Report: Ottawa Royals 4, Lions de Hull 1

Royals win comfortably in second home match of season
July 5, 2007

Ottawa Royals scored four and missed a host of chances as they beat the Lions de Hull comfortably at MLA.

Steve Kowlessar opened the scoring with a penalty, Ryan Devereaux scored two and Thierry Ntwari added a fourth in a disjointed, if one-sided match.

The Royals opened strongly and on 52 seconds, debutant Dimitri Koutras was scythed down in the penalty area by Tahl. Steve Kowlessar stepped up to send the keeper the wrong way from the spot and open the score for the home side.

The Royals then proceeded to carve open the second place team at every possible juncture, combining well outside the area and setting up numerous chances in the box.

After several more missed opportunities, the Royals doubled their score on 9 minutes, when Koutras fed Devereaux to hit the bottom left hand side of the net with a powerful drive.

On 12 minutes, the Royals were 3-0 up. Donnard combined well with Devereaux and sent the striker free into the box. Devereaux chose the near post option and beat the despairing Biglas all ends up.

The Royals continued to create numerous opportunities, but were unable to put them away. A combination of profligate finishing, lack of confidence, solid last-ditch defensive work and good goalkeeping prevented them from adding to the score by the end of the half.

However, the Royals missed six one-on-one chances with Biglas in the first half alone – and such profligacy is a huge cause for concern. Strikers – and to a lesser extent midfielders – need to take advantage of golden opportunities when they are presented. Not all defences are as generous as the Lions de Hull’s was in the first half!

Coach Michael Adams made a number of changes at half time in an attempt to strengthen the home side’s shape, which had become seriously disjointed toward the end of the first period. On 64 minutes, two of the substitutes combined when Jonathan Brooks provided an excellent cross for Thierry Ntwari. The diminutive striker coolly side footed the ball over the advancing Biglas to give the home team a 4-0 lead.

The Royals then lost shape a little more but maintained their energy and work ethic. On 72 minutes, Sekger pulled a goal back for the visitors who, despite a much better performance in the second half, never really got any closer to achieving a result.

Man of the Match: 3 points – Dimitri Koutras, 2 points – Dom Rochon, 1 point – Ryan Devereaux
Dimitri Koutras did well to take advantage of his first start in a Royals shirt, earning the home team an early penalty and grabbing an assist on the second goal. With more confidence in front of goal, Koutras could have bagged a couple himself, but this was a hugely encouraging return for the striker.

Statistics
Ottawa Royals
1-Tyler Wallace (1-Frank Dicaria, 63); 25-Roberto Gutierrez, 3-James MacMillan, 6-Marc Labrom (5-Marc Anthony Viscosi, 46); 19-Greg Donnard (16-Jonathan Brooks, 46), 22-Ewan Lyttle (12-Jorge Gutierrez, 33), 14-Dom Rochon, 20-Steve Kowlessar (2-Alan Morgan, 67), 24-Richard Boyle (9-Dan Deganutti, 46); 8-Dimitri Koutras (4-Thierry Ntwari, 46), 23-Ryan Devereaux (13-Jeff Dennis, 46)

Yellow Cards: Steve Kowlessar, Thierry Ntwari, Jeff Dennis
Goals: Devereaux 2 (9 mins, 12 mins), Kowlessar 1 (penalty – 2 mins), Ntwari 1 (64 mins)

Lions de Hull:
1-Marc Biglas, 14-Sebastien Babineau, 16-Hersham Daher, 10-Reginald Demosthenes, 18-Diarla Mohamed, 7-Joel Goachidea, 6-Mohamed Haj, 9-Ibula Iyel, 13-Florent Kangni, 2-martin Lambert, 4-Oulech Tahl, 15-Dona Sekger, 11-Gilba Sanda, 17-Manin Amin

Goal: Dona Sekger 1 (72 mins)

Season Tally:
Goals: D’Angelo 11; Devereaux, Kowlessar 3, Clouthier, J. Gutierrez, Ntwari 2; Boyle, Brooks 1
Assists: Brooks, Deganutti 3; J. Gutierrez, Rochon 2; Boyle, D’Angelo, Dennis, Devereaux, Donnard, Koutras 1

2007 Season Schedule

16 April: Red Star (a) Friendly -- W 6-1
18 April: Ottawa Internationals (a) Friendly -- W 2-1
28 April: Outrement (a) Friendly -- L 1-2
6 May: Ottawa Fury (a) Friendly -- W 2-0
14 May: Royals Ukrainia (n) Friendly -- D 1-1
15 May: Lynwood Centennials (a) Friendly -- W 7-1
18 May: Ottawa Fury (a) Friendly -- W 1-0
24 May: Capital United (a) OCSL Round 1 -- D 2-2
26 May: Pony's XI (n) Testimonial -- W 10-5
7 June: Gloucester Hornets (a) OCSL Round 2 -- L 0-2
10 June: Ottawa Internationals (a) Ontario Cup Round 1 -- W 7-0
14 June: Ottawa Internationals (h) OCSL Round 3 -- W 5-2
21 June: Hull UNIDOS (a) OCSL Round 4 -- D 2-2
24 June: North York Hearts Azzurri (a) Ontario Cup Round 2 -- L 3-3* (4-5 on penalty kicks)
28 June: St. Anthony's (h) OCSL Round 5 - PP
5 July: Lions de Hull (h) OCSL Round 6 -- W 4-1
8 July: Capital City Ambassadors (a) Ottawa Cup Round 2 -- W 9-3
15 July: Limestone City (a) Ottawa Cup Round 3 -- W 3-0
19 July: St. Anthony's (a) OCSL Round 7 -- L 1-2
26 July: Hull UNIDOS (h) OCSL Round 8 -- W 6-2
29 July: St. Anthony's (h) OCSL Round 5 (4 p.m. kick off) -- W 3-1
2 August: Ottawa Internationals (a) OCSL Round 9 -- W 4-0
9 August: Gloucester Hornets (h) OCSL Round 10 -- L 2-3
16 August: Rockers (a) OCSL Round 11 -- L 0-1
19 August: Nepean Hotspurs (n) Ottawa Cup Final -- W 4-3
23 August: Capital United (h) OCSL Round 12 -- W 4-0
30 August: Lions de Hull (a) OCSL Round 13 -- W 4-0
6 September: Rockers (h) OCSL Round 14 -- W 2-0

ROYALS WIN OTTAWA CUP AND FINISH IN SECOND PLACE IN THE OCSL PREMIER DIVISION

Training, Monday July 2

Ottawa Royals MP will train Monday, July 2, at Brookfield HS. Training will start at 5.45 and end at 7.30. Everyone is expected to attend.

Because of the U-20 World Cup, there will be no training on Tuesday.

There is a game on Thursday against Lions de Hull at MLA Leitrim (6.30 pm) and a further game on Sunday, July 8, at 6 p.m. in the Ottawa Cup. This takes place at Pinecrest.

This means there will be no training until Tuesday, July 10, after this session. Hence the importance of being there.