Undefeated start has Falcons flying

[attach]2336[/attach]With little time to prepare for the new season, Forest Hill Falcons coach Mihai Sinevici was worried a lack of practice would fluster his charges.

Fret not, as his senior boys soccer troupe is undefeated to start the 2010 campaign with three wins and one tie.

Their third win, 1-0 over Central Commerce Riders, came Oct. 6 at home, but not without some concern.

“First of all, most of my starters were away because of tests and other school duties and unfortunately I had to start with my second team,” Sinevici said.

Though the game saw momentum seesaw, a last-minute feed in the second half by Pierre Poilbout to Jurgen Kela broke the goose eggs.

Able to sweep past a Riders defender, Kela took a shot on goalie Ahmed Yakob, who grazed the ball with his sprawling save attempt.

Poaching the rebound was Jurgen Mance who skipped the ball past the Central Commerce netminder, tallying the game-winning mark.

The backfield was helped by a new complement of juniors, as the Falcons follow a successful season as A/AA city silver medalists.

“I have a good bunch that came on the team for the first time, so from this point of view I’m lucky because we are not allowed to scout or recruit,” Sinevici said.

Additionally, Forest Hill’s own man between the pipes, Alex Chernous, stonewalled any Rider equalizers.

“Our goalie made one or two saves that were crucial,” Sinevici said.

It was a frustrating game for Central Commerce coach Vasile Canache, but even after star winger Lamin Kamara was booked in the first half for arguing with the referee, his charges did not lose focus.

“I wanted them to be consistent and the team needed (Kamara),” Canache said.

One win and three losses is the Riders current record, so their next match against Lawrence Park will be vital to keep them competitive in the table.

Defence is no problem, but cohesiveness and getting the ball to hit mesh is top priority.

“We tried to put some subs in but we didn’t have the chemistry to kind of pull us through,” Canache said. “On defence, we played well but we had one lapse and that’s all we needed for a loss.

“We haven’t scored in two games so we have to definitely work on some offence,” he added. “Our offence has gone south after our 4-3 win over UTS.”

For the Falcons, they’ll look to keep their undefeated streak going versus University of Toronto Schools Oct. 12. Results were not known at press time.