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Toronto FC Academy Thumps FC London 9-1 At Kia

By League1 Ontario staff, 09/19/16, 3:45PM EDT

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Toronto FC Academy made it 29 goals in four matches after a 9-1 goalfest at the expense of west division title-challengers, FC London. 

"We've certainly spent a lot of time on our attacking shape, and making sure our attack is far more efficient, especially in the opposition's half," said Toronto FC Academy. "It is paying off for us."

Ethan Bekford (27', 41', 43', 45') scored a hat-trick in four minutes, and four goals in 18 minutes, while Reshon Phillip (11'), Richie Ennin (21'),  Steve Furlano (83'), Riley Ferrazzo (57') and Glenn Muenkat (69') contributed singles. 

"]Bekford] has been threatening to do that all year," said Neely. "I think it was born out of frustration from previous games."

"He is always in the right position, he's just learning to play as a central striker. He showed his best today, he was lethal, he pressed, he defends well, but today in one v one play he got behind the lines and I thought he did a fantastic job doing so."

FC London's Mike Marcoccia (33') grabbed a consolation marker for the London side. London is now in a must win situation on October 2, when they face west division table toppers Sigma FC.

"[Today] was just unlucky," said FC London head coach, Mario Despotovic. "If you look at how the match went, the result does not tell the story of the game."

"We missed our chances and they scored, that's how it is. The Sigma game is nine days so we didn't think about it yet. We have to start training and hope it will be better than the first time against Sigma."

Toronto FC Academy put in a complete performance en route to the victory, and their recent goalscoring record reveals a nuanced attention to detail in training.

"We are using our speed and technique to get around the opposition," said Neely. "Part of that is also how we press the opposition in their half, so it is a combination of both."

"But the boys have certainly responded to the expectation of making our attacks count, because we don't get a lot of opportunities in the games from game to game so we have to capitalize on the ones we do create."