Royals rebound in style against Internationals
Sunday, May 10
The road to the 2007 Ontario Cup began for the Ottawa Royals on Sunday, June 10th with a hometown match against the Ottawa Internationals. On what was a warm and humid afternoon, the Ottawa Internationals chose the open air Uplands football facility to stage its bid at reaching the next round, as they hoped to secure a spot amidst the top 32 teams in the province.
When the draw pitted these two hometown rivals against one another in this first round encounter, it provided a multitude of subplots that merely added to the already intense atmosphere that a game in such a knockout competition brings. Indeed, new Royals head coach Mike Adams was instrumental in the rise of the Internationals club from minnows to what could be described as fairly respected status in the nation's capital football circles, and in making the move to the Royals in the past year he had a hand in attracting to the Royals no less than four former standout performers for the Internationals in Jorge and Roberto Gutierrez, Matt D'Angelo and goalkeeper Tyler Wallace.
And if the departure of their mentor and some of their key players was not incentive enough to spark the Internationals into making a feisty start to this game, they would assuredly be buoyed by both teams' recent results: the Royals entering the game having tied Capital United 2-2 in their OCSL league opener, and having fallen to the Gloucester Hornets merely 3 days earlier by a score of 2-0. On their end, the Internationals had dispatched the same Gloucester team by a score of 3-2 in their opener, and had been brave in defeat going down 2-1 to the defending National Champions (St. Anthony's) by a score of 2-1.
So with the backdrop set, Mike Adams was quick to assemble the troops and send them onto the pitch with what is hoped to be a rallying cry for the rest of the season. It didn't matter that the weather conditions were scorching hot, and it didn't matter who the Royals' opponents were. It didn't matter that the field was in woeful condition, nor did it matter how the referee was to call the game. What mattered was that the Royals needed to come together and play the game and simply focus on all the efforts that went into creating the 2007 version of the team. "FOR US" became the rallying cry, as the Royals set themselves to the task at hand and fielded the following starting line-up in their familiar 3-5-2 formation:
Antoine Lagarec in nets; a back three of Roberto Gutierrez, James MacMillan and Frank Zegers; central midfielders Dominic Rochon, Jorge Gutierrez, and Steve Kowlessar; Jonathon Brooks and Dan Deganutti on the flanks; and Sylvain Clouthier and Matt D'Angelo up front.
It seems the coach's words, or perhaps the occasion itself had brought a sense of purpose and focus to the team. The Royals wasted no time in getting things underway, winning tackles and distributing the ball around in effortless one and two-touch passes. Within 3 minutes Rochon sent a looping ball into the left corner for a streaking Dan Deganutti. His delivery into the box was perfect, and Jorge Gutierrez was on song to power the ball into the net from close range. 1-0 Royals. Ten minutes later the Royals were 2-0 up following another string of passes, and an unbelievable creative flash from Jorge Gutierrez who cheekily chipped the ball over the defence, perfectly placing the ball into Matt D'Angelo's path. D'Angelo did the rest, slotting home comfortably past on onrushing keeper to make the score 2-0. The Royals were winning all second balls in the midfield at this point, and when an errant header fell to Rochon he promptly flicked a ball first time over the defence and Matt D'Angelo was on hand again to beat the offside trap and, after calmly rounding the keeper, he notched his second goal of the game to put Royals ahead 3-0.
Internationals were reeling in the heat, and the Royals kept up their relentless attack. Yet another great run from Deganutti led to a second stellar delivery into the box on his part 22 minutes into the bout. Matt D'Angelo was on hand yet again to slot home his third making the score 4-0. Cloutier and D'Angelo were being very clever with their runs off the ball, showing for the ball and laying the ball off first touch only to run off again creating space or darting towards goal looking for another chance at net. Deganutti and Brooks were staying wide which allowed the Royals to use the full width of the pitch, and their service had so far been perfect. A few desperate clearances allowed the Internationals to compete for a few balls, but Zegers, Roberto Gutierrez and MacMillan were winning head balls and standing firm, and if anything got by them Lagarec played an additional sweeper's role as he was always quick off his line to deal with any troublesome long balls.
As the Royals kept the pressure on, the Internationals' keeper did well to save a free kick and then made a spectacular stop off a Cloutier rebound seconds later. But there was no stopping the free flowing Royals football as Rochon found Brooks on the wing with a great through ball in the 29th minute, and with yet another stellar cross Matt D'Angelo gleefully potted home his fourth to bring the tally to 5-0 after merely half an hour of football. This last move included 5 or 6 one-touch passes that showed how the Royals were in their element on the day. Minutes later Matt D'Angelo was taken down in the box and Steve Kowlessar coolly slotted home a penalty to bring the Royals tally to six goals.
Following the goal Viscosi came on for Zegers, and Richard Boyle came on for Deganutti. The only black spot in an otherwise flawless performance by the men in white in this first half came in the 42nd minute where Sylvain Cloutier was yellow carded for dissent, but this did not spoil the mood as the Royals went into the break with a comfortable 6-nil lead.
Given the heat the Royals looked to make a few substitutions, with Jeff Dennis coming on for Cloutier at half, and Greg Donnard replacing Brooks in the 55th minute. Both Dennis and Donnard showed good pace and great determination in running down balls - and their hard work almost paid off when Dennis won a ball in midfield and fed Donnard who beat his man and went in on the goalie one on one, only to be denied by a great save. Alan Farant came on to replace D'Angelo shortly thereafter, with Boyle moving up front and Farant settling on the left wing. The Royals continued to press and created several chances, but the free flowing football witnessed in the first half cooled somewhat, mainly due to the main protagonists' departure (Cloutier, D'Angelo, Brooks and Deganutti all enjoying a well deserved rest on the bench).
Zegers came in late to replace Jorge Gutierrez and ensure a defensive presence in midfield. Boyle topped the day off with the Royals 7th goal on the day after receiving a nice through ball by Jeff Dennis and slotting the ball home from the left as he made his way into the box. Lagarec was to make a great save in the 83rd minute to preserve the shutout, and Viscosi received a late yellow card to put a second small damper on the day's festivities.
The Royals will now have to travel to Toronto on the weekend of June 24th to face a much more dangerous opponent in Hearts Azzurri if they are to see their way through to the round of 16 in the Ontario Cup.
The Royals will no doubt feel refreshed after this first win of the young competitive season, and they'll look for more of the same as they square off against these same Ottawa Internationals in a few days time in OCSL league play.
Statistics
Man of the Match: Matt D’Angelo - 3 points; Dan Deganutti - 2 points; Sylvain Cloutier - 1 point.
Matt D’Angelo achieved an exceptional success rate against his former club, scoring four times and acting as a link for many of the Royals best moves. His huge contribution was more than welcome at a time when the Royals needed it most.
Ottawa Internationals
1-Sean Dobbie; 7-Greg Andujar; 12-Marco Ianni; 2-Mike Domanski; 20-Joris Graziotin; 16-Pedro Miura; 15-Steven Walker; 19-Paolo Alves; 11-Gilson Calei; 9-Eugenio Burnier; 4-Chris Marins; 8-Sol Ashrafi; 6-Milad Dakka; 21-José Sanchez; 18-Mike Hoefler; 14-Mike Jeffreys.
Ottawa Royals
1-Antoine Lagarec; 4-Roberto Gutierrez; 3-James MacMillan; 2-Frank Zegers (12-Marc Anthony Viscosi, 38); Dan Deganutti (Richard Boyle, 38); 16-Jonathan Brooks (Greg Donnard, 55); 7-Steve Kowlessar; 9-Jorge Gutierrez (Frank Zegers, 76); 11-Dom Rochon; 15-Matt D'Angelo (Alan Farant, 56); 23-Sylvain Cloutier (Jeff Dennis, 46)
Substitutes not used: Tyler Wallace (GK); Ryan Devereaux
Goals: 1-0 - Jorge Gutierrez (assist Deganutti); 2- 0 - Matt D'Angelo (assist J. Gutierrez); 3-0 - Matt D'Angelo (assist Rochon); 4-0 - Matt D'Angelo (assist Deganutti); 5-0 - Matt D’Angelo (assist Brooks); 6-0 - Steve Kowlessar (PK); 7-0 - Richard Boyle (assist Dennis)
Season Tally:
Goals: D’Angelo 5; Boyle, Devereaux, J. Gutierrez, Kowlessar 1
Assists: Deganutti 2; Brooks, D’Angelo, Dennis, Devereaux, J. Gutierrez, Rochon, 1
Yellow Cards: Sylvain Cloutier; Marc Anthony Viscosi
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