakka, Chris Nolan

Ottawa Royals

1-Antoine Lagarec; 3-James MacMillan, 6-Marc Labrom (5-Alan Morgan, 60 mins), 12-Alan Farant; 14-Jonathan Brooks, 9-Richard Boyle (13-Jeff Dennis, 46 mins), 15-Steve Kowlessar, 2-Ewan Lyttle (9-Richard Boyle, 75 mins), 11-Dom Rochon (20-Marc Anthony Viscosi, 65); 19-Ryan Devereaux 7-Sylvain Clouthier (21-Dimitri Koutras, 40 mins, 4-Thierry Ntwari, 76 mins)

Substitute not used: 8-Dan Deganutti,

Yellow Cards: None

Goals: Ryan Devereaux (4, 87 mins); James MacMillan (20 mins), Richard Boyle (90 mins)

Season Tally:
Goals: D’Angelo, Devereaux 11; Boyle 8; Kowlessar 5; J. Gutierrez 4; Clouthier, Koutras, MacMillan, 3, Ntwari 2; Brooks, 1

Assists: Brooks, 9; Boyle, Deganutti, 5; Koutras, Rochon 4; Kowlessar, 3; D’Angelo, Devereaux, Donnard, J. Gutierrez, 2; Clouthier, Dennis, Lyttle, Ntwari 1

Results from Round 9 of the OCSL Premier Division

All four matches from last night's round have actually been reported in to the OCSL and have been posted on the web site, which is perhaps the biggest surprise of the night.

At Terry Fox, the Royals eschewed home field advantage and secured their third win of the season over the Internationals (4-0). A brace from Ryan Devereaux, a header from James MacMillan and another Richard Boyle wonderstrike gave the Royals the three points and consolidated second position (17 points from 9 games). The Internationals, meanwhile, slip from third to sixth.

At Du Plateau, St. Anthony's rebounded from its defeat to the Royals on Sunday by knocking five past UNIDOS de Hull (5-2). St. Anthony's now has 25 points from its 10 games played.

Meanwhile, at Tauvette, Gloucester Hornets (8 points from 8 games) moved off bottom spot by beating the Lions de Hull 3-2. Gloucester is now in seventh and the Lions have replaced them at the foot of the table with 7 points from 9 games.

In the final game, Rockers maintained their fine season by defeating Capital United 3-2 at Terry Fox North. Rockers move into 5th place with 10 points from 7 games, while Capital United hold onto third spot with 12 points from 11 games.

Agent Labrom Signs Out

Royals defender/midfielder leaves on a mission

Ottawa Royals bade an emotional farewell last night to Agent Marc Labrom, who leaves on mission to South Africa for the next few years.

Prior to a cornucopia of post-match cocktails at Ottawa's Pub Italia, Labrom was awarded the highest honour ever bestowed on a player by his team mates: a light blue Tittenham away shirt.

Agent Labrom has been asked to rewrite the South African constitution prior to upcoming national elections. Specializing in haute cuisine and the nefarious effects of Daquiris, Labrom will investigate ways to include these into ANC party policy. Based in a twelve-bedroom mansion in Pretoria, he is now taking bookings for June and July 2010 (although Dan Deganutti and Ewan Lyttle have already co-opted the gardener's lodge, overlooking the pool).

True-to-form, Marc Labrom did not score during the Royals' 4-0 win over the Internationals last night. He did, however, hobble off the pitch clutching his back.

Marc Labrom: a retrospective

1970s (some time): Born
2000s (some time): Joined the Royals.
2007: Went to South Africa.

Report: Ottawa Royals 3, St. Anthony's 1

The llama fails to spoil the show, Royals down Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s
July 29, 2007

Ottawa Royals provided further evidence that it is becoming a team to be reckoned with on Sunday as it defeated the Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s by a score of 3-1 at Maple Leaf Almrausch. James MacMillan, Sylvain Clouthier and Ryan Devereaux scored for the Royals, while Simon Bonk scored the St. Anthony’s consolation goal.

Both teams went into the match on the back of strong wins against Quebec sides – the Royals beating UNIDOS 6-2 and St. Anthony’s defeating the Lions de Hull 4-0. Prior to kick off, however, the confidence was definitely with the visiting side, as the Royals were without Jonathan Brooks (suspension), Frank Zegers, Tyler Wallace (who dislocated his finger picking up a particularly heavy chicken wing), Frank Dicaria (broken toe), Sanjeev Parma (mono), Roberto Gutierrez (ankle), Marc Anthony Viscosi (hamstring), Alic Edgar (fractured foot), Matt D’Angelo (with the national university team in Thailand) and Dimitri Koutras (MIA). On top of this, captain Dom Rochon tweaked his groin in the Thursday game against UNIDOS and so was unable to start.

As a result, the home side had drafted in veteran defender Rob Shaw for his first game in Premier of the season and had old-timer goalkeeper Antoine Lagarec in the nets. Ewan Lyttle was back from his stay at a Nova Scotia health farm, Ryan Devereaux had driven back from London, Ont., in 3 hours 45 minutes, Marc Labrom was straight out of his flower arranging class in Montreal (smelling strangely of peppermints) and Richard Boyle’s Flushing Meadows morning had left the fresh-faced private ruddy cheeked and unable to string together three words in a cogent or logical phrase.

It promised to be interesting.

The Royals reverted back to a 3-5-2 formation: Lagarec in goal, a defensive line of Shaw, MacMillan and Labrom, Bole on the right side of midfield, Lyttle in the defensive midfield role, Kowlessar and Gutierrez in front of him and Deganutti on the left. Up front, Clouthier and Devereaux started their first match together since the Gloucester Hornets fiasco, when the Royals had been seemingly unable to hit Ewan Lyttle’s arse with a banjo.

The Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s, meanwhile, welcomed back Roland Tiamuh to play against his former club.

The Royals opened the game on the offensive and were dominant from the off. On five minutes, the Royals got a corner on the right, which was whipped in by Dan Deganutti. The Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s semi-cleared the ball, which landed back out by the corner flag. Deganutti, his blond locks flowing in the sultry breeze that engulfed the majestic Almrausch stadium, adjusted a loose strand, knocked the ball two inches to his left, then pinpointed a wickedly dipping cross straight at the head of James MacMillan. MacMillan soared like a salmon, hung in midair for what seemed an eternity, checked his watch and then powered a header into the side of the net to give the Royals the lead. MacMillan had regained his place in defence before Wong hit the ground.

The Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s looked aghast. As well they might. This was MacMillan’s first goal in a competitive match since 1972, when he helped the Nerds beat the Jocks in a thrilling 1-0-1-1-0 to nil victory. And his first ever with his eyes open.

The Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s hit back and were unlucky not to score soon after when Gagou’s header hit the top of the crossbar. On 16 minutes though, Kowlessar’s dipping shot from 30 yards dipped inches over the bar. And from the resulting goal kick, the Royals doubled their lead.

Sylvain Clouthier had until this time had a relatively quiet day. A couple of minor skirmished with defender Ledi Bushiri, the occasional clinical pass, a lot of running and the odd thinly disguised insult in Joyal at the referee.

But when Angus Wong slightly underhit his goal kick, the Cantley panther sprang into action, leaping acrobatically in the air to control the ball with the outside of his right foot, before readjusting in midair and firing a first time shot into the corner of the net. It was an excellent goal, easily the best goal scored by a Quebecker in this match.

The Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s were now in disarray and the Royals were denied a cast-iron penalty on 28 minutes when Deganutti was pushed over from behind in the penalty area. Referee Popescu originally seemed to have awarded a penalty – then changed his mind to a goal kick – all without changing the direction he was pointing in. Imagine, if you will, Basil Fawlty without the moustache, goose-stepping his way to the penalty area, crouching down low, pointing at the penalty spot and shouting “Goal Kick”.

Fawlty, who has a long track record of getting penalties wrong (four poor decisions in the previous Thursday’s game alone), continued his fine tradition of ineptitude by booking Deganutti. The Italian Stallion joined the King of Cantley in the book, Clouthier having momentarily lapsed into comprehensible French in the referee’s earshot.

Still, the Royals remained in control of the match: on 35 minutes, Wong made amends for his previous aberration by making a superb one-handed save off Clouthier and two minutes later, defence splitting passing carved open the Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s once more, with the final effort being inches wide.

On 44 minutes, Jorge Gutierrez, who had worked tirelessly alongside the Silent Knight in midfield, missed a great opportunity to make it 3-0, which would surely have wrapped up the match there and then. Instead, the Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s came upfield and forced a corner.

In an exact repeat of the match-winning goal ten days previously, the outswinging ball found the lofty frame of Simon Bonk loitering on the edge of the area. Unmarked, Bonk got his head to the ball and lofted it over the advanced Antoine Lagarec, off the underside of the crossbar and into the back of the net. After 45 minutes of generally excellent football, the Royals had opened the door to the visitors.

This is a lesson that the Royals appear to not have learned from the start of the season. Despite dominating the majority of the games in which they have played, the team loses focus at key moments and concedes avoidable goals. The litany of woe is long indeed: Capital United, Gloucester, UNIDOS, Lions de Hull, Internationals, Hearts Azzurri – all either beaten or about to be beaten, when a soft goal is conceded. It either costs the team points or makes a routine win a scramble.

The second half began, not surprisingly, with the Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s on the attack, although for every half chance they obtained, the Royals hit back on the counter and created one of their own. With the front two of Clouthier and Nova Scotian NASCAR wunderkind Ryan Devereaux up front, Bonk and Bushiri were tested to the full. With Dan Deganutti removed at half time, Alan Farant stepped seamlessly into the left-hand side midfield role and held his own against very fast competition.

On 60 minutes, Michael Adams replaced the flagging Ewan “Two Bellies” Lyttle with Long John Rochon, the one-legged midfield maestro (“Did I tell you about River Plate?”) with no groin but an eye for a killer pass. Three minutes later, Ryan Devereaux crawled off the pitch for a breather and was replaced by Ninja Ntwari, the Burundi ululater. Ntwari carried on where Devereaux had left off, his searing pace troubling the back three constantly – and of course he is so polite!

It took the Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s defence a while to realize that they didn’t have to answer every time Ntwari said hello. “Hi!” he would shout before launching off on a rampaging run down the left. “Hi!” they would wonder aloud, before setting off in hot pursuit. “Hi!” he would say, waving for a ball from the midfield. “Hi!” they would answer, confused. Make no mistake, this is a vital weapon in the Ninja armoury – and had it not been for the insider information from Rowland Tiamuh, it might have carried on all game. As it was, Ntwari was mainly used to give Devereaux a breather in this game, but the speedy striker is definitely one for the future.

The game continued at a frantic pace, with St. Anthony’s launching everything in attack and the Royals matching them in defence and then hitting back quickly on the counter. As St. Anthony’s threw an extra man forward, coach Michael Adams foolhardily decided to keep two up front, aided in the decision by the sterling defensive work of his team and the constant threat posed by the strikers.

When Clouthier thrashed a dipping shot against the crossbar on 86 minutes, it looked like the gamble might not pay off. But with Gutierrez, Kowlessar and Rochon dominant in the middle and the unit shifting well to cover all attacks, it looked like a reasonable bet.

On 89 minutes, Rob Shaw took a quick free kick to Kowlessar who in turn fed Devereaux. Devereaux sprang once more the high offside trap used by the Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s and showing incredible stamina, sprinted to the edge of the area. Carefully waiting until Wong had committed himself, Devereaux placed the ball perfectly under the advancing keeper’s body into the back of the net.

Cue mayhem. Devereaux’s goal is further evidence of the unquestionable ability of the Nova Scotian. After a slow start in the OCSL where he was dogged by injury, Devereaux has now fully recovered and looks a constant threat in games. His performances in the past three games in particular have been exceptional.

As the home side was celebrating, one of the more unsavoury incidents took place. Having been endlessly frustrated by the Royals’ Mexican mannequin Jorge Gutierrez all afternoon, Edgar Soglo decided it would be appropriate to send a huge pile of gob at him, spraying the Mexican’s shoulder with spittle. To his credit, Gutierrez didn’t react – and merely informed referee Fawlty who had, unsurprisingly, not seen it.

But the game ended in a tense and unpleasant manner – and remonstrations were loud and acrimonious after the game. We await to see what the Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s will do about the incident.

Still, whatever happens to the llama, the Royals still won – and three points against the Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s is three points. The Royals move up to second place in the standings with two games in hand over the third-placed team Capital United.

Next up is the return match against Ottawa Internationals – a team that is committed and strong and will give the resurgent Royals a good run for their money on Thursday night.

Man of the Match: 3 points – James MacMillan, 2 points – Ryan Devereaux & Sylvain Clouthier, 1 point – Antoine Lagarec

Statistics
Ottawa Royals
1-Antoine Lagarec; 21-Rob Shaw, 3-James MacMillan, 6-Marc Labrom; 17-Richard Boyle (13-Jeff Dennis, 74 mins), 15-Steve Kowlessar, 2-Ewan Lyttle (11-Dom Rochon, 59 mins), 18-Jorge Gutierrez, 9-Dan Deganutti (12-Alan Farant, 46 mins); 19-Ryan Devereaux (4-Thierry Ntwari, 61 mins; 19-Ryan Devereaux 74 mins), 7-Sylvain Clouthier

Yellow Cards: Sylvain Clouthier, Dan Deganutti, Jorge Gutierrez, Marc Labrom

Goals: James MacMillan (5 mins), Sylvain Clouthier (17 mins), Ryan Devereaux (89 mins)

The Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s
1-Angus Wong; 6-Simon Bonk, 4-Ledi Bushiri, 11-Souleymane Gagou, 21-Johnny Legakis, 8-Alain Nijima, 20-Allan Popazzi, 10-Johnny Schieda, 12-Edgar “The Llama” Soglo, 18-Claudio Vennegas, 28-Roland Tiamuh, 17-Will Beauge

Yellow Cards: Edgar “The Llama” Soglo

Goals: Bonk (45 mins)

Season Tally:
Goals: D’Angelo 11; Devereaux 9; Boyle 7; Kowlessar 5; J. Gutierrez 4; Clouthier, Koutras 3, MacMillan, Ntwari 2; Brooks, 1

Assists: Brooks, 7; Deganutti, 5; Koutras, Rochon 4; Boyle, Kowlessar, 3; D’Angelo, Devereaux, Donnard, J. Gutierrez, 2; Clouthier, Dennis, Lyttle 1

Report: Ottawa Royals 6, UNIDOS de Hull 2

Rampant Royals Find Goalscoring Form
July 26, 2007

Ottawa Royals put in a solid performance at Maple Leaf to comprehensively defeat Quebec Cup quarter-finalists UNIDOS de Hull by a score of 6-2 last night.

With both first team goalkeepers injured (Wallace with a dislocated finger and Dicaria with a broken toe), Michael Adams gave old-timer Antoine Lagarec his first start of the season in nets. Also missing through injury were Marc Anthony Viscosi, Roberto Gutierrez, Alic Edgar, Greg Donnard and Ewan Lyttle.

The Royals formed an attacking line up, with Matt D’Angelo (in between trips to Italy and Thailand) partnering Ryan Devereaux up front.

The home side piled on the pressure from the start, creating a couple of half chances in the first couple of minutes. So it came as no surprise that they took the lead on three minutes, following some excellent interplay between Marc Labrom, Matt D’Angelo and Ryan Devereaux. Labrom’s early pass was beautifully flicked on by D’Angelo and Devereaux finished nicely in the far corner having wrong-footed the keeper.

The Royals were playing some excellent football, drawing in the visitors and then hitting Deganutti and Brooks on the flanks. There were a succession of decent chances and both Boyle and Brooks spurned good opportunities to double the lead.

On 23 minutes, however, Devereaux did just that. Brooks did well to recover an overhit Deganutti cross and centred for Kowlessar in the area. Kowlessar guided his header into the path of Devereaux, who finished well with a glancing header.

Boyle added another goal four minutes later with a superb piece of skill. He controlled a bouncing ball at the edge of the penalty area and then turned his man with one move before curling a beautiful shot from 20 yards into the top right hand corner of the net.

Cruising along at 3-0, the Royals took their foot off the gas a little – and allowed UNIDOS back into the game, although it was arguably more due to the intervention of referee Popescu than anything else.

When Lagarec rushed off his line to claim a 50-50 ball at full stretch with both hands, Popescu deemed that the keeper had brought down Hull’s striker Akem. Despite the protestations, the penalty stood and it was converted with aplomb by Fournier on 31 minutes.

The Royals were still in control, but the passing in midfield became a little sloppy and the home team started to create problems for itself. When the visitors scored a second goal on 42 minutes, as a result of poor defensive play on the right, alarm bells started to ring.

But within 60 seconds, the Royals had given themselves a two goal cushion again, when Popescu awarded his second soft penalty of the evening, for a harsh handball, against the Quebeckers.

Steve Kowlessar slotted the ball home with ease and at half time, the score was 4-2 in favour of the home side.

In the second half, substitute Jorge Gutierrez added a clinically executed volley directly from a Brooks corner on 52 minutes to increase the score to 5-2.

The second half was one way traffic as the Royals piled on the pressure and created chance after chance. On 54 minutes, Gutierrez was clean through when he was scythed down in the box by Bertrand. Probably fearful of the paperwork that a red card would entail, Popescu waved play on.

On 72 minutes, Gutierrez struck a venomous free kick that cannoned off the underside of the crossbar and out. The Mexican midfielder was in sparkling form in this game, challenging for every ball with gusto and driving the visitors back to the edge of the penalty box with every surging run.

On 74 minutes, he scored his second of the evening, capitalizing on a good cross from Sylvain Clouthier and leaving Ferreira with no chance.

The Royals continued to create chances and look dangerous till the end of the game, but had to settle for six goals against good opposition.

The next game at Maple Leaf is on Sunday at 4 p.m., when second-placed Royals take on the league leaders, St. Anthony’s.

Man of the Match: 3 points – Marc Labrom, 2 points – Jorge Gutierrez, 1 point – James MacMillan

Statistics

Ottawa Royals
1-Antoine Lagarec; 2-Frank Zegers (13-Jeff Dennis, 46 mins), 3-James MacMillan, 6-Marc Labrom; 20-Steve Kowlessar, 11-Dom Rochon (14-Alan Morgan, 74 mins), 9-Dan Deganutti, 16-Jonathan Brooks (18-Alan Farant, 75 mins.), 14-Richard Boyle (12-J. Gutierrez, 40); 23-Ryan Devereaux (7-Sylvain Clouthier, 39 mins), 15-Matt D’Angelo (8-Dimitri Koutras, 46 mins; 25-Thierry Ntwari, 77 mins; 14-Richard Boyle, 81 mins)

Yellow Cards: none

Goals: Ryan Devereaux (3, 23 mins), Richard Boyle ( 27 mins), Steve Kowlessar (pen., 44 mins), Jorge Gutierrez (52, 73 mins)

UNIDOS de Hull
1-Filia Ferreira, 2-Jules Léger, 3-Lee Bertrand, 4-Simon Romulus, 6-Amine Smail, 7-Stephan Da Silva, 10-Helder Farras, 16-Yannick Fournier, 19-David Giroux, 20-Ianic Stanislav, 22-Antoni Ciepala, 12-Andre Akem, 17-Ernest Malo

Yellow Cards: none

Goals: Fournier (pen 31 mins), Ciepala (43 mins)

Season Tally:
Goals: D’Angelo 11; Devereaux 8; Boyle 7; Kowlessar 5; J. Gutierrez 4; Koutras 3, Clouthier, Ntwari 2; Brooks, MacMillan 1

Assists: Brooks, 7; Deganutti, Koutras, Rochon 4; Boyle, 3; D’Angelo, Devereaux, Donnard, J. Gutierrez, Kowlessar, 2; Clouthier, Dennis, Lyttle 1

Report: St. Anthony's 2, Ottawa Royals 1

Brave Royals slip to controversial injury time defeat
July 19, 2007

Ottawa Royals slipped to a controversial last-gasp defeat against reigning national champions St. Anthony’s at Mooney’s Bay, when Simon Bonk converted a header from a corner that was a throw in and finally managed to breach the Royals defence from open play.

Despite the defeat and the controversy, there was much to admire about the Royals performance in this match. How can a team that is so insipid against weaker opposition play as determinedly and spiritedly against the better sides? For every Gloucester and UNIDOS and Limestone City, there has been an Outremont and a Hearts Azzurri and a St. Anthony’s.

It seems that the only thing stopping Ottawa Royals from regaining its place at the top of the tree is the team itself. It is not enough to bemoan the lack of a consistent side, regular fixtures or the injury hex that has settled over the team, the attitude and commitment of numerous players has to be called into question.

If players cannot motivate themselves – or be motivated by their coach – to wear the Royals shirt, then there is a serious issue at stake. This is one of the best clubs in Ontario. Playing for the team is a privilege, something to be excited about and to aspire to. With the possible exception of St. Anthony’s, no team is the equal of the Royals in this city. And very few in the province can claim to be either.

The performance put in by many of the team against St. Anthony’s has set a level of focus, commitment and determination that must be matched in every game.

It was a performance that started early in this thrilling end-to-end match, initiated perhaps by Tyler Wallace’s superb one-handed diving save in the third minute.

But this was no mere defensive shell set up to frustrate a powerhouse team. The Royals were a match for St. Anthony’s in every department, running channels and playing clever, intricate balls that at times had the home side chasing shadows.

On nine minutes, Marc Anthony Viscosi and Ryan Devereaux linked well down the right-hand side, with Viscosi’s final ball releasing Devereaux into the area where Simon Bonk launched himself into a sliding tackle to save the day and push the ball out for a corner.

On 20 minutes, the Royals constant probing and running paid dividends. With Boyle having an excellent game as linkman, he and Devereaux combined to create danger around the box. First Boyle, then Devereaux shot, each forcing Wong into an acrobatic save. When the ball rebounded once again to Boyle, he made no mistake, thrashing the ball under the despairing keeper into the corner of the net.

Within minutes, Wallace was called into action again, coming out to save bravely at the feet of Gago to deny the home side an equalizer. The cut and thrust of the match was first rate – with the Royals being the more likely to score in the first half. Indeed, on 29 minutes, the visitors should have doubled their lead.

Devereaux’s tireless efforts at hassling the home defence paid dividends as he won the ball and reached down to the bye-line. Looking up, he saw Boyle running into the area, so he cut the ball back accurately to the striker’s feet and watched in dismay as Boyle’s shot sailed high over the empty net.

Within seconds though, Boyle had almost made amends, when his first time half volley from a Jonathan Brooks cross was sailing into the net before Wong’s reaction save deflected it to safety.

With the Royals fighting for every ball and contesting every challenge with vigour, the game kept its spirited nature right the way through to half time.

The tempo of the second half dropped a little in the second half – but was still the feisty affair that is expected from these two teams. Ottawa Royals kept up the pressure on the home team and prevented any real danger throughout the half. The defenders were very impressive in this match, with Zegers, MacMillan and Labrom denying any space to the mobile and persistent home team.

On 68 minutes though, St. Anthony’s were awarded a penalty when Zegers was adjudged to have brought down Soglo in the penalty area. It was a soft penalty to concede as the striker was looking for it and went to ground very easily. It provided the home team with its first clear-cut chance of the half, and Some made no mistake to even things up.

Tensions were mounting in the game as St. Anthony’s started to pile on the pressure and the Royals mounted a dogged resistance. With the limited numbers for the visitors, every substitution meant a huge tactical reshuffle – usually involving four or five players. Despite this, the Royals coped admirably, with Labrom and Deganutti and the midfield adapting well to the incomers.

The visitors were not helped by the red card shown to substitute Jeff Dennis – while still on the bench. Dennis abused linesman Dayfallah and can have no complaints about the card or the three-match suspension he will receive as a result of it. All it really meant to this game was one less option open to coach Michael Adams – and when right midfielder Marc Anthony Viscosi pulled up with cramp, it provided rookie 17-year old midfielder Alan Morgan with a chance to impress.

On 81 minutes, Wallace made a superb point-blank save from a St. Anthony’s attacker – and it seemed as if the Royals would settle for a point.

With the clock ticking down, the Royals played a ball out for a throw in near the corner flag, which referee Audi somehow decided was a corner. Despite the protests, the decision stood. From the resulting corner, Bonk rose highest and planted the ball under the crossbar for the winning goal. Cue unbridled celebrations from the home team.

Twenty seconds later, Audi blew the final whistle and the Royals trudged off, having lost the game, but pushed the home side all the way.

This game could yet prove to be a turning point for the Royals team. With a record of 2-2-2 from its six games this season, it needs to regroup and push on. The next match is against UNIDOS de Hull – and then after that, it is St. Anthony’s once again. Six points from these two games would provide the league table with a completely different look.

Man of the Match: 3 points – Ryan Devereaux, 2 points – Tyler Wallace, 1 point – Richard Boyle

Statistics

St. Anthony’s
1-Angus Wong; 6-Simon Bonk, 4-Ladislas Bustiri, 2-Daniel Carracus, 11-Souleymane Gagou, 7-Christian Hoefler, 21-John Legakis, 13-Loui Legakis, 15-Kwesi Loney, 14-Stefano Iaconi, 8-Alain Nijima, 9-Abraham Osman, 20-Alain Popazzi, 10-John Schieda, 12-Edgar Soglo, 19-Urbain Some, 18-Claudio Vennegas, 28-Roland Tiamuh

Yellow Cards
Abraham Osman

Goals: Some (pen. 68 mins); Bonk (93 mins)

Ottawa Royals
1-Tyler Wallace; 2-Frank Zegers, 3-James MacMillan, 6-Marc Labrom; 5-Marc Anthony Viscosi (14-Alan Morgan, 74 mins), 20-Steve Kowlessar, 11-Dom Rochon, 22-Ewan Lyttle (9-Dan Deganutti, 56 mins), 16-Jonathan Brooks; 14-Richard Boyle, 23-Ryan Devereaux (8-Dimitri Koutras, 88 mins)

Substitutes not used: 13-Jeff Dennis, 18-Alan Farant

Yellow Cards: Richard Boyle, Steve Kowlessar, Dom Rochon

Red Card: Jeff Dennis

Goal: Richard Boyle (20 mins)

Season Tally:
Goals: D’Angelo 11; Boyle 6; Devereaux 5; Kowlessar 4; Koutras 3, Clouthier, J. Gutierrez, Ntwari 2; Brooks, MacMillan 1

Assists: Brooks, 5; Deganutti, Koutras, Rochon 4; Boyle, 3; Devereaux, Donnard, J. Gutierrez, 2; D’Angelo, Dennis, Kowlessar, Lyttle 1

Giant drawings of Royals players found at Mooney's Bay

There has been great consternation in the Royals camp this morning as the team prepares for its important OCSL match against St. Anthony's.

"Hola!" magazine, famed for its outing of Royals players in the "Flamers" picture (involving the Gutierrez brothers, Marc Anthony Viscosi and former player Ben Makuch) have today published evidence of a further tryst involving two Royals players (who have not been named for legal purposes). The giant chalk cutting has been etched into the hillside outside the Mooney's Bay complex.

Royals captain Dominic Rochon had this to say: "It's disappointing to say the least. We have been focusing on the team and to see these two individuals behaving in this undignified manner is unbecoming. It wouldn't have happened in the past."

A reward will be offered for the identification of the two players.

Royals through to final after Rockers-Capital United fiasco

Ottawa Royals have received a bye to the final of the Ottawa Cup following a fiasco in the quarter final involving their scheduled opponents in the semi.

Both Rockers and Capital United were kicked out of the competition for having fielded ineligible players.

That means the Royals will now face either Ottawa Falcons or Nepean Hotspurs in the final, scheduled for August 19th at Ottawa University.

Report: Royals defeat Limestone City 3-0

Royals win comfortably against Kingston outfit
July 15, 2007

Ottawa Royals comfortably won its Ottawa Cup third round tie against Kingston’s Limestone City by a score of 3-0. Ryan Devereaux scored a brace and James MacMillan thundered home a header to qualify the Royals for the final of the city’s showpiece cup competition.

Trying an experimental formation with the match against St. Anthony’s in mind, the Royals looked a little shaky in defence but likely to score when going forward.

Despite controlling the lion’s share of possession, Dustin Kemp in the Limestone net had a relatively comfortable first 45 minutes, making a few routine saves but not being exerted unduly.

The main threat to the Royals came from some dangerous tackling – and when Kemp scythed Donnard down in the box, it signalled the end of the afternoon for the French winger, likely out for 10 days with a recurrence of his bruised foot.

With substitute Ryan Devereaux keen to prove his fitness, there was an extra spring in the Royals’ play and on 45 minutes the visitors had the ball in the net only for it to be ruled out for offside.

At half time, Ewan Lyttle came on for Richard Boyle, pushing Labrom to left back and Deganutti into midfield. As the team settled, Limestone had one of its best chances to score with Lee beating Rochon to the ball and shooting just wide from 12 yards out.

The Royals stepped up their play a little and, on 59 minutes, some excellent work by Devereaux was followed by a cross to Deganutti, whose first time volley forced a superb reflex save from Kemp.

On 63 minutes, the Royals opened their account. Ryan Devereaux latched onto Ewan Lytle’s through ball and ran into the area before shooting across Kemp’s despairing dive into the corner of the net.

On 76 minutes, Devereaux scored his second of the afternoon, following good work by Deganutti on the left.

The Royals were controlling much of the game now, but Limestone still managed to cause them some trouble with runs through the middle. Indeed, Wallace had to make last ditch saves on a couple of occasions.

Still the Royals looked likely to score each time they moved forward – and Brooks almost notched the third of the afternoon on 81 minutes.

On 85 minutes, however, MacMillan provided the third goal with a thundering header from Brooks’ corner.

Three minutes later, Devereaux was deprived of his hattrick by a shameful bit of cheating by Lee. Lee was challenged in the area and rolled off the pitch, before rolling back on and trying to get the Royals to knock the ball out of play. Devereaux by this time had broken free of the defence and was through on the Limestone goal. Listening to the calls, instead of slotting the ball past the keeper, he allowed the ball to roll to him. At which point, the cheating Lee simply got up and walked off the field. What a twat.

The referee blew up for full time and Limestone was out of the cup.

Man of the Match: 3 points – Ryan Devereaux, 2 points – Frank Zegers, 1 point – Tyler Wallace


Statistics

Ottawa Royals

1-Tyler Wallace; 2-Frank Zegers, 3-James MacMillan, 11-Dom Rochon, 9-Dan Deganutti; 13-Greg Donnard (23-Ryan Devereaux, 37), 6-Marc Labrom, 20-Steve Kowlessar, 14-Richard Boyle (22-Ewan Lyttle, 46); 16-Jonathan Brooks, 8-Dimitri Koutras

Yellow Cards: Ryan Devereaux

Goals: Ryan Devereaux 2 (63 mins, 76 mins), James MacMillan (85 mins)

Limestone City
1-Dustin Kemp; 10-Scott Comeau, 8-Wade Innis, 6-Ryan Borges, 3-Mike Cook; 5-Tom Cawthorn, 4-Matt Tarbeau, 20-Steve Murano, 13-Mark Stanley; 11-Eric Lee, 18-Ben Naugler, 14-Vince Stabile, 19-Kevin McEleney

Season Tally:
Goals: D’Angelo 11; Boyle, Devereaux 5; Kowlessar 4; Koutras 3, Clouthier, J. Gutierrez, Ntwari 2; Brooks, MacMillan 1

Assists: Brooks, 5; Deganutti, Koutras, Rochon 4; Boyle, 3; Donnard, J. Gutierrez, 2; D’Angelo, Dennis, Devereaux, Kowlessar, Lyttle 1

New Date for St. Anthony's Rearranged Match

St. Anthony's game switched again

The Royals home game, originally scheduled for early July and then rescheduled for August 5, has once more been changed.

The current date for this fixture is Sunday, July 29, 2007 at MLA.

This may well change, but for the time being circle the date in your calendars.

Discipline Statistics

Cards Obtained

Capital United - Yellow: Roberto Gutierrez (1)
Gloucester Hornets - None
Internationals (Ontario Cup) - Yellow: Sylvain Clouthier (1)
Internationals - None
UNIDOS - Yellow: Roberto Gutierrez (2)
Hearts Azzurri (Ontario Cup) - Red: Jon Brooks (suspension 2nd game vs. St. Anthony's - served)
Lions de Hull - Yellow: Steve Kowlessar (1), Thierry Ntwari (1), Jeff Dennis (1)
Capital City Ambassadors (Ottawa Cup) - Yellow: Marc Labrom (1), Dom Rochon (1)
Limestone City (Ottawa Cup) - Yellow: Ryan Devereaux (1)
St. Anthony's: Yellow: Richard Boyle (1), Steve Kowlessar (2), Dom Rochon (2); Red: Jeff Dennis (probable three-match suspension)
St. Anthony's: Clouthier (2), Deganutti (1), J. Gutierrez (1), Labrom (2)

Please note, I have taken these from the official copies of the game sheets. Please advise me if you have received a card that is not shown here.

OCSL Results so far

Round 1, May 24
UNIDOS 0 - 2 Lions de Hull (default)
Capital United 2 -2 Royals
Rockers 2 - 2 St. Anthony's
Gloucester 2 - 3 Internationals

Round 2, May 31
Lions de Hull 2 - 1 Capital United

Round 2, June 7
UNIDOS 3 - 1 Capital United
Internationals 1 - 2 St. Anthony's
Gloucester 2 - 0 Royals

Round 3, June 14
Lions de Hull 1 - 1 Gloucester
Royals 5 - 2 Internationals
St. Anthony's 3 - 0 UNIDOS
Capital United 1 - 1 Rockers

Round 4, June 21
UNIDOS 2 - Royals 2
Hornets PP Rockers
St. Anthony's 13 - Lions de Hull 0
Internationals 0 - 0 Capital United

Round 5, June 28
Lions de Hull 0 - 0 Internationals
Royals PP St. Anthony's
Rockers 2 - 2 UNIDOS
Capital United 4 - 1 Gloucester

Round 6, July 5
UNIDOS 2 - 1 Gloucester
Royals 4 - 1 Lions de Hull
St. Anthony's 2 - 0 Capital United
Internationals 1 - 2 Rockers

Round 14 (advanced), July 15
Capital United 1 - 3 St. Anthony's

Round 7, July 19
St. Anthony's 2 - 1 Royals
Internationals 3 - 0 Lions de Hull
UNIDOS 2 - 1 Rockers
Gloucester Hornets 0 - 3 Capital United

Round 8, July 26
Ottawa Royals 6 - 2 UNIDOS de Hull
Capital United 2 - 0 Internationals
Lion de Hull o - 4 St. Anthony's
Rockers 2 - 2 Hornets

Round 5, July 29
Ottawa Royals 3 - 1 St. Anthony's

Round 9, August 2
Internationals 0 - 4 Ottawa Royals
Rockers 3 - 2 Capital United
Gloucester Hornets 3 - 2 Lions de Hull
UNIDOS 2 - 5 St. Anthony's

Round 10, August 9
Ottawa Royals 2 - 3 Gloucester Hornets
Lions de Hull 0 - 3 Rockers
St. Anthony's 4 - 1 Internationals
Capital United 2 - 1 UNIDOS

Round 11, August 16
Rockers 1 - 0 Ottawa Royals
UNIDOS 0 - 0 Internationals
Capital United 5 - 1 Lions de Hull
Gloucester Hornets 2 - 3 St. Anthony's

Round 12, August 23
Lions de Hull 0 - 3 UNIDOS
Ottawa Royals 4 - 0 Capital United
St. Anthony's 0 - 1 Rockers
Internationals PP Hornets

Round 13, August 30
Lions de Hull 0 - 4 Ottawa Royals
Rockers 1 - 1 Internationals
St. Anthony's 3 -1 Capital United (played 15 July)
Hornets - UNIDOS

Round 14
Ottawa Royals 2 - 0 Rockers
St. Anthony's - Hornets
Internationals - UNIDOS

Standings:
1) St. Anthony's P13 W10 L2 T1 F44 A14 Pts 31
2) Ottawa Royals P14 W8 L4 T2 F39 A18 Pts 26
3) Rockers P14 W7 L2 T5 F23 A17 Pts 26
4) Capital United P14 w5 L6 T3 F24 A23 Pts 18
5) Hull UNIDOS P12 W4 L5 T3 F19 A25 Pts 15
6) Internationals P12 W3 L6 T3 F14 A24 Pts 12
7) Gloucester Hornets P11 W3 L6 T2 F18 A24 Pts 11
8) Lions de Hull P14 W2 L11 T1 F10 A48 Pts 7

Report: Capital City Ambassadors 3, Ottawa Royals 9

Royals not happy despite nine goal salvo
July 8, 2007

Ottawa Royals qualified for the third round of the Ottawa Cup with a comfortable 9-3 victory over Capital City Ambassadors at Pinecrest Park. Richard Boyle scored four, Dimitri Koutras three and Steve Kowlessar two.

The Royals started with Boyle and Koutras up front after the late withdrawal of Sylvain Cloutier for administrative reasons. With Greg Donnard on the right and Dan Deganutti on the left, and a central midfield trio of Rochon, Kowlessar and Marc Labrom, the Royals looked to play through the middle and release on the wings, protecting the back three of Marc Anthony Viscosi, James MacMillan and Frank Zegers and goalkeeper Tyler Wallace.

The Royals started very strongly and had created two clear-cut opportunities within three minutes. On 6 minutes, Deganutti played a good ball through to the forward-moving Dom Rochon, but his curled shot was saved well by goalkeeper Delon Young.

Two minutes later though, the away side opened the score through Dimitri Koutras. Richard Boyle played a ball into Kowlessar, who fed Koutras who neatly toepoked the ball past the stranded Young.

On 11 minutes, the Royals doubled their advantage and Koutras was again the scorer. Greg Donnard received the ball on the right wing and beat his man, getting to the bye-line and crossing into the box. Koutras had a relatively side-foot into the net.

Three minutes after that, Kowlessar made it 3-0, taking advantage of good work by Boyle to fire a shot in from 20 yards out. The ball took a wicked deflection and looped over the keeper into the back of the net.

On 21 minutes, Boyle made it 4-0, taking advantage of a Koutras pass into the box to beat the keeper one-on-one.

On 25 minutes, the Royals were awarded a penalty when Greg Donnard was pushed off the ball in the area. Kowlessar stepped up to send Young the wrong way and make it 5-0.

On 37 minutes, after a whole slew of Royals misses, Young produced a wonder save from a viciously struck Deganutti free kick, diving low to his right to palm the ball away for a corner. Bout one minute later, Boyle made it 6-0, once more combining well with Koutras to race into the box and slide the ball under the goalkeeper’s diving body.

On 42 minutes, the visitors had a goal wrongly disallowed. Donnard was free in the box but instead of shooting chose to pass the ball backwards to an unmarked Boyle. Boyle converted easily, but the referee’s assistant wrongly raised his flag.

Despite the warning, the Royals started the second half casually and on 48 minutes, Tyler Wallace was penalized for a foul in the box and gave away a penalty. Ahmed Emran comfortably converted to make the score 6-1. Wallace made up for it though on 52 minutes, when Emran rounded the defence and was through on goal. Wallace stood tall and prevented a goal with a fine reflex stop.

The Royals scored their seventh goal on 63 minutes with Dimitri Koutras bagging his first hattrick of the season after an excellent Jonathan Brooks cross. Two minutes later, the Ambassadors pulled back a second goal, following a superb free kick by Elias Chahine.

Still the Royals pressed forward, creating chance after chance. On 73 minutes, Richard Boyle finally scored his hattrick after some sterling work by Rochon in central midfield. Rochon fed Koutras just outside the area and the striker turned and fired in an excellent shot, which Young could only parry. Boyle was straight in to knock in the rebound.

Two minutes later, Boyle added the ninth and his own fourth, feeding off a Rochon pass down the middle.

Still the scoring was not finished, and on 78 minutes the CCA side scored its third of the evening, when a tame shot deceived Wallace and hit the back of the net.

Once again, the Royals contrived to give up avoidable goals and put themselves under pressure when the game is won. A combination of woeful defending and poor possession are at the root of this, with players remaining static and ball watching. The forwards, despite their nine goals today and four on Thursday, are also misfiring – and need to be much more clinical in their finishing. Nine goals is a great return, until you look at the number of shots and one-on-one situations that were not punished (17).

If the Royals work at keeping their shape and putting away their chances, they will improve and improve quickly. But until they do that, the overall feeling will ultimately be one of dissatisfaction. The Royals next face Limestone in the third round on July 15.


Man of the Match: 3 points – Richard Boyle, 2 points – Steve Kowlessar, 1 point – Dimitri Koutras
Richard Boyle’s four goals were sufficient for him to receive the man of the match award, but it was his second half link play that was the most impressive, feeding off Rochon and Kowlessar’s passes and distributing first time with ease.

Statistics
Ottawa Royals
1-Tyler Wallace; 5-Marc Anthony Viscosi, 3-James MacMillan (9-Dan Deganutti, 72), 24-Frank Zegers (6-Marc Labrom, 63); 19-Greg Donnard (16-Jonathan Brooks, 46), 11-Dom Rochon, 6-Marc Labrom (22-Ewan Lyttle, 46), 20-Steve Kowlessar, 9-Dan Deganutti (10-Alan Farant, 46); 17-Richard Boyle, 8-Dimitri Koutras (19-Greg Donnard, 80)

Yellow Cards: Marc Labrom, Dom Rochon

Goals: Richard Boyle 4 (21, 38, 73, 75 mins), Dimitri Koutras 3 (8, 11, 63 mins), Steve Kowlessar 2 (14, 25 mins)

Capital City Ambassadors
1-Delon Young; Ali Al-Hajari, Karar Al-Hajari, Ali Albadry, Ahmed Emran, Mustafa Falingo, Freddy Martinez, Michael Datson, Hassan Salman, Hassan Sharif, Abdellah Souaid, Mohammed Thabet, Elias Chahine, Faysal Ghazi, Abaidi Bounani

Goals: Emran 2, Chahine

Season Tally:
Goals: D’Angelo 11; Boyle 5; Kowlessar 4; Devereaux, Koutras 3, Clouthier, J. Gutierrez, Ntwari 2; Brooks 1
Assists: Brooks, Koutras, Rochon 4; Boyle, Deganutti 3; Donnard, J. Gutierrez, 2; D’Angelo, Dennis, Devereaux, Kowlessar 1

Report: Ottawa Royals 4, Lions de Hull 1

Royals win comfortably in second home match of season
July 5, 2007

Ottawa Royals scored four and missed a host of chances as they beat the Lions de Hull comfortably at MLA.

Steve Kowlessar opened the scoring with a penalty, Ryan Devereaux scored two and Thierry Ntwari added a fourth in a disjointed, if one-sided match.

The Royals opened strongly and on 52 seconds, debutant Dimitri Koutras was scythed down in the penalty area by Tahl. Steve Kowlessar stepped up to send the keeper the wrong way from the spot and open the score for the home side.

The Royals then proceeded to carve open the second place team at every possible juncture, combining well outside the area and setting up numerous chances in the box.

After several more missed opportunities, the Royals doubled their score on 9 minutes, when Koutras fed Devereaux to hit the bottom left hand side of the net with a powerful drive.

On 12 minutes, the Royals were 3-0 up. Donnard combined well with Devereaux and sent the striker free into the box. Devereaux chose the near post option and beat the despairing Biglas all ends up.

The Royals continued to create numerous opportunities, but were unable to put them away. A combination of profligate finishing, lack of confidence, solid last-ditch defensive work and good goalkeeping prevented them from adding to the score by the end of the half.

However, the Royals missed six one-on-one chances with Biglas in the first half alone – and such profligacy is a huge cause for concern. Strikers – and to a lesser extent midfielders – need to take advantage of golden opportunities when they are presented. Not all defences are as generous as the Lions de Hull’s was in the first half!

Coach Michael Adams made a number of changes at half time in an attempt to strengthen the home side’s shape, which had become seriously disjointed toward the end of the first period. On 64 minutes, two of the substitutes combined when Jonathan Brooks provided an excellent cross for Thierry Ntwari. The diminutive striker coolly side footed the ball over the advancing Biglas to give the home team a 4-0 lead.

The Royals then lost shape a little more but maintained their energy and work ethic. On 72 minutes, Sekger pulled a goal back for the visitors who, despite a much better performance in the second half, never really got any closer to achieving a result.

Man of the Match: 3 points – Dimitri Koutras, 2 points – Dom Rochon, 1 point – Ryan Devereaux
Dimitri Koutras did well to take advantage of his first start in a Royals shirt, earning the home team an early penalty and grabbing an assist on the second goal. With more confidence in front of goal, Koutras could have bagged a couple himself, but this was a hugely encouraging return for the striker.

Statistics
Ottawa Royals
1-Tyler Wallace (1-Frank Dicaria, 63); 25-Roberto Gutierrez, 3-James MacMillan, 6-Marc Labrom (5-Marc Anthony Viscosi, 46); 19-Greg Donnard (16-Jonathan Brooks, 46), 22-Ewan Lyttle (12-Jorge Gutierrez, 33), 14-Dom Rochon, 20-Steve Kowlessar (2-Alan Morgan, 67), 24-Richard Boyle (9-Dan Deganutti, 46); 8-Dimitri Koutras (4-Thierry Ntwari, 46), 23-Ryan Devereaux (13-Jeff Dennis, 46)

Yellow Cards: Steve Kowlessar, Thierry Ntwari, Jeff Dennis
Goals: Devereaux 2 (9 mins, 12 mins), Kowlessar 1 (penalty – 2 mins), Ntwari 1 (64 mins)

Lions de Hull:
1-Marc Biglas, 14-Sebastien Babineau, 16-Hersham Daher, 10-Reginald Demosthenes, 18-Diarla Mohamed, 7-Joel Goachidea, 6-Mohamed Haj, 9-Ibula Iyel, 13-Florent Kangni, 2-martin Lambert, 4-Oulech Tahl, 15-Dona Sekger, 11-Gilba Sanda, 17-Manin Amin

Goal: Dona Sekger 1 (72 mins)

Season Tally:
Goals: D’Angelo 11; Devereaux, Kowlessar 3, Clouthier, J. Gutierrez, Ntwari 2; Boyle, Brooks 1
Assists: Brooks, Deganutti 3; J. Gutierrez, Rochon 2; Boyle, D’Angelo, Dennis, Devereaux, Donnard, Koutras 1

2007 Season Schedule

16 April: Red Star (a) Friendly -- W 6-1
18 April: Ottawa Internationals (a) Friendly -- W 2-1
28 April: Outrement (a) Friendly -- L 1-2
6 May: Ottawa Fury (a) Friendly -- W 2-0
14 May: Royals Ukrainia (n) Friendly -- D 1-1
15 May: Lynwood Centennials (a) Friendly -- W 7-1
18 May: Ottawa Fury (a) Friendly -- W 1-0
24 May: Capital United (a) OCSL Round 1 -- D 2-2
26 May: Pony's XI (n) Testimonial -- W 10-5
7 June: Gloucester Hornets (a) OCSL Round 2 -- L 0-2
10 June: Ottawa Internationals (a) Ontario Cup Round 1 -- W 7-0
14 June: Ottawa Internationals (h) OCSL Round 3 -- W 5-2
21 June: Hull UNIDOS (a) OCSL Round 4 -- D 2-2
24 June: North York Hearts Azzurri (a) Ontario Cup Round 2 -- L 3-3* (4-5 on penalty kicks)
28 June: St. Anthony's (h) OCSL Round 5 - PP
5 July: Lions de Hull (h) OCSL Round 6 -- W 4-1
8 July: Capital City Ambassadors (a) Ottawa Cup Round 2 -- W 9-3
15 July: Limestone City (a) Ottawa Cup Round 3 -- W 3-0
19 July: St. Anthony's (a) OCSL Round 7 -- L 1-2
26 July: Hull UNIDOS (h) OCSL Round 8 -- W 6-2
29 July: St. Anthony's (h) OCSL Round 5 (4 p.m. kick off) -- W 3-1
2 August: Ottawa Internationals (a) OCSL Round 9 -- W 4-0
9 August: Gloucester Hornets (h) OCSL Round 10 -- L 2-3
16 August: Rockers (a) OCSL Round 11 -- L 0-1
19 August: Nepean Hotspurs (n) Ottawa Cup Final -- W 4-3
23 August: Capital United (h) OCSL Round 12 -- W 4-0
30 August: Lions de Hull (a) OCSL Round 13 -- W 4-0
6 September: Rockers (h) OCSL Round 14 -- W 2-0

ROYALS WIN OTTAWA CUP AND FINISH IN SECOND PLACE IN THE OCSL PREMIER DIVISION

Training, Monday July 2

Ottawa Royals MP will train Monday, July 2, at Brookfield HS. Training will start at 5.45 and end at 7.30. Everyone is expected to attend.

Because of the U-20 World Cup, there will be no training on Tuesday.

There is a game on Thursday against Lions de Hull at MLA Leitrim (6.30 pm) and a further game on Sunday, July 8, at 6 p.m. in the Ottawa Cup. This takes place at Pinecrest.

This means there will be no training until Tuesday, July 10, after this session. Hence the importance of being there.

No training tonight

Following last night's shock 12-0 victory over the Argentine U-20 team at Lansdowne Park, the Ottawa Royals have been given a free night to celebrate.

Next training session will be on Monday at 6.30 pm, then back to the routine of Tuesday and Thursday game.

Report: Azzurri Hearts 3, Ottawa Royals 3 aet (Hearts win 5-4 on penalties)

A bitter pill to swallow
June 24, 2007

Ottawa Royals came away from the Esther Shriner stadium in North York with a burning sense of disappointment as they were bundled out of the Ontario Cup at the second round stage.

On a scorching hot day in North York Hearts Azzurri's artificial turf, the Royals played some excellent football and showed immense character.

Leading 2-0, right midfielder Jonathan Brooks was sent off for a second bookable offence (actually, a first bookable offence, but it was the second card) and the Royals were pegged back through two hotly disputed goals.

With Matt D'Angelo and Sylvain Clouthier up front, the Royals had targeted Hearts Azzurri centre back Ruscietta as a weakness and started playing balls on the ground past him. On 3 minutes, with Clouthier sprinting past him and close to being the last man, he scythed the Quebec striker down and got a yellow card.

Clouthier had started the game like a man possessed (which is possibly the case) and was closing defenders down quickly and encouraging his team mates to do the same. On 6 minutes, his pressure earned a corner, which poorly executed, allowed Hearts Azzurri to show their excellence at counter attacking.

With good service from the midfield trio of Kowlessar, Rochon and Maxi Gutierrez, Clouthier and D'Angelo were combining well up front, causing the home side endless problems. On 12 minutes, resulting from a James MacMillan free kick, D'Angelo chested a ball down for Clouthier, but the shot went wide of the target.

There was an exciting ebb and flow to the game. Maxi Gutierrez had shackled Hearts talisman Frank Bruno so effectively that the home team was having to play the ball out wide. On 32 minutes, Dan Deganutti switched sides with Jonathan Brooks, giving a more defensive shape to the right and allowing Brooks more space to attack on the left.

The back line of Mini Gutierrez, James MacMillan and Marc Labrom was holding firm, and with Deganutti and Brooks switching, the team had better balance and snuffed out the home attacks with relative ease.

On 35 minutes, the Royals created a first clear cut opportunity when Matt D'Angelo was released through the centre. Neatly controlling an awkwardly bouncing ball, D'Angelo pivoted and placed a shot low inside the near post. Unfortunately for him, Chencinski (recently signed with Toronto FC's farm team) was up to the task, producing a superb save to keep the scoreline blank.

The Royals now stepped up the pressure in the final ten minutes before half time, forcing a series of corners and keeping the home fans quiet. On 38 minutes, a Brooks corner found the towering forehead of MacMillan, but he was unable to keep his header down and the ball sailed harmlessly over the bar.

On 39 minutes, however, the Royals opened the score. Jonathan Brooks once more got forward on the left and fed a ball in for Matt D'Angelo, who laid it off nicely for Sylvain Clouthier. Clouthier opened up his body and side footed the ball into the corner of the net, giving the visitors a deserved lead.

The Royals continued forward, looking for the vital second goal before half time. Brooks came close with an angled drive on 41 minutes and Clouthier had another chance a minute later.

On 43 minutes, Jonathan Brooks picked up a yellow card for a minor offence, but at the half, the Royals were in the ascendancy and there seemed little to worry about.

Coach Michael Adams was happy enough at half time to keep the formation as it was, while Hearts decided to move Bruno up to centre forward. Marc Labrom moved into the man marking role, which allowed the Ottawa midfield more time to pinpoint accurate attacks.

Hearts were having more of the ball, but despite threatening, they never really managed to trouble Antoine Lagarec in the Royals goal.

On 54 minutes, the Royals gave the home side a taste of its own counter-attacking medicine, when Clouthier broke quickly from a Hearts corner, held the ball up and fed Deganutti on the edge of the 18-yard box. Deganutti fired away a powerful shot that missed the goal by inches.

But then, on 57 minutes, the Royals scored their second goal. Steve Kowlessar, imperious in the middle of the field, won the ball and released Matt D'Angelo through the middle. D'Angelo raced into the box, steadied himself and waited for the advancing Chencinski to commit himself. He then placed his shot in the top left-hand corner of the net from 18 yards.

Hearts launched an all out attack and within 2 minutes were rewarded when the referee penalized Jonathan Brooks for handball outside the box and issued his second yellow card. Brooks can have no complaints about the second card, but his first one was ridiculous and completely undeserved. Forced into a reshuffle, Michael Adams brought off Matt D'Angelo and put on Marc Anthony Viscosi in the right midfield spot.

Having realized that the referee had been somewhat casual in his interpretation of the rules, the home side went for broke. Frank Bruno executed a triple salko and twist in the penalty area, finishing off his exquisite move with a demi-piroutte and shake, before rolling on the ground like Rivaldo near a corner flag. "Penalty!" screamed the crowd. "Yellow card!" replied the referee, booking Bruno either for simulation or for not executing the demi-pirouette correctly.

The home side grew increasingly desperate, and the Royals were creating chances to finish them off. Rotating the three strikers and replacing Dan Deganutti with Jeff Dennis, the Royals created three or four one-on-one situations with Chencinski, but contrived to miss the target or hit the ball straight at him on each occasion.

On 73 minutes, Hearts got back in the game with a hotly disputed goal. Standing two yards offside (and the other side of the linesman), Forno received the ball and controlled it before playing a ball in to Bruno (standing two yards in front of him) to sidefoot into the net. The assistant referee (or maybe the assistant to the referee) didn't move. It was like a scene from Awakenings.

Galvanized by this, the home side poured forward in search of the equalizer. With more missed opportunities up front, the Royals were always susceptible to Hearts' exploitation of the space caused by the extra man. And on 86 minutes, the home side got the equalizer, which again was hugely controversial.

As a ball was played into the top of the Royals box, Luca Forno controlled the ball with his arm, knocking it down into his path before firing a shot past Lagarec. Despite the Royals vehement protestations, the goal was given and the home side was riding a wave of euphoria.

Deflated, the Royals were struggling now, and it took an excellent save from Antoine Lagarec to keep them in the tie, going down low to foil Kyle Hall.

And so to extra time, where the referee once again showed his lack of knowledge by playing two fifteen-minute halves rather than the scheduled golden goal. This proved just as well, because within two minutes of the restart, Luca Forno had given Hearts the lead with a well taken goal past Lagarec's outstretched diving left hand.

The Royals continued to fight, pressurizing the home team and creating a number of half chances. Meanwhile, Lagarec kept the Royals in the match, snuffing out three or four breaks from Bruno and Forno. The game looked set to end at 3-2.

And then on 117 minutes, Matt D'Angelo somehow found an extra spring in his step and let fly from 25 yards, leaving the despairing Chencinski no chance as the net bulged. It was the most dramatic of equalizers and having played for more than an hour with ten men, it was a testament to the courage and strength of the team.

Nothing further happened before the end of the game and so both teams went to the penalty shoot out. Matt D'Angelo was the unlucky player, seeing his shot well saved by Chencinski.

North York Hearts Azzurri qualify for the next round of the competition, while the Royals have to pick themselves up for the coming week's fixtures.

But sometimes, despite the result, the giant strides a team makes are just as important. In previous games, the Royals have shown a weakness when being in front and have conceded soft goals. In this game, there was no weakness. All 19 players that made the trip were committed and focused to the cause and despite coming up short, can be proud of the effort and courage they showed. Playing a man down, against a suspect referee and a suspect assistant to the referee, in torrid conditions, the Royals fought hard and long and clawed themselves back into the game when it was least expected.

The third goal should instil the Royals with a belief in themselves, and a belief in the future of the team.

Man of the Match: Too tough to call. James MacMillan led from the back and was uncompromising in defence, ably backed up by Mini Gutierrez and Agent Morbal, who also made big impressions in defence. Maxi Gutierrez snuffed out the huge threat of Frank Bruno in midfield, to the extent that he had to be shifted up front. Dom Rochon and Steve Kowlessar were tireless in midfield. Antoine Lagarec made a number of big saves late in the game and couldn't be faulted for the goals. Sylvain Clouthier was inspirational up front, demanding more of players and creating space for the hardworking and dynamic Matt D'Angelo. Dan Deganutti and Jonathan Brooks adapted well to new situations and gave key input defensively and offensively respectively. Ryan Devereaux and Jeff Dennis both came into the game and were asked to slot into a system that was working well - it was a testament to their energy and hard work that they improved it and created chances to score. Richard Boyle (Private Dick Tepid) worked hard as a right midfielder/defender and played well against a team with its tail up. Marc Anthony Viscosi and Frank Zegers slotted into defence and strengthened the spine of the team with solid play. The two unused substitutes, Thierry Ntwari and Tyler Wallace, were unstinting in their support, as was Alan Farant, who made the trip to be with his team mates.

Statistics

Hearts Azzurri
14-Tomer Chencinski; 3-Eric Tse, 4-Peyrand Mossavat, 5-Shondell Busby, 6-Gil Vainshstein, 7-Kyle Hall, 8-Luca Zucal, 9-Ryan Fante, 10-Frank Bruno, 13-Frank Morelli, 15-Cameron Alksnis, 16-Mahmoud Mirsadeghi, 20-Jody Forno, 21-Luca Forno, 23-Franco Ruscietta, 11-Pedram Eynolhagh, GK-Shahab Noorafkhan, GK-Stefan Caulfield

Yellow Cards: Frank Bruno, Jody Forno, Franco Ruscietta
Goals: Bruno, 73; Luca Forno, 86, 92

Ottawa Royals
1-Antoine Lagarec; 4-Roberto Gutierrez, 18-James MacMillan, 15-Marc Labrom; 10-Jonathan Brooks, 14-Steve Kowlessar, 6-Jorge Gutierrez, 8-Dominic Rochon, 9-Dan Deganutti; 3-Matt D'Angelo, 7-Sylvain Clouthier; 13-Jeff Dennis, 17-Richard Boyle, 13-Jeff Dennis, 19-Ryan Devereaux, 12-Thierry Ntwari; GK-Tyler Wallace, 5-Marc Anthony Viscosi; 20-Frank Zegers

Yellow Cards: Jonathan Brooks x2 (red card)
Goals: Clouthier, 39 (Brooks assist); D'Angelo, 58 (Kowlessar assist), 117

Penalty Shootout:
Royals 1-0 (Kowlessar) - Hearts 1-1 (Bruno)
Royals 2-1 (MacMillan) - Hearts 2-2 (Vainshstein
Royals 2-2 (D'Angelo) - Hearts 2-3 (Zucal)
Royals 3-3 (R. Gutierrez) - Hearts 3-4 (Mirsadeghi)
Royals 4-4 (Clouthier) - Hearts 4-5 (L. Forno)
Azzurri Hearts win 5-4 on penalty shoot out

Season Tally:
Goals: D’Angelo 11; Kowlessar, Clouthier, J. Gutierrez 2; Boyle, Brooks, Devereaux, Ntwari 1
Assists: Deganutti 3; Brooks, J. Gutierrez, Rochon 2; Boyle, D’Angelo, Dennis, Devereaux 1