The South Stand Report : Toronto FC v. New York Extreme Beverage... or my DP is bigger than your DP

Let's go to the EX (oh baby)! For dose dat don't know, this is the time of year when the Canadian National Exhibition takes place. Corn dogs, supderdogs, sweater puppies... oh the canine euphemisms are limited but appropriate, especially we scratch our heads why certain players AREN'T in the dog house, and get game time. Players like O'Brien White, Peterson, Ibrahim, Nane... any time they're ready to prove us wrong, go right ahead and I'll stop being hateful, if only justifiably.

New York Extreme Beverage have got their DP strikeforce in Henry and Marquez. Oh and that Angel guy... good times.

Starting XI

Frei
Gargan - Cann - Attakora - Garcia
Labrocca - Saric - DeRo - Nane
Mista - OBW

Predictions :
- no rain
- Dichio song still played out
- rough tackle on Henry, not injured or bookable in nature
- 2-2 draw for me, Dom says 2-0, Ro 2-1, and girlfriend says 1-0

1' - Attakora and Garcia put Lindpere as the meat in a red sandwich... wait, that doesn't sound right, but that's what happened.

11 - Richards crosses to Angel but the final touch goes well wide. This isn't last year's NYEB...

12 - Mista has a go from 20 yards out only to have his effort punched away by Condoul.

15 - OBW somehow showing some hustle, gets in front of Mendez, hauled down for his efforts and puts Mendez in the books with a yellow.

15 - Shortly after that, TFC nearly opens their account as an unnamed shooter beats Condoul but not the post, though fooled half the ground.

17 - Our neighbours in 112, the Red Patch Boys, chant "take if off!" at someone in New York kit in their section. Sadly, it was a dude.

31 - Condoul still put to work as Labrocca has a go from 30 yards out requiring a punching save. TFC does not seem terribly mindful that their DPs are worth 6 times of our DPs.

34 - OBW did something he hasn't done all season. He ran hard, touched the ball, shot the ball AND forced a save from Condoul. Resulting rebound ends up at DeRo's feet who fires wide.

35 - GOAL - Wow. Just a rocket. 25 yards out, Marquez launched a bullet to the far right that no one could stop. Top class.

38 - Gargan gets hauled down, and Marquez goes into the book. Even the $5 million man (well, the OTHER one) is legit.

41 - GOAL - New York Extreme Beverage free kick floats across the face of goal and after a deflection from Attakora gets beautifully slotted home by Nane. Yep wrong net. Own goal.

45 - Henri crosses, skips over Lindpere and ends up at Angel, who's stopped by Frei 2 yards out.

1 minute of extra time

HALF-TIME MOOD : A little frustrated but still optimistic

45 - SUB - Mista out and Vanilla Peterson in. Really? That's the "weak point"? Saric has been invisible, OBW though grossly improved from previous outings, is still slow and out of place... stupid...

49 - GOAL - DeRo breaks into the box and slots it short side and low past Condoul for a much needed boost. The provider of said ball? O'Brien White. I'm wrong. There. I'm sorry.

57 - Henry tries to destroy the 99-cent pasta stand inside the food building with a shot nowhere near net.

59 - Gargan(tuan) throw in gets headed by Cann and hits DeRo's chest, but the redirection was not enough to beat Condoul.

60 - RED - Attakora is sent off for handling the ball in the penalty area.

61 - GOAL - Frei gets a hand on it, but not enough to stop Angel's penalty, popping over him and under the bar.

64 - SUB - OBW off, The Chad is in. Welcome back. Wish he'd had started.

75 - SUB - Marquez comes off for Carl Robinson. If you don't remember him, you've never watched a game. Solid general for TFC midfield. We still miss him.

77 - SUB - Saric off for Ibrahim. We need some depth on this roster so desperately...

78 - GOAL - Wow. Free kick from NYEB that Frei can't get his hands onto it, but Carl Robinson can get his head onto it.

85 - Labrocca has a give and go with Chad and fires it at Condoul. Ensuing scramble sees misses from Cann and Vanilla. Nothing.

Quote of the match:

F*ck this! F*ck it! Just f*ck it! This f*cking sucks!

~ Victoria

89 - The crowd is officially dead or collectively has their mind on some deep fried butter but they're no longer in it. Chad and Vanilla team up for an opportunity in the box, gets cleared and no so much as a collective "ahhhhhh" from the record crowd of 22,000+

2 minutes of extra time

FULL TIME : Toronto 1, New York 4

Man of the Match : Part of me was going to give it to OBW because he played beyond the levels of what we expected. You know what, screw it... O'Brian White, man of the match. There.

Goat of the game : Saric was invisible, and as much as we hate on OBW, which he does deserve sometimes, and Vanilla wasn't on the pitch long enough to fully justify this award, no one deserves it.

Ref rating : 3 out of 5. A few blown calls that were trivial. Otherwise nothing too offensive.

When you can't flog a dead horse often enough... see, teams with depth and range on the bench have substitutes that provide, not necessarily a stop-gap, but a different option. Taking out a holding midfielder for a winger. That's a different option. Taking out a centre forward for a striker, that's tactical.

Until someone can articulate what Ibrahim, Peterson, O'Brien White, Sanyang and Gomez offer as a realistic option in a substitute capacity and display said qualities, not in a scrimmage capacity either, in a game situation, SACK THEM ALL. There must be players in the USL who can do what they do, only better, for less money and better effectiveness.

Though it is worth noting that TFC have lost their first competitive match at BMO in a year, it is a mere footnote for an utter clusterf*ck of a patchwork roster while the talent heals up. NYEB exposed Toronto whenever they could and the scoreline reflected that.

Also, Frei was excellent all match.