MRO 0, Monteuil 0: League Leaders Come To Stalemate

League Leaders Fail to Distance Themselves From Pack As They Host Familiar Faces

SportsElias Grigoriadis — Published May 31, 2019

With both teams going into the game with two wins and no losses, neither side seemed keen on giving any ground to the other. There was very little in the way of attacking opportunities with both sides collectively mustering up only three shots on target in the first half.

While happy that the team remain in first place based on goal differential, Griffons manager Luc-Bernard Brutus wants his team to be more inventive and dangerous when going forward.

“One of our biggest strengths is that we are creative on attack,” said Brutus. “We need to attack with more speed and force their defense to always be off balance.”

The Griffons’ attack had no trouble before their matchup against Monteuil, scoring nine goals in the first two games with three coming from league-leader Adama Sissoko.

Sissoko failed to further his lead on the other forwards of the league despite a golden opportunity. He missed the game’s only significant chance when his shot from ten metres out was blocked three minutes from full time.

“We’re a team that likes to attack and get players forward and we need to commit to that,” said Sissoko in French. “We have an excellent squad this year and we need to attack other team’s defenses more.”

The battle for first wasn’t the only reason the game had a bigger meaning to it than most. It marked the return of three former Griffons players who left in the offseason: Riccardo Teoli, Stephen Meterrisian, and Sean Rosa all featured for Monteuil against their former club.

Griffons captain Renan Dias was quick to reinforce that the squad the Griffons have now is the best it’s been in a while despite the tumultuous offseason and that they’ve had with lots of movement on their roster.

“I’ve been with the club for four years and this is the strongest squad we’ve had,” said Dias in French. “They’re all friends for sure but once we get on the field it’s different.”

One of the alumni, Stephen Meterrissian, was tasked with handling the Griffons’ talisman as the two went up against each other repeatedly over the ninety minutes.

“They defended well as a unit and [Stephen] is a big guy that moves really well,” said Sissoko. “He’s a solid player and we just didn’t take out chances when we had them.”

Brutus was more focused on moving onto the Griffon’s next game and staying at the top of the table for the rest of the season.

“[Gatineau] is a fast and physical team so we have to prepare for that,” said Brutus. “We have had a good start to the year and we have a very strong team.”