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Match Recap: Aurora FC 0 - 1 Woodbridge Strikers

By League1 Ontario staff, 05/28/17, 10:00PM EDT

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Woodbridge forward Luca Baldassare (41') and keeper Quillan Roberts made sure the Strikers left St. Maximillian Kolbe HS in Aurora on Matchweek Five with a 1-0 result over Aurora FC and remain the only men's team with a perfect 5-0 record. 

Aurora FC lost midfielder Jackson Tooke to a dismissal in the first half, and despite having chances on ten men - and previously some excellent opportunities when at full strength - could not find the elusive breakthrough to take hold of the match. 

"I think we absolutely could have had one today in the first half," said Aurora head coach, Derek O'Keeffe. 

"It's similar to last week against Masters when we had three or four good chances and I think everyone saw today we had the same. If you score one of them, it's a different game. We went in at half-time and we were positive about what we were doing but we felt that we would get more chances." 

"However, when you lose a man against a team like Woodbridge, your back is always going to be against the wall," he added.

"I am very very proud of my players. They gave me everything and they still kept the scoreline 1-0. We still kept our discipline. Obviously our attacking momentum had dwindled due to the player sent off, but they kept going right to the end. Woodbridge knew they had a game there tonight, they really knew they had a game."


Quillan Roberts, Woodbridge Strikers (Photo: Martin Bazyl)

Woodbridge Strikers head coach Peter Pinizzotto felt his team were dominant in their control of the ball, but that the narrow victory was simply not enough to be tension-free.

"Of course I think we deserved the result," he said. 

"Even in the first half, when they had two or three chances to score, Quillan [Roberts] came up big. Aside from that, the counter-attack they were playing to try and catch us on our mistakes was dangerous but otherwise we controlled the game."

"We were not able to score goals and these types of games can be very dangerous. You have so much possession but it only takes one mistake and they could have tied the game. Overall, I don't think the score really reflects how well we moved the ball and how well we controlled it." 

"I think our quality simply has to be better in the attacking third," he concluded.  

"If we were better there, we would have had more goals today but I think we did control the pace and momentum of the game. I think when you play against teams like this it can be difficult to penetrate but with the possession we had we should have come up with more than one goal." 

Aurora FC will next play Vaughan Azzurri on Saturday June 3 at St. Maximillian Kolbe HS, Aurora. 

Woodbridge Strikers will next play OSU Force on Sunday June 4 at Vaughan Grove, Woodbridge.