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Vaughan Azzurri 0 - Oakville Blue Devils 0

By lo admin, 05/26/15, 11:30AM EDT

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Vaughan Azzurri 0 - Oakville Blue Devils 0

Tue May 26 
Written By: Staff, League1
 

Vaughan Azzurri and Oakville Blue Devils played out an entertaining but goalless 0-0 draw to nudge the Devils ahead on goal difference atop the League1 Ontario 2015 men's division.

There was very little quarter given in the match, with both sides challenging each other physically and neither side backing down, but the match was never chippy. An 85th minute red card to the Blue Devils' Felipe Vilela was perhaps the result of simmering tensions, but rarely did the two sides succumb to their emotions. Instead, a riveting battle between Vaughan's short passing and build-up play, and Oakville's resolute defending and quick attacks, played out over the afternoon. 

Few chances emerged in the match for either side, with only lobs of each respective keeper being cleared off the line by defenders as the main moments of attacking threat. Following Vilela's departure, Vaughan had one clear cut chance to put the match away courtesy of a Joseph Amato cross in from the left wing and a lone Vaughan player left alone at the back post, but the chance was sent over the crossbar and out of the park. On the day, it was clearly the defensive players from both teams that came out on top.

"After we lost [CB] Henry Moody early to injury, Matt Arnone - a natural striker - came in and did an admirable job at CB," said Vaughan head coach Carmine Isacco. "Dena Iezady was also solid for us in the middle. Taylor McNamara was solid and a good leader for Oakville and their keeper [Daniel Voci] made some timely saves."

Voci palmed away several dangerous free kicks in the match, including a heatseeker from Jonathan Lao in the 68th minute that was arcing inside the near post. 

"Daniel Voci made a couple of vital saves for us in the second half," said Oakville head coach Duncan Wilde. "But on this occasion I would not be singling out any Blue Devil individually. I would certainly be recognizing a hard working road game performance, to earn us a valuable point and keep us joint top after the first four games."

Both teams missed opportunities, with Vaughan's wide players Dayonn Harris and Tyrone Downes being particularly influential, but both coaches rued the absence of certain key players. "We struggled missing key players Joey Cicchillo, Matt Stinson, Casey D'mello and Henry Moody [the latter two departing match due to injury]," said Isacco. 

"Our biggest challenge going into the game was to ensure we restored our pace of play, following what we considered to be a poor performance the previous week," said Wilde. "Missing the suspended Nick Muth, we re-organized the back four a little and also brought in Gary Giffin for his first L1 start to add a little more pace to our midfield."

"We look forward to our first L1 Cup game on Wednesday evening away at Sigma F.C.," said Wilde. "That game will be quickly followed by our next home game at Sheridan College on Sunday afternoon at 4pm, again against Sigma FC, to close out a very congested and competitive week for all concerned."

Vaughan Azzurri are also on the road, heading to east Toronto to meet Durham United F.C. on May 30.