Injuries and work commitments are taking their toll on Powell River Villa so the team got out the rolodex and dialed up some experience for its latest road trip.
Moving down the depth chart it didn’t miss a beat when it enlisted the help of veteran Rick Bombardir who turned in a solid performance in a 2-1 win over Penelakut United on Saturday.
It is a tough one-day road trip under any circumstances but on arrival at the always challenging lumpy pitch, players found a good portion of the pitch to be under water.
That and the team’s arrival at 12:45 for the 1 pm start meant players had to find their legs early and adapt quickly to the field conditions.
“The field was beyond bumpy,” said coach Chris McDonough. “It was definitely challenging for us with the standing water on the pitch. It didn’t play into the type of game we play, which is knocking the ball around and our passing game was definitely affected.”
Villa did overcome those obstacles however with most of the play in the first half and predictably dominated early.
After 20 minutes and a couple of chances Villa cracked the sheet when Boseung Kwan crossed the ball through a few defenders to Jake Kenmuir in the six-yard box and he tapped in his fifth goal of the year.
Villa fed off the goal with an insurance marker 10 minutes later when Brody Harry got behind the Penelakut defence but was hauled down on his way to the net.
Kenmuir got the call for the penalty and he added to his total with a shot down the middle while the keeper dove to his right.
Up 2-0 after 30 minutes Villa lost its focus and defender Craig Simmons to injury and Penelakut, at the urging of its 70 or so fans, started to press.
With five minutes to go in the first half an unmarked player pushed the ball by the last Villa defender and tucked it in past Bombardir on the short side.
“At half time I wanted us to get back to what we did earlier,” McDonough explained. This meant “keeping the passes short and keeping it simple, not trying to stretch passes out too far because with the conditions we were getting weird bounces.”
The second half began with a torrent of rain and new puddles were starting to form on the pitch which made things even more difficult.
Despite the challenges Villa came close on a couple of occasions when the ball either hit or narrowly went over the crossbar.
Opportunities missed can bite in the end and Penelakut closed with a flurry in the last five minutes but were denied by Bombardir.
“Rick had to make a couple of huge saves at the end,” said McDonough with praise for his keeper who turns 55 on November 9.
With time running out one of the Penelakut strikers had his shot partially blocked by Rob Devlin but the change of direction almost fooled Bombardir.
“It was the dying minutes and the ball spun up off Devo and was headed to the top corner,” said Bombardir. “I was just able to dive and grab it.”
It was an extremely satisfying result for a keeper who thrived on the opportunity presented with the absence of Matt Liknes, Corey McCracken and Douglas Rivera.
“Chris signed me there three or four weeks ago,” said Bombardir of the possibility of a start, “and I just practiced with them for the last few weeks. I don’t think Corey can travel so I said I just want to play if I can help you.”
The ageless keeper simply stated, “I just like playing.”
Although he’s raring to go again, Villa enjoys a bye this week allowing it to rest some players until play resumes 1:30 pm on Sunday, November 9, at Cranberry Field against Lakehill Danger Police.
Team Standings
# Team GP W L T GF GA Diff Pts
1 Powell River Villa 3B 7 6 0 1 23 4 19 19
2 PLSC Lakers 3B 5 4 1 0 10 5 5 12
3 Cordova Bay Red Barn Bobcats 3B 6 2 2 2 7 10 -3 8
4 Juan de Fuca 3B 6 2 2 2 13 20 -7 8
5 Alberni Athletics 3B 6 2 3 1 24 10 14 7
6 Fernwood Town FC 3B 5 2 2 1 8 7 1 7
7 FC Sagres 3B 5 1 2 2 6 6 0 5
8 Lakehill Danger Police 3B 6 1 3 2 11 21 -10 5
9 Penelakut United 3B 6 0 5 1 3 22 -19 1
