Brave Royals Go Down with a Fight
August 16, 2007
With barely eleven men left on their roster, Ottawa Royals were defeated 1-0 at Mooney’s Bay by a fine young Rockers side, their ranks swelled with Ottawa Fury players.
This was not an abject defeat however. Far from it. With no goalkeeper and striker Sylvain Clouthier “volunteered” to go in nets, captain Dom Rochon damaging his calf in the pre-game warm up, and Dan Deganutti absent until minutes before kick off, the Royals still held their heads up high and played a solid and committed game of football. Even after Donald MacGregor’s poached goal on 38 minutes, the Royals still looked the likelier of the two teams to score.
With Clouthier in nets, Michael Adams aligned Frank Zegers, James MacMillan and Kevin Sheehan at the back, with Ewan Lyttle, Jorge Gutierrez and Steve Kowlessar in the middle, Alan Farant and Dimitri Koutras on the flanks, and Richard Boyle and Ryan Devereaux up front.
Both sides started well – and it seemed the Rockers were keen to test out Clouthier in goal. On 5 minutes, Jorge Gutierrez caught a Rockers player in the face with his elbow while jumping for the ball. Amahazion played no further part in the game, and from that time on, Gutierrez was a marked man.
The Royals were the more dominant side, slightly, and Boyle and Devereaux combined well up front, being well fed by the excellent Steve Kowlessar.
On 16 minutes, the injury curse struck again, as Ewan Lyttle had to leave the field with a hamstring strain. Still the Royals probed, and Devereaux was proving a real handful for the home side defence.
On 38 minutes, MacGregor took advantage of a moment of uncertainty in the Royals defence to head the ball home and give the Rockers the lead.
In the second half, the Royals started to gradually take command of the game, although the home side was always dangerous on the counter and was nothing less than committed. Clouthier in goal was proving to have an excellent move, and when Alan Morgan replaced him in nets on 74 minutes, it was to move Clouthier up front and play with three.
Immediately the Royals stepped it up another notch, with Devereaux and Clouthier combining extremely well.
However, the Rockers held out till the final whistle and handed the Royals their second defeat on the bounce. A disappointing result, but a good performance from the visitors.
Man of the Match: 3 points – Steve Kowlessar, 2 points – Sylvain Clouthier, 1 point – Kevin Sheehan
Statistics
Rockers
1-Andrew Fines; 5-Geoff Shitanda, 15-Chris Callander, 8-Phil Amahazion, 13-Phil Appollon, 9-Jessie Berfins, 6-Michael Daguilh, 14-Justin Dasah, 10-Jamar Dixon, 20-Dakin Drake, 7-Huffman Eta-Tabe, 3-Philip Janzen, 16-Andrew Latty, 18-Donald MacGregor, 22-Paul Kihara, 17-Musa Kargbo
Goals: Denis MacGregor, 38 mins
Yellow Card: Huffman Eja tabe
Ottawa Royals
1-Sylvain Clouthier (5-Alan Morgan, 74); 3-James MacMillan, 12-Frank Zegers, 6-Kevin Sheehan; 21-Dimitri Koutras (13-Jeff Dennis, 46 mins), 17-Richard Boyle, 16-Alan Farant, 15-Steve Kowlessar, 2-Ewan Lyttle (9-Dan Deganutti, 16 mins); 19-Ryan Devereaux, 18-Jorge Gutierrez
Yellow Cards: None
Goals: None
Season Tally:
Goals: D’Angelo, Devereaux 11; Boyle 8; J. Gutierrez, Kowlessar 5; Clouthier, Koutras, MacMillan, Ntwari 3; Brooks, 1
Assists: Brooks, 10; Boyle, Deganutti, 5; Koutras, Rochon 4; Kowlessar, 3; Clouthier, D’Angelo, Devereaux, Donnard, J. Gutierrez, 2; Dennis, Lyttle, Ntwari 1
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