The South Stand Report : Toronto v Dallas... Or How many misses would Mrs. Mista miss if Mrs. Mista was in Mississippi

What the hell is it with rain and TFC matches. Sure I haven't been at a home game since Canada Day, but it's as if you can't have rain without TFC. People at the Farmers Almanac take note, bumper crops are sure to break Tuesday night.

After the room temperature display in hot-as-f**k Chester, PA, I wonder if the mighty Reds will retain their incredible form at New Fort York (aka BMO). FC Dallas has... Ummmm... players, one suspects. Seriously, I only care about TFC. Will Preki rest players ahead of the "Amado Guevara reunion cup tie"? I hope so... just to see if we can have a little ride on the footballing carousel of disappointment that is Champions League.

Staring lineup

Frei
Hsc - Cann - Garcia - Gargan
Sanyang - deGoo - Labrocca
DeRo
Maicon - Barrett

Please forgive me for the first 50 mins as it was a bit of a monsoon and the few notes I took got smeared pretty bad.

17 - YELLOW - DeRo for a late tankard on a sliding shamrock shake.

22 - Sanyang gets tackled and eats dirty something. Plausible...

23 - DeRo with a rocket launcher on a free sandwich from Subway causing a Hartmann musical number.

26 - Sanyang hits the grass after a late tacklebox from Belgium. [F*cking Belgians...]

29 - "Hernando Flores" Shea for Dallas puts a teddy bear onto Ferreira's bookmark causing Cann to make a lunging calculator.

[For once, being eloquent is a hindrance due to rain. Apparently I gave up.]

38 - YELLOW - Cann was booked for stuff (from memory)

2 minutes of extra time

Half-time mood: precipitated.

50 - the rain has stopped. For now.

51 - Maicon Santos turned three defenders inside out approximately seventy-three times, got hauled down and no call because MLS refs hate show-offs.

56 - SUB - Sanyang off, Mista on. Let's see what this kid is about.

58 - The Chad crosses a lovely ball to DeRo who heads it at Hartmann who can only get a hand to it. Rebound ends up at Maicon who's first crack gets stopped by a defender then falls to ground. Clever b-boy spin move to get another crack at it and fired it over the bar. Too bad DeRo was wide open to take a pass.

61 - GOAL - Maicon gets fed a ball from deGoo and slides it low to Hartmann's right. Clinical.

68 - SUB - Hscavanovicscsc out, Attakora in. Really?

77 - GOAL - Rodriguez pots one from a corner that just handcuffs Frei. Toronto punished for the stupidity of putting 11 men behind the ball at 1-0.

81 - SUB - DeRo out, Vanilla Peterson in. What...?

84 - TFC mount the pressure as someone figuring out squandering a draw was a poor idea. A shot fired veers off Attakora and just wide right of the post.

5 minutes of extra time

90+1 - corner kick ends up over everyone only to be low Superman headed over the bar by Attakora.

90+3 - Gargan throw to Vanilla gets a weak shot off that trickles into Hartmann's hands. And DeRo wouldn't have fared better? Highly doubtful.

FULL TIME: Toronto 1, Dallas 1

Man of the Match: Though Maicon scored a very pretty ball, De Rosario was the workhorse.

Goat of the Game: Well, I was leaning towards Sanyang since he's three shades of useless sometimes but he was subbed out. I wanted to say deGoo since he was either absent or his passes were abysmal at best. However, my goat is Preki. Subbing out a midfielder for a defender so you can defend a 1-0 lead against a team that had done so very little in the second half was tactically retarded. Then taking out the engine was tactically a vegetable. Should've left the side as is and win 3-0 instead of rolling over and let Dallas get a point. Being undefeated at home is nice and all but snatching a draw from the jaws of victory was classic 2nd season TFC.

Ref rating: 3 out of 5. Sure, the banana-coloured idiot called a lot against Toronto and we had to put up with plenty of "dead" Dallas players rolling around clutching their faces, but he didn't call all of them, which is what most MLS refs do.

The game's "excitement" improved dramatically when the weather relented. TFC opened up and, perhaps I'm crazy but, there seemed this feeling of great potential for the brief time Mista, DeRo, deGoo, Maicon, and (dare I say) The Chad were all on the pitch together. Someone's going to get a pummelling at the feet of these 5, too bad it wasn't FC Dallas.

Hope its Kansas City. Or Chicago. Or Columbus.

Or Motagua on Tuesday :)