Mountreal Roundup #4

So, a bit has gone on since the last match, where the Gulls quite rightly(but somehow surprisingly) beat AC St Louis 3-0. A goal from Reda in under 20minutes, and a goal from the now returned and much loved Antonio Ribeiro mere minutes after being subbed into the match were the highlights of the night.  This late goal by Ribeiro sent quite a clear message: that he is always someone who gives it his all, and he played like a man determined to show everyone that he never should have left in the first place(We’re looking at you, DeSantis!). And as his performance shows, you cannot stop a determined soul. You could see his joy after the match as he ran up to the kop, in front of  a 3-foot high banner of his likeness to celebrate his triumphant return. Welcome back, Antonio.

It was also quite a treat to have a strong contingent of supporters come over from the fledgling ESG, to take back some ideas to support their team on the prairies, FC Edmonton. Nice guys, with quite a bit of potential. I can see good things coming from Edmonton in the future, if everything is allowed to grow.

The feather in the cap for me that night was while waiting for the ESG on Crescent Street, running into parents of AC St Louis keeper Alec Dufty. They were so genuinely nice and appreciative of the atmosphere at the game, I couldn’t even manage to smack talk these kindly oldish people. Shocking behaviour for me, I know.

To bolster our hot-and-cold offense, the Gulls signed Marco Terminesi to a contract today.  A young(ish) Canadian with an unfortunate past, Marco last scored 6 goals and got 4 assists in 700 minutes with the Thunder. Hopefully he is match fit and able to make a difference right away.

Seeing as Nick is a fan of Latino Gang movies, he lives his life according to the phrase “Blood in, Blood out”(google it) Tyler Hemming, as of today, is outta here! The much maligned, often unused midfielder was the victim of a strong midfield that he could not crack. Here’s hoping he does well in Austin(with, shudder, Sakuda.)

And all this is in anticipation of one of the bigger matches we’ll play all season, a rivalry/night game, against a team we desperately need the 6point turnaround on this season versus the Whitecaps, which takes place tomorrow night. We can expect to see Jordan in the lineup(he didn’t lie to me when I asked when he’d be back. Huzzah!), as well as a possible appearance from Terminesi, as he’s been cleared to play for us. With Jordan back in nets, I feel like we should thank Srdjan Djekanovic for all his good play this season while Our LORD and Saviour, Jordan, was on the bench. You’re a good kid, Srdj, thanks a bunch.

See you all there!

Bad news for the D2

AC St. Louis is rumoured to be on it’s deathbed.

The long awaited addition to North American soccer seems to also be the latest short-lived addition, as owner Jeff Cooper has apparently begun to abandon the collective AC St. Louis/WPS Athletica ship.

This is a pity for the north American game as ACSTL so far has attendance within the top 5 of all D2 Cities. Granted, it’s skewed by the fact the rowdies only played their home opener, and STL has only played two (league) home games. But they’ve also had a really good crowd out against the visiting KC Wizards, as seen here:

Look at that. An inaugural game, in the American Midwest(Is it even west at all? Is Midcentral more appropriate?), and there’s one of the biggest smoke displays I’ve seen in North America. Sure, the songs sucked, the flags were bought, etc. etc. but the potential is there.

I sincerely hope things get worked out in St. Louis not only because every single team helps grow the game, but also due to the fact that we in CXIV have never, and I mean NEVER had a moment of watching another D2 game, seeing something from their fans and saying we have to step it up(  We did). That flash of potential of St. Louis really makes it sad to think that after a year, the book might be closed on it.

Sure there were warning signs about the organisation, like the fact that they fielded 10 men in their first league game(Wow, by the way) but given time, who knows how St louis could end up? They burst out on the scene with good support, a classy logo and extremely quality kits and what seemed to be a dedicated ownership group. Though it now looks like they’ll be dead in a gutter in less than a year, who saw that coming?

Who will come to rescue the damsel in distress that is St. Louis? Everything seems good, except for the current organisation. The fan support is there, now all they need is a team.

The silver lining in all this? When they wither and die, we’ll be the only team with a fleur-de-lys logo! Yeah!!!