Griffons Look to Put Longueuil Draw “In the Past”

Championship Not Over, Insists Brutus

SportsAlexander Perez — Published June 12, 2018

Longueuil’s Philippe Davies earned a free-kick after being fouled by Griffon’s defender, Riccardo Teoli. As Davies whipped the ball into the box, what looked to be a simple save for goalie Gabard Fenelon, turned into delight for the visitors. The ball managed to find its way over the line and Longueuil would escape with the draw at the 92nd minute of the match.

“What can we say, we’re unlucky right now,” said Griffons head coach Luc Brutus. “It was an easy free kick, it was not dangerous, it was [at the] perfect height for the keeper [and] it was an easy grab, but what can we do?”

Late mistakes have started to become a pattern for the Griffons. Just two weeks before, Association de Soccer de Blainville’s Pierre Rudolph Mayard put his team ahead at the 93rd minute of the game to win it.

After beating Lanaudière a week before, a victory over Longueuil would’ve seen the Griffons just three points shy of Blainville, having played one game less than the current Première Ligue de soccer du Québec champions. Instead the draw sees Griffon’s earn just four points in their last three games, out of a possible nine.

“It’s a feeling we’re getting used to because it’s not the first time,” said Teoli. “There’s nothing really to work on, except to stop making mistakes.”

Late defensive collapses have hurt CS MRO of late, but the lack of threat on goal has also been an issue for the Griffons. Their leading goalscorer in the PLSQ remains central defender Louis-Philippe Campagna—who was unavailable against Longueuil after serving a one match suspension after accumulating three yellow cards over the season—with three goals, he sits four points behind league leaders, Mayard and FC Gatineau’s Stefan Karajovanovic with seven goals.

Their shortage of goals up front cost CS MRO a chance to double their lead over Longueuil just a few minutes before Davies’ goal, but the breakaway attempt was saved in the end.

“We went through a few stages where we were starting to be a little more negative, we were being hard on ourselves,” added Teoli. “We’re trying to stay positive, The round of applause was just to reassure our goalie that we all make mistakes [and] not to worry, we’re gonna put it in the past and we’re still gonna go after the championship.”

Brutus added that their won’t be any major changes to his current starting 11, insisting that Gabard will remain their starting keeper. “We’re not gonna throw the keeper under the bus […] there won’t be any changes to that position” he said.

A familiar face to the Griffons, forward Frederico Moojen—who switched over to Longueuil over the offseason—showed optimism for his former club as well.

“I think Outremont, just like they do every year throughout the season, they’re gonna get better,” he said while also adding he hopes the same goes for his current team, as Longueuil has endured a difficult season so far, sitting in sixth with a 1-4-1 record.

CS MRO will pay visit to Club de Soccer Fabrose this Saturday, as they look to put their past luck to rest, and rediscover their form as they continue their chase for the PLSQ championship.

“We still have a game in hand, if we we win it we get close,” said Brutus. “Nothing is done, we just have to roll up our sleeves and get back to work.”