PICTURE: Marko Stajic of Serbian White Eagles struck tying goal from penalty spot
There were two games played in the Canadian Soccer League Sunday when Continentals FC defeated York Region Shooters by a 3-2 score and Toronto Falcons played to a 1-1 draw with Serbian White Eagles. A third game scheduled at the Centennial Stadium ground, BGHC vs. Scarborough SC, was postponed when BGHC encounted traffic accident difficulties en route.
There were several scoring opportunities that failed to find the net in the opening game when in the first two minutes of play Continentals FC forward Oleksii Boiko collected a long ball to outpace the York Region Shooters defence but shot wide with only ‘keeper Daniel Gosciniak to beat.
In the early stages also, Sebastien Lopez of York Region Shooters almost scored from a well-taken free kick which just skimmed the left post.
Continentals opened the scoring, when at the 18th minute mark Boiko drove the ball inside the right post for a 1-0 lead, his fourth goal of the season. This was followed minutes later when the always dangerous Lopez struck an equalizer for York Region Shooters to tie the game 1-1.
Continentals’ defender Ernest Astakhov missed one of the scoring opportunities at 32 minutes and there was another near miss when at 37 minutes Continentals’ midfielder Sergii Ivliev drove the ball to goalkeeper Gosciniak from 10 yards.
Ivliev struck for Continentals for a 2-1 lead at 44 minutes, a well=placed free kick from 20 yards that had Gosciniak well beaten just inside the right post.
Mykola Temniuk increased the lead to 3-1 for Continentals at the 68th minute mark and York Region Shooters cut the lead to 3-2 at 87 minutes with a goal by forward Mahmoud Mehdi, the score at the final whistle and the first defeat for the league leading Shooters.
Toronto Falcons midfielder Clayton Brown struck early to give his team a 1-0 lead at just three minutes in the second game, a well=played encounter that was in doubt through to the final whistle.
Falcons held a precarious lead until Serbian White Eagles equalized at 60 minutes on a goal from the penalty spot by midfielder Marko Stajic, a penalty called when White Eagles’ defender Srjan Simovic was brought down in the box.
Toronto Falcons came close to taking the lead when White Eagles’ former Canadian national team defender Dejan Jakovic cleared the ball off the line with goalkeeper Adrian Ibanez beaten.
Jakovic, now 36, is in the twilight of a sparkling career that came from a community setting in Toronto, attracted Canadian team selectors in Canada and Red Star Belgrade in Serbia as early as 2008. Jakovic became a national team regular with 46 U-23 and men’s national team caps and a career in North America which included 98 appearances for DC United followed by seasons with New York Cosmos and Los Angeles FC.
The third game scheduled as the late game between BGHC 1 and Scarborough was postponed during Sunday afternoon after the visiting BGHC 1 side was held following accident difficulties in traffic en route. The delay is subject to a league inquiry and its decision on the disposition of the game.