Powell River Villa was the big winner in the 22nd Steve Steele Memorial Boxing Day match, romping past the Over 35s 9-0, and cancer research received a large cheque from the proceeds of the gate.
While, in the spirit of the season, some would have said it was a Boxing Day Blowout the score was secondary to a whole list of reasons to support the game.
First and foremost is the moment of silence signalled by referee Bob Bogoslowski to remember Steele who was instrumental in building and maintaining everything to do with soccer in Powell River.
The Over 35s got the first good shot on net when Mark Greatbatch struck the ball from 20 yards out but his shot went over the bar.
At the other end Rick Bombardir made the first save of his busy day when Rob Devlin volleyed a Billy Bagiopoulos corner kick but Bombardir won this battle with a big save.
The first goal came 18 minutes in when Brody Harry passed to Boseung Kwan in front and he drilled a shot low to Bombardir’s left.
Villa’s second goal came 10 minutes later when Daniel Paul made a great pass to Bagiopoulos and he spun around at the 18-yard line and his shot also beat Bombardir in the same spot.
The third goal was a beauty that came off the foot of Nick van’t Schip who, from 35 yards, caught Bombardir out of his net and drifted a long shot off the far post at 31 minutes.
Goal four came at 34 minutes after Jake Kenmuir, on a partial breakaway, was pulled and finally dragged to the ground by a tiring defender.
Harry took the penalty kick and he was successful with a low drive to the right of the keeper.
The fifth goal of the first half came just before the whistle when Mike Hurren found Kwan with a nice pass and the youngster scored his second with a header.
The Over 35s got out to a quick start in the second half when Julien Welp broke free but couldn’t finish with a shot over the crossbar.
Villa replied with a similar effort when its first-half keeper, Matt Liknes, moved up to forward and he too made a long run but sent his shot high.
Paul connected on a free kick and Hurren went bar down for goals six and seven before Kye Taylor made a great run by several defenders to make it 8-0.
The final goal of the game came on a nice header from Liknes with just a few minutes to go but a great play late in the game would have brought a smile to the face of Steele.
Villa’s Devlin fired a blast that was labelled for the top corner but the 55-year-old Bombardir, a good friend of Steele’s and down by nine goals, still found the energy to dive and deflect the shot wide of the net.
After the game Steele’s wife, Delma, presented the trophy to Villa captain Taylor and the most valued player awards went to Dean Piccinin of the Over 35s and Taylor for Villa.
“The award could have gone to a couple of other guys,” said Taylor modestly. “Bo [Kwan] definitely had a great game and a few of our other guys did as well. The game was played in good spirit and that’s what we told the guys, play hard and play fair. It wasn’t as competitive as some of the years past but I think people still got to see some pretty good soccer.”
That they did and Steele’s friends, Bill Cornwall and Iain Livingstone echoed his sentiments.
“I’m just sorry Tony [Leach] didn’t put another couple over the bar,” said Livingstone of Leach’s missed opportunity in front of the goal. “We’re all experts on the sidelines, but it’s really not about the result.”
“It’s not about who wins or loses,” agreed Cornwall. “It’s really just about getting together.”
