This was a game of “Montreal minutes” … They scored in the first minute – well in 23 seconds to be exact – and then scored twice within a minute in the second half to salvage a draw after TFC had taken a 3-1 half-time lead with goals from Brockie, Caldwell and O’Dea.

Add some crazy one-sided Baldomero Toledo refereeing, a more raucous crowd than we have seen of late, TFC announcing a sell out crowd despite thousands of empty seats, and throw in the 10 or so UM02 supporters who made the trip along the 401 (which probably took less time than the TTC yesterday) and you have the recipe for what was an enjoyable derby match experience, with plenty of talking points, but which ultimately ended in the all too familiar disappointment for TFC at BMO.

July 18, 2012, remember that date … it was the last time we won at BMO Field in MLS play !!! We did win at BMO in April against Montreal but that was in Voyageurs Cup, and we also beat CD Aguila in CCL play in August 2012, and even won a ‘home’ MLS game in March of this year at the Rogers Centre against Kansas, but the last time we recorded an MLS win at BMO was that date … so when our next BMO fixture rolls around – on 20th July against NYRB – we will have officially passed a full calendar year without an MLS win in our home stadium. Shocking !!!

A couple of firsts last night … Jeremy Brockie, Steven Caldwell and Darren O’Dea all scored their first TFC & MLS goals and Bobby Convey got his first yellow in TFC colours from referee Baldomero Toledo.

Talking of Toledo, lets just say there is not much to say without having to self-censor the site content. It may be sufficient, and also diplomatic enough to say he was back to the inconsistent and frustrating best form that ended up with him being the first referee a few years ago to require a police escort from the field (and stadium) at BMO, something that is now the norm, on the pitch at least, whether required or not (mostly not). He was inconsistent, called twice as many fouls in Montreal’s favour than in TFC’s despite neither team really being ‘dirty’, although the Impact players did seem to fall over a lot more easily than TFC. He booked TFC players 3 times but only 1 Impact player and yet let harder and more cynical fouls go (in both directions) without a word. Oh screw it, forget the diplomacy, Toledo is, was, and always will be an absolutely shit referee !!! I would hesitate to call him biased, but 26 yellows and 3 reds in 14 games for TFC compared to 16 & 2 for the opposition does tend to suggest he is more lenient on the other team … but be careful what you wish for Mr Payne … he is without doubt one of MLS’s most experienced **** referees as opposed to one of the **** rookie refs !!!

Gallery for this game: HERE