Pre-match hobnob: We're live again. Special thanks to the usual suspects: My family, God, the Academy. But especially to Josh Boyter at the Dal Gazette who has worked tirelessly on the new website which now allows live-blogging links. He also supplied a laptop. We couldn't have made this happen without Joel Tichinoff, and specifically his ethernet cable and press pass (though, Joel, if you're reading this, the ethernet cable has a few problems). Anyhow, enjoy the show.
One thing I should mention: We'd usually tag emails onto this, and I'd usually dispense a few more stats. We're still ironing out the kinks in this system, and I can't get multiple web pages open at once, so stats and email are out, except at half-time. Sorry about that, we'll have it working soon.
Your teams:
SMU: Harvey, MacMillan, Rajaraman, Garonis, Downie, Kodejs, O'Callaghan, Cordoba, McNeil, Hassan, Sun.
Dal: Ur, Al-Awaid, Rogers, Weymann, Mannix, Beck, Hawley, Hagen, Negulic, Daoust, Perrotta.
1min: SMU kick-off. No Afani for Dal, who tore SMU apart last time.
5min: Not much going on so far. Perrotta holds it up well on the elft, but Mannix coming forward couldn't hold onto the ball.
6min: Dal win a corner wich Beck corrals for a shot. It deflects off the bar, as Dal nearly score.
8min: A mistake by Al-Awaid leads to sustained SMU pressure, though no shot is forthcoming.
12min: Free kick, 30 yards out for SMU. Ur punches clear.
14min: Cordoba is felled in lumberjack fashion (though legally) and Perrotta goes the other way. He picks out Beck, who drives a shot that Harvey stands up to very nicely.
16min: A SMU corner is won as Mannix tackles the ball out. It's headed goalwards but wide from the almighty scrum in front of the goal.
17min: And ping back the other way, it's Dal on the attack. Hagen makes a few moves he has no business making to get space, but it comes to nothing.
20min: MacMillan--who was last man back--passes straight to Perrotta, who springs Daoust. MacMillan recovers though and makes a wonderful sliding tackle as Daoust looks to chip Harvey.
25min: Corner to Dal cleared off the line by Garonis! Beck corralls it again and picks out Perrotta, who probaby deserved a goal, but for Garonis' goalline clearance. Downie comes off for Rory Kennedy.
30min: A couple of niggly fouls are slowing play down.
34min: A string of Dal possession deteriorates as Perrotta goes in for a ball and doesn't get around McNeil.
38min: The technical display from both teams has been impressive tody, far above AUS' usual level. SMU have relly risen to play with Dal, and the Tiger's Ross Hagen is setting the standard. His ability in midfield is ridiculous.
40min: More great possession leads to a long ball from Negulic. McNeil's got it and just about heads it past Harvey. Foul against SMU.
42min: Cordoba with some great footwork to beat Al-Awaid, but his pass manages to evade four advancing Huskies.
45min: A Dal change now, it's Beck--who's been pretty good today--off for Mazurkiewich, who's been hurt for awhile.
45+min: Half-time is called as Negulic runs a ball out of play.
It's been a grat first half to watch. Pity I'm heading home to watch Toronto FC after this. Good possession is such a pleasure to see, and I haven't much hope of seeing any there. Even without goals, this game is beautiful to watch. I'll be back.
46min: Afani is in for Perrotta. He's always good with Daoust, let's see what happens.
47min: CONTROVERSY! SMU score, but the liensman's been flagging or several seconds now. The ref overrules him and calls a goal from his horrific angle. Let's be clear: It was clear offside. The linesman is a little annoyed and he calls the ref over to check. They confer and the goal is overuled. NO GOAL. Tempers are running a little high all around.
50min: Daoust gets in alone and is called offside. Close, but correct.
51min: Big league miss from O'Callaghan. Kennedy, who thought he'd scored on 47min, crosses to O'Callaghan, who takes way too long to shoot before rolling one four feet wide of a largly open goal.
52min: O'Callaghan is out for Arnthor Johannsson.
57min: Major make-up call to SMU, as Afani is dropped in the box. The ref gives a corner, and that was an obvious penalty. Afani's actually hurt, though how legit that is is debatable. Still, Dal should have a penalty.
59min: It was a great run from Afani, heading it past McNeil, who turned and hacked him down.
62min: Johannsson is clipped in the box and could easily have had a penalty. Then he fouls Hagen and is lucky to avoid a booking.
65min: Negulic gets stripped a little too easily and Johannsson breaks in, but Weymann shows uncharacteristic speed for a centre half and recovers well.
69min: Change for Dal. Al-Awaid is coming off for Dalziel. And now Hagen breaks in and fires wide when he had pass options. And finally, Negulic off for Beck.
73min: Johannsson goes to ground after a long run. I think he's hurt his eye, as he keeps holding his face. Dal swap Hawley for Luke Thompson.
76min: Collision in front of the Dal box. Free kick to SMU.
77min: The shot is sent miles over by Cordoba. Chris Karkilins is on, I can't see for whom.
78min: Hassan is clipped by Rogers and gets called for diving.
82min: Karkilins has replaced Garonis, by the way, and now its Hutchison for Daoust.
83min: Shamout, who I think replaced Sun at half-time, fires wide form distance.
85min: Rajaraman lies on the ground after going down and watches Beck fly past him. He fouls him and Dal have a free kick. It's headed over by Afani.
86min: Ur goes goal to goal on drop kick and Hutchison competes with Harvey for a ball. Hutchison gets punched in the face by the keeper and he stays down. The physio team is out, and Hutchison is holding ice to his face. Dal will eventually replace him with Perrotta.
90min: Corner to SMU. Ur punches clear. Harvey has to come out to catch the ball ahead of Perrotta. He skews the clearance and Perrotta nearly recovers, but McNeil hacks clear.
90+min: Free kick for SMU. Is now a good time to mention that they really need the points? They don't get anything, though, and the ref calls the game.
Anyway, like I said, I'm heading home for the TFC game. Thanks for reading.
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