VUKOVIC HAT-TRICK LIFTS WATERLOO…Astros resume winning way Sunday

North York Astros returned to their winning way with a

Drazen Vukovic first half hat-trick
Drazen Vukovic first half hat-trick

1-0 victory over Brampton City Utd, SC Waterloo defeated Kingston FC 4-2, and Burlington SC played to a scoreless tie with Serbian White Eagles, three games in the CSL First Division Sunday.

Following a well-played scoreless first half at Esther Shiner Stadium in North York, the Astros took a 1-0 lead from the penalty spot at 66 minutes. Referee Marco Jaramillo ordered the kick following a tripping incident by Brampton defender Reisandri Fernandez-Cervantes on Bruno Azevedo Lima of North York.

Midfielder Igor Pisanjuk found the net past Brampton goalkeeper Cristian Montero Velez for the only goal of the game.

Brampton lost three players during added time when referee Jaramillo showed the red card to Francisco Javier Juarez (Violent Conduct) at 92 minutes, Fernandez-Cervantes (second yellow) two minutes later, and goalkeeper Montero Velez (handling the ball outside the box) at 99 minutes just before the final whistle.

The Astros move into third position in the standings with a 6-4-4 WLT record for 22 points, while Brampton are in ninth position with a 4-8-3 record for 15 points.

SC Waterloo dominated the visiting Kingston FC for most of the first half at Warrior Field in Waterloo, scoring four unanswered goals in the first 40 minutes, the first three at 8, 15 and 25 minutes from the high flying Drazen Vukovic, lifting his total to 13 for the season. Vukovic’s hat-trick was followed by a goal at 37 minutes from midfielder Adis Hasecic, his fourth of the season and it was 4-0 at the interval.

Kingston fought back in the second half and found the net twice in the later stages with goals from Akil DeFreitas (number 5 this season) at 74 minutes and midfielder Catalin Lichioiu (number 6 this season) at the 86 minute mark, a 4-2 final score.

Waterloo now have a 5-7-4 record for 19 points, moving up to fifth in the standings, but with just two games remaining in the regular schedule, having played more games than their nine First Division rivals. Kingston move down to sixth position with their 5-8-3 record and 18 points.

Burlington were held to a scoreless tie by Serbian White Eagles at Nelson Stadium in Burlington, with the best chances to score coming late in the game from substitutes forward Darren Chambers and Erwin Uzanovic of Burlington.

Serbian White Eagles were reduced to 10 men in the first half when Vitomar Jelic was ejected at 34 minutes after being shown a second yellow card and the second yellow was also the reason for Thomas Patrick McLean, also of Serbian White Eagles, for his send-off at 77 minutes.

Burlington are in fourth place with a 6-7-2 record for 20 points, while Serbian White Eagles have a 4-4-5 record for 17 points in seventh position.

There were three games in the CSL Second Division Sunday with Kingston FC B still holding first place with a 3-2 defeat of SC Waterloo B, Milton FC  beat Toronto Croatia B, 3-0, and Burlington SC B scored a 2-1 victory over Serbian White Eagles B.