Dwayne De Rosario scores the winner for the MLS All-Stars from the Penalty Spot.
Photo by: Hasib Sayed

Scarborough's own Dwayne De Rosario scored the winning goal from a Penalty Kick in the 69th minute to secure a 3-2 win for the MLS All-Stars over West Ham United.

De Rosario was brought down in the West Ham box by Lucas Neill and was adamant he'd be taking the penalty himself.

"I wasn't losing that ball, it would have been a long argument let me tell you."

His powerful shot hit the underside of the crossbar before bouncing down behind the goal line and ricocheting back up to hit the crossbar a second time.

"To score in my hometown is a dream come true for me in a game of this importance."

It was a match made even more important with many of his friends and family from his old Malvern community in attendance.

But it was almost not to be as De Rosario had played 90 minutes the night earlier in Washington for the Houston Dynamo. De Rosario only got an hour and a half of sleep before an early morning flight to Toronto.

In a discussion with Steve Nicol before the match De Rosario was asked how he felt.

"I was like, `Man, I don't know, my mind's willing, but my body ain't'."

But that all changed while warming up on the sidelines and hearing his name chanted. "When I got here the atmosphere and the fans got me into it, they got behind me and it rejuvenated me."

Dean Ashton opened the scoring for West Ham United in the 26th minute before Christian Gomez equalized for MLS a minute later.

Cuauhtemoc Blanco put MLS ahead 2-1 in the 43rd minute after breaking the ankles of Scott Parker with a deft fake before shooting a laser to the top right corner of Robert Green's net.

Dean Ashton was awarded his second of the night in the 67th minute. The shot was actually redirected into the MLS net courtesy of the head of Jimmy Conrad, but luckily for him officials ruled the shot was going to be on target and gave the goal to Ashton.

The loudest cheer of the night was reserved for the dual entrance of De Rosario and Jim Brennan in the 59th minute.

"It was amazing, it's hard to describe when you're on the bench and you've got everyone cheering for you to get on." said Brennan.

Toronto FC fans had been chanting Brennan's name throughout the game before Steve Nicol made the decided to sub in Brennan.

"He just waved to me to get on, he heard them cheering for me for the 5th time and got sick of it and said "you're on".

De Rosario envisions the support carrying over to Canada's World Cup qualifier against Jamaica. "It's great, you can't ask for anything more. For me it's a sign of things to come and to get that kind of support like i said for me it got me going when i was tired, it carried me."

Vancouver's Pat Onstad of the Houston Dynamo was subbed in to Goal for Matt Reis in the 70th minute and was rarely tested. Onstad had also played 90 minutes a night earlier in Washington. It was his second appearance in an MLS All-Star Game after starting the 2004 game.