FC London Academy U15 (1996): Past Season

In a fourth consecutive mammoth win, a short-handed (no subs) FC London defeated Norwest Attack Green 10-0.  The team is really coming together and there were some great perfomances by Ethan as well as Sean who scored a hat-trick.  Brandon, Thomas and Andrew also added to their goal counts.  It should be mentioned that the Norwest players and parents alike were very gracious in their loss.  FC London is now first in the league due to goal differential, but still trails Guelph (WOYSL) in the overall performance rating of teams in Southwestern Ontario.

The team has settled the staff and it will look as follows:

Martin Painter - Club Head Coach & Academy Manager

Jeff Cambridge - Team Head Coach

Ashleigh De Cruz - Team Assistant Coach (from Cardiff, Wales)

Dave Hamilton - Team Manager

Klaas Stoker - Team Assisting Official

We are excited and look forward to the upcoming outdoor season with what is obviously a very strong team!  In addition, there will be other FC London Academy staff who will be involved with the team as well.

FC London Academy Elite U15 will be partaking in the first outdoor soccer training event of the year.  The Academy Spring Training will be held Wed & Thu, 15-17 March noon until 2 PM each day at TD Waterhouse Stadium.  The Tuesday session has been cancelled.  We have only a couple of team spots left, so if you are interested please contact Jeff (see Contact Us).

London Gunners played Cambridge and Mississauga Croatia on day1, followed by North York Spartacus and Toronto High Park on day2 of the group stage of Ontario Cup 2010.  The Gunners won the group with the following match results:

Cambridge - Gunners 0 - 4

Gunners - Mississauga Croatia 10 - 0

North York Spartacus - Gunners 0 - 1

Gunners - Toronto High Park  2 - 2

The third game was a great quality game between the two OYSL teams in the group.  As a result, Gunners advance to the Ontario Cup quarter-finals and will host the winner of group 6 in London.  Congratulations to the team!!!  We would also like to thank Cambridge for hosting the group round.

Today the team played their final game as 'London City' and ended that era with a great game.  Gunners beat Norwest Attack in the Challenge Cup Final (Indoor U15) 4-0 to become the indoor champions.  While the entire team played a strong game, Nestor started off the scoring in the first half by finishing on a quick turn shot and put the ball in the back of the Norwest net.  The score stayed 1-0 until half-time.  Within 2 minutes into the second half, Daniel made a powerful strike on net from well outside the area and hammered in a beautiful goal.  The third goal came from Ethan who was able to finish a well-placed cross from Reid.  Daniel scored a second goal after a run up the right flank and finishing with a hard shot.  In addition to the goals there were also three hits on the post.  Well done Gunners and congratulations on becoming the champions!!!!!

After last nights win over Guelph, the Gunners have won the league by 10 points over second place Windsor Nationals.  The champions achieved an impressive 16-1-1 standing during the season.  Daniel Ciapka finished first as top scorer in the league with 22 goals and Nestor Rico in shared second place with a total of 17 (13+4) goals.  Through much of the season, mid-field played very strong.  The defense led by Klaas Stoker proved the toughest in the league by only allowing 12 goals in 18 games.  Perry Pigionas was the goalkeeper with the most shut-outs (9) in the league.  Well deserved and congratulations!!!

OYSL is considered the highest level of youth soccer in Ontario and without doubt one of the toughest leagues in Canada.  The league will offer strong competition, which should make every game a challenge for the team and a treat for spectators.  Below are the likely OYSL U-14 placements for 2010:

 After a short break, Gunners will embark on the indoor season and start preparations for next year.

Gunners in celebration mode after receiving their team trophy and medals.  Congratulations!!!!!

Gunners make very strong showing in Kick-off Cup 2009, finishing in second place.  The qualifying round proved to be no problem, beating Kitchener A 2-0, Cambridge 2-0, then Bluewater 4-0 and Guelph 4-0.  The team went on to meet Windsor in the semi-final, easliy winning 5-0 (two goals by Daniel and Matt each, one by Quinn).  Gunners met Kitchener A again in the final, played well but after a quick succession of an own goal and another by Kitchener, Gunners only managed to pull one back (Thomas) before the final whistle.  We are pleased with the performance and the tournament again proved what the Gunners are capable of.  Only one goal was actually scored on us during the entire tournament!!!

The weekend of 9-10 May 2009 Gunners competed in the Jaguar Invitational Tournament in Novi, MI.  Our team managed to start of with a bang and completely dominated the game against Royal Oak, winning 8-0.  Storm scored two, Daniel three, Craig two and Brandon added one via unstoppable penalty.  The second game was against the much tougher home team, Novi Jaguars.  Gunners generally outplayed the competitor, but ended with a 3-3 draw.  An undeserved penalty was awarded to Novi when one of their players went down inside the penalty area without any contact.  Goals were scored by Brandon and Daniel (two).  The final group game was played against Vardar.  Gunners started with an early goal by Ethan, despite a strong head wind and very heavy pressure.  Vardar came back and scored with a hard shot before the half.  Gunners needed a win and came really close to putting another one in the net several times, but Vardar pulled out a 1-2 win.  Vardar went on to come in second in the Elite group that was finally won by Force Navy in a very close game (penalty kicks?).

While the Gunners did not win, they came close and competed very well.  Some of the Michigan teams are extremely strong and handily defeated even Richmond Hill (#1 in Terra Power ratings in Ontario).  Gunners proved again that they are serious competition for the best in Michigan!  Excellent job!!!

London City Gunners started off strong with a 6-0 win over home team, S.S. Marie Civics.  In the second game, Gunners faced the group 8 favorite and were scored on in the first half.  However, Gunners picked up their game and came back to tie the Mississauga Falcons 1-1.  This meant that the final game against Sudbury Panhelennic came down to scoring as many goals as possible.  London City Gunners managed to score 16-0 in what was only a 60-minute game, however, it was still short of moving onto the next round.  The Gunners continued to prove their capabilities and show strength against any team.  In the Ontario Cup tournament only one goal was scored against the Gunners.  We are grateful for the excellent job S.S. Marie Soccer Club did in organization and facilities.  Next the Gunners look forward to take their formidable battle to the WOYSL home league.  Go Gunners!!!   

Terra Power Rankings has placed London City Gunners within the top 10 teams (U13B) in Ontario.  This ranking places the Gunners as best team in WOYSL and in the same arena as teams from Ajax, Mississauga, and Brampton.  The rating gives the Gunners a boost as they hope to qualify for an OYSL spot.  While we are proud of the listing, the Gunners are probably underrated compared with Toronto-area teams and deserve to be somewhat higher in the rankings still.