One goal made all the difference when the Cowichan Valley’s two Div. 3 men’s soccer teams squared off for the first time this season on the Sherman Road turf last Saturday afternoon.
Ben Williams scored his first goal of the season just under the bar in the 82nd minute to give the Cowichan Farm Store Fury a 1-0 victory over Quw’utsun FC. Williams’s goal came just a short time after Quw’utsun rang a shot off the top side of the bar from range.
“It all came down to inches,” Fury head coach Will Chaster noted.
The rest of the game was just as close as the final score would suggest.
“Quw’utsun had us chasing the game for good portions and they used a high press to force us to go faster than we wanted which created too many turnovers for them,” Chaster commented. “Then for equal amounts of time we had what looked to be complete control. It is so funny how the game ebbs and flows.”
The undefeated Fury are now in first place atop Div. 3 of the Vancouver Island Soccer League. Their record of four wins and three draws is identical to that of Vantreights FC, but Cowichan has scored more goals. Quw’utsun, meanwhile, sits 10th in the 15-team division with two wins and four draws.
By virtue of playing each other, the Fury and Quw’utsun were the only Cowichan Valley adult teams able to take the field last weekend, as other teams were prevented from travelling. None of the teams will be able to play this weekend, and are awaiting an announcement from the provincial government next week.
“With the numbers the way they are going, we are not optimistic, sadly,” commented Neall Rowlings, who manages five teams under the Cowichan Valley Soccer Association umbrella. “We are stuck in our little Valley.”
