Two-nothing leads have been the bane of Cowichan LMG so far in the Vancouver Island Soccer League season, but the team finally made one stand up last Friday as they defeated Nanaimo FC by that score at the Sherman Road turf.
“We went up 2-0 like we do every game and managed it out,” veteran Cowichan player Steve Scott said. “We didn’t get scored on. We didn’t make any mistakes. We played smarter.”
LMG had gone up 2-0 on four previous occasions, resulting in two victories — by 2-1 and 3-1 final scores — a 2-2 draw and a 3-2 loss. This time, 2-0 meant 2-0.
Logan Kits scored both goals for Cowichan, striking at the five- and 47-minute marks to total four so far this season, one back of team-leader Blaze Roberts.
“Logan showed Nanaimo the whole kit and caboodle,” Cowichan head coach Glen Martin said.
Darian Achurch picked up his first clean sheet of the season, Kevan Brown had another strong showing in the midfield, and Govinda Innes did a great job with a tough defensive assignment.
“Gov had a really good game,” Scott said. “He man-marked their apparent offensive threat [former Cowichan player Andres Algarin], and he didn’t have any chances at all.”
For his own part, Scott admitted he didn’t have his best outing, noting that Martin told him at halftime that he was having a “nightmare” of a game. Fortunately, it didn’t hamper the team’s overall performance.
With three wins and a draw in their last four games, Cowichan has compiled three victories, two draws and one loss on the season to sit third out of 10 teams in Div. 1.
The team will visit Juan de Fuca All Flows at Westhills Stadium on Saturday. JDF hasn’t won a game yet this season and ranks ninth overall, but the team is coming off a scoreless tie with first-place Bays United last Friday.
“It won’t be an easy game,” Scott said. “We won’t be taking it lightly, that’s for sure.
“They’re a hard-working kind of grind-it-out team. They’re coming up from Div. 2 and they’re excited.”
