One More Time(Quarterfinal)

So, a lot of people are drawing parallels to the Gulls championship season of 2009. A bad start, followed by the team beginning to work well together as well as a striker finding his form and scoring at nearly a goal a game.

Well, it’s certainly something no one would criticize people for saying around these parts because frankly it’s all true. Gone is the shakiness that characterized our early games and lacklustre offense. That’s been replaced by (mostly) calm actions on the field and yet another striker in blue hitting the net nearly every time. Gerba has 13 goals in 15 games, almost bringing him to a goal a game on average. If you count just what has happened since his coming out party in Baltimore, he has started scoring at what nears out to a goal every hour on the field.

The timing for both the good run of play of Ali (Zherba) Gerba as well as the team as a whole can certainly not be beat. It seems that gone are the days where Montreal would start hot and fizzle out. I, and I would hope many others, prefer this style of season to one that Montreal was known for merely a few years ago. Gone are the days of total defense interspersed with the odd goal or two. I haven’t watched a game afraid of no goals being scored by the Gulls.

If you have any knowledge of IMFC, you know just how strange and alien a feeling that is for us here in Montreal.

But don’t mistake my praise of our offense as taking something away from those who toil away in the back and middle of the field, making sure our goal is protected. Our defence is as solid as it’s ever been historically, the big change in Montreal was just finally having a working offense to go along with our indomitable defence.

This past quarter-final series versus the top-ranked Austin Aztex(from Texas…get it?) was what I like to see as a tale of two teams. The first leg which took place Wednesday at Saputo Stadium was a game in which the Gulls demonstrated their newfound offense built on the back of Ali (Zherba) Gerba, where he scored yet another effortless brace against yet another helpless team. In an interview that took place weeks before the game Marc Dos Santos had gone on record saying how Ali (Zherba) Gerba was not playing as good as he could be. Notably the Maestro said Ali had to work on his aerial game.

It looks like he did. An effortless header early on in the game set the tone of the match, which ended with yet another 2-0 win over the poor saps from Austin.

In the second leg of the quarter-final, there was certainly some action. There was a total 5 goals in the match that I will surprisingly label as Jordan’s game. Now at first blush you might think I’m even crazier than usual. That might be, but to anyone who had the pleasure of watching the game was treated to by an amazing individual performance by our beloved Phantom of the Pitch(NEVER FORGET) punctuated by a confident and effortless save on an iffy penalty call early in the game. This stellar play by Jordan was backed up by yet another(shocking, really) set piece goal scored by (surprise) Ali once more. Yet another header and display of passion from Gerba. In his own words, Marc Dos Santos has made the game enjoyable for him once more, something that he had apparently lost. A goal and flamboyant celebration by Eduardo “Old Man River” Sebrango was the final nail in the coffin for Austin, extending the Gulls’ aggregate lead to 5-2.

All this sets up another, sure-to-be-spirited matchup between our Gulls and Carolina’s Caramilks, which begins this Thursday night at Stade Saputo.

Now onto more interesting things. Those of you attentive enough to watch the video of King Ali’s goal may have noticed that in front of CXIV, there was not banner at all. And those of you who were too lazy to click one of my many(2) hyperlinks, can go back and click the first one.

See? Nothing there.

That’s because not even 5 minutes into the game, BEST security once again came into the section to take it down, by any means necessary.

Surely they were in the right though? Surely they had a justifiable reason and surely the banner was so obscene it should be taken down.

Well, take a look for yourself, courtesy of BallonRondMTL:

Ghastly, isn’t it?

The justification for a planned charge of the section by BEST security, overseen by our friends from the SPVM, for the removal of the banner in question was that “it’s hiding the ads”. Golly, BEST security, I’m sure Metro Grocery is glad you came into section and pushed people with handicaps and ejected members. That’s really positive publicity for them. The reason for the forcible removal of the banner? They asked and no one complied. Well, BEST, it’s kind of hard to hear a guy field level asking politely to take it down, over the din of 300 people screaming.

Those astute viewers out there might have realised that all ads in front of section 114 are legible, and that one of the two affected companies have their ads plastered all across the section.

But it’s not like it’s named after Metro or anything. Oh wait, it totally is:

If only there was some sort of small indication of the sponsor...

Apparently BEST workers were under orders to uncover the ads “or else” but that hardly seems like a warrant to do whatever is necessary to whoever. Another highlight of the whole 15 minute scuffle was when one police officer was asked what she was doing in the middle of the section while shit was hitting the fan.

Her response? “I don’t know.”

I’m sure glad it was a well thought out and precisely executed idea.

Also, credit to the club for channelling MC Skat Cat and taking two steps back(sweet reference, right?) by moving the ads from a fence in front of 114, back to attaching them directly to 114 and the whole stand itself:

2009

 

2010-Le12e Joueur.ca

 

See you Thursday.