FC LONDON’S SEASON ENDS IN THUNDER BAY

Thunder Bay, ON – FC LONDON’s quest for back-to-back PDL Championship titles came to an end on Sunday with a 3-0 loss at the hands of the Thunder Bay Chill in the Central Conference Finals.

Despite dominating possession early on, FC LONDON was down 2-0 after the first half on goals by Compano Franco and Dillon. “We were unfortunate to give up two goals in the first half, both our fault,” said coach Martin Painter. “You can’t give a team like Thunder Bay that kind of opportunity at this level.”

In the second half Painter changed his formation, putting 5 across the midfield hoping to keep creating offensive chances. “Pushing for comeback goals can leave you vulnerable at the back and Thunder Bay capitalized on that weakness.” Forward Sunny Omoregie scored the third and final goal of the game on a counter-attack in the 84th minute.

The Chill played a physical game with 16 fouls in order to keep London off the scoresheet. The boys in blue outshot Thunder Bay 12-9 and forced 6 saves by keeper Stephen Paterson. FC LONDON maintained pressure through to the end of the game, showing their character.

This is the fourth Central Conference title for Thunder Bay, who won the 2008 PDL Championship. The Chill advance to the final four with the Victoria Highlanders, Austin Aztex, and Ocean City Nor’Easters.

“Overall tonight’s game was a disappointing result, especially with the quality we have on this team,” said Painter. “But we’ve still had some landmark accomplishments this summer.” Despite an early end to their post-season run, FC LONDON has had a successful 2013 season. They finished the regular season top of the competitive Great Lakes Division and won the UMBRO Cup.

President and CEO Ian Campbell is proud of his club, “Although we didn’t make it as far as we would have hoped in the playoffs, we have had a great season. We had amazing talent on the pitch this year. We won our first divisional title, and were able to treat London to some exciting matches. We’d like to thank our fans and sponsors for their enthusiastic support this summer and we wish our boys all the best as they return to their schools for pre-season over the next couple of weeks.”