After a short hiccup with the loss to Victoria’s Bays United last week in Jackson Cup play, Powell River Villa climbed back on track by beating Lake Hill United 3-1 on Saturday at Brooks Turf field.
On a postcard evening a small crowd saw a relatively young home side with just a few veterans sprinkled in among the rookies and second-year players.
Play was even for the first 15 minutes with Lake Hill happy to lie back while Villa’s attack was slightly tentative.
A couple of free kicks from just outside the 18-yard line from each team were easily saved or off the mark and it looked as though the half would end in a 0-0 tie.
That is, however, until Villa’s throw-in at 44 minutes to Mario Paul, who noticed the keeper had crept out of his net. “I just took a touch and let it bounce and hit a long volley,” he said after the game.
The ball sailed just over the keeper’s head and into the top of the net to give Villa a 1-0 lead into the break.
No doubt the conversation between halves was similar to others recently as Villa’s winning formula has been to take the lead and then defend it.
Lake Hill came out with more urgency early and five minutes in scored but had the goal waved off on an offside call.
Villa wasn’t as fortunate on a corner at 22 minutes when Lake Hill sent in a corner kick that tipped off Matt Liknes’s fingers and right onto the head of an unmarked opponent.
The easy goal tied the game 1-1 and Villa went back to work to regain the lead.
It stepped up the pace and began to earn some quality chances to go ahead but on one of them play stopped completely when David Bertrand was knocked to the ground.
Lake Hill’s keeper had raced out to punch the ball away with two hands but his follow through connected with Bertrand’s head and the Villa striker had to leave the game for a few minutes to gather his senses.
Not long after his return he started a scoring sequence with a pass back to Paul who unleashed a quick shot from the 18-yard line.
The liner became a rebound and from 15 yards Kyle Vasseur drilled the ball through a maze of players into the top right of the net.
In the celebratory run back to midfield with his teammates the snake-bitten Vasseur could be heard muttering, “it’s about time.”
After the game he said, “I’ve been waiting to fill the net all season, so it feels pretty nice to get that one. I saw there was a bit of room and I just tried to hit it hard and it got in the top corner for me.”
Villa added to the 2-1 lead five minutes later when Bertrand sent a free kick from 30 yards into the far post of the Lake Hill box.
Young Braxton Leask headed it straight down and into the net for the final goal of the game and his first for Villa.
“It was difficult to get excited after a tough loss last week,” said Kye Taylor who, among other veterans, did not play due to an injury or cards. “That’s why we have our system with the reserve team, so when we ask or need the young guys they can come up, join in seamlessly and do the business.”
Asked about their performance he smiled and said, “I don’t ever think I’m overjoyed but 3-1 is a great result and it’s good to see some of the young guys get involved and score and keep getting better. They’re our future and without them we’re in trouble.”
In the immediate future, Villa will play its last game of the year against first place Salt Spring at 5:15 pm on Saturday, March 31 at Brooks.
