Royals Premier Held by Club’s Solid MC4 Side
May 14, 2007
Ottawa Royals MP team was held to 1-1 tie by the club’s Ukrainia side last night in a 70-minute exhibition fixture at Gloucester Super Dome.
As part of the team’s pre-season preparations, a strong group of players put in a hardworking and solid showing, but failed to find the spark necessary in the offensive third to break down the resilient MC4 defence.
The Premier side controlled, as expected, the majority of the possession and during the first half created a wave of chances. Opting for a 4-5-1 system with Jeff Dennis as the lone striker, the first half saw Marc Labrom operating on the left flank and Richard Boyle on the right.
Steve Kowlessar opened the scoring on 19 minutes with a rasping drive into the top corner from 25 yards, following some good movement down the right flank.
The MP side circulated the ball extremely well, and for the first half pinned the MC4 team into the final third of the pitch. However, the lack of a cutting edge was apparent, as several clear-cut chances were missed and the wrong options were often chosen in and around the box. All too often, a lack of real urgency was being shown in important spaces – and this slowed down the attacking approach play and allowed time for the defence to recover.
Jeff Dennis put in a committed performance as the lone striker and will have benefited from the experience.
In the second half, the MP side continued to have the lion’s share of possession, but the gap between midfield and the forward line was still apparent. Seven minutes in, the team switched to a 3-5-2 formation and three minutes later conceded a goal. Sergey Kovalenkov took advantage of slack marking to blast the ball past Steve Paiano in the MP nets.
The premier side’s woes continued, as Peter Mapendere had to leave the game after receiving a kick to his right ankle. With no substitutes, the team played on with ten men for the remainder of the match.
Despite this, the Premier side dominated possession, yet never really looked as if it could punish the MC4 defence.
A disappointing result, but the number of clear chances created in the first half was pleasing – and the players involved will benefit enormously from the competitive workout.
Statistics
Man of the Match: Labrom – 3 points; Shales – 2 points; MacMillan – 1 point.
Ottawa Royals
Paiano; Mapendere, MacMillan, Shales, Zegers; Boyle, Kowlessar, Morgan, Rochon, Labrom; Dennis
Goals: Kowlessar (unassisted)
Pre-season Tally:
Goals: Rochon, 4; Devereaux, 2; Dennis, Kowlessar, MacMillan, Viscosi 1
Assists: Mapendere 3; Deganutti, Devereaux 2, Koutras, Ntwari 1
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