THE SOUTH STAND REPORT : Toronto v Houston... Or Is There No Place Like Home?

DC was disappointing but they were quality (Hamid being Hamid).  But this is Houston, league leaders in losses, let's see what we can get out of this match. Gilberto appears to be in game shape so maybe if we're all well behaved, Uncle Ryan will give us some 4-3-3!

The line up is out.  Guess we're not behaved...  4-4-2.

Onto the match:

13' -  GOAL -  Davis left wide open on the right side leaving Bendik out to dry.   Bottom right corner.
ROBINS 0, CREAMSICLES 1

18' - Clark for Houston has streaks in his hair that makes it look like a bike helmet. Ha.

28' - Defoe free kick from the edge of the box forces Hall to top palm the ball over the bar

29' -  GOAL - Davis wide on the right, slides the ball under Bendik.
ROBINS 0, CREAMSICLES 2

34' - Yellow #1 to Houston

39' - GOAL - defoe pops a ball over his mark and it's bobbled by Hall,  leaving Osorio to clean up the mess and bury it.
ROBINS 1, CREAMSICLES 2

44' -  GOAL - Defoe lays off a ball to Oduro.  First shot stopped but picks up his own rebound and buried it.  The villiagers go bananas.
ROBINS 2, CREAMSICLES 2

Half time mood: beyond thrilled

56' - Yellow #5 to Houston 

58' - SUB - Oduro off for Lovitz

59' - Yellow #6 to Houston

59' - Free kick from Lovitz finds Caldwell who just heads it over the bar

63' - GOAL- Defoe streaks into the box on an angle and nutmegs Hall.
ROBINS 3, CREAMSICLES 2
65' -  Barnes beats Caldwell on the wing with no one to beat but Bendik. Puts it past him and the far post. Bullet dodged.  Caldwell limps off hurt.

68' -  SUB - Orr in for Caldwell

68' - Lovitz breaks in on a counter and instead of shooting,  cuts in to beat a defender and loses the ball.

73'- Houston floated cross into the box headed toward goal but grabbed at the line by Bendik.

80' - SUB - Moore comes off and Gilberto comes in

84' - Gilberto streaks down the right has a go and beats Hall but not the left post.  Didn't miss by much.

86' - Oh.  Clark is wearing a helmet.  Part of the Petr Cech collection I guess. Now I feel stupid. I blame the far away seats we have...

89' - GOAL - Oh we're on dream street! Defoe collects a blown back pass from 35 yards out (maybe, I can't remember) and breaks in one on one with Hall.  First shot is mostly stopped, but the rebound gets buried.
ROBINS 4, CREAMSICLES 2

3 minutes of extra time

FULL TIME : TORONTO 4, HOUSTON 2

In game prediction : Tonight's game question was how many cards will Toledo hand out without going over!  And I won by doubly accurately predicting 6 cards and all yellow!  Boom!  Genius.

@kzknowles 7, @RedWineRoz 4, @DuncanDFletcher 5 (3 yellow, 2 red specifically), @ignirtoq 6 (all yellow), Dom 4, @jonarthur's son 9

Man of the Match : Defoe.  2 goals, 2 assists

Goat of the Game : Whoever the player was supposed to mark Hall.  You know what... nevermind.  No one.  #bliss

Ref Rating : 3 out of 5.  In Toledo-terms, this is as flawless as he can possibly be.

Kit Spotting : I'm going to give it to the woman in the Eintracht Frankfurt away kit.  I'm not going to give it to the two people in the crowd with US Men's National Team AstroPop kits.

I Am Not the Gaffer But... : I'm glad today I wasn't because someone would've been subbed after the second goal.

In Case You PVR'd It : Watch it all.   It was a classic.  Show your kids.

What can be said other than the resilience was staggering. If you ever waivered that this club has yet to turn into a juggernaut or whatever this monster of a team is, this was a glimpse of what can be.  Never quit, Defoe was a major factor in all the goals, they fixed their problems before the half was over.  Understanding that this could all come undone on Wednesday, but we witnessed the future and it is glorious. (/hyperbole)

Player Ratings : Bendik 6.5, Bloom 6, Caldwell 6 [Orr N/A], Henry 6.5, Morrow 6, Oduro 7.5 [Lovitz N/A], Warner, Osorio 7, Jackson 6.5, Defoe 9.5, Moore 6 [Gilberto N/A]

@ignirtoq lost the classic quote that Dom had about how the ref hasn't screwed up the match and it's far too late to go and wrangle up the exact verbage, but just know it was classic and he deeply regrets losing it.