Gratuitous Bounces and Poor Official Sink Wolves
By Wolves MR4 Manager,Tony Zito
On a night where my mind and prayers were on the wife of a good friend of mine, who was having brain surgery, the sting of our first loss of this season, shouldn’t even be a concern.
These games happen. Did I like the final result? Of course not. I’m as disappointed as I’m sure all are players are. Did the other team play better? At times, yes, but they benefitted from some fortunate bounces, on a greasy pitch.
We convincedly controlled a lot of the play. Our achilles was the lack of finish.
I will not fault any player for their efforts!
The weather was also a factor, as was the poor officiating. I know there were a lot of our guys who played major minutes and were exhausted.
Were we hungry for this win? Most definitely! It was between the two teams jockeying for first place. How can you not be?
I will end with this thought….if we had our whole team present, had the proper calls been made, when they should have been made, there’s no way we would have lost this game, we have beaten better teams than this.
Final score:
WOLVES 0 Falcons 3
Our
‘Man of the Match’
Kevin played this whole game feeling quite ill, with non-Covid symptoms, and he gave it all, I even had to force him to smile for this photo.
Frustrating Officiating Affects Game’s Outcome
by Wolves OT2’s, Mark Burger
After a week off to celebrate Canada Day, the Wolves were back at it hosting the 1st place Ottawa Hellenic. Missing 3 center backs forced our own, Eamon Kavanagh to slide back, partnered with Kevin Beyer in the mid.
Before kickoff, the referee, who would influence the outcome of this match, set out the perimeters, she insisted on the rules of zero tolerance and a no-talking back. We were fine with that.
It was an even start with lots of battles in the middle, before Hellenic took the lead with their speedy striker sliding past a few defenders to slot inside the far post. The Wolves began to respond with more pressure. While this did not result in clear chances, the pressure did lead to two Hellenic hand balls inside the box. Mike Owen slotted home the first one, with Shezi Aziz, scoring the 2nd penalty, not once, but twice, after jumping the gun early.
By this point, the referee began impacting the flow of the match with strange calls and early in the 2nd half the cards starting flying. Mainly for chirping and some aggressive play. Meanwhile, the same Hellenic speedy striker picked up a ball, in his own half, from the sidelines, that was clearly out of bounds, and sped past a few helpless defenders to slot inside the near post to tie the match.
There was no further scoring but certainly more frustration on both sides, and both sides were relieved to hear the final whistle.
Final score:
WOLVES 2 Hellenic 2
This 2-2 draw kept the Wolves 2 points behind Hellenic for the divisional lead.
Corey Sul earned ‘Man of the Match’ for his cool headed and consistent effort, while Liam Smithies hosted the post-game with beef brisket buns, salad and American beer. (American beer from a BRIT???)
Late Effort Snags Victory
by Wolves OT3’s, John Bergeron
Our Wolves OT3 squad were away to the Lynwood Centennials last Friday. We were looking to extend our unbeaten streak to four games. The Wolves dominated play early on but were unable to beat the Centennial’s keeper. The
Wolves got a break when a penalty was awarded that was calmly placed past the keeper by Elliott Faller, his seventh of the season. (Well done Elliott )
Lynwood would equalize shortly after on a goal headed in from a corner.
At the half, the game was level 1-1.
Wolves would take the lead on a goal from Jeffery Beaty, his first of the season. The lead was short lived as Lynwood equalized on a PK of their own.
The Wolves pushed desperately for the go ahead goal only to be broken by missed shots and called offsides. With time ticking down, and desperate to take all three points, our own Dan Smith, just back from injury, and putting an exclamation mark on his return, found the back of the net to send the Wolves unbeaten streak to 4 with a 3-2 victory.
Jon “Wallace” McDougall is named our ‘Man of the Match’.
He was a factor all over the pitch. He played Wing Back and delivered key passes and made timely tackles.
Fun fact:
His teammates nicknamed him ‘Wallace’ after William Wallace from the movie, ‘Braveheart’.
Congrats Jon!
Another Tough Result Despite the Effort!
by WOLVES OT4 Team Manager, Tim Ralph
Our Wolves OT4 team faced the OASC Glens and our numbers were good. We struggled to defend early on a quick turf field. A couple of early goals set us on our heels. Despite carrying most of the play in the second half, with lots of offensive opportunities , we just couldn’t buy a goal. We applaud our lads who played hard until the final whistle.
Our consolation, the post-game beverages were COLD and the BBQ was HOT! 🙂
Final score:
WOLVES 0 OASC Glens 5
Our ‘Man of the MATCH’ was Mark Jones who provided us with some physical presence as well as some fancy footwork.
Is that considered the ‘Gordie Howe’ in soccer??? 🙂
Wolves Tame the Almonte Wildcats!
by Wolves OT5 Team Manager, Frank Maiorino
Our Wolves OT5 continued their strong play against an undermanned 9 player Almonte team on a hot and humid evening away game in Almonte. The Wildcats gave it a valiant effort despite their low numbers.
The Wolves focused on developing their passing game and offensive attack which paid dividends throughout the game. The game started with a well placed shot by the Wolves, Mark Petch who championed on despite playing with a nagging injury that hampered his mobility. The second goal came from a nice cross by Andrew Specogna that was headed by left midfielder Luca Ruggiero. Captain Kevin Wirvin controlled the midfield along with MR4 call up Chris McMahon who controlled a skillful and speedy Almonte forward who still managed to score a beauty from about 30 yards that eluded our keeper, Dorian Proulx for their only strike. The next three goals were scored by Kevin Moorhouse who is rounding in to form for the Wolves as a consistent forward threat. Luca Ruggiero then scored another, make that two for Luca, with Kevin Wirvin‘s coring a brace. Wirvin’s second goal was a curling beauty that the Almonte keeper could not get to.
Final score:
WOLVES 8 Almonte 1
‘Man of the Match’ was Luca Ruggiero.
Luca could have had 4 goals if he had not hit two posts rather than twine. Honourable mention to Kevin Wirvin who came back strong from an achilles injury.
Special thank you to our Wolves MR4 players, Alonso Gartner and
Chris McMahon who helped out our own shorthanded squad. Especially since this was an out of town game and they already played a rain soaked game earlier in the week.
Another solid week of results and we’re looking forward to the midway point of our 2022 season.
Week 7 action is coming, stay tuned!
Have a great week everyone
and……
