Report: Royals 5, Internationals 2

Royals defeat Internationals to secure first league win
June 14, 2007

As strange as it may sound, sometimes lining up to face a team you beat by 7 goals merely 5 days prior to your encounter is not always easy. Indeed, human nature being what it is, how can one blame players from the winning team for entering a rematch with overconfidence? With memories of the Ontario Cup win fresh in their minds, an air of complacency amidst the Royals camp was no doubt inevitable and on the other side of the coin, a wounded Ottawa Internationals, stung by the embarrassment of Sunday's crushing loss, had nothing to lose and everything to gain as they looked for some form of redemption on a warm summer evening.

And so it was that the Royals and the Internationals took to the field for the second time in less than a week, the venue this time moving to Maple Leaf for the Royals home opener. The pitch was in good condition, and coach Adams hoped that the difference in technical ability between the two teams would be enough to overcome the dangers of complacency and overconfidence that were no doubt clouding his players' minds. That being said, the Royals had yet to win an OCSL league game entering this third encounter with a tie and a loss behind them, as they found themselves looking up in the standings at the Internationals who had secured 3 points in their first two games, enjoying a 1-0-1 record.

As the referee blew the opening whistle the Royals settled right away into a game of possession, spraying several short passes around through the midfield and up the flanks. Any fears of complacency were quickly brushed aside as Jorge Gutierrez showed good intent on winning a couple of early 50/50 challenges in the middle of the park, as Richard Boyle and Jonathon Brooks powered forward with several early promising runs up the left and right sides of the pitch. Indeed, the Royals were picking up right where they left off on Sunday - and on 13 minutes following a strong run by Boyle on the left side, his pass found Mat D'Angelo who comfortably side-footed the ball into the corner of the net for a 1-0 Royals lead.

The Internationals seemed rattled, with the majority of play occurring in their own end. They were falling back on their heals and as a result, Royals' players were afforded time on the ball to seemingly pick out whichever option was available. Signs of haughtiness started to creep in however as Jorge Gutierrez and Sylvain Cloutier clashed momentarily as the two team mates argued pettily over which player would control a stray ball. Jorge clearly called for it, but when Sylvain retained possession of the ball Jorge strode forward his Latino blood boiling over what he deemed to be a slight on his authority. Seconds later he collected a neat pass by Dominic Rochon and buoyed by his anger he smashed a ball from 20 meters out which deflected off an Internationals defender and looped over Sean Dobbie and into the back of the net to make the score 2-0 in favour of the Royals at the 20 minute mark.

This is where play started to break down. The Internationals made a couple of substations, introducing Pedro Miura in the game and as a result started to show a bit more bite. Royals players were starting to display the types of bad habits that come with overconfidence: taking too many touches on the ball and not displaying enough effort to run off the ball and create angles for team mates on the offensive side of things, and on the defensive side, showing impatience by jumping into tackles or by allowing runners 2 or 3 meters of space. At the 26 minute mark the Internationals sent a ball down the left-hand side and Eugene Burnier sent a cross to an unmarked Pedro Miura who struck the ball goalwards. Frank Dicaria got a hand to it, but Pedro was on hand to ensure that the ball crossed the line to cut the Royals lead in half. One minute later a similar run down the left wing led to another cross into the Royals' box - Steve Kowlessar did a good job tracking Miura this time, but the ball inadvertently hit his arm and the referee was quick to blow the whistle for a penalty. A bit harsh, but Burnier didn't waste the gift as he slotted the ball home past Dicaria to square the game off at 2 goals apiece.

Despite completely dominating time of possession and after squandering numerous corner kicks and set plays, the Royals had nothing to show for their efforts and securing three points was far from certain. However good fortune would smile on the Royals 10 minutes later when an errant shot from Jonathon Brooks was spilled by Sean Dobbie and Matt D'Angelo was Johnny-on-the spot to calmly slot the ball home and put the Royals back in the lead. This strike seemed to restore things to their natural order and the Royals started comfortably knocking the ball around again, and on the stroke of halftime Rochon sent a hard through ball that split the defence, hitting Boyle in stride on the left flank. Boyle took a few touches before neatly finding Matt D'Angelo who completed his hattrick with another simple tap-in from a few meters out. 4-2 at the break.

The second half started with several changes to the Royals side, Tyler Wallace coming in to replace Decaria as both keepers were to play a half on the day. Marc-Anthony Viscosi and Marc Labrom replaced Roberto Gutierrez and Frank Zegers respectively at the outside back positions. Jeff Dennis replaced Boyle on the left flank, and Ryan Devereaux came on for Sylvain Cloutier up front. The second half was much more uneventful than the first, both teams getting stretched at times but neither keeper finding themselves under much duress. Given the heat and perhaps the 13 goals that had been scored in the previous 135 minute of play, both teams were content to battle it out in midfield.

The Royals were enjoying most of the possession again, and looked the most likely to score to add to their lead. At the 63 minute mark Dan Deganutti entered the game for Jonathon Brooks (sending Dennis to the right flank so Deganutti could set up shop in his customary role on the left wing). Three minutes later Thierry Ntwari made his first official appearance for the Royals as he entered the game up front replacing D'Angelo.

The fresh legs paid off as Deganutti found a streaking Ntwari who beat he offside trap at the 73 minute mark, and in turn coolly chipped the keeper from 20 meters out to put an end to the scoring on the day.Several other Royals came on to see the game out: Alan Morgan entering the fray for Jorge Gutierrez; Greg Donnard came on for Jeff Dennis; Dimitri Koutras replaced Ryan Devereaux; Alan Farant replaced Marc Labrom; and, Ewan Lyttle gave his hamstring a go taking Steve Kowlessar's place in defensive midfield.

All in all a decent performance buy the boys in blue. Good to get a first win under the belt, but mental breakdowns and momentarily lapses will cost dearly if they are to occur against stronger opponents. Next up is an unknown entity in Hull Unidos - a side who handily dispatched Capital United 3-1 and who would be sitting undefeated at the top of the standings had it not been for the use of a couple of players who were not properly registered, which led to a 3-1 win over Hull Lions be reversed to a 2-0 default loss. This game will be played in a week's time at the unfriendly confines of Du Plateau in Gatineau.

Statistics

Man of the Match: Matt D’Angelo - 3 points; Dom Rochon - 2 points; Richard Boyle - 1 point

Matt D’Angelo scores his second straight hattrick and grabs his second straight man-of-the match award in the process. Hard-working and aggressive, D’Angelo’s finishing was clinical and catapults him to the top of the Royals OCSL scoring chart.

Ottawa Internationals
1-Sean Dobbie; GK-Chris Smith; 5-Jeff Cowan; 7-Greg Andujar; 12-Marco Ianni; 2-Michael Domanski; 15-Steven Walker; 11-Gilson Calei; 4-Chris Marins; 9-Eugene Burnier; 8-Sol Ashrafi; 18-Mike Hoefler; 16-Pedro Miura; 20-Joris Graziotin; 13-Chris Nolan; 14-Peter Mapendere; 19-Paolo Alves

Ottawa Royals
1-Frank De Caria (1-Tyler Wallace-46); 4-Roberto Gutierrez (12-Marc Antony Viscosi, 46); 3-James MacMillan; 2-Frank Zegers (5-Marc Labrom, 46; 18-Alan Farant, 79); 16-Jonathan Brooks (Dan Deganutti, 63); 7-Steve Kowlessar (Ewan Lyttle, 79); 9-Jorge Gutierrez (Alan Morgan, 71); 11-Dom Rochon; 19-Richard Boyle (13-Jeff Dennis, 46; Greg Donnard, 75); 15-Matt D'Angelo (Thierry Ntwari, 66), 23-Sylvain Cloutier (Ryan Devereaux, 46; Dimitri Koutras, 75)

Goals: 1-0 - Matt D'Angelo (assist Boyle), 2-0 - Jorge Gutierrez (assist Rochon), 3-2 - Matt D'Angelo (unassisted), 4-2 - Matt D'Angelo (assist Boyle), 5-2 - Thierry Ntwari (assist Deganutti)

Season Tally:

Goals: D’Angelo 8; J. Gutierrez 2; Boyle, Devereaux, Kowlessar, Ntwari 1

Assists: Deganutti 3; Rochon 2; Boyle, Brooks, D’Angelo, Dennis, Devereaux, J. Gutierrez 1

Yellow Cards: none