CONFERENCE LEADERS HAMILTON AND SUPRA BOTH HELD TO A TIE IN CRUCIAL GAMES
There were two ties in crucial games in the Canadian Professional Soccer League Friday night, both have a bearing on the league standings leading to the playoffs later this month.
Vaughan Sun Devils held Hamilton Thunder to a scoreless tie at Dufferin Clark to keep the team just north of Toronto in serious playoff contention as they continue to secure third place in the Eastern Conference, while at the same time Toronto Croatia came back from a 2-0 deficit to score two second half goals for a 2-2 against Toronto Supra at Memorial Park in Streetsville.
In a game riddled with yellow cards as both teams played with a purpose to pull out a win, it was the Sun Devils that were reduced to 10 men when Danny Sanna received his second caution and was ejected at the 64th minute mark.
But Vaughan held on for a point and an improved 5-2-6 WLT record for 21 points to improve their third and last playoff position, five points in front of Laval Dynamites. Hamilton now have a 8-2-4 record for 28 points to open up a 4-point gap over second place Brampton Thunder in the west.
A well-played encounter with lots of pace also produced a tie as Toronto Croatia came back from being two goals down to tie to score twice against the unbeaten Toronto Supra
Danny Amaral opened the scoring for Supra after 20 minutes and Michael Di Luca made it 2-0 six minutes later for a 2-0 score at half-time.
A heavy tackle in front of the Toronto Supra nets produced a penalty and Croatia�s Joe Draganic scored from the spot for a 2-1 score at the 49th minute and Domagoj Sain tied the score for Toronto Croatia at 78 minutes.
Toronto Croatia player-coach Velimir Crljen was taken to Credit Valley Hospital by ambulance near the end of the game after suffering what early diagnosis described as a spinal injury.
