PICTURE: A jubilant Scarborough SC in earlier times failed in Friday night’s match to secure three points in the encounter with Serbian White Eagles, leaving a severely diminished opportunity to now overhaul league-leading FC Vorkuta on the brink of the First Division title.
Serbian White Eagles and Scarborough SC played to a 2-2 draw in the only match scheduled in the Canadian Soccer League Friday night, a result that severely diminishes any opportunity for FC Vorkuta to be caught and lose top spot and a title laid claim to for most of the current campaign while holding a runaway margin at the top of the table.
With Scarborough and Serbian White Eagles positioned as the only teams with any chance of catching the unbeaten Vorkuta, any possibility of success required one of these teams to launch a late season bid with nothing less than a victory and three points from Friday’s match that ended with a 2-2 result.
It was an even, well played encounter at Centennial Stadium in Toronto’s west-end with Scarborough’s Gonzalo Cebrera Celis finding the net past Serbian White Eagles’ goalkeeper Goran Skaric to put the visitors ahead 1-0 at 13 minutes. It was the Scarborough forward’s 8th goal of the season.
Bozidar Tadic equalized for Serbian White Eagles at 18 minutes and it was 1-1 at the break.
Serbian Eagles went ahead 2-1 at 64 minutes, a spectacular goal by Vladimir Strizovic scored with a diving header at almost ground level coming off a low cross from Milos Scepanovic. It was Strizovic’s 10th goal of the season.
Scarborough player-coach Zoran Rajovic, who entered the field as a substitute half-way through the second half, struck the equalizer with his fifth goal of the season at 81 minutes after collecting a rebound from a drive by Kiril Dimitrov. Dimitrov’s shot struck the upper right corner of the upright and crossbar to come back into play.
Scarborough remains in second position in the standings with a 10-2-3 WLT record for 33 points, trailing Vorkuta by six points, each team having three games remaining in the regular season. Serbian White Eagles has a 8-2-4 record for 28 points with four games remaining.
The remaining weekend First Division matches are:
Sunday, Sept. 8 Esther Shiner Stadium 7 pm Kingsman A vs Hamilton City
Sunday, Sept. 8 Centennial Stadium 7 pm FC Ukraine United vs Brantford Galaxy
UPCOMING SECOND DIVISION GAMES
Tues. Sept 10 Ontario Soccer Centre 9 pm CSC Mississauga B vs Hamilton City B
Wed. Sep 11 Ontario Soccer Centre 9 pm Kingsman B vs Serbian White Eagles B
Wed. Sep 11 Cardinal Newman 9 pm Brantford Galaxy B vs FC Vorkuta B