Jekyll and Hyde offence overcomes defensive lapsesJ.J. Grubisic continues to find the back of the net.
Frank Perin — If offence wins games and defence wins championships, consider Hamilton Croatia at least half way there.
Last night the Steeltowners travelled to Cove Road for a clash with London City and narrowly escaped a game home side with a 4-3 victory.
Croatian import midfielder Boris Vurdelja opened the scoring in the second minute with his third goal of the season, but the lead was short-lived.
London forward Youna Samra equalized five minutes later to knot the game at 1-1. Samra scored again to give City a surprising 2-1 lead on a blistering shot from 40 yards that found the corner of the net out of reach of Hamilton goalkeeper Melford James Jr.
But as has been the case for the majority of the year, if Hamilton scores, they rarely stop at one.
The equaliser came courtesy of Jerko Grubisic who continued his recent goal-scoring spurt. Fresh off winning the HNNS Tournament Top Scorer award this past Labour Day weekend, the striker celebrated his 29th birthday by notching his fourth goal of the season at the 30th minute.
Six minutes later Adam Leggett would get in on the festivities with his first goal of the year to give Hamilton a 3-2 lead heading into half-time.
Hamilton dominated possession and created numerous chances to start the second half, and in the 66th minute Domagoj Beslic, another Croatian import, was rewarded with his first goal to give the road team a two-goal cushion.
However, Beslic’s insurance marker proved to be the game-winner as London capitalized on more sloppy defensive play by the Croatian side.
Samra eventually found the netting to complete his hat-trick, but it was too little too late. His injury time goal was immediately followed by the final whistle.
Croatia’s next game is at home against TFC Academy this coming Friday.
TFC has not lost since August 7th, a span of six straight games, and find themselves in first-place following their 3-2 victory over Brantford last night. Kickoff at Brian Timmis Stadium is 9 p.m.
