PICTURE: The outstanding Zoran Rajovic struck three in a losing cause for Serbian White Eagles……………….
Scarborough SC will again meet FC Vorkuta in a continuing tussle for championship honours following a 7-5 semi-final victory over Serbian White Eagles at Centennial Stadium Saturday.
The win advances the east Toronto side to meet FC Vorkuta in the CSL Championship Final set for Sunday. November 7 at Centennial Stadium in Toronto, a 3 pm kickoff.
A 7-5 victory for Scarborough was the highest score of a pandemic -abbreviated 2021 Canadian Soccer League season that kicked off on August 28 with a league schedule of eight teams, followed by the ProSound Cup competition leading to the CSL Championship. FC Vorkuta won both CSL regular season honours by finishing top of the standings and went on to defeat Scarborough in the ProSound Cup Final on October 24.
Triple honours by also winning the 2021 CSL Championship is Vorkuta’s aim, while Scarborough, a side that becomes more impressive with each passing season, is committed to breaking the Vorkuta cycle of successes. FC Vorkuta is the current defending champion, having won the title in 2020.
Saturday’s victory by Scarborough over Serbian White Eagles was an end to end entertaining match, a ding-dong high scoring affair with 12 goals, together with each team scoring an additional offside goal.
HOW THE GOALS WERE SCORED
Serbian White Eagles’ midfielder Marko Stajic opened the scoring from the left wing with a drive inside the right post to beat Scarborough goalkeeper Vladimir Dragicevic. The 1-0 lead lasted just three minutes when Kiril Dimitrov struck Scarborough’s equalizer at the 24th minute mark, taking a pass from a goalkeeper miscue then a free kick to make it 1-1.
Scarborough went into a 2-1 lead at 31 minutes when midfielder Moussa Limane found the net from 8 yards and Vladimir Strizovic equalized from the edge of the box for Serbian White Eagles, a 2-2 score at the 33rd minute.
Scarborough took a 3-2 lead at 36 minutes when Limane scored his second goal, taking a pass from Dimitrov on the right wing to find the net past Serbian White Eagles’ goalkeeper Obrad Bejatovic, a 3-2 score at the break. White Eagles drew level 3-3 from a well-taken free kick from outside the box by Zoran Rajovic who caught the top right corner at the 60th minute mark for the first goal of a hat-trick by the prolific forward,
Scarborough again took the lead on a goal by Taha Ilyass at 71 minutes who caught the net just inside the left post for a 4-3 score and yet again Serbian White Eagles drew level when Rajovic struck his second at 79 minutes to make it 4-4, the score at the end of 90 minutes and leading to 30 minutes of extra time.
Scarborough took a 5-4 lead at 11 minutes of extra time when defender Lukas Risto scored in a goalmouth scramble, followed by a 6-4 lead on a strike by Taha Ilyass eight minutes later, a ball that caught the left post ending up in the right corner of the net.
Each team scored again when Illyass struck from close range following a passing play while closing in on the White Eagles’ goal, a 7-4 score, and Rajovic completed his hat-trick on a losing note for Serbian White Eagles, a 7-5 final score in favour of Scarborough.
Stan Adamson