HAMILTON CITY GO ON TOP WITH 3-1 VICTORY

PICTURE: Midfielder Martin Mamic opened the scoring leading to a 3-1 victory lifting Hamilton City  to the top of the CSL standings.

Hamilton City defeated Brantford Galaxy 3-1 at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke Tuesday night, a result that eliminated the Galaxy from playoff contention in favour of Serbian White Eagles joining Scarborough, FC Vorkuta and Hamilton City in the Canadian Soccer League’s post-season championship.

Hamilton City went into an early 1-0 lead when midfielder Martin Mamic headed in from a free kick taken from the left of the box at the 5^th minute mark and the city increased the lead to 2-0 when Luke Rankin drove the ball into the net from 15 yards past Brantford goalkeeper Ognjeh Savic just before the interval. It was 2-0 at the break.

Milos Vuruna increased the Hamilton lead to 3-0 at 75 minutes, taking a pass from midfielder Raine Lyn for a left foot drive inside the left post well out of Savic’s reach.

Brantford defender Miljan Milovic reduced the lead to 3-1, a goal at 84 minutes from a free kick outside the box almost saved by Hamilton goalkeeper Alexandar Nicolic, but the hard drive slipped through into the net. It was 3-1 at the final whistle.

The victory lifts Hamilton City on top of the CSL First Division standings with a 4-2-1 WLT record for 13 points and one game remaining in the short 8-game regular season of five CSL teams participating. Brantford Galaxy remains winless with two games to play.

Hamilton City, Scarborough, Vorkuta and Serbian White Eagles will be the semifinalists in the playoffs following the completion of the regular season games on October 3.

Upcoming regular season games this week:

Wed Sep 23 Centennial Stadium 7:15 pm Serbian White Eagles vs Scarborough SC

Sat Sep 26 Centennial Stadium 5 pm Brantford Galaxy vs Scarborough SC

Sat Sep 26 Centennial Stadium 7 pm FC Vorkuta vs Hamilton City