THE SOUTH STAND REPORT: Toronto v San Jose... or I Guess This Is a Bye-Month?

Its a sunny day out at the park. Again. This is the last hurrah until July. No rain. No Wondolowski.  should be good.

Onto the match!

14' - Free kick rolled wide to Defoe who puts a low ball on Busch that he can't quite hold onto, Moore scrambled into the box but finally snapped up

23' - Hagglund takes a high ball, pops and volleys it, forcing a diving save from Busch.  Rebound gets rocketed back in for another stop

25' - PENALTY - Hagglund gets hauled down at the top of the box

26' - GOAL - Defoe buries it left side of goal.
ROBINS 1,  CLASH 0

40' - Moore has a go from the left side that's stopped by Busch but not held.  Recovers enough to snap up the ball.

Half Time Mood : pretty happy all things considered

64' - amidst a flurry of Toronto offence,  San Jose got a shot on goal.  Good for them.

64' - SUB - Jackson off, Oduro debuts, which brings us to the winner of the predcition of the match:

When will Dominic Oduro debut today:
@RedWineRoz 57'
@DuncanDFletcher 65' WINNER!
@theyorkies1812 69'
@kzknowles Kristin 63'
Dom 68'

@ignirtoq 71'

66' - that's two brutal calls from the ref.  Both bookable offences.  One could've been a red and one should have been a second yellow

67' - ensuing free kick from Warner loops it high and Hagglund just gets his head to it and skims the post.

69' - SUB - Sam Cronin comes off for "Hate a Random" target J. J. Koval (for more information, please listen to episode 40 of the Vocal Minority podcast)

78' - SUB - Lovitz is on for Bekker

79' - Dan down! Dan down!  Not a minute into his introduction, Lovitz knocks heads with a San Jose player and now he looks like he's somewhere else.

81' - SUB - Lovitz off for Morrow.  Rough day match minute

83' - YELLOW - Hagglund for a foul

84' - for the game that Toronto has been having, please don't shit the bed over the next 10 mins...

88' - something out of nothing, Moore loops a cross that finds Morrow and his strike forces a save from Busch

5 min of extra time

90+3 - YELLOW - Defoe booked for time wasting tossing a ball over the signage

FULL TIME : TORONTO 1, SAN JOSE 0

Man of the Match : Hagglund was everywhere today.  Fantastic.

Goat of the Game : Bekker wasn't bad, but his impact on the game was practically nil.

Ref Rating : 2 out of 5.  Blew tons of bad calls, missed opportunities for a few reds.  It would be hard for anyone to respect him.  The linesmen were solid and even had one of their correct calls overturned by the ref.

Kit Spotting : Sporting Lisbon and mostly due to the fact that he had a kit to change into after the match.  Kind of amusing.

I Am Not The Gaffer But... : I would've started Oduro.


If You PVR'd it : then the first 82 minutes are an absolute delight.  You can skip from there until the 94th minute

Contrary to the match report's indication, Toronto dominated control of this match up until the 80th minute.  Bendik had very little to do, short of reapply sunscreen.  Understanding that some of the upper talent was absent, it was refreshing to see Toronto control most of the match.

Jackson was a bit of a terror today. Bit of trickery on the ball but not the kind where you need to see him get punched... There sometimes feels like that there's a rule that states "you must beat a defender before you can shoot or make a pass unless you're Defoe".  I wish more players were willing to pull the trigger sooner... The San Jose keeper looked like he couldn't catch a cold, never mind the ball for much of the game... Danny Koevermans was on the pitch at halftime.  All pancakes aside, we hope he's doing well in his retirement and wish his knee would've held out a little longer... Fun fact: Gilberto was in the starting lineup before the match, but apparently injured himself in warm ups and was replaced by Bekker.  Hope his injury doesn't keep him out long.  His absence was noted with the lack of aggression from Toronto this afternoon. 

Player Ratings : Bendik 6.5, Hagglund 8, Caldwell 6, Henry 6, Bloom 6.5, Jackson 7.5 [Oduro 6], Warner 6.5, Osorio 7, Bekker 6 [Lovitz 10 [Morrow N/A],  Moore 7, Defoe 7

@ignirtoq likes the idea of a month long break as these things are exhausting. But no rest for the wicked as podcasting is still in full swing with The Vocal Minority. You should totally check it out if you like (a) TFC, (b) 80s references and (c) running gags that would make a new person confused or entertained.