Report: Internationals 1, Royals 2

Royals brought back down to earth
April 18, 2007

After the euphoria of the 6-1 thumping of Red Star in Montreal on Sunday, Ottawa Royals came back to earth with a thud at Ottawa University campus last night, scraping past a committed Ottawa Internationals Reserve squad 2-1. Goals from former Internationals players Matt D’Angelo and Jeff Dennis were enough to win the game, while the MC1 team responded late in the match through Ed Tarpeh.

In a shortened fixture, the teams played two thirty-minute halves, with the Royals giving several trialists a run-out in a competitive game.

While rarely threatened, the Royals showed a distinct lack of composure on the ball and seemed to have little appetite for the midfield battle. Matt D’Angelo toiled away upfront, but received little in the way of support or service. The experimental defence was shapeless and seemed to ball-watch far too often; only Alan Morgan, fitting in on the left of the three-man unit, came out of the game with any credit.

On 21 minutes, D’Angelo opened the score for the visitors, taking advantage of a muddle in the defence to turn and bury the ball in the corner past a static Ibrahim in goal.

Sixty seconds later, Jeff Dennis was too slow to react, allowing a golden opportunity in the box to elude him. The Royals were controlling the game, but lacked the composure to kill off the game.

In the second half, the Royals were more focused and direct, and three minutes in Jeff Dennis had doubled the score. Matt D’Angelo showed great acceleration on the left, beating Cottrell for pace and crossing in low and hard to the penalty area. Dennis steered the ball into the net first time with good composure.

Minutes later, Dennis missed another sitter, bringing down another cross, but then blasting the ball high and wide with keeper on the ground and the net gaping.

Internationals reduced the deficit on 50 minutes after another defensive muddle. With Azerizghi appealing vainly for offside—and having committed the cardinal sin of stopping playing to do so—Tarpeh powered his way through the middle and buried the ball past McCallum.

Both sides fought hard for the remaining ten minutes, with neither team having the guile nor edge to score again.

Overall, a poor performance from the Royals, and the levels of focus and commitment will need to be stepped up if this season is to be a success.


Statistics

Man of the Match: Matt D’Angelo – 3 points; James MacMillan – 2 points; Steve Kowlessar – 1 point.

Ottawa Royals
McCallum; Mapendere (Lyttle, 48), Azerizghi, Morgan; Boyle (Koutras, 46), Rochon, MacMillan, Kowlessar, Graziano (Gutierrez-R, 40); Dennis, D’Angelo (Ntwari, 44)
Substitutes: Wallace, Edgar, Ntwari, Koutras, Lyttle, Gutierrez-R, Zegers

Goals: D’Angelo, 21 (unassisted); Dennis, 33 (D’Angelo assist)

Pre-season Tally:
Goals: Dennis, Devereaux 2; D’Angelo, MacMillan, Rochon, Viscosi 1
Assists: Deganutti 2, Mapendere 2; D’Angelo, Devereaux, Koutras 1