Players battled against harsh winds and cool temperaturs Saturday morning at Downsview Park where Toronto FC reserves beat New York Red Bulls second team 3-1 in the Reserve League.

The first half was lively and entertaining with a 6th minute goal from Toronto forward Keith Makubuya to put the Reds up 1-0.  

TFC kept the pressure on New York and took advantage of more scoring opportunities in the first half.  Toronto FC Academy player Stefan Vukovic popped one past the New York keeper at the 10th minute for a 2-0 lead.  

New York defenders put up a fight in the next 20 minutes to regain some confidence through possession, but couldn’t stop Vukovic from scoring again in the 32nd minute of the falf.  

New York's Matt Kassel and Brian Nielsen were cautioned in the opening half, a fate also suffered by Toronto's Makubuya.

New addition to the TFC roster, defender Kyle Davies, fit in well with the squad. A quick thinker, Davies made some smart moves to pass the ball out of his area up the sides.  Toronto FC led 3-0 after the first half.

New York regained some strength over half-time and opened the second half with a nice goal up the right side scored by forward Semso Nikocevic two minutes from restart.   

It looked as though New York was now ready to play and pushed up the field with more pressure on Toronto.  But, the wet conditions, high winds and possession play by Toronto was tiring for the visitors.  

Toronto played possession with tight, short and crisp passes in the second half and were able to come out stronger to retain the lead, winning 3-1.

Scoring Summary

Toronto - Makubuya 6'
Toronto – Vukovic 10'
Toronto – Vukovic 32'
New York – Nikocevic 47'

Lineups

Toronto - Chad Bush; Matt Gold, Eddy Viator, Kyle Davies, Mikael Yourassowsky; Nathan Sturgis, Leandre Griffit (Michael Petrasso 75'), Gianluca Zavarise, Javier Martina (Jay Chapman* 82'), Keith Makubuya, Stefan Vukovic* ... Substitutes not used: Tyler Pasher

New York - Alex Horwath; Teddy Schneider, Mike Jones, Rob Valentino, Matt Kassel, Marcos Paullo, Andrew Welker, John Rooney, Brian Nielsen (Semso Nikocevic 46'), Mohammad Mashriqi* (Ethan Decker* 60'), Corey Hertzog

*Academy (Toronto) or Guest Player (New York).

Misconduct summary

New York - Kassel 27' (caution)
New York - Nielsen 37' (caution)
Toronto - Makubuya 45' (caution)
New York - Jones 58' (caution)
New York - Rooney 88' (caution)