THE SOUTH STAND REPORT : Toronto v. D.C.... or D.C.C. to be accurate

So DC is playing their C squad. So no DeRo? No Silva? Pontius? Kitchen? Well talk about the pressure being off. I'm not even going to put this up with any urgency. I had a series of well (read : passable) graphics and a theme for this match.  But I can save my best for later too.

It turns out that DC are in the US Open Cup on Tuesday. How quaint for us. Here's how the potential freebie 3 pointer played out.

15' - GOAL - DC United C squad has opened the ‎scoring against Toronto's best XI (injuries, suspensions and excuses notwithstanding). Not embarrassing or humbling in the slightest.  Gary or Greg or... someone scores.

ROBINS 0, DIVIDED 'C' 1

25' - GOAL - Darrel Russell gets on the end of a cross, pops it off of his chest, turns and buries it into the far low corner.

ROBINS 1, DIVIDED 'C' 1

33' - Cross finds Convey with some space, gets off a good attempt but it was stopped by the DC keeper Wilton... Wiarton... Wampus.  Whatever.

55' - Wiedeman from 7 yards out and no one but the keeper to beat takes a shot so mishit it appears that it landed behind him.  Terrible.  Never mind the 'modern era' gags, that was embarrassing.

67' - GOAL - nice cross but a nicer full volley strike from Dike, a.k.a. "Carnage" to absolutely bury it past Winston... Waterman... Wilson.  Whatever.

ROBINS 2, DIVIDED 'C' 1

70' - GOAL - Rey goes for a cross attempt, but it is ultimately deflected by the defender Tyler... Steve... Steven Tyler... Whatever.  It goes past the keeper.

ROBINS 3, DIVIDED 'C' 1

80' - SUB - Dike off for Braun.

84' - SUB - Convey off for Lambe.

87' - GOAL - Bearing down from the right side, Rey beats his defender... Dave was it? (does that sound right?  Are these guys anyone?)  and slots it in.  Pure class*.

ROBINS 4, DIVIDED 'C' 1

90+1' - SUB - Wiedeman FINALLY off for Bekker

Full Time : TORONTO 4, DC 1

Man of the Match : Alavaro Rey with the brace. He looked very confident on the ball*. 

Goat of the Game : Wiedeman. We've made jokes of Chad Barrett's shots shaking wide and De Guzman's shots firing well over the bar. Weidman's effort which appeared to end up behind him... I'm still in shock. 

Ref Rating : 4 out of 5. Not too whistle happy and bookings and fouls were reasonable. 

Kit Spotting : Hartford Whalers. If you want a measure how far we've fallen as an active supporters base, a hockey jersey won and it wasn't even close. 

I Am Not the Gaffer But... : At 3-1, why couldn't we have seen a few more minutes of Bekker or Elmer or some of those characters who's only run out involves warm ups on the touchline? Wiedeman should have been subbed immediately. And then raged at*.

It's difficult to want to say much positive about this match*.  ‎All analysis has to have that asterisk next to it because it was a faulty measure.  And conceding to this side, which could be chocked up to luck or lapse, is a telling indication of how much work is needed to refine this situation.  

At least the weather was nice.

Props to the Barra Brava and the Screaming Eagles for making the trek to watch their C team play.  Hope you guys lift the cup for your dedication and perseverance alone (we speak from tradition).

Player Ratings : Bendik 6*, Henry 6*, Morgan 6*, Agbossoumonde 6*, Bloom 6*, Hall 6*, Russell 6.5*, Rey 7.5*, Convey 7* [Lambe N/A] , Wiedeman LOL [Bekker N/A‎],‎ Dike 7* [Braun N/A]

 

* = insert "given that they are playing against the reserve side of the last placed club in the league so bad, they are on pace to set new records ‎in mediocrity." following the asterisk 

@ignirtoq got busy after the match and has continued for much of Sunday and still thinks relegation would be a wonderful wake-up slap in the mouth to players and supporters alike.. Hat tip to @BigWullieStyle for the "LOL" gag.