THE SOUTH STAND REPORT : Toronto v New England... Or a strong argument why relegation ain't a bad thing

Late October is a funny time of year.  Your first or second favourite club is now in full swing across the ocean, while your second or first favourite club is wrapping up their season with a game steeped in frivolity and mediocrity.  Toronto closes out their season against a side who was eliminated from the post-season sometime in mid-July.  Tonight mediocre vs mediocre in a battle for nothingness.

20' - GOAL - Koevermans slides a low pass to Soolsma who startles everyone (including himself) and puts it into the net.  Good start here.

23' - pretty chip by Koevermans onto Soolsma who stretches the keeper with his shot but can't beat him.  He bags a hat trick, and I'm leaving...

28' - SUB - Johnson comes off hurt for Avila

40' - GOAL - corner kick served up low, short and fast to find Zerka's glancing header past a caught off guard Kocic.

Half-Time mood : ummmmmm ok where did that come from?

46' - GOAL - Perfect start for New England as a fast ball on the ground through the box gets to the sliding foot of Caraglio and pops it into the net.

51' - our friend, the President of the Luton Town Supporters Club of North America is calling for an Andy Iro goal.

55' - SUB - deGoo comes off for Dunfield.

74' - SUB - Plata comes off hobbling, making way for Zavarise.

83' - GOAL - great cross misses Soolsma (thankfully) and finds Koevermans leaping to pop the ball in from close range.

85' - In an uncharacteristic strategy, the mighty robins are going for the throat on this one.  Iro is found wide a few feet in front of goal and smacks the ball off the crossbar.  This would be a greater talking point except we discovered he was offside when the howler took place.

Full Time : Toronto 2, New England 2

Man of the Match : I'm going with Morgan on this. He was an absolute bully back there and was everywhere.  Koevermans is a very close second with his touches and vision oozing class all over the place.

Goat of the Game : Though the urge to throw Soolsma under the bus is overpowering for being slow, unable to beat anyone in a foot race, his positioning in front of goal was incredible today... So long story short, no goat.

Ref Rating : 3 out of 5.  He wasn't calling fouls against Toronto but he wasn't calling fouls against New England either.  We've seen worse in this league.

Kocic 6.5, Stinson 6.5, Harden 6, Iro 6.5, Morgan 7.5, Frings 7, deGoo 6.5 [Dunfield 6], Johnson N/A [Avila 6.5], Soolsma 6.5, Koevermans 7, Plata 6.5 [Zavarise N/A]

The crowd was a little sparse today.  Between the major highway closure and the stupidly early kick-off, the constant trickling of people were to be expected... When Soolsma runs with the ball, it looks like 'bullet time' from The Matrix films... Watching these guys play you can't help but be optimistic for next season.  If you think I'm jinxing it, note that there are now about a dozen three-footed rabbits hobbling in the woodlands behind my brother's cottage... Being a TFC-centric blog, the paranoia of who we'll lose is driving me nuts, however, I do believe that either Kocic or Frei will be wearing another team's kit next year... The question on everyone's mind (by 'everyone' I mean the 6 lads and lass standing around me) was "where will the CONCACAF Champs League game be played in March".  Preliminary polls have a split 50-50 of BMO and the stadium formerly know as SkyDome... Zavarise and Stinson had a very slick passing play that ended up with Zavarise on the ground.  You'd swear they played with each other before... I wish you all the best in your holidays and though I'll find random crap to write about (like follow a Romanian 3rd division side for the winter), we'll see you at BMO/SkyDome sometime in March.

Until then, keep visiting the site for all your off-season randomness and frivolity. Cheers!