Marc Dos Santos was the epitome of focus during Saturday's exhibition match against York University.

He, and his coaching staff, never broke their respective intense gazes from the pitch throughout play.

The staff knew they were going to trim down the roster following the match, and like any decision that seems to go into this team, it's not one that's taken lightly.

In the end, Jean Philippe Etienne and Kevin Cossette were sent home following the match, leaving two Ottawa products, Adrian LeRoy and Kenny Caceros, as the only remaining trialists battling for what is expected to be one roster spot.

One of them was kept on the training roster because, with five players still missing - three foreign signings, Mason Trafford, who was signed Monday, and one other player whose contract will be announced soon - Dos Santos needs the extra body in camp.

"If everybody was here (Saturday), I would probably cut three of the four guys," Dos Santos said following the friendly, which the Fury won 2-1.

Dos Santos said the final result of the match was "secondary," which is good because it wasn't a particularly pretty victory.

"You have to take the positive out of it, and the positive (is) we were able to take decisions on the guys we want to cut, that was an easy one," he said.

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LeRoy, a defender, and midfielder Caceros played the full 80 minutes Saturday and both had solid showings.

﻿Trafford is a 27-year-old Canadian who played for Chinese League One side Guizhou Zhicheng. He began his professional career with the Vancouver Whitecaps and would eventually spend 2 1/2 years in the Finnish Premier League with IFK Mariehamn. The defender will bring experience to the Fury back line.

FIRST LOOK

Dos Santos didn't delve too deeply into a detailed breakdown of what he liked and didn't like about the exhibition match.

The squad out Saturday wasn't nearly a representation of what it will look like in the coming weeks and months. A number of key cogs didn't play, and ensuring the trialists played significant minutes meant having to break up what will be powerful combinations for the team going forward.

"It's frustrating to be coaching a team that you know you have at least 11 guys that are not here," the coach said.

He didn't want to give any of the guys already on the squad a full 80 minutes, meaning he had to do some juggling.

"We couldn't keep Richie (Ryan), (Nicki) Patterson and Sinisa (Ubiparipovic) together, because if we (did) that we would have to play one of them (80) minutes," Dos Santos said.

That made for some sloppy soccer at times.

"We felt there was a lack of link between the back four and the midfielders," he said.

SIDELINES

Devala Gorrick's contract appears to be all but done and the team should be making it official any time now "¦ At least one of the three foreign signings still not in the country is expected to be in Ottawa by Tuesday, if all goes to plan. It's not know which of Hamza Elias, Maykon or Vini Dantas will be arriving first, but it's not soon enough for Dos Santos "¦ The players waved and thanked the supporters who came out and cheered constantly throughout Saturday's match. They're going to need that and more consistently in their first season as they work to build a solid fan base "¦ The Fury should be announcing the signing of two more signings any day now "¦ The team is planning to unveil its kit by the end of the month. That means numbers on the players, which is good news for media covering the team "¦ Jeff Hunt, president of OSEG Sports, will make the trip down to Florida for the Fury's first match against Fort Lauderdale.

chris.hofley@sunmedia.ca

Twitter: @chrishofley