MISSISSAUGA EAGLES RESERVES OUTLAST BRAMPTON FOR SECOND DIVISION TITLE

It was Second Division soccer – but a first class effort.

 

Two CSL reserve teams, Brampton City Utd B and Mississauga Eagles FC  B, put on a fast-paced, exciting CSL Second Division Championship match that seemed to say let’s go for it, there’s no tomorrow – this is it.

 

In the end, after 90 minutes plus 30 minutes of extra time and penalty kicks, Mississauga hoisted the trophy following the 1-1 tie and a 5-3 count on penalties.

 

Brampton ended their regular season in second place in the east and Mississauga ended second in the west. Both have similar views on what reserve team soccer in a professional league is all about. They both create an environment within their clubs that while winning is an important ingredient, it’s developing the players that really counts.

 

Mike DiMatteo, Brampton’s reserve team manager and one of the principal owners of the club, says his club signs players to the reserve team that show promise – they have that bit extra. “But we then move them up to the first team as quickly as possible. In fact, we have probably played more second team players in our First Division side this season than any other club in the CSL,” he said.

 

Erin Mills Soccer Club, with its 5,000 young players, 1,000 volunteers and 7,000 voting members has been the pride of Mississauga for some years and president Susan Rossiter believes many of her young players can be developed into very good players by following a path that takes players from the youth level to the reserve team on to the club’s professional side in the CSL First Division and in some cases, beyond.

 

“It’s a step by step, cradle to grave routine that creates a environment for promising players to move up within the club and our reserve team is an important level at which they can play before moving on to the First Division,” she explained.

 

The game, played at the St. Joan of Arc ground at Maple, just north of Toronto,  was mostly end-to-end soccer, playing the long ball and that brought numerous opportunities to score.

 

 A combined effort at 33 minutes by Mississauga midfielders Jose Melo and Darragh Roe, with forward Omar Nakeeb, almost produced the desired result, but an unkind bounce went just wide at 33 minutes.

 

Brampton midfielder Jonathan Singh was one of several players to hit the woodwork, while Devon Boyer, Yousif Walied and Avian Singh all came close to scoring.

 

Both goalkeepers, Luca Leone for Brampton and Christopher Prouting for Mississauga played a big part in regular time arriving with the game scoreless and the extra 15 minutes each way brought even more of a game worth watching.

 

At 14 minutes of extra time, referee Benjamin Jacobs pointed to the penalty spot for a hand ball in the box by Brampton Utd and it was Mississauga’s Jose Mello who stepped up to score.

 

Brampton suffered another setback when David Ferreira was shown a second yellow card for dissent just before the penalty kick was taken and he was ordered off.

 

At 3 minutes of the second overtime period, Mississauga were judged also to have handled the ball inside the 18 yard line and Ardit Xhameni struck for Brampton to tie the score 1-1.

 

The 1-1 tie held until the end of extra time and a 5-3 score on penalty kicks gave Mississauga the victory and a championship trophy in its inaugural season in professional soccer.