Morning Star Staff
Vernon Kal Tire bowed 3-1 to the Mission Clean ers in Tree Brewing Kelowna Men’s Soccer League 35+ play Thursday night at Rutland Sports Fields.
The league champion Tiremen (15-3-3) started strong with 10-goalman Glenn Allan breaking through but just missing near post.
The Cleaners (8-11-2) struck first at 25 minutes when Kal Tire allowed a forward to move in and beat a helpless keeper Iain Butler.
A few minutes later in a similar play, Mission went up by a deuce on a hard shot.
Kal Tire came out storming in the second half but just failed to finish on at least a half dozen chances. About the 69th minute, a turnover to Kal Tire forward Duane Dennis turned into a goal when he hit a corner deflected out by the keeper but headed in by Dennis.
In the dying seconds, Kal Tire was unable to clear in their six-yard box, giving up a third goal.
Kal Tire opens the first round of playoffs Thursday night (6:15) against the eighth-place Select Tour Tickets of Kelowna at MacDonald Park.
Jesse Knight sparked Kal Tire with 16 goals in the regular season, followed by Allan and Bryan Schenker (eight).
