PICTURE: Unbeaten York Region Shooters on top following 1-0 victory DG FILMS
Serbian White Eagles dominated BGHC 1 for a 4-0 lead at the interval to end with a 7-3 victory, York Region Shooters nipped Toronto Falcons 1-0, and in the opening match of three Scarborough and Continentals FC played to a scoreless but well played draw at Centennial Stadium Saturday.
Both Scarborough and Continentals FC made changes from last week’s games, including goalkeepers Christian Moraldo coming in for Scarborough and Anatolii Starushchenko for Continentals FC, in a high paced often physical encounter with good defensive play leaving few chances that looked like a producing a winning goal. The scoreless tie kept Scarborough undefeated in second spot in the standings, while Continentals FC moved up to third in the table.
Serbian White Eagles quickly took control of the second match at the Toronto west end ground when forward Dusan Kovacevic opened the scoring after just three minutes of play, and this was followed by a picture goal from midfielder Yasin Shahwan with a drive from 35 yards well out of reach of BGHC 1 goalkeeper Aleksandar Nikolic to enter the top right corner, a 2-0 lead after 16 minutes. Midfielder Nikola Durkovic made it 3-0 at 25 minutes and Durkovic scored the fourth goal at 44 minutes, the score at the break. The home side continued to have an edge in the play into the second half and Kovacevic struck a second goal inside the right post to give the White Eagles a 5-0 lead at 57 minutes.
A hand ball offence in the penalty box brought BGHC 1 into the picture when defender Vukasin Kovacevic scored from the spot at 69 minutes and a second BGHC 1 goal was scored two minutes later when a back pass to Serbian White Eagles’ goalkeeper infringement gave BGHC 1 midfielder Alexandar Bozovic a chance to score on a free kick inside the box for a 5-2 score at 71 minutes.
Vukasin Kovacevic scored his second goal at 78 minutes, a 5-3 score, Serbian White Eagles increased the lead to 6-3 when Durkovic scored his third goal and hat-trick from the penalty spot following a foul in the box and the White Eagles’ midfelder scored a fourth goal to complete the scoring at 83 minutes, 7-3 at the final whistle.
The goalscoring spree brings to an end a period during which Serbian White Eagles struggled to find the net during an abbreviated 2021 season and just four goals during a winless start in the first three games of the 2022 campaign.
There were few opportunities to find the net during a scoreless first half and most of the second half of the late game between York Region Shooters and Toronto Falcons with the exception of a strong drive by Falcons’ defender Vadym Gostiev from 25 yards which swung just outside the Shooters’ left post in the second half and which was followed by a goal by forward Jacob Yankey who entered the game at 53 minutes and struck the winner 11 minutes later. Unbeaten Shooters increased their lead at the top of the table following the win.