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Pro Stars And North Miss Battle Earns Both Teams A Point

By League1 Ontario staff, 05/08/16, 12:00PM EDT

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Raefe Anderson

Pro Stars FC were the first to get on the board in their back-and-forth 2-2 hard-fought home draw with North Mississauga SC.

Reafe Anderson (39') put the home side ahead before half-time, with Pro Stars appearing to start the more assertive of the two teams after a difficult 3-0 loss in Windsor on opening weekend.

"It’s my first year coaching this team, I am looking to impose my personality onto the team and for us to have an identity," said Pro Stars head coach, Omar Jbaihi.   

"I felt today we had more of a physical presence and that doesn’t mean playing dirty, it means having a physical presence is a big difference. And I think that we matched their intensity. Last week at Windsor we weren’t ready for the speed of the game or the intensity of the game."

"[Windsor] was the first game for some of the players, this week we knew what to expect and I felt like we matched them for the most part though the game. I think that was the main difference, I think our knowledge of how the game was going to be played, the speed, the intensity, I think we were ready for this week."


Photo: Martin Bazyl

North Miss seemed content to maintain defensive shape in the first half, perhaps also wary after giving up five goals to Sigma the week before.

"I think in the first half the guys were a bit tentative about going forward," said North Miss head coach, Rick Titus. "We tried to play a little bit defensively just to make sure we are not giving up goals early."

"I had to make a couple adjustments, so made a couple changes and it worked out in our favor. The guys started playing with a little more security and going forward in areas that were a bit more complementary."

Half-time North Miss sub Bradley Fenton (57') pulled the visitors level before and hour and set the stage for an exciting late phase of the match, with both sides straining to break the deadlock.

North Miss' Lee-Victor Massunda (83') must have thought he had completed the comeback after scoring the go-ahead goal with under ten minutes left in the match. 


Bradley Fenton (Photo: Martin Bazyl)

However Pro Stars Michael Fayehum (89') made sure Pro Stars would take a point at least with his late match equalizer.

At 2-2 both teams walked away with a first point in their 2016 campaigns.

"We were down 2-1 with 5 minutes to go, and there is no pride in losing 2-1 so we pushed a couple of the guys forward for the last five minutes to try and pull a goal back," explained Pro Stars head coach, Omar Jbaihi.  

"I wouldn’t mind losing the game 3-1, trying to tie the game 2-2 or even winning the game 3-2. For the corner that went in we left our centre-back one v one on the halfway line, and the guy that scored we actually told him to go into the box and he did so - fortunately he won the header and scored."