After a healthy week of discussion and practice, Powell River Villa took a full squad to Victoria for its game against Gorge United 2 and came away with a single point after a 1-1 draw.
Villa jumped out to a quick start this year but has struggled lately and that made this game against the division’s bottom team much more important than it should have been.
As it was, Gorge bolstered its roster with three Victoria U21 Highlanders and Villa pushed a reset button during the week preparing the stage for a tight contest between the two.
Weather looked to be a factor as well but Villa got away between storms on Saturday and players arrived just in time to tie their laces and hit the pitch running.
The first half was a little on the scrambly side with a slight hiccup at the midway point.
During a rush at 27 minutes Villa keeper Matt Liknes dove for a loose ball and got more player than he bargained for in the box and a yellow card as a result.
He recovered well, however, when he made a great save on the low, hard penalty shot and preserved the 0-0 tie.
“It was one of his patented penalty kick saves,” said coach Jamie Zroback, “and it was great for us at that point in the game.”
Perhaps a slight letdown for Villa after the big save happened as Gorge capitalized on a corner kick five minutes later.
The ball came in to the group in the box and was cleared off the line by Villa but went directly to a Gorge player who planted it into the net.
The halftime break gave Villa coaches a chance to urge the players to raise their intensity level and they did that in the early minutes of the second half.
A couple of subs were inserted into the lineup and the team moved the ball around with much more authority.
Eventually the increased pressure paid off when Kye Taylor slipped a ball through to Sean Jenkins at 68 minutes and he tore in on a 30-yard run and virtually ran the ball right into the goal.
His 1-1 goal was a big one and after that Villa continued to carry the play with a number of good chances to get the go-ahead goal.
Jenkins, himself, had a couple of opportunities to get his second goal but the best chance went to Gorge who almost stole it late in the game.
Villa turned the ball over in injury time and Gorge snapped it up but missed when the shot flew just wide.
While Villa hoped to collect three points for the win it was satisfying to get some players like David Bertrand and Rob Devlin back in the lineup for the important game.
“It was a good game,” said Zroback. “They knew that they had to beat us and for us to go in there and come away with a single point was pretty good.”
Villa has a week off with a bye and it has come at a perfect time for the team.
“We’ve had some good discussions with the entire team,” said Zroback, “and we’ve sorted things out and are moving forward...We’re rallying together after a pretty positive week with a crew all trying to win.”
Villa’s next game is at home at 1:30 pm on Sunday, December 2 against Gordon Head Blazers 2 at Timberlane Park.
