Royals stumble to surprise loss at Gloucester
June 7, 2007
Ottawa Royals stumbled to a surprise and unwelcome 2-0 defeat against Gloucester Hornets at Tauvette Park last night. Nick Stoitsis and Dave Francoeur were the scorers for the home team. Gloucester improves to 1-0-1 with the win, while the Royals slip to an 0-1-1 record.
In a match that the Royals dominated from start to finish, two individual defensive errors allowed Gloucester to snatch the points.
The Royals opened the game well, spraying the ball around the pitch comfortably and never looking in danger. The initial 15-20 minutes was particularly impressive, with Jonathan Boyle on the right getting into numerous good positions, and Ryan Devereaux and Jeff Dennis making good moves up front. Matt D’Angelo took a while to settle into the unfamiliar deep striker role, but once he did, his contributions were also good.
Gloucester’s opening goal came from Dave Francoeur on 35 minutes. From defending a corner, the ball was cleared to the striker, who outpaced Frank Zegers and slipped the ball assuredly under the advancing Frank De Caria.
With the Gloucester keeper acting as a sweeper, the Royals started to take the wrong options. Lofted balls from the middle were easily cut out and despite the Royals high possession rate, Gloucester managed to finish the half off solidly.
In the second half, the Royals went about their business just as efficiently. With Rochon replacing D’Angelo in the middle, the midfield looked more balanced and the balls were coming out to the wings a little more quickly.
On 65 minutes, Gloucester somehow managed to score a second goal. James MacMillan headed what seemed like an innocuous ball back to De Caria, who was distracted by the run of Stoitsis in the box and misjudged the flight of the ball, leaving the striker with a simple task of finding the net.
From then on, the Royals threw everything at the Gloucester team but couldn’t find the back of the net. Ryan Devereaux had a number of good chances but the score remained 2-0 to Gloucester.
The Royals now have to pick themselves up for Sunday’s important Ontario Cup match against the Ottawa Internationals, who narrowly lost 2-1 to St. Anthony’s last night.
Statistics
Man of the Match: Kowlessar – 3 points; Viscosi – 2 points; Rochon – 1 point.
In a game where Ottawa seemed destined never to score, Steve Kowlessar was a solid and determined figure in the defensive midfield position. Simple and uncomplicated, Kowlessar was accurate in his distribution and solid in his covering.
Gloucester Hornets
Cyril Dehopere, Andrew Gilchrist, Francis Kwok, Stephan Lemay, Matt Lemieux, Ben Makuch, Haydn Morton, Andrew Petersen, Nicko Stoitsis, Pat Violette, Brendan Walker, Pat Wellington, Dave Francoeur, Joe Schatter, Nick Sawadias
Ottawa Royals
1-Frank De Caria; 4-Roberto Gutierrez (12-Marc Antony Viscosi, 35), 3-James MacMillan, 2-Frank Zegers (4-Roberto Gutierrez, 75); 16-Jonathan Brooks (6-Greg Donnard, 46; Jonathan Brooks, 85), 7-Steve Kowlessar, 9-Jorge Gutierrez (15-Matt D’Angelo, 76), 15-Matt D’Angelo (11-Dom Rochon, 46), 19-Richard Boyle (18-Alan Farant, 35; 8-Dan Deganutti, 67); 23-Ryan Devereaux, 13-Jeff Dennis (20-Dimitri Koutras, 67)
Substitutes not used: 22-Alan Morgan, GK-Tyler Wallace
Goals: Ottawa Royals, none
Yellow Cards: none
Season Tally:
Goals: D'Angelo, Devereaux 1
Assists: D’Angelo, Devereaux 1
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