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Powell River Villa soccer club returns to play with another loss

Club tied for last place in Vancouver Island Soccer League’s second division

Due to an extended holiday break and some cancelled games, it had been three months since Powell River Villa soccer club played a game in Vancouver Island Soccer League Division 2 play. Villa returned to the pitch on Saturday, February 27, in an away game and, in a result that has become all-too-common for the team this season, lost to Victoria’s Westcastle United 3-0.

“It was the cohesiveness of the team in general,” said coach Mario Paul. “Given the side that we had, we weren’t able to gel as quickly as we wanted to.”

It also did not help that the game was postponed due to darkness for 45 minutes until the lights came on, according to Paul.

“One of the things that I was fearful of was one of our players restarting the game after an extended period and hurting themselves,” said Paul. “That’s exactly what happened.”

Villa has five points in 12 games this season, with one win, nine losses and two ties. The team is tied with Fred Milne Park Rangers FC for last place in the division and risks dropping into third division next season.

“We had no bench,” said Villa coach Mario Paul. “We were happy to have Kye Turner returning. We’re missing our captain Dean Thorsell as a result of a three-game suspension, which really hurt our back line.”

Thorsell, who has served one game of the suspension, brings leadership and a style of play that is sorely missed, according to Paul.

Paul said Turner can be a game-changer as a striker and his strong play over the full 90 minutes of last Saturday’s game was not affected by previous injuries that have kept him out of the line-up for almost the entire season.

Villa will play its final four games of the season at home. The club's next match, against Vic West, takes place on Sunday, March 5, at Timberlane Park. Kickoff is at 1:30 pm.