Canadian Soccer aka Football

[OntarioFox]

Enjoyed those opening two fixtures. I'm moving to Ontario next year (hence the name) and Hamilton is one of my possible destinations, so naturally Forge FC are going to be "my team" in the CPL.

That said, I really like Pacific FC's ground. Small and compact, with a decent looking end behind the goal (not sure about that purple building though - looks like Barney the Dinosaur's left testicle). Squint and you could be watching one of our League 1 games at the likes of Hereford or Cheltenham - not what i expected from a North American stadium at all!

 

A few other takeaways from the two matches so far:

• Rollocks from York 9 looked very pacey - can see him causing defences problems. He certainly ran Forge FC's pretty ponderous backline ragged.
• Bekker is already a meme player and his off-the-ball elbow was pure dirt and a clear as day red card - in England, that would be a retrospective ban. How he didn't even get booked is a mystery, though I did enjoy the One Soccer pundits, in typically understated Canadian fashion, declaring straight-faced that he "probably should have picked up a yellow".
• On that point, it's already been mentioned a few times that refs are going to let a lot go in this league. Fans of "proper football" should enjoy it in that respect - I was pleasantly surprised how many strong challenges that would have more pedantic refs here reaching for their book were either let go or merely resulted in a "talking to". Then again, we've already had two sendings off in two matches, so clearly that's only true up to a point!
• Given the pretty parlous state of the pitches (again, a product of the climate - Hamilton had been "enjoying" April snow showers before kickoff apparently!) I was really impressed to see all four teams trying to play on the floor rather than resorting to "hoofball", which would have been especially tempting with the wind at Tim Hortons' Field. If this league really is a blueprint for improving the Canadian Men's National Team, they're setting about it in the right way for modern football. Forge's goal in particular was right out the modern playbook - a Man City-style cutback from the byline after some nice overlap play. Not going to pretend the standard is brilliant (I'd put it at borderline League 1 / 2 on this weekend's showing), but a very positive start from a tactical point of view.

Oh, and one last thing - that OneSoccer app is pretty decent. A 24 hour live channel, highlights and interviews, plus NT and regional league games (come on FC London) for $10 a month is an investment I'm definitely making. Kind of embarrassing that a start-up league with no fanbase of sorts to build on already has a better fan offering than the Premier League available both in the home country and worldwide.

 

Looking forward to the upcoming games! Oh, and @Jattdogg and @spacemunky, we must meet up for a pint and a Forge FC game when I arrive next year! 

Edited 29 April 2019 by OntarioFox

[Jattdogg]

9 minutes ago, OntarioFox said:

Enjoyed those opening two fixtures. I'm moving to Ontario next year (hence the name) and Hamilton is one of my possible destinations, so naturally Forge FC are going to be "my team" in the CPL.

That said, I really like Pacific FC's ground. Small and compact, with a decent looking end behind the goal (not sure about that purple building though - looks like Barney the Dinosaur's left testicle). Squint and you could be watching one of our League 1 games at the likes of Hereford or Cheltenham - not what i expected from a North American stadium at all!

 

A few other takeaways from the two matches so far:

• Rollocks from York 9 looked very pacey - can see him causing defences problems. He certainly ran Forge FC's pretty ponderous backline ragged.
• Bekker is already a meme player and his off-the-ball elbow was pure dirt and a clear as day red card - in England, that would be a retrospective ban. How he didn't even get booked is a mystery, though I did enjoy the One Soccer pundits, in typically understated Canadian fashion, declaring straight-faced that he "probably should have picked up a yellow".
• On that point, it's already been mentioned a few times that refs are going to let a lot go in this league. Fans of "proper football" should enjoy it in that respect - I was pleasantly surprised how many strong challenges that would have more pedantic refs here reaching for their book were either let go or merely resulted in a "talking to". Then again, we've already had two sendings off in two matches, so clearly that's only true up to a point!
• Given the pretty parlous state of the pitches (again, a product of the climate - Hamilton had been "enjoying" April snow showers before kickoff apparently!) I was really impressed to see all four teams trying to play on the floor rather than resorting to "hoofball", which would have been especially tempting with the wind at Tim Hortons' Field. If this league really is a blueprint for improving the Canadian Men's National Team, they're setting about it in the right way for modern football. Forge's goal in particular was right out the modern playbook - a Man City-style cutback from the byline after some nice overlap play. Not going to pretend the standard is brilliant (I'd put it at borderline League 1 / 2 on this weekend's showing), but a very positive start from a tactical point of view.

Oh, and one last thing - that OneSoccer app is pretty decent. A 24 hour live channel, highlights and interviews, plus NT and regional league games (come on FC London) for $10 a month is an investment I'm definitely making. Kind of embarrassing that a start-up league with no fanbase of sorts to build on already has a better fan offering than the Premier League available both in the home country and worldwide.

 

Looking forward to the upcoming games! Oh, and @Jattdogg and @spacemunky, we must meet up for a pint and a Forge FC game when I arrive next year! 

Never heard of that app but agree that is embarassing for the premier league. I just use "thescore" app which is a canadian sports channel. Decent app  for all sport,  doesnt post all goals  but rather sometimes links to twitter accounts with goals etc.

 

Pint and football goes hand in hand. Let us know when you are down (if you move to Hamilton). Where else are you considering?

 

 

[OntarioFox]

2 minutes ago, Jattdogg said:

Never heard of that app but agree that is embarassing for the premier league. I just use "thescore" app which is a canadian sports channel. Decent app  for all sport,  doesnt post all goals  but rather sometimes links to twitter accounts with goals etc.

 

Pint and football goes hand in hand. Let us know when you are down (if you move to Hamilton). Where else are you considering?

 

 

90% sure I'll be living in London ON, hence the namedrop for FC London, but Hamilton is my back-up. 

Won't have much in the way of things stopping me travelling there for a weekend to see the odd game though, even if I don't end up living there. 

[Jattdogg]

4 minutes ago, OntarioFox said:

90% sure I'll be living in London ON, hence the namedrop for FC London, but Hamilton is my back-up. 

Won't have much in the way of things stopping me travelling there for a weekend to see the odd game though, even if I don't end up living there. 

London, blooooooody London?  Definitely not spursy in Ontario

[spacemunky]

4 hours ago, OntarioFox said:

 

 

Looking forward to the upcoming games! Oh, and @Jattdogg and @spacemunky, we must meet up for a pint and a Forge FC game when I arrive next year! 

 

Will do!

[OntarioFox]

Pacific FC's second match ended in a 2-1 home defeat to Valour FC. Dylan Carreiro claimed the spoils in the 78th minute after Jose Hernández had cancelled out Stephen Hoyle's opener on the stroke of half-time.

 

Worth noting that Hoyle is the first Englishman to score in the CPL in these early days of first wins, goals and whatever else. His career has previously taken him to the Scottish lower leagues and a successful stint at the mighty Canterbury United (New Zealand), from where he joined Valour. He can now boast a 1 in 1 goalscoring record - that's David Nugent levels of proficiency. 

Apparently only six fans made the away trip from Winnipeg to witness their side's first ever competitive game - and the whole squad took part in a quite adorable pile-on with three of them for Carreiro's winner.

Edited 2 May 2019 by OntarioFox

[spacemunky]

53 minutes ago, OntarioFox said:

 

Apparently only six fans made the away trip from Winnipeg to witness their side's first ever competitive game - and the whole squad took part in a quite adorable pile-on with three of them for Carreiro's winner.

That's always going to be the problem with a league here versus the European countries. We are just too big and you're not going to get fans making those trips. 

[Jattdogg]

4 hours ago, spacemunky said:

That's always going to be the problem with a league here versus the European countries. We are just too big and you're not going to get fans making those trips. 

What you dont have $1000 to get to bc by plane plus hotel plus ticket n food for 1 game? Tsk

[spacemunky]

31 minutes ago, Jattdogg said:

What you dont have $1000 to get to bc by plane plus hotel plus ticket n food for 1 game? Tsk

That's actually not far off from my cable bill. Maybe I will go!

[spacemunky]

Would have liked to have seen the Forge match yesterday, but my cable box took a dump and I had to wait all day for a guy to come and replace it.

[Jattdogg]

On 05/05/2019 at 21:14, spacemunky said:

Would have liked to have seen the Forge match yesterday, but my cable box took a dump and I had to wait all day for a guy to come and replace it.

Iptv mate $15  month. Need a contact? Lol

[lookwhaticando]

Interested to see how this pans out, particularly if Ottawa Fury move over next season. I've taken in a couple of Fury games. I'm unbeaten so far... Although they've both been 1-1. 

 

Might have to pop down to see some more games once they're in the CPL.