York 9 FC continue their winning ways

 

By Giancarlo Aulino

BarnBurner.ca

 

TORONTO. - York 9 FC’s Emilio Estevez sealed a historic 6-2 victory over the visiting Halifax Wanderers this afternoon in game. York 9 striker Rodrigo Gattas made history and Ryan Telfer took his game up a notch by completely taking over in all aspects.

 

York 9 FC coach Jimmy Brennan went with a 4-2-3-1 formation with Nathan Ingham in-goal, Diyaeddine Abzi, Morey Doner, Luca Gaparotto, and Roger Thompson on the backline, Emmanuel Zambazis, Manuel Aparicio, and Joseph Di Chiara, Kyle Porter, and Rodrigo Gattas in the midfield, and Ryan Telfer as the lone striker.

 

Carmine Isacco, York 9 FC assistant coach, was a returned for another episode of BarnBurner’s CPL ‘Back of the Net’ show and discussed the importance of this game for the club especially following a midweek Canadian Championship game against the Montreal Impact of the MLS.

 

Heading into today’s game, Halifax’s travel was viewed as something that could hinder the team’s performance. Wanderers defender Matthew Arnone joined BarnBurner founder Joe Peisich and I on CPL ‘Back of the Net’ to preview the team’s midweek game against the Ottawa Fury and today’s game against York 9. Arnone brought up that immediately after the team played Forge in Hamilton:

 

“We took off and we headed out west to Victoria, we played there on the Saturday, that would be the 20th, and the day after that which was the 21st, we were on a flight to Ottawa…so we arrived in Ottawa on the 21st, so we’ve been here since then. We play here the Fury…and then on a bus we go to York 9. We play York 9 on the Saturday and then hop in the plane again to Edmonton, so that will be the end of our road trip, but yeah, it’s been a difficult two weeks away from home and the travel doesn’t help…the condensed schedule doesn’t help but it’s the development you have to deal with as a professional footballer.”

 

York 9 FC forward Ryan Telfer got his team on the scoresheet in the 11th minute, after he received the ball and used his strength to maintain control of the ball and struck it behind Wanderers goalkeeper Jan Michael Williams, to put York 9 up 1-0.

 

In the 16th minute, York 9 looked like they were about to increase the lead to 2-0, but Wanderers central defender Matthew Arnone made a great defensive play to clear the ball out of trouble and keep his team within one.

 

York 9 looked like the much better team and it showed as they took advantage of another goal scoring opportunity when Kyle Porter crossed the ball to forward Rodrigo Gattas, who brought the ball down and struck a perfectly placed shot past Williams, to increase the lead to 2-0 for York 9.

 

York 9 weren’t done there as they would add a highlight goal in the 31st minute, when Gattas struck a powerful shot past Williams from outside the box. The goal came from well outside the box and energized the crowd at York Lions Stadium. York 9 FC have had some trouble scoring during the Spring season and today’s game provided a glimpse to what the team is capable of offensively.

 

Rodrigo Gattas made history for York 9 FC in the 45th minute, when he scored his third goal of the game following another cross play into the box by York 9. With the goal, Gattas became the first player to score a hat-trick in the Canadian Premier League as well as the first player to score a hat-trick in the first half.

Tomasz Skublak scored in the 60th minute after miscommunication between Nathan Ingham and the backline allowed him to get a one-on-one opportunity and score. With the goal, Ingham loses his clean sheet after playing so well.

 

York 9 FC would answer back immediately; Ryan Telfer scored his second goal of the game when he brought down a cross and stuck a powerful shot in the top corner of the net. Telfer has taken full advantage of the opportunities he’s been given while on loan from Toronto FC this season. game as a whole was significant for York 9 as they kept the lead and didn’t really allow the Wanderers any opportunity to gain any momentum and even when they gave up the goal, they immediately regained the lead.

 

During the post-game press conference, I brought up to Telfer how his assistant coach Carmine Isacco, also served as head coach while he played for the York U Lions, praised his work ethic and I asked him what he’s learned about himself through this experience playing for York 9 in the CPL. Telfer acknowledged that he still has the same mentality as he did when he played at the OUA level:

 

“Not much has changed since I left York. I guess it’s just the professional standards and the way you carry yourself is much what I learned from my time at Toronto but despite that, everything that has helped me become the person that I am…the player that I am today has always been the same. You know some players they get into this lifestyle and it happens to change their being and changes who they really are and I personally wanted to step away from that and you know stick to what we do and never change…never change the person that I am and that has helped to be here today.”

 

Skublak’s resilience led to York 9 defender Roger Thompson scoring into his own goal after pushing the ball down the wing and had his shot deflected off Thompson and into the back of the net. Skublak’s performance was a bright sport for the Wanderers in that if provided the team with something positive to build on for next game this Wednesday.

 

York 9 FC would add another goal, when Emilio Estevez put in his own rebound past Williams to make it 6-2. This game as a whole was significant for York 9 as they kept the lead and didn’t really allow the Wanderers any opportunity to gain any momentum and even when they gave up the goal, they immediately regained the lead.