League

North Sarasota Stadi
Spectators: 6878 (Terracing: 5000, Seating: 1728, VIP seats: 150) Mark Cherry started the match with the kick off in front of an excited audience. In the 8th minute, Austin Pierce left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The Paradise fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 0-1. When Paradise's Austin Pierce in the 12th minute got a chance for a shot 12th didn't hesitate and placed the ball to the right of the goalie. A beautiful save bye Stoke City's goalie prevented a goal. Elliott Peralta didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Austin Pierce went, in the 15th minute, to the upper right corner, 0-2 was the resulting score. After 20 minutes, Wilfredo Draper mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the Stoke City and the Paradise players grew even worse after the yellow card. After a rather tough play, Stoke City's Wilfredo Draper got a free kick in the 20th minute. After 22 minutes of play, Paradise's Mark Cherry made it 0-3 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Elliott Peralta was left in no man's land by his defense there! Mark Cherry sent away a hard shot on goal in the 34th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. When Mark Cherry came up free with the goalie in the 37th minute, the Paradise fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that Mark Cherry couldn't finish the play. A collision led to Stoke City getting a freekick after 38 minutes play. Rob Prather hit a great ball. In the 42nd minute Cory Suggs shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Elliott Peralta saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Merlin Sheffield showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Lane Irwin, who was totally free with the ball in the 44th minute. In the 45th minute, Lane Irwin hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Even after changing tactics the home team jogged off the field with a 0-3 deficit. They would have to work harder if they wanted to turn things around in the second half.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Daniel Shaver to make the kick off. Merlin Sheffield made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Lane Irwin in the 53rd minute of play. Merlin Sheffield made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Daniel Shaver in the 57th minute of play. In the 58th minute Daniel Shaver shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Merlin Sheffield saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. 59 minutes into the game, Stoke City's Lane Irwin nearly tore a hole in the net with a booming shot. Merlin Sheffield made a valiant effort, but he could not reach the ball in time, 1-3. In the 63rd minute Cory Suggs shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Elliott Peralta saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Lane Irwin received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 68th minute. Merlin Sheffield tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Paradise were furious when Elliot Bacon was red carded, 73 minutes into the game, but the referee dismissed their protests. In the 73rd minute, one of Paradise:s players had the ball in front of the goal but got pushed and fell. The referee felt it was an obvious case and blew a penalty for Paradise. Stoke City's Francesco Dickens was substituted for Mario Meza. After a rather tough play, Paradise's Cory Suggs got a free kick in the 79th minute. A sloppy throw-in by Dominique Hackett in the 81st minute of the game went astray and was snapped up by Paradise's Cory Suggs. Merlin Sheffield came out of the goal in the 83rd minute to try and stop a shot by Stoke City's Daniel Shaver. But to his dismay, Daniel Shaver quickly shot the ball in between his legs and into the goal making it 3-3. Merlin Sheffield showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Francesco Dickens in the 93rd minute of the match. An unexpectedly hard shot by Basilio Balendin in the 94th minute of play forced Paradise's goalkeeper Merlin Sheffield to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. When the referee blew the final whistle, you could see the dissatisfaction in the Stoke City players' eyes. They were disappointed they hadn't taken more from the game.