The weekend of our biggest wins of the year
What a Saturday we’ve had!
Both our teams went on the road, and returned with convincing wins, the largest of the season.
Our men’s team headed to Scarborough, and defeated Master’s FA 6-0. Meanwhile, the women got the job done in Hamilton, a 4-1 win that keeps our team alive in the playoff race.
Nothing is guaranteed in football. But, when you’re involved in a complicated playoff fight in which 10 teams are vying for 6 spots, and you’re facing one of the worst teams in the league, a win is expected. Guelph United delivered, and then some.
Our men’s team went to Scarborough to face Master’s FA, a team stuck at 4 points for the season and already out of playoff contention, and returned with a 6-0 win. Colin Gander scored first, after a free kick in the first half. The floodgates opened in the second half, however. Following a penalty kick goal from Milan Beader, which made it 2-0, Master’s were left with 10 men after a red card, and Guelph scored four more goals, including a brace from our leading goal-scorer Jared Agyemang. Defensively, Carter Robart got his clean sheet, the sixth of the season.
The win keeps our team in third place, with 6 games left to play. Next weekend, we’re away from home again, this time in Burlington, to face one of the other teams vying for the playoffs, in what is shaping up to be one of the most important games of the season.
Master’s FA - Guelph United 0-6 (0-1)
Goals: Gander (‘26), Beader (‘67), Vasconcelos (‘72), Agyemang (‘85, ‘86), Truong (‘90).
Yellow cards: Wright, Azimzadeh-Tabrizi / Ellis-Hayden, Fernandez, Beader. Red cards: Alvarado (‘68) / -.
Guelph United: Robart - Oakley, Ellis-Hayden, Fernandez, Gander (‘89 Hunt) - Yates, Ostrun (‘88 Sears), Vasconcelos - Cain (‘77 Truong), Agyemang (‘89 Macnay), Beader (‘77 Shrimpton).
After 2 consecutive losses, and down to 15th place in the standings, Guelph Union does not have any more room for error, if they are to make a push for the playoffs. So yesterday, in the first of the 4 remaining games, away to Hamilton United, a win was mandatory to keep hope alive. And our ladies delivered, obtaining their most convincing win of the year.
Victoria Hinchcliffe, Sami Falkenstein, and a double from Jyanessa Sealy, saw the Union go up 4-0, before a late penalty kick from the hosts made it 4-1. The win sees Guelph go up to 12th in the standings, but an Electric City win means we are still 6 points behind the playoff spots, with 3 games left to play. However, if making the playoffs remains a tall task, Union is still in the middle of a very close fight to be part of next year’s Premier division, after League1 Ontario splits into the new tiered format. Our team is now just 1.25 points below the line, so the remaining 3 games are going to be crucial.
Guelph Union returns home on Wednesday, July 12, when we face North Mississauga SC, 8 PM at the Centennial Bowl. Get your tickets here.
Hamilton United - Guelph Union 1-4 (0-2)
Goals: Calabrese (‘85) / Hinchcliffe (‘21), Sealy (‘41, ‘60), Falkenstein (‘49).
Yellow cards: -
Guelph Union: Brenneman - Starcevic (‘76 Bathish), Burke, Rodrigues, Ladhani (‘57 Giancola), Vanderhoef (‘76 Palermo), Falkenstein (‘57 Knafelc), Bruce (‘57 Boutros), Sealy (‘76 Reid), Hinchcliffe (‘57 Marikano), Rizakos.