Powell River Villa received a two-goal performance from James Kenmuir on Sunday to move into a tie in the Vancouver Island Soccer League division two standings with Vic West FC 2.
The home side went to work straight away when Vic West arrived in Powell River with 10 players to take on a full squad at Timberlane Park.
More than the weather was blazing as Kenmuir used his speed on the right side to break in and score Villa’s first goal at eight minutes. “Tristen Forseth played a through ball into the corner,” he said, “and I had just tons of time and slotted it in.”
Five minutes later Vic West came right back and almost tied it when Matt Liknes made a brilliant save and the rebound came right to an opponent who pounded it off the crossbar.
On Villa’s next rush Kenmuir capitalized on his second chance of the first half.
“It played off Kye’s [Taylor] header,” he said, smiling. “It came off the keeper, I...played it up over him and it just nicked off his head and went in.”
The balls were bouncing Villa’s way on Sunday as Vic West swept down the pitch to try to get on the board.
Liknes made a great save by sliding across and blocking the ball with his leg, but once again the rebound went to an opponent who blasted a shot off the post.
Vic West had another chance before the end of the half on a free kick set-piece that narrowly missed and Villa happily took a 2-0 lead into the break.
Each side had some good chances to score in the remainder of this exciting game, but neither could beat the opposing keepers.
Sean Jenkins was able to break free on at least two occasions, but in his one-on-one battles, lost both to the Vic West keeper who stood his ground.
At the other end Liknes was solid as well, but after the game talked about his friends, the posts.
“Those saves were more reaction saves than technique,” he said of his early heroics. “You do what you can to keep the ball out of the net. You always appreciate help from your friends there, the goalpost and crossbar. Sometimes you can tell and say ‘okay that one’s going to go wide or hit post.’” However, he added, “The ones today were like ‘oh man I’m beat, I sure hope that doesn’t go in.’”
Well, they didn’t and Villa picked up three points to give it third-place standing in the division, a lofty position given its recent history of slow starts.
“Over the past years we’ve had some troubles to start the season,” said Kenmuir, “and had to pick up later on. It’s good to get the wins now.”
Vic West may have been short a man but Villa was also missing some key players for the match.
“It was a huge win for us,” said coach Jamie Zroback. “With a lot of key guys out of the lineup, two things can happen: either you can rise to the occasion and come together as a group or get it taken to you even if you’re at home. We’re going to get some of our players back next weekend and then it’s just taking small steps and winning one game at a time.”
Next week Villa has another chance to beat a club higher in the standings as it travels to take on Lakehill United 2 on Saturday, October 13.
Chip Shots:
David Bertrand has been lost to Villa for six weeks with a fractured foot.
