Five of the scheduled 6 Premier Division games were played this past weekend, while the Norvan Pacific vs Croatia SC match was postponed till Tuesday evening. The only ‘semi’ upset took place on Saturday at Trillium Park in Vancouver when Columbus FC bounced West Van FC out of first place by defeating the visitors by a 2-1 margin. All the other matches ended up with predictable results as ICST Pegasus regained possession of first place by virtue of a hard-fought 3-1 victory over the young Metro-Ford Wolves.
ICST PEGASUS - METRO-FORD WOLVES 3-1: On Friday evening, at Newton Athletic Park in Surrey, the defending Provincial Cup champions—ICST Pegasus—defeated the visiting Metro-Ford Wolves by a 3-1 margin. The young Wolves got off to a great start and created a few excellent scoring chances in the early part of the match. However, some excellent goalkeeping on the part of Andy Singh, coupled with some poor finishing by the Metro-Ford forwards, prevented the visitors from taking the early lead. In particular, Carlo Basso missed a wide-open net after he had brilliantly rounded Andy Singh. However, as the game progressed, the Pegasus lads found their legs and started exerting some pressure of their own. With the game still scoreless, Azad Palani came close to scoring on a couple of occasions but sailed his first shot over the crossbar and had his point-blank header saved by goalkeeper Mat Bird on his second effort. Midfielder Chetan Jhooty was also unfortunate not to open the scoring for the home team as he fired his shot over the crossbar. However, at the 30th minute mark, ICST Pegasus was able to take the lead when midfielder Niko Marcina collected a loose ball just outside the Metro-Ford penalty area and proceeded to fire a wicked, left-foot shot into the corner of the net for the game’s opening goal. Shortly thereafter, Adam Costley was denied a clear-cut goalscoring opportunity when his close-range shot was brilliantly saved by Mat Bird. Then, at the 40th minute mark, Pegasus scored what proved to be the winning goal when defender Paul Bahia fired a long-range first-time volley into the Metro-Ford net after having received a clever pass from Diaz Kambere. The second half was more or less a repeat of the first as both teams took turns attacking and defending. Needless to say, the more experienced Pegasus team had the better goalscoring opportunities with Ryan Powell and Jag Gill coming very close to adding to their team’s lead. However, it was Metro-Ford that narrowed the margin at about the 80th minute mark when Carlo Basso made amends for his earlier ‘faux-pas’ by chipping the ball over Andy Singh’s reach, after having received a great ball from Jovan Blagojevic. At this point, the Wolves threw caution to the wind in search of the equalizer but it was ICST Pegasus that scored the final goal as Niko Marcina and Ryan Powell combined to set up young Javid Khan on a lethal counter-attack. Khan made no mistake in finishing off the play and thus securing the well-deserved—and very important—victory for his team. Defensively, Paul Bahia, Satinder Dhaliwal, and Diaz Kambere played remarkably well for the winning team, while midfielders Adam Costley and Niko Marcina worked tirelessly during the entire 90 minutes. For the Wolves, defenders Anthony DiNicolo, Carson Gill, and Kia Mirzahossein played extremely well despite the loss, while young midfielder Domenic Delli Santi also performed admirably when he entered the field in the second half. The victory leap-frogs ICST Pegasus over West Van FC into first place in the Premier Division standings, while the Metro-Ford Wolves slip to 6th place, with a 8-2-7 record.
COLUMBUS FC - WEST VAN FC 2-1: On Saturday, at Trillium Park in Vancouver, Columbus FC edged the visiting West Van FC by a narrow 2-1 margin. The match turned out to be a hard-fought, and evenly-matched, affair between two of the top teams in the Premier Division. The first half finished scoreless, mostly due to the fact that neither team was willing to take any unnecessary chances. Things opened up during the second half as both teams came to the realization that they needed the entire 3 points in order to achieve their ultimate goal: to win the VMSL championship. At about the 60th minute mark, Columbus FC was finally able to score the opening goal when Nathan Quan set up Kaz Kikuchi, after having stripped the ball from West Van defender Max Baessato. Kikuchi proceeded to race down the right flank before unleashing a wicked strike that beat goalkeeper Hide` Ozawa at the near post. The former Trollers responded well to Columbus’ go-ahead goal and were rewarded at the 70th minute mark when veteran Paul Dailly curled one of his patented free-kicks around the Columbus wall and into the near post, surprising goalkeeper JD Blakley who was probably expecting a cross. It should be mentioned that the free kick was awarded when Columbus’ Graham Smith committed a controversial hand-ball foul just outside the penalty area. Both teams then took turns attacking in search of the all-important victory. However, both goalkeepers—Columbus’ JD Blakley and West Van’s Hide` Ozawa—came up with some big saves to keep the game tied until the 80th minute mark. At this point, the ‘Italians’ were finally able to score the winning goal when a fine cross by Cory Melville was skillfully controlled by Steve DeBlasio whose subsequent shot was blocked by West Van’s Max Baessato, only to be full-volleyed into the net by young Jevin Hillis. Defensively, Columbus’ Graham Smith and Nathan Quan were rock-solid, while midfielders Steve DeBlasio, Donald Kambere, and Leigh Sembaluk—as well as forward Kaz Kikuchi—were going concerns throughout the match. The victory improves Columbus’ record to 10-2-5, good for a third place tie with Surrey United in the Premier Division standings. West Van’s loss, on the other hand, drops the West Van FC to 2nd place, one point behind ICST Pegasus—albeit with a game in hand.
SURREY UNITED FIREFIGHTERS - RICHMOND FC HIBERNIANS 2-0: Also on Saturday afternoon, at Cloverdale Athletic Park in Surrey, the Surrey United Firefighters remained in contention for the Premier Division title by defeating the hard-working Richmond FC Hibernians by a 2-0 margin. The first half was a fast-paced affair, with the Hibernians enjoying most of the ball possession and goalscoring opportunities. Midfielder Peter Chivers and forward Brad Caldwell had the best chances to score, but their efforts were either saved by goalkeeper Paul Shepherd or missed the net. At the other end of the pitch, VMSL’s leading goalscorer—Angus Burke—received a great pass from playing-coach Niall Thompson and fired an excellent shot towards the Richmond net, only to have the ball bounce off the goalpost and out of danger. The Firefighters turned in a much better performance in the second half and took the lead very early—at about the 50th minute mark—when a corner kick by Nick Perugini was headed towards the Richmond goal by Sean Parkes and consequently deflected into the net by none other than Angus Burke. The Hibernians bounced back and came very close to knotting the score at the 55th minute when an excellent cross by Alan Chivers found a wide-open Geoff Salt in the middle of the box. However, Salt’s subsequent diving header barely missed the target. Surrey United then managed to score the insurance marker—at about the 70th minute mark—when a dangerous cross by Colin Streckmann was tipped away by goalkeeper Luke O’Shea, only to have Angus Burke pick up the rebound and calmly deposit the ball into the back of the net for his 13th goal of the season. Despite the fact that the Firefighters controlled most of the play for the remainder of the match, the Hibernians came very close to narrowing the margin at the 85th minute mark when Brad Caldwell sent Matt Rota in on goal with a splendid pass. Unfortunately for Rota—and the rest of the Hibs—his close-range shot was brilliantly saved by Paul Shepherd. Defensively, Surrey United’s Nick Perugini, Sean Parkes, Braden Volkenton, and Steve Kindel played extremely well, helping goalkeeper Paul Shepherd register the well-earned clean-sheet. Despite the loss, goalkeeper Luke O’Shea, defenders Connor Radil and Marcus Brougham, midfielders Cam Stokes and Peter Chivers, and striker Brad Caldwell played remarkably well for the Hibernians. The victory keeps Surrey United tied for 3rd place with Columbus FC, with identical 10-2-5 records, while the Hibernians remain in 7th place, with 20 points from 16 games.
DELTA UNITED HURRICANES - ICSF INTER 4-2: On Sunday, at John Oliver Park in Delta, the Delta United Hurricanes climbed into sole possession of 5th place by defeating the visiting ICSF Inter by a 4-2 margin. The ‘Italians’ got off to a great start and took the early lead at the 15th minute mark when Sheldon Maistry picked up the rebound off Massimo Beninteso’s wicked drive—a shot that had hit the goalpost—and calmly deposited the ball into the empty net.
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One minute later, Delta United’s Ryan Dhillon knotted the score as he raced past a couple of Inter defenders before slotting the ball into the back of the net for the equalizer. The remainder of the first half was controlled by the Hurricanes, although they were unable to score what would have been the go-ahead goal. In fact, on two separate occasions, Inter’s goalkeeper—Dennis Kindel—came up with brilliant saves on shots by David Chohan and Harp Khakh to keep the score tied till the halftime whistle. In the second half—at the 60th minute mark—Kindel once again rose to the occasion and pulled off another magnificent save on a shot by Danny Badesha—after Badesha had made a fantastic run down the right flank—only to have Ryan Dhillon pick up the rebound and place the ball into the net. Soon thereafter—at about the 70th minute mark—Delta United scored the insurance marker when Ryan Dhillon and Bikramjit Parhar combined to set up Harp Khakh, whose brilliant header gave Kindel no chance whatsoever. At the 75th minute mark, Ryan Dhillon completed his hat-trick, once again a fine individual effort. A few minutes later, Inter narrowed the margin with Sheldon Maistry once again scoring off a rebound—this time on a shot by Stephen Yuan. Defenders Gurj Sandhu and Danny Badesha played extremely well for the Hurricanes, while forward Ryan Dhillon not only scored twice, but also drove the Inter defence to distraction with his pace and skill. Needless to say, Sheldon Maistry played very well for ICSF Inter, while forward Stephen Yuan, midfielder Massimo Beninteso, and defender Rey Ismail also turned in excellent performances. The Hurricanes’ victory improves their record to 8-4-5, while Inter is getting closer and closer to the relegation zone, with only 14 points from 17 games.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: COLUMBUS FC for its clinical performance in defeating the highly-ranked—and very aggressive—West Van FC by a 2-1 margin, in an extremely important match between two of the top teams in the VMSL’s Premier Division. Led by some inspirational performances on the part of midfielder Steve DeBlasio, defender Nathan Quan, and forward Kaz Kikuchi, Columbus FC fully deserved the narrow margin of victory.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Delta United Hurricanes’ RYAN DHILLON for his incredible hat-trick performance in his team’s hard-fought 4-2 victory over ICSF Inter. Not only did Dhillon score 3 goals—and set up the fourth marker—but he also worked tirelessly throughout the match in leading his team to victory. For his outstanding performance this past week, RYAN DHILLON will receive a prize of a pizza for two, compliments of THE GOLDEN BOOT CAFFE`. The prize is available up to 2012-02-14.
ROVERS UNITED - WESTSIDE FC 5-1: The third—and last—Saturday game was played at Newton Athletic Park between the hosting Rovers United and the visiting Westside FC. A rather lacklustre first half by the home team allowed the Westsiders to control most of the play and thus create a few goalscoring chances. In particular, David Andreychuk—after beating a couple of Rovers’ defenders—had his close-range shot spectacularly saved by goalkeeper Garth Lagasse. A totally different Rovers squad showed up in the second half as the home team took over the reins of the match and dominated proceedings for virtually the entire 45 minutes. At about the 60th minute mark, Desmond Tachie gave the Rovers the lead as he unleashed a hard, rising shot from the right flank, a shot that gave goalkeeper Tom Johnston very little chance. A couple of minutes later, Rizal Ganief scored what proved to be the winning goal on a long-range free-kick that inexplicably sneaked through Tom Johnston’s legs. Shortly thereafter, Andrew Celenza added insult to Westside’s injury as he scored the insurance marker after having received a great through ball from Bobby Jhutty. To their credit, the Westsiders fought back and narrowed the margin at the 73rd minute mark when James Brown—after having received an excellent pass from Reece Branion—hammered a left-footed shot into the back of the Rovers’ net, thus spoiling Garth Lagasse’s attempt to register a shutout. However, the Rovers re-established their 3-goal lead at the 75th minute mark when Rizal Ganief one-timed a brilliant cross from Desmond Tachie into the back of the net from well inside the penalty area. At the 80th minute mark, the Rovers rounded out the scoring as Rizal Ganief finished off his hat-trick on a well-taken penalty kick. The spot shot was awarded when Ganief himself was tripped inside the penalty area by young Jonathan Wou. The entire Rovers team played very well, but special mention should be made of goalkeeper Garth Lagasse, midfielders Rob Sing and Colin Phillips, and forwards Desmond Tachie, Rizal Ganief, and Sidd Achuthan. Despite the rather humiliating loss, Westside’s defender Christoph Barrow—as well as midfielders Nick Graham and Reece Branion—worked very hard throughout the contest. The victory leaves Rovers United in 9th place, with a 5-3-9 record, while Westside FC remains mired in last place with only 9 points from 17 matches.
