SC TORONTO HEADING FOR TITLE

With a six points margin at the top of the standings and five games in hand, it will take a serious end of the season collapse for SC Toronto to not win the First Division title following a 2-0 victory over Serbian White Eagles Friday night. In one other game, Toronto Croatia continued its climb up the standings with a 2-0 defeat of London City.


 


Following an even opening contest, SC Toronto took the lead following a breakaway at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke, a goal at the 24th minute mark by midfielder Alon Badat who drove the ball into the top left corner of the net. It was 1-0 at the interval.


 


Both teams missed opportunities to score during a lively second half, which saw three players ejected in the late stages of the game.


 


Serbian White Eagles` forward Salvin Lammie was the first to go after receiving a second caution at the 82nd minute mark and this was followed almost immediately by a red card  to SC Toronto defender Gerard Ladiyou following a heavy challenge.


 


Sasa Vukoje, the Serbian Eagles forward, was then sent off by referee Justin Tasev at 88 minutes and shortly afterwards, SC Toronto forward Alexandros Halis assured the visitors of the victory when he collected the ball at 30 yards, closed in and beat Serbian White Eagles` goalkeeper Milos Djurkovic from 12 yards. The final score was 2-0.


 


SC Toronto lead the First Division table with 41 points from 16 games and the Toronto team is now six points in front of second place Montreal Impact Academy. SC Toronto has five games in hand.


 


It was a well-attended, entertaining encounter at Cove Road where London City continue to draw strong local support despite being all but eliminated from the playoffs.


 


Following a scoreless first half that went back and forth for both teams, Toronto Croatia took the lead at 58 minutes when forward Bozenko Lesina took a rebound off the cross bar to put the ball into the net past goalkeeper Fabian Knezevic for a 1-0 lead, and 10 minutes later Tihomir Maletic made it 2-0 for the visiting team, scoring his sixth of the season following a two-way passing play with Hayden Fitzwilliams.


 


The entertainment was stepped up when a streaker invaded the playing surface at 88 minutes, but was quickly subdued for the game to end, a final 2-0 score. Asked about the incident, London City GM Ryan Gauss admitted almost everything has happened in the 38 years the team has been playing, but it`s the first streaker.


 


“Despite our lowly position, we`ll continue to play attractive soccer and we appreciate the loyalty of our fans,“ said Gauss.


 


Remaining games in the CSL this weekend:


 


FIRST DIVISION     


Sat, Aug 20 Lions Park 7:00 PM Brantford Galaxy vs North York Astros


Sat, Aug 20 Windsor Stadium 7:00 PM Windsor Stars vs Mississauga Eagles FC


Sun, Aug 21 Terry Fox Stadium 1:00 PM Capital City FC vs Montreal Impact Academy


Sun, Aug 21 St. Joan of Arc 6:00 PM York Region Shooters vs TFC Academy


Sun, Aug 21 Centennial Stadium 8:00 PM Toronto Croatia vs SC Toronto


 


 


SECOND DIVISION


Sat, Aug 20   Budd Park 11:00 AM KW United FC vs Brantford Galaxy B


Sat, Aug 20   St. Joan of Arc 2:00 PM SC Toronto B  vs Mississauga Eagles FC B


Sat, Aug 20   St. Joan of Arc 4:00 PM TFC Academy II vs York Region Shooters B


Sat, Aug 20   Cove Road 4:00 PM London City B vs Brampton City Utd B 


Sun, Aug 21 Club Roma 2:00 PM St. Catharines Wolves B vs Serbian White Eagles B