Despite a lack of cohesion on the field, the Cowichan 49ers defeated Saanich Fusion FC 3-0 in a Vancouver Island Soccer League masters match at the Sherman Road turf last Friday.
“We couldn’t really seem to click on the field,” Cowichan head coach Kevin James said. “We didn’t play poorly, we just couldn’t get things to click. We had opportunities; we just couldn’t get it together when we needed to.
“It felt like we should have done more on the field than the scoreline showed. We seemed to be fighting it. Every time we would string together three or four passes, we’d have a bad break or an opportunity in front of the net would end in a bad touch.
Stu Barker opened the scoring in the 13th minute, and Neall Rowlings added the next two goals.
Saanich worked hard, but with a short bench, ran out of gas toward the end of the game, James felt. The Cowichan players had more time with the ball than they might have expected, he suggested, and may have tried to do too much with the ball.
James was impressed that Saanich pushed back as much as they did, as all of Cowichan’s opponents have done this year.
“None of the teams have rolled over,” he said. “Every team has given us their best and kept playing right to the final whistle. That’s a good thing. It’s good for the league and it’s good for us. If you get a team that just rolls over, they shouldn’t be in the league.”
The 49ers will be at home again this weekend, hosting Vic West at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
Also in the VISL masters A division, the Cowichan Steelheads lost 3-1 to UVic Alumni on Saturday night, getting their lone goal from Curtis Flynn. The Steelheads visit Lakehill this Saturday.
