PICTURE: Falcons have launched with a workmanlike roster
While these are early times for drawing any conclusions to the performance of teams in the Canadian Soccer League it’s hard to resist noticing the results of York Region Shooters in the three games played so far.
Top of the standings and undefeated while conceding the lowest number of goals is just one perspective, while who have they played so far, is another. The Shooters have played three teams against established teams Serbian White Eagles, BGHC 1, and the current champions Scarborough SC. The team from just north of Toronto held Scarborough to a 3-3 draw in the opener on May 29, followed up with a 1-0 win over Serbian White Eagles and a 2-0 victory against BGHC 1, the combined team representing Brantford Galaxy and Hamilton City.
It’s worth noting that in the 3-3 tie opener against Scarborough the Shooters, returning from a four-year absence following 14 highly successful seasons in the CSL, held a 2-0 lead in the first 20 minutes to suggest a sign of things to come. In the two victories that followed, North York did not concede a goal in the 180 minutes of play.
York Region Shooters meet Toronto Falcons in the next three-game day at Centennial Stadium in Toronto’s west end on Saturday and it’s clear the Falcons have launched with a workmanlike roster despite its 7-0 loss to Scarborough on June 5, a match fraught with controversies and which ended with Falcons a man short following a red card ejection . Perhaps a more objective assessment of Toronto Falcons its survival of the strong late rally by the opposition in the 3-2 victory over Continental FC on June 12. While Continental FC is not quite the impressive FC Vorkuta the league has become accustomed to, the win by Falcons was well-earned after leading 3-0 for most of the match.
Continentals FC meet Scarborough in the opening match Saturday, a particularly interesting encounter, followed by a Serbian White Eagles vs BGHC 1 clash in a revised schedule.