Royals win the Ottawa Cup with defiant display
August 19, 2007
A Ryan Devereaux hattrick paved the way for the Ottawa Royals to win the Ottawa Cup on Sunday, defeating a brave Nepean Hotspurs side at the last and helping the Blues come back from a two-goal deficit.
The Royals were struggling to field a starting eleven at the beginning of the match, but could at least count on Antoine Lagarec in the nets, restoring Sylvain Clouthier to his striker’s role after his heroics in Thursday’s game against the Rockers.
With Alan Farant, Dom Rochon, Thierry Ntwari and Dimitri Koutras all playing injured, until Richard Boyle’s arrival ten minutes before kick off, the Royals had eleven players. Boyle’s arrival was timely, because within 90 seconds of the start, Rochon’s injury flared up again and he had to leave the field.
The Royals started brightly and Dimitri Koutras, playing out right, had the first opportunity to score on 4 minutes, following some good work from Thierry Ntwari on the left. Ntwari was having a bright opening on the left flank, causing Nepean’s right back all sorts of problems with his pace. On 7 minutes, his incisive pass to Steve Kowlessar almost produced the opening goal.
The Royals play followed a similar pattern to most games this season. Inventive and bright approach play that created chances for the hardworking attacking players. The Royals midfield, comprising Jorge Gutierrez, Steve Kowlessar and Richard Boyle, was winning most of the challenges, and not allowing the Hotspurs to settle.
On 25 minutes, the Royals almost opened the scoring. Ryan Devereaux had drifted out right to retrieve a ball, beat his man, cut to the by-line and then whipped in a cross for Richard Boyle. Boyle’s first time volley cannoned off the cross bar and went out for a goal kick.
Within two minutes though, the Royals were a goal down. Having started very well, the defence for once failed to deal with a bouncing ball and Mackey was on hand to belt the ball past the blameless Lagarec.
The Royals responded – and within four minutes, the excellent Devereaux almost found the equalizer, forcing an excellent save out of Rassi in the Nepean goal.
But on 35 minutes, the Royals went further behind following a well-taken goal by Allard.
This time, the Royals sparked into life – and within five minutes, they were back on level terms. First, on 38 minutes, Clouthier’s precise and powerful free kick from 20 yards out left Rassi no chance – and then sixty seconds later, Steve Kowlessar’s perfectly weighted pass released Ryan Devereaux at the edge of the box, and the Halifax striker curled the ball around the advancing keeper into the roof of the net.
The tide seemed to have turned, and the Royals mounted the pressure, stretching Nepean on the flanks and penetrating through the middle. On 40 minutes, late arrival Dan Deganutti had a powerful shot well saved and then sixty seconds later, Clouthier missed by inches following more excellent approach work.
The Royals were not to be denied, however, and on 44 minutes, Devereaux scored his second of the afternoon, converting at the second attempt from a Sylvain Clouthier pass.
In the second half, the game continued its frantic pace and somewhat against the run of play, Nepean managed an equalizer on 53 minutes, well taken by Barbosa.
The game was then dominated by the Royals, who probed and pushed, looking for their fourth goal. Clouthier and Devereaux both came close, but were denied by last-gasp defending or good goalkeeping.
Any counter attacks from the Hotspurs team were snuffed out by the excellent defensive core of James MacMillan, Frank Zegers, Alan Farant and Dan Deganutti.
As both teams began to tire in the merciless sun, it looked as if extra time would be needed to decide the final.
But from somewhere, the Royals found a little extra strength. Thierry Ntwari was awarded a free kick to the left of the penalty area, which Jorge Gutierrez stood over and took. He whipped in the ball with pace to the penalty area, where Devereaux twisted in mid-air to glance a header over the defenders into the roof of the net.
On the balance of play, it was no more than the Royals deserved – and was a fitting reward for the courage and strength shown by the team under very difficult and testing circumstances.
James MacMillan, stand-in captain for Dominic Rochon, lifted the trophy, which provides some consolation to the team for its efforts during a difficult season.
Man of the Match: 3 points – Ryan Devereaux, 2 points – James MacMillan, 1 point – Sylvain Clouthier
Statistics
Ottawa Royals
1-Antoine Lagarec; 8-Frank Zegers, 3-James MacMillan, 16-Alan Farant (4-Thierry Ntwari, 68); 21-Dimitri Koutras (9-Dan Deganutti, 35), 15-Steve Kowlessar, 14-Jorge Gutierrez, 11-Dom Rochon (17-Richard Boyle, 1), 4-Thierry Ntwari (21-Dimitri Koutras, 56); 20-Sylvain Clouthier, 23-Ryan Devereaux
Yellow Cards: Richard Boyle, James MacMillan
Goals: Sylvain Clouthier (38 mins), Ryan Devereaux (39, 44, 90 mins)
Nepean Hotspurs
1-Alex Rassi, 21-Adam Knight, 4-Sean Mackey, 5-Mahmoud Matar, 6-Bryan Fracassi, 7-Matt Akehurst, 9-Feraidon Yary, 10-Ramon Canales, 11-Paul Seymour, 12-Brendan Potter, 14-Tokunbo Ojo, 16-Jamie Allard, 21-Luis Barbosa, 18-Matthew Ouies, 20-Nikolay Belevski, 230-Mario Maniscallo, 15-Richard Poulton
Yellow Cards: Feraidon Yary, Ramon Canales, Richard Poulton
Goals: Sean Mackey (27 mins), Jamie Allard (35 mins), Luis Barbosa (53 mins)
Season Tally:
Goals: Devereaux, 14; D’Angelo, 11; Boyle 8; J. Gutierrez, Kowlessar 5; Clouthier, 4; Koutras, MacMillan, Ntwari 3; Brooks, 1
Assists: Brooks, 10; Boyle, Deganutti, 5; Koutras, Kowlessar, Rochon 4; Clouthier, J. Gutierrez, 3; D’Angelo, Devereaux, Donnard, 2; Dennis, Lyttle, Ntwari 1
Monday, August 20, 2007
Report: Rockers 1, Ottawa Royals 0
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
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
Friday, August 10, 2007
Report: Ottawa Royals 2, Gloucester Hornets 3
Lacklustre Royals get what they deserve
August 9, 2007
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Ottawa Royals, fresh from three convincing victories over tough opposition, were supposed to turn up, play well and pick up three easy points against basement dwellers Gloucester Hornets.
Apparently neither side read the script.
The result was a game of abject quality, where neither side was capable of stringing together a succession of decent passes, where basic mistakes were compounded with low intensity, where both sides struggled to get out of first gear, where communication and concentration were basically next to nil.
Gloucester Hornets deserved their victory. Fully and completely. There were no controversial decisions and no inexplicable offside calls. Gloucester Hornets have done the double over the Ottawa Royals, who appear to have learned nothing in the process.
The seeds of this latest humiliation were sown in training on Tuesday, where 11 people ambled through the motions during drills and then slowed down during the 5-a-side game at the end. The lack of intensity and desire was carried through to the game.
Make no mistake, this was a watershed defeat for the Royals.
The Royals started with their 3-5-2 system in place. Tyler Wallace was in goal, not fully recovered from his dislocated finger perhaps, and a back three of Marc Anthony Viscosi, Frank Zegers and Alan Farant. In midfield, Jonathan Brooks played his last game of the season before heading down to the States for college, Dom Rochon, Steve Kowlessar and Richard Boyle formed an offensive trio in the middle, and Dan Deganutti was on the left. Dimitri Koutras and Sylvain Clouthier led the attack.
The game started with the Royals on the offensive. On 3 minutes, Koutras was released by Boyle but his first time shot missed the target.
On 9 minutes, Gloucester took the lead, somewhat against the run of play, it has to be said. With Wallace in no man’s land and the defence at sixes and sevens, Wellington had the easy job of slipping the ball into the empty net.
The Royals were stunned and struggled to respond. Passes were underhit, channels unused, challenges not made. Still the home team managed to create a couple of chances, all of which were missed.
On 31 minutes, Michael Adams replaced Alan Farant with Jorge Gutierrez, dropping Dan Deganutti back to left back.
The response was instantaneous. With his first touch of the ball, Gutierrez released Clouthier who elected to blast the ball from the edge of the area. Lemieux made a good save to keep the visitors in front.
Two minutes later though, the scores were even. Clouthier whipped in a strong free kick that Lemieux could only parry. In rushed Gutierrez to nod the ball past him into the net.
It seemed as if the Royals had sparked into life. Several more chances were created and spurned, but at least the home side had moved into a higher gear for a brief period.
At half time, Adams replaced the hard-working Koutras with rookie striker Thierry Ntwari – but it was Gloucester who scored next, two minutes after the break.
Following a good period of Royals pressure, the Hornets broke quickly and Walker capitalized on abysmal defending to beat Wallace. Once more, avoidable mistakes lead to goals conceded.
On 65 minutes, Wellington scored his second goal of the game from the right wing.
Trailing 3-1 at home, the Royals finally started to exert an influence on the game. On came Kevin Sheehan to offer more height at set pieces and on 80 minutes, Boyle came back on for Lyttle, moving up front to provide a three-pronged attack.
As the Royals finally started fighting for every ball, they forced Gloucester back into their own half, penning them into the area and probing at every opportunity. Lemieux made a couple more fine saves to keep the visitors in the lead.
On 86 minutes though, the pressure finally started to pay dividends. Thierry Ntwari’s glancing header from Brooks’ corner hit the back of the net. And the Royals continued to pour forward in search of the equalizer.
On 90 minutes, Kevin Sheehan nearly got it, when his header was cleared off the line and Brooks’ resulting shot was hit over the bar.
It was too little, too late though for the Royals, who were left to rue 80 minutes of poor football.
There needs to be a response from the team now, starting in the very next training session and carrying on through to the end of the season. With four league games and the Ottawa Cup final left to play, there needs to be a refocusing of players and a reaffirmation of commitment.
Or else we may as well just not bother showing up.
Man of the Match: 3 points – Dom Rochon, 2 points – Kevin Sheehan, 1 point – Jorge Gutierrez
Statistics
Ottawa Royals
1-Tyler Wallace; 16-Alan Farant (18-Jorge Gutierrez (31 mins); 3-Frank Zegers (6-Kevin Sheehan, 69 mins), 20-Marc Anthony Viscosi; 14-Jonathan Brooks, 17-Richard Boyle (13-Jeff Dennis, 36 mins), 11-Dom Rochon, 15-Steve Kowlessar (2-Ewan Lyttle, 57 mins; 17-Richard Boyle, 80 mins), 9-Dan Deganutti; 8-Sylvain Clouthier, 21-Dimitri Koutras (4-Thierry Ntwari, 46 mins)
Substitute not used: 5-Alan Morgan,
Yellow Cards: None
Goals: Jorge Gutierrez (33 mins); Thierry Ntwari (86 mins)
Gloucester Hornets
1-Matt Lemieux; 16-Cyril Dehoppre, 2-Jason Da Costa, 4-Kwek Francis, 5-Stephane Lemay, 10-Nicko Stoikis, 12-Brendan Walker, 15-Schipy Joffy,11-Pat Violette, 9-Andrew Gilchrist, 17-Andrew Peterson, 8-Pat Wellington
Yellow Cards: Stephane Lemay, Pat Wellington
Goals: Pat Wellington (9, 65 mins); Brendan Walker (47 mins)
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
August 9, 2007
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Ottawa Royals, fresh from three convincing victories over tough opposition, were supposed to turn up, play well and pick up three easy points against basement dwellers Gloucester Hornets.
Apparently neither side read the script.
The result was a game of abject quality, where neither side was capable of stringing together a succession of decent passes, where basic mistakes were compounded with low intensity, where both sides struggled to get out of first gear, where communication and concentration were basically next to nil.
Gloucester Hornets deserved their victory. Fully and completely. There were no controversial decisions and no inexplicable offside calls. Gloucester Hornets have done the double over the Ottawa Royals, who appear to have learned nothing in the process.
The seeds of this latest humiliation were sown in training on Tuesday, where 11 people ambled through the motions during drills and then slowed down during the 5-a-side game at the end. The lack of intensity and desire was carried through to the game.
Make no mistake, this was a watershed defeat for the Royals.
The Royals started with their 3-5-2 system in place. Tyler Wallace was in goal, not fully recovered from his dislocated finger perhaps, and a back three of Marc Anthony Viscosi, Frank Zegers and Alan Farant. In midfield, Jonathan Brooks played his last game of the season before heading down to the States for college, Dom Rochon, Steve Kowlessar and Richard Boyle formed an offensive trio in the middle, and Dan Deganutti was on the left. Dimitri Koutras and Sylvain Clouthier led the attack.
The game started with the Royals on the offensive. On 3 minutes, Koutras was released by Boyle but his first time shot missed the target.
On 9 minutes, Gloucester took the lead, somewhat against the run of play, it has to be said. With Wallace in no man’s land and the defence at sixes and sevens, Wellington had the easy job of slipping the ball into the empty net.
The Royals were stunned and struggled to respond. Passes were underhit, channels unused, challenges not made. Still the home team managed to create a couple of chances, all of which were missed.
On 31 minutes, Michael Adams replaced Alan Farant with Jorge Gutierrez, dropping Dan Deganutti back to left back.
The response was instantaneous. With his first touch of the ball, Gutierrez released Clouthier who elected to blast the ball from the edge of the area. Lemieux made a good save to keep the visitors in front.
Two minutes later though, the scores were even. Clouthier whipped in a strong free kick that Lemieux could only parry. In rushed Gutierrez to nod the ball past him into the net.
It seemed as if the Royals had sparked into life. Several more chances were created and spurned, but at least the home side had moved into a higher gear for a brief period.
At half time, Adams replaced the hard-working Koutras with rookie striker Thierry Ntwari – but it was Gloucester who scored next, two minutes after the break.
Following a good period of Royals pressure, the Hornets broke quickly and Walker capitalized on abysmal defending to beat Wallace. Once more, avoidable mistakes lead to goals conceded.
On 65 minutes, Wellington scored his second goal of the game from the right wing.
Trailing 3-1 at home, the Royals finally started to exert an influence on the game. On came Kevin Sheehan to offer more height at set pieces and on 80 minutes, Boyle came back on for Lyttle, moving up front to provide a three-pronged attack.
As the Royals finally started fighting for every ball, they forced Gloucester back into their own half, penning them into the area and probing at every opportunity. Lemieux made a couple more fine saves to keep the visitors in the lead.
On 86 minutes though, the pressure finally started to pay dividends. Thierry Ntwari’s glancing header from Brooks’ corner hit the back of the net. And the Royals continued to pour forward in search of the equalizer.
On 90 minutes, Kevin Sheehan nearly got it, when his header was cleared off the line and Brooks’ resulting shot was hit over the bar.
It was too little, too late though for the Royals, who were left to rue 80 minutes of poor football.
There needs to be a response from the team now, starting in the very next training session and carrying on through to the end of the season. With four league games and the Ottawa Cup final left to play, there needs to be a refocusing of players and a reaffirmation of commitment.
Or else we may as well just not bother showing up.
Man of the Match: 3 points – Dom Rochon, 2 points – Kevin Sheehan, 1 point – Jorge Gutierrez
Statistics
Ottawa Royals
1-Tyler Wallace; 16-Alan Farant (18-Jorge Gutierrez (31 mins); 3-Frank Zegers (6-Kevin Sheehan, 69 mins), 20-Marc Anthony Viscosi; 14-Jonathan Brooks, 17-Richard Boyle (13-Jeff Dennis, 36 mins), 11-Dom Rochon, 15-Steve Kowlessar (2-Ewan Lyttle, 57 mins; 17-Richard Boyle, 80 mins), 9-Dan Deganutti; 8-Sylvain Clouthier, 21-Dimitri Koutras (4-Thierry Ntwari, 46 mins)
Substitute not used: 5-Alan Morgan,
Yellow Cards: None
Goals: Jorge Gutierrez (33 mins); Thierry Ntwari (86 mins)
Gloucester Hornets
1-Matt Lemieux; 16-Cyril Dehoppre, 2-Jason Da Costa, 4-Kwek Francis, 5-Stephane Lemay, 10-Nicko Stoikis, 12-Brendan Walker, 15-Schipy Joffy,11-Pat Violette, 9-Andrew Gilchrist, 17-Andrew Peterson, 8-Pat Wellington
Yellow Cards: Stephane Lemay, Pat Wellington
Goals: Pat Wellington (9, 65 mins); Brendan Walker (47 mins)
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
Friday, August 3, 2007
Report: Internationals 0, Ottawa Royals 4
Royals record first league clean sheet in third win over Internationals
August 2, 2007
Ottawa Royals recorded their third league win on the trot last night, beating the Internationals by a comfortable margin and at the same time notching up their first clean sheet in the league. Ryan Devereaux scored twice, James MacMillan headed his traditional goal and Richard Boyle scored a late long-range rocket to defeat the home side 4-0.
With legendary defender Marc Labrom making his final appearance for the Royals before transferring to Pretoria with work, the Royals were keen to get their third win of the season over the Internationals with which to send him off. Numerous injuries and absences had taken its toll on the line up, with Frank Zegers, Tyler Wallace, Frank Dicaria, Sanjeev Parmar, Roberto Gutierrez, Jorge Gutierrez, Alic Edgar, Matt D’Angelo and Greg Donnard all unavailable. On the plus side, Marc Anthony Viscosi was almost recovered from his hamstring injury and had declared himself fit, as had Dan Deganutti, who sustained knee knack against St. Anthony’s on Sunday.
The Royals started with its now favoured 3-5-2 formation with Antoine Lagarec in goal, a back three of Marc Labrom, James MacMillan and Alan Farant, Jon Brooks on the right of midfield and Richard Boyle on the left, Ewan Lyttle playing in front of the defence, Dom Rochon and Steve Kowlessar in the middle, and a front two of Sylvain Clouthier and Ryan Devereaux.
The Royals started the game at breakneck speed, dominating the play and barely allowing the home team out of its own half. After a couple of close calls, Ryan Devereaux finally opened the scoring on 4 minutes.
Brooks stripped Ianni on the right of the field and crossed it in deep to Boyle at the far side of the penalty area. Brooks controlled and passed the ball into the box to meet Devereaux’s incisive run. Devereaux took it first time on his instep and placed it past Dobbie’s despairing dive into the corner of the net.
The Royals kept composure and continued to play the ball around – yet gave the impression of being in second gear for much of the next 10 minutes. In defence, Lagarec marshalled his troops well, and Farant – who was making his first full start and his first appearance as a defender – looked confident and composed.
The visitors then moved into top gear again and for 5 minutes simply fizzed the ball around the field, using the width well. Half chances fell to Devereaux and Clouthier, but it wasn’t until Boyle picked up the ball on the right and set off on a mazy run towards the box that the possession started to pay dividends. Beating man after man, Boyle slalomed like an Olympic water-skier before laying a ball off to Clouthier and moving for the return pass. Somehow Ianni managed to get a toe to it before Boyle and deflected it out for a corner.
But the danger was not cleared. Brooks moved over to take the corner and whipped in a teasing cross to the box. MacMillan rose above the defence and powered his header past Dobbie into the net.
It seemed that there may be a repeat of the 7-0 rout from the Ontario Cup in early June, but full credit to the Internationals, they refused to be awed and kept fighting for every ball. Indeed, straight after the second goal, they seemed to enjoy a good spell of possession and wee on top for a while. However, with Lyttle staying solid in front of the defence, Lagarec was seldom tested.
The Royals once again relaxed and as a result the play became scrappy. Despite the huge channels that were opening up on the flanks, the passes seldom reached Brooks or Boyle and the visitors were penned in a little. On 35 minutes though, Rochon played an excellent ball behind MacDonald and Ianni to release Brooks. Brooks outpaced the defenders but hurried his shot, which flew high and wide.
On 40 minutes, Clouthier pulled up short holding his hamstring. It does not appear to be as serious as initially thought, but could still keep the talismanic striker out of the next fixture at Gloucester. Koutras came on to replace him and took up his position alongside Devereaux.
On the stroke of halftime, Steve Kowlessar struck a good free kick that Dobbie did well to get behind, denying Devereaux a second goal by smothering the rebound on the second attempt.
At half time, Michael Adams replaced Richard Boyle with Jeff Dennis and emphasised the need to use the channels and close down the spaces in midfield. The Royals came out for the second half and looked to implement the tactics. The Internationals became more physical in their approach, picking up 4 yellow cards in the second half (all for fouls) with Iyad Dakka in particular lucky to remain on the field.
The game became very scrappy and on 60 minutes, Alan Morgan replaced the hero of the hour Marc Labrom, who chose his final appearance as a Royal to suffer his annual back spasm. Ewan Lyttle moved to defence. Five minutes later, Adams switched it around again, taking off captain Dom Rochon and risking Marc Antony Viscosi in defence. Lyttle moved back to his defensive midfield position.
It seemed as if the Royals were paying for their exertions of Sunday, with the Internationals starting to play decent balls in behind the defence. On 73 minutes, James MacMillan put in some outstanding defensive work, chasing back Andujar and blocking the initial shot, before sticking out a toe to knock the ball away form the onrushing and supporting Santo.
On 75 minutes, Ewan Lyttle, who had had a fine game but was tiring rapidly, was replaced by Boyle and sixty seconds later Thierry Ntwari replaced the hardworking Dimitri Koutras.
Boyle exerted a good influence on the final stages of the game, holding up play well and linking with the excellent Ryan Devereaux and the speedy Ntwari. On 87 minutes, the growing influence that the Royals had had paid dividends when Devereaux finished off a superb piece of football involving Boyle and Ntwari. Released behind the defence, Devereaux sped into the area and then slipped the ball under the diving body of Dobbie.
As the clock wound down, Boyle applied the coup de grace as the teams moved into injury time. Receiving the ball 10 yards outside the area, he turned and moved the ball outside the defender before striking a viciously swerving and dipping shot over Dobbie and into the roof of the net.
The 4-0 score perhaps flattered the Royals, but overall the visitors were the stronger of the two sides and deserved their win.
The three points consolidates the Royals in second position behind St. Anthony’s. Next up is Gloucester Hornets at Maple Leaf on August 9th. The Royals hope the ongoing injury crisis will clear somewhat by then, but know already that they will be without Ryan Devereaux and James MacMillan, with Clouthier doubtful.
Man of the Match: 3 points – Antoine Lagarec, 2 points – Marc Labrom, 1 point – James MacMillan
Statistics
Internationals
1-Sean Dobbie; 2-Mike Domanski, 4-Chris Marins, 79-Jeff Cowan, 6-Milan Dakka, 7-Greg Andujar, 8-Sol Ashrafi, 9-Eugenio Burnier, 10-Iyad Dakka, 11-Gilson Calei, 12-Marco Ianni. 13-Chris Nolan, 14-Peter Mapendere, 15-Steve Walker, 17-Tom MacDonald, 19-Paolo Alves, 20-Joris Graziotin, 21-Jose Sanchez, 22-Claudio Santo, 18-Mike Hoffler
Yellow Cards: Mike Domanski, Greg Andujar, Iyad Dakka, Chris Nolan
Ottawa Royals
1-Antoine Lagarec; 3-James MacMillan, 6-Marc Labrom (5-Alan Morgan, 60 mins), 12-Alan Farant; 14-Jonathan Brooks, 9-Richard Boyle (13-Jeff Dennis, 46 mins), 15-Steve Kowlessar, 2-Ewan Lyttle (9-Richard Boyle, 75 mins), 11-Dom Rochon (20-Marc Anthony Viscosi, 65); 19-Ryan Devereaux 7-Sylvain Clouthier (21-Dimitri Koutras, 40 mins, 4-Thierry Ntwari, 76 mins)
Substitute not used: 8-Dan Deganutti,
Yellow Cards: None
Goals: Ryan Devereaux (4, 87 mins); James MacMillan (20 mins), Richard Boyle (90 mins)
Season Tally:
Goals: D’Angelo, Devereaux 11; Boyle 8; Kowlessar 5; J. Gutierrez 4; Clouthier, Koutras, MacMillan, 3, Ntwari 2; Brooks, 1
Assists: Brooks, 9; Boyle, Deganutti, 5; Koutras, Rochon 4; Kowlessar, 3; D’Angelo, Devereaux, Donnard, J. Gutierrez, 2; Clouthier, Dennis, Lyttle, Ntwari 1
August 2, 2007
Ottawa Royals recorded their third league win on the trot last night, beating the Internationals by a comfortable margin and at the same time notching up their first clean sheet in the league. Ryan Devereaux scored twice, James MacMillan headed his traditional goal and Richard Boyle scored a late long-range rocket to defeat the home side 4-0.
With legendary defender Marc Labrom making his final appearance for the Royals before transferring to Pretoria with work, the Royals were keen to get their third win of the season over the Internationals with which to send him off. Numerous injuries and absences had taken its toll on the line up, with Frank Zegers, Tyler Wallace, Frank Dicaria, Sanjeev Parmar, Roberto Gutierrez, Jorge Gutierrez, Alic Edgar, Matt D’Angelo and Greg Donnard all unavailable. On the plus side, Marc Anthony Viscosi was almost recovered from his hamstring injury and had declared himself fit, as had Dan Deganutti, who sustained knee knack against St. Anthony’s on Sunday.
The Royals started with its now favoured 3-5-2 formation with Antoine Lagarec in goal, a back three of Marc Labrom, James MacMillan and Alan Farant, Jon Brooks on the right of midfield and Richard Boyle on the left, Ewan Lyttle playing in front of the defence, Dom Rochon and Steve Kowlessar in the middle, and a front two of Sylvain Clouthier and Ryan Devereaux.
The Royals started the game at breakneck speed, dominating the play and barely allowing the home team out of its own half. After a couple of close calls, Ryan Devereaux finally opened the scoring on 4 minutes.
Brooks stripped Ianni on the right of the field and crossed it in deep to Boyle at the far side of the penalty area. Brooks controlled and passed the ball into the box to meet Devereaux’s incisive run. Devereaux took it first time on his instep and placed it past Dobbie’s despairing dive into the corner of the net.
The Royals kept composure and continued to play the ball around – yet gave the impression of being in second gear for much of the next 10 minutes. In defence, Lagarec marshalled his troops well, and Farant – who was making his first full start and his first appearance as a defender – looked confident and composed.
The visitors then moved into top gear again and for 5 minutes simply fizzed the ball around the field, using the width well. Half chances fell to Devereaux and Clouthier, but it wasn’t until Boyle picked up the ball on the right and set off on a mazy run towards the box that the possession started to pay dividends. Beating man after man, Boyle slalomed like an Olympic water-skier before laying a ball off to Clouthier and moving for the return pass. Somehow Ianni managed to get a toe to it before Boyle and deflected it out for a corner.
But the danger was not cleared. Brooks moved over to take the corner and whipped in a teasing cross to the box. MacMillan rose above the defence and powered his header past Dobbie into the net.
It seemed that there may be a repeat of the 7-0 rout from the Ontario Cup in early June, but full credit to the Internationals, they refused to be awed and kept fighting for every ball. Indeed, straight after the second goal, they seemed to enjoy a good spell of possession and wee on top for a while. However, with Lyttle staying solid in front of the defence, Lagarec was seldom tested.
The Royals once again relaxed and as a result the play became scrappy. Despite the huge channels that were opening up on the flanks, the passes seldom reached Brooks or Boyle and the visitors were penned in a little. On 35 minutes though, Rochon played an excellent ball behind MacDonald and Ianni to release Brooks. Brooks outpaced the defenders but hurried his shot, which flew high and wide.
On 40 minutes, Clouthier pulled up short holding his hamstring. It does not appear to be as serious as initially thought, but could still keep the talismanic striker out of the next fixture at Gloucester. Koutras came on to replace him and took up his position alongside Devereaux.
On the stroke of halftime, Steve Kowlessar struck a good free kick that Dobbie did well to get behind, denying Devereaux a second goal by smothering the rebound on the second attempt.
At half time, Michael Adams replaced Richard Boyle with Jeff Dennis and emphasised the need to use the channels and close down the spaces in midfield. The Royals came out for the second half and looked to implement the tactics. The Internationals became more physical in their approach, picking up 4 yellow cards in the second half (all for fouls) with Iyad Dakka in particular lucky to remain on the field.
The game became very scrappy and on 60 minutes, Alan Morgan replaced the hero of the hour Marc Labrom, who chose his final appearance as a Royal to suffer his annual back spasm. Ewan Lyttle moved to defence. Five minutes later, Adams switched it around again, taking off captain Dom Rochon and risking Marc Antony Viscosi in defence. Lyttle moved back to his defensive midfield position.
It seemed as if the Royals were paying for their exertions of Sunday, with the Internationals starting to play decent balls in behind the defence. On 73 minutes, James MacMillan put in some outstanding defensive work, chasing back Andujar and blocking the initial shot, before sticking out a toe to knock the ball away form the onrushing and supporting Santo.
On 75 minutes, Ewan Lyttle, who had had a fine game but was tiring rapidly, was replaced by Boyle and sixty seconds later Thierry Ntwari replaced the hardworking Dimitri Koutras.
Boyle exerted a good influence on the final stages of the game, holding up play well and linking with the excellent Ryan Devereaux and the speedy Ntwari. On 87 minutes, the growing influence that the Royals had had paid dividends when Devereaux finished off a superb piece of football involving Boyle and Ntwari. Released behind the defence, Devereaux sped into the area and then slipped the ball under the diving body of Dobbie.
As the clock wound down, Boyle applied the coup de grace as the teams moved into injury time. Receiving the ball 10 yards outside the area, he turned and moved the ball outside the defender before striking a viciously swerving and dipping shot over Dobbie and into the roof of the net.
The 4-0 score perhaps flattered the Royals, but overall the visitors were the stronger of the two sides and deserved their win.
The three points consolidates the Royals in second position behind St. Anthony’s. Next up is Gloucester Hornets at Maple Leaf on August 9th. The Royals hope the ongoing injury crisis will clear somewhat by then, but know already that they will be without Ryan Devereaux and James MacMillan, with Clouthier doubtful.
Man of the Match: 3 points – Antoine Lagarec, 2 points – Marc Labrom, 1 point – James MacMillan
Statistics
Internationals
1-Sean Dobbie; 2-Mike Domanski, 4-Chris Marins, 79-Jeff Cowan, 6-Milan Dakka, 7-Greg Andujar, 8-Sol Ashrafi, 9-Eugenio Burnier, 10-Iyad Dakka, 11-Gilson Calei, 12-Marco Ianni. 13-Chris Nolan, 14-Peter Mapendere, 15-Steve Walker, 17-Tom MacDonald, 19-Paolo Alves, 20-Joris Graziotin, 21-Jose Sanchez, 22-Claudio Santo, 18-Mike Hoffler
Yellow Cards: Mike Domanski, Greg Andujar, Iyad Dakka, Chris Nolan
Ottawa Royals
1-Antoine Lagarec; 3-James MacMillan, 6-Marc Labrom (5-Alan Morgan, 60 mins), 12-Alan Farant; 14-Jonathan Brooks, 9-Richard Boyle (13-Jeff Dennis, 46 mins), 15-Steve Kowlessar, 2-Ewan Lyttle (9-Richard Boyle, 75 mins), 11-Dom Rochon (20-Marc Anthony Viscosi, 65); 19-Ryan Devereaux 7-Sylvain Clouthier (21-Dimitri Koutras, 40 mins, 4-Thierry Ntwari, 76 mins)
Substitute not used: 8-Dan Deganutti,
Yellow Cards: None
Goals: Ryan Devereaux (4, 87 mins); James MacMillan (20 mins), Richard Boyle (90 mins)
Season Tally:
Goals: D’Angelo, Devereaux 11; Boyle 8; Kowlessar 5; J. Gutierrez 4; Clouthier, Koutras, MacMillan, 3, Ntwari 2; Brooks, 1
Assists: Brooks, 9; Boyle, Deganutti, 5; Koutras, Rochon 4; Kowlessar, 3; D’Angelo, Devereaux, Donnard, J. Gutierrez, 2; Clouthier, Dennis, Lyttle, Ntwari 1
Results from Round 9 of the OCSL Premier Division
All four matches from last night's round have actually been reported in to the OCSL and have been posted on the web site, which is perhaps the biggest surprise of the night.
At Terry Fox, the Royals eschewed home field advantage and secured their third win of the season over the Internationals (4-0). A brace from Ryan Devereaux, a header from James MacMillan and another Richard Boyle wonderstrike gave the Royals the three points and consolidated second position (17 points from 9 games). The Internationals, meanwhile, slip from third to sixth.
At Du Plateau, St. Anthony's rebounded from its defeat to the Royals on Sunday by knocking five past UNIDOS de Hull (5-2). St. Anthony's now has 25 points from its 10 games played.
Meanwhile, at Tauvette, Gloucester Hornets (8 points from 8 games) moved off bottom spot by beating the Lions de Hull 3-2. Gloucester is now in seventh and the Lions have replaced them at the foot of the table with 7 points from 9 games.
In the final game, Rockers maintained their fine season by defeating Capital United 3-2 at Terry Fox North. Rockers move into 5th place with 10 points from 7 games, while Capital United hold onto third spot with 12 points from 11 games.
At Terry Fox, the Royals eschewed home field advantage and secured their third win of the season over the Internationals (4-0). A brace from Ryan Devereaux, a header from James MacMillan and another Richard Boyle wonderstrike gave the Royals the three points and consolidated second position (17 points from 9 games). The Internationals, meanwhile, slip from third to sixth.
At Du Plateau, St. Anthony's rebounded from its defeat to the Royals on Sunday by knocking five past UNIDOS de Hull (5-2). St. Anthony's now has 25 points from its 10 games played.
Meanwhile, at Tauvette, Gloucester Hornets (8 points from 8 games) moved off bottom spot by beating the Lions de Hull 3-2. Gloucester is now in seventh and the Lions have replaced them at the foot of the table with 7 points from 9 games.
In the final game, Rockers maintained their fine season by defeating Capital United 3-2 at Terry Fox North. Rockers move into 5th place with 10 points from 7 games, while Capital United hold onto third spot with 12 points from 11 games.
Agent Labrom Signs Out
Royals defender/midfielder leaves on a mission
Ottawa Royals bade an emotional farewell last night to Agent Marc Labrom, who leaves on mission to South Africa for the next few years.
Prior to a cornucopia of post-match cocktails at Ottawa's Pub Italia, Labrom was awarded the highest honour ever bestowed on a player by his team mates: a light blue Tittenham away shirt.
Agent Labrom has been asked to rewrite the South African constitution prior to upcoming national elections. Specializing in haute cuisine and the nefarious effects of Daquiris, Labrom will investigate ways to include these into ANC party policy. Based in a twelve-bedroom mansion in Pretoria, he is now taking bookings for June and July 2010 (although Dan Deganutti and Ewan Lyttle have already co-opted the gardener's lodge, overlooking the pool).
True-to-form, Marc Labrom did not score during the Royals' 4-0 win over the Internationals last night. He did, however, hobble off the pitch clutching his back.
Marc Labrom: a retrospective
1970s (some time): Born
2000s (some time): Joined the Royals.
2007: Went to South Africa.
Ottawa Royals bade an emotional farewell last night to Agent Marc Labrom, who leaves on mission to South Africa for the next few years.
Prior to a cornucopia of post-match cocktails at Ottawa's Pub Italia, Labrom was awarded the highest honour ever bestowed on a player by his team mates: a light blue Tittenham away shirt.
Agent Labrom has been asked to rewrite the South African constitution prior to upcoming national elections. Specializing in haute cuisine and the nefarious effects of Daquiris, Labrom will investigate ways to include these into ANC party policy. Based in a twelve-bedroom mansion in Pretoria, he is now taking bookings for June and July 2010 (although Dan Deganutti and Ewan Lyttle have already co-opted the gardener's lodge, overlooking the pool).
True-to-form, Marc Labrom did not score during the Royals' 4-0 win over the Internationals last night. He did, however, hobble off the pitch clutching his back.
Marc Labrom: a retrospective
1970s (some time): Born
2000s (some time): Joined the Royals.
2007: Went to South Africa.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Report: Ottawa Royals 3, St. Anthony's 1
The llama fails to spoil the show, Royals down Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s
July 29, 2007
Ottawa Royals provided further evidence that it is becoming a team to be reckoned with on Sunday as it defeated the Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s by a score of 3-1 at Maple Leaf Almrausch. James MacMillan, Sylvain Clouthier and Ryan Devereaux scored for the Royals, while Simon Bonk scored the St. Anthony’s consolation goal.
Both teams went into the match on the back of strong wins against Quebec sides – the Royals beating UNIDOS 6-2 and St. Anthony’s defeating the Lions de Hull 4-0. Prior to kick off, however, the confidence was definitely with the visiting side, as the Royals were without Jonathan Brooks (suspension), Frank Zegers, Tyler Wallace (who dislocated his finger picking up a particularly heavy chicken wing), Frank Dicaria (broken toe), Sanjeev Parma (mono), Roberto Gutierrez (ankle), Marc Anthony Viscosi (hamstring), Alic Edgar (fractured foot), Matt D’Angelo (with the national university team in Thailand) and Dimitri Koutras (MIA). On top of this, captain Dom Rochon tweaked his groin in the Thursday game against UNIDOS and so was unable to start.
As a result, the home side had drafted in veteran defender Rob Shaw for his first game in Premier of the season and had old-timer goalkeeper Antoine Lagarec in the nets. Ewan Lyttle was back from his stay at a Nova Scotia health farm, Ryan Devereaux had driven back from London, Ont., in 3 hours 45 minutes, Marc Labrom was straight out of his flower arranging class in Montreal (smelling strangely of peppermints) and Richard Boyle’s Flushing Meadows morning had left the fresh-faced private ruddy cheeked and unable to string together three words in a cogent or logical phrase.
It promised to be interesting.
The Royals reverted back to a 3-5-2 formation: Lagarec in goal, a defensive line of Shaw, MacMillan and Labrom, Bole on the right side of midfield, Lyttle in the defensive midfield role, Kowlessar and Gutierrez in front of him and Deganutti on the left. Up front, Clouthier and Devereaux started their first match together since the Gloucester Hornets fiasco, when the Royals had been seemingly unable to hit Ewan Lyttle’s arse with a banjo.
The Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s, meanwhile, welcomed back Roland Tiamuh to play against his former club.
The Royals opened the game on the offensive and were dominant from the off. On five minutes, the Royals got a corner on the right, which was whipped in by Dan Deganutti. The Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s semi-cleared the ball, which landed back out by the corner flag. Deganutti, his blond locks flowing in the sultry breeze that engulfed the majestic Almrausch stadium, adjusted a loose strand, knocked the ball two inches to his left, then pinpointed a wickedly dipping cross straight at the head of James MacMillan. MacMillan soared like a salmon, hung in midair for what seemed an eternity, checked his watch and then powered a header into the side of the net to give the Royals the lead. MacMillan had regained his place in defence before Wong hit the ground.
The Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s looked aghast. As well they might. This was MacMillan’s first goal in a competitive match since 1972, when he helped the Nerds beat the Jocks in a thrilling 1-0-1-1-0 to nil victory. And his first ever with his eyes open.
The Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s hit back and were unlucky not to score soon after when Gagou’s header hit the top of the crossbar. On 16 minutes though, Kowlessar’s dipping shot from 30 yards dipped inches over the bar. And from the resulting goal kick, the Royals doubled their lead.
Sylvain Clouthier had until this time had a relatively quiet day. A couple of minor skirmished with defender Ledi Bushiri, the occasional clinical pass, a lot of running and the odd thinly disguised insult in Joyal at the referee.
But when Angus Wong slightly underhit his goal kick, the Cantley panther sprang into action, leaping acrobatically in the air to control the ball with the outside of his right foot, before readjusting in midair and firing a first time shot into the corner of the net. It was an excellent goal, easily the best goal scored by a Quebecker in this match.
The Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s were now in disarray and the Royals were denied a cast-iron penalty on 28 minutes when Deganutti was pushed over from behind in the penalty area. Referee Popescu originally seemed to have awarded a penalty – then changed his mind to a goal kick – all without changing the direction he was pointing in. Imagine, if you will, Basil Fawlty without the moustache, goose-stepping his way to the penalty area, crouching down low, pointing at the penalty spot and shouting “Goal Kick”.
Fawlty, who has a long track record of getting penalties wrong (four poor decisions in the previous Thursday’s game alone), continued his fine tradition of ineptitude by booking Deganutti. The Italian Stallion joined the King of Cantley in the book, Clouthier having momentarily lapsed into comprehensible French in the referee’s earshot.
Still, the Royals remained in control of the match: on 35 minutes, Wong made amends for his previous aberration by making a superb one-handed save off Clouthier and two minutes later, defence splitting passing carved open the Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s once more, with the final effort being inches wide.
On 44 minutes, Jorge Gutierrez, who had worked tirelessly alongside the Silent Knight in midfield, missed a great opportunity to make it 3-0, which would surely have wrapped up the match there and then. Instead, the Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s came upfield and forced a corner.
In an exact repeat of the match-winning goal ten days previously, the outswinging ball found the lofty frame of Simon Bonk loitering on the edge of the area. Unmarked, Bonk got his head to the ball and lofted it over the advanced Antoine Lagarec, off the underside of the crossbar and into the back of the net. After 45 minutes of generally excellent football, the Royals had opened the door to the visitors.
This is a lesson that the Royals appear to not have learned from the start of the season. Despite dominating the majority of the games in which they have played, the team loses focus at key moments and concedes avoidable goals. The litany of woe is long indeed: Capital United, Gloucester, UNIDOS, Lions de Hull, Internationals, Hearts Azzurri – all either beaten or about to be beaten, when a soft goal is conceded. It either costs the team points or makes a routine win a scramble.
The second half began, not surprisingly, with the Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s on the attack, although for every half chance they obtained, the Royals hit back on the counter and created one of their own. With the front two of Clouthier and Nova Scotian NASCAR wunderkind Ryan Devereaux up front, Bonk and Bushiri were tested to the full. With Dan Deganutti removed at half time, Alan Farant stepped seamlessly into the left-hand side midfield role and held his own against very fast competition.
On 60 minutes, Michael Adams replaced the flagging Ewan “Two Bellies” Lyttle with Long John Rochon, the one-legged midfield maestro (“Did I tell you about River Plate?”) with no groin but an eye for a killer pass. Three minutes later, Ryan Devereaux crawled off the pitch for a breather and was replaced by Ninja Ntwari, the Burundi ululater. Ntwari carried on where Devereaux had left off, his searing pace troubling the back three constantly – and of course he is so polite!
It took the Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s defence a while to realize that they didn’t have to answer every time Ntwari said hello. “Hi!” he would shout before launching off on a rampaging run down the left. “Hi!” they would wonder aloud, before setting off in hot pursuit. “Hi!” he would say, waving for a ball from the midfield. “Hi!” they would answer, confused. Make no mistake, this is a vital weapon in the Ninja armoury – and had it not been for the insider information from Rowland Tiamuh, it might have carried on all game. As it was, Ntwari was mainly used to give Devereaux a breather in this game, but the speedy striker is definitely one for the future.
The game continued at a frantic pace, with St. Anthony’s launching everything in attack and the Royals matching them in defence and then hitting back quickly on the counter. As St. Anthony’s threw an extra man forward, coach Michael Adams foolhardily decided to keep two up front, aided in the decision by the sterling defensive work of his team and the constant threat posed by the strikers.
When Clouthier thrashed a dipping shot against the crossbar on 86 minutes, it looked like the gamble might not pay off. But with Gutierrez, Kowlessar and Rochon dominant in the middle and the unit shifting well to cover all attacks, it looked like a reasonable bet.
On 89 minutes, Rob Shaw took a quick free kick to Kowlessar who in turn fed Devereaux. Devereaux sprang once more the high offside trap used by the Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s and showing incredible stamina, sprinted to the edge of the area. Carefully waiting until Wong had committed himself, Devereaux placed the ball perfectly under the advancing keeper’s body into the back of the net.
Cue mayhem. Devereaux’s goal is further evidence of the unquestionable ability of the Nova Scotian. After a slow start in the OCSL where he was dogged by injury, Devereaux has now fully recovered and looks a constant threat in games. His performances in the past three games in particular have been exceptional.
As the home side was celebrating, one of the more unsavoury incidents took place. Having been endlessly frustrated by the Royals’ Mexican mannequin Jorge Gutierrez all afternoon, Edgar Soglo decided it would be appropriate to send a huge pile of gob at him, spraying the Mexican’s shoulder with spittle. To his credit, Gutierrez didn’t react – and merely informed referee Fawlty who had, unsurprisingly, not seen it.
But the game ended in a tense and unpleasant manner – and remonstrations were loud and acrimonious after the game. We await to see what the Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s will do about the incident.
Still, whatever happens to the llama, the Royals still won – and three points against the Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s is three points. The Royals move up to second place in the standings with two games in hand over the third-placed team Capital United.
Next up is the return match against Ottawa Internationals – a team that is committed and strong and will give the resurgent Royals a good run for their money on Thursday night.
Man of the Match: 3 points – James MacMillan, 2 points – Ryan Devereaux & Sylvain Clouthier, 1 point – Antoine Lagarec
Statistics
Ottawa Royals
1-Antoine Lagarec; 21-Rob Shaw, 3-James MacMillan, 6-Marc Labrom; 17-Richard Boyle (13-Jeff Dennis, 74 mins), 15-Steve Kowlessar, 2-Ewan Lyttle (11-Dom Rochon, 59 mins), 18-Jorge Gutierrez, 9-Dan Deganutti (12-Alan Farant, 46 mins); 19-Ryan Devereaux (4-Thierry Ntwari, 61 mins; 19-Ryan Devereaux 74 mins), 7-Sylvain Clouthier
Yellow Cards: Sylvain Clouthier, Dan Deganutti, Jorge Gutierrez, Marc Labrom
Goals: James MacMillan (5 mins), Sylvain Clouthier (17 mins), Ryan Devereaux (89 mins)
The Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s
1-Angus Wong; 6-Simon Bonk, 4-Ledi Bushiri, 11-Souleymane Gagou, 21-Johnny Legakis, 8-Alain Nijima, 20-Allan Popazzi, 10-Johnny Schieda, 12-Edgar “The Llama” Soglo, 18-Claudio Vennegas, 28-Roland Tiamuh, 17-Will Beauge
Yellow Cards: Edgar “The Llama” Soglo
Goals: Bonk (45 mins)
Season Tally:
Goals: D’Angelo 11; Devereaux 9; Boyle 7; Kowlessar 5; J. Gutierrez 4; Clouthier, Koutras 3, MacMillan, Ntwari 2; Brooks, 1
Assists: Brooks, 7; Deganutti, 5; Koutras, Rochon 4; Boyle, Kowlessar, 3; D’Angelo, Devereaux, Donnard, J. Gutierrez, 2; Clouthier, Dennis, Lyttle 1
July 29, 2007
Ottawa Royals provided further evidence that it is becoming a team to be reckoned with on Sunday as it defeated the Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s by a score of 3-1 at Maple Leaf Almrausch. James MacMillan, Sylvain Clouthier and Ryan Devereaux scored for the Royals, while Simon Bonk scored the St. Anthony’s consolation goal.
Both teams went into the match on the back of strong wins against Quebec sides – the Royals beating UNIDOS 6-2 and St. Anthony’s defeating the Lions de Hull 4-0. Prior to kick off, however, the confidence was definitely with the visiting side, as the Royals were without Jonathan Brooks (suspension), Frank Zegers, Tyler Wallace (who dislocated his finger picking up a particularly heavy chicken wing), Frank Dicaria (broken toe), Sanjeev Parma (mono), Roberto Gutierrez (ankle), Marc Anthony Viscosi (hamstring), Alic Edgar (fractured foot), Matt D’Angelo (with the national university team in Thailand) and Dimitri Koutras (MIA). On top of this, captain Dom Rochon tweaked his groin in the Thursday game against UNIDOS and so was unable to start.
As a result, the home side had drafted in veteran defender Rob Shaw for his first game in Premier of the season and had old-timer goalkeeper Antoine Lagarec in the nets. Ewan Lyttle was back from his stay at a Nova Scotia health farm, Ryan Devereaux had driven back from London, Ont., in 3 hours 45 minutes, Marc Labrom was straight out of his flower arranging class in Montreal (smelling strangely of peppermints) and Richard Boyle’s Flushing Meadows morning had left the fresh-faced private ruddy cheeked and unable to string together three words in a cogent or logical phrase.
It promised to be interesting.
The Royals reverted back to a 3-5-2 formation: Lagarec in goal, a defensive line of Shaw, MacMillan and Labrom, Bole on the right side of midfield, Lyttle in the defensive midfield role, Kowlessar and Gutierrez in front of him and Deganutti on the left. Up front, Clouthier and Devereaux started their first match together since the Gloucester Hornets fiasco, when the Royals had been seemingly unable to hit Ewan Lyttle’s arse with a banjo.
The Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s, meanwhile, welcomed back Roland Tiamuh to play against his former club.
The Royals opened the game on the offensive and were dominant from the off. On five minutes, the Royals got a corner on the right, which was whipped in by Dan Deganutti. The Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s semi-cleared the ball, which landed back out by the corner flag. Deganutti, his blond locks flowing in the sultry breeze that engulfed the majestic Almrausch stadium, adjusted a loose strand, knocked the ball two inches to his left, then pinpointed a wickedly dipping cross straight at the head of James MacMillan. MacMillan soared like a salmon, hung in midair for what seemed an eternity, checked his watch and then powered a header into the side of the net to give the Royals the lead. MacMillan had regained his place in defence before Wong hit the ground.
The Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s looked aghast. As well they might. This was MacMillan’s first goal in a competitive match since 1972, when he helped the Nerds beat the Jocks in a thrilling 1-0-1-1-0 to nil victory. And his first ever with his eyes open.
The Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s hit back and were unlucky not to score soon after when Gagou’s header hit the top of the crossbar. On 16 minutes though, Kowlessar’s dipping shot from 30 yards dipped inches over the bar. And from the resulting goal kick, the Royals doubled their lead.
Sylvain Clouthier had until this time had a relatively quiet day. A couple of minor skirmished with defender Ledi Bushiri, the occasional clinical pass, a lot of running and the odd thinly disguised insult in Joyal at the referee.
But when Angus Wong slightly underhit his goal kick, the Cantley panther sprang into action, leaping acrobatically in the air to control the ball with the outside of his right foot, before readjusting in midair and firing a first time shot into the corner of the net. It was an excellent goal, easily the best goal scored by a Quebecker in this match.
The Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s were now in disarray and the Royals were denied a cast-iron penalty on 28 minutes when Deganutti was pushed over from behind in the penalty area. Referee Popescu originally seemed to have awarded a penalty – then changed his mind to a goal kick – all without changing the direction he was pointing in. Imagine, if you will, Basil Fawlty without the moustache, goose-stepping his way to the penalty area, crouching down low, pointing at the penalty spot and shouting “Goal Kick”.
Fawlty, who has a long track record of getting penalties wrong (four poor decisions in the previous Thursday’s game alone), continued his fine tradition of ineptitude by booking Deganutti. The Italian Stallion joined the King of Cantley in the book, Clouthier having momentarily lapsed into comprehensible French in the referee’s earshot.
Still, the Royals remained in control of the match: on 35 minutes, Wong made amends for his previous aberration by making a superb one-handed save off Clouthier and two minutes later, defence splitting passing carved open the Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s once more, with the final effort being inches wide.
On 44 minutes, Jorge Gutierrez, who had worked tirelessly alongside the Silent Knight in midfield, missed a great opportunity to make it 3-0, which would surely have wrapped up the match there and then. Instead, the Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s came upfield and forced a corner.
In an exact repeat of the match-winning goal ten days previously, the outswinging ball found the lofty frame of Simon Bonk loitering on the edge of the area. Unmarked, Bonk got his head to the ball and lofted it over the advanced Antoine Lagarec, off the underside of the crossbar and into the back of the net. After 45 minutes of generally excellent football, the Royals had opened the door to the visitors.
This is a lesson that the Royals appear to not have learned from the start of the season. Despite dominating the majority of the games in which they have played, the team loses focus at key moments and concedes avoidable goals. The litany of woe is long indeed: Capital United, Gloucester, UNIDOS, Lions de Hull, Internationals, Hearts Azzurri – all either beaten or about to be beaten, when a soft goal is conceded. It either costs the team points or makes a routine win a scramble.
The second half began, not surprisingly, with the Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s on the attack, although for every half chance they obtained, the Royals hit back on the counter and created one of their own. With the front two of Clouthier and Nova Scotian NASCAR wunderkind Ryan Devereaux up front, Bonk and Bushiri were tested to the full. With Dan Deganutti removed at half time, Alan Farant stepped seamlessly into the left-hand side midfield role and held his own against very fast competition.
On 60 minutes, Michael Adams replaced the flagging Ewan “Two Bellies” Lyttle with Long John Rochon, the one-legged midfield maestro (“Did I tell you about River Plate?”) with no groin but an eye for a killer pass. Three minutes later, Ryan Devereaux crawled off the pitch for a breather and was replaced by Ninja Ntwari, the Burundi ululater. Ntwari carried on where Devereaux had left off, his searing pace troubling the back three constantly – and of course he is so polite!
It took the Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s defence a while to realize that they didn’t have to answer every time Ntwari said hello. “Hi!” he would shout before launching off on a rampaging run down the left. “Hi!” they would wonder aloud, before setting off in hot pursuit. “Hi!” he would say, waving for a ball from the midfield. “Hi!” they would answer, confused. Make no mistake, this is a vital weapon in the Ninja armoury – and had it not been for the insider information from Rowland Tiamuh, it might have carried on all game. As it was, Ntwari was mainly used to give Devereaux a breather in this game, but the speedy striker is definitely one for the future.
The game continued at a frantic pace, with St. Anthony’s launching everything in attack and the Royals matching them in defence and then hitting back quickly on the counter. As St. Anthony’s threw an extra man forward, coach Michael Adams foolhardily decided to keep two up front, aided in the decision by the sterling defensive work of his team and the constant threat posed by the strikers.
When Clouthier thrashed a dipping shot against the crossbar on 86 minutes, it looked like the gamble might not pay off. But with Gutierrez, Kowlessar and Rochon dominant in the middle and the unit shifting well to cover all attacks, it looked like a reasonable bet.
On 89 minutes, Rob Shaw took a quick free kick to Kowlessar who in turn fed Devereaux. Devereaux sprang once more the high offside trap used by the Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s and showing incredible stamina, sprinted to the edge of the area. Carefully waiting until Wong had committed himself, Devereaux placed the ball perfectly under the advancing keeper’s body into the back of the net.
Cue mayhem. Devereaux’s goal is further evidence of the unquestionable ability of the Nova Scotian. After a slow start in the OCSL where he was dogged by injury, Devereaux has now fully recovered and looks a constant threat in games. His performances in the past three games in particular have been exceptional.
As the home side was celebrating, one of the more unsavoury incidents took place. Having been endlessly frustrated by the Royals’ Mexican mannequin Jorge Gutierrez all afternoon, Edgar Soglo decided it would be appropriate to send a huge pile of gob at him, spraying the Mexican’s shoulder with spittle. To his credit, Gutierrez didn’t react – and merely informed referee Fawlty who had, unsurprisingly, not seen it.
But the game ended in a tense and unpleasant manner – and remonstrations were loud and acrimonious after the game. We await to see what the Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s will do about the incident.
Still, whatever happens to the llama, the Royals still won – and three points against the Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s is three points. The Royals move up to second place in the standings with two games in hand over the third-placed team Capital United.
Next up is the return match against Ottawa Internationals – a team that is committed and strong and will give the resurgent Royals a good run for their money on Thursday night.
Man of the Match: 3 points – James MacMillan, 2 points – Ryan Devereaux & Sylvain Clouthier, 1 point – Antoine Lagarec
Statistics
Ottawa Royals
1-Antoine Lagarec; 21-Rob Shaw, 3-James MacMillan, 6-Marc Labrom; 17-Richard Boyle (13-Jeff Dennis, 74 mins), 15-Steve Kowlessar, 2-Ewan Lyttle (11-Dom Rochon, 59 mins), 18-Jorge Gutierrez, 9-Dan Deganutti (12-Alan Farant, 46 mins); 19-Ryan Devereaux (4-Thierry Ntwari, 61 mins; 19-Ryan Devereaux 74 mins), 7-Sylvain Clouthier
Yellow Cards: Sylvain Clouthier, Dan Deganutti, Jorge Gutierrez, Marc Labrom
Goals: James MacMillan (5 mins), Sylvain Clouthier (17 mins), Ryan Devereaux (89 mins)
The Canadian National Champions™ St. Anthony’s
1-Angus Wong; 6-Simon Bonk, 4-Ledi Bushiri, 11-Souleymane Gagou, 21-Johnny Legakis, 8-Alain Nijima, 20-Allan Popazzi, 10-Johnny Schieda, 12-Edgar “The Llama” Soglo, 18-Claudio Vennegas, 28-Roland Tiamuh, 17-Will Beauge
Yellow Cards: Edgar “The Llama” Soglo
Goals: Bonk (45 mins)
Season Tally:
Goals: D’Angelo 11; Devereaux 9; Boyle 7; Kowlessar 5; J. Gutierrez 4; Clouthier, Koutras 3, MacMillan, Ntwari 2; Brooks, 1
Assists: Brooks, 7; Deganutti, 5; Koutras, Rochon 4; Boyle, Kowlessar, 3; D’Angelo, Devereaux, Donnard, J. Gutierrez, 2; Clouthier, Dennis, Lyttle 1
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