Powell River Villa players suffered their first loss of the year on Saturday to Gordon Head Blazers by a close 2-1 score. They now have a one win, one loss and one tie record to find themselves right in the middle of the pack in the competitive Vancouver Island Soccer League second division.
Villa travelled with 19 players for the 8 pm game, but were missing a couple of key team members, including keeper Matt Liknes and Kye Taylor, who ran the team from the sidelines.
“I didn’t play,” said veteran Taylor, “because my knee has been bugging me and I want to get it healed up properly so I can be healthy for the rest of the season.”
In his place they used newcomer Andrew Vandor, who recently moved from the east coast.
“He has played at a pretty high level,” said Taylor of Vandor, “and we picked him up in Comox where he’s based.”
Vandor joined a number of new faces in the lineup, including Doug Rivera, who was pressed into service due to the injury to Liknes last week.
“Doug did just fine,” said Taylor, acknowledging Rivera could not have done much with the two goals scored against him.
The first 15 minutes were pretty uneventful but things quickly turned sour for Villa when David Bertrand went high for a ball and, after shoulder-to-shoulder contact, came down awkwardly on his leg.
“It could be an ankle injury,” reported Taylor, “or possibly a broken fibula, but we’re just waiting to see exactly.”
After a lengthy delay Bertrand was carried off the pitch and later boarded the bus on crutches.
Five minutes after his injury, Gordon Head caught up to a through ball and took the lead on a chip shot over the head of keeper Rivera.
The loss of Bertrand and a 1-0 deficit were an obvious setback for the team and at halftime Taylor urged the players to carry on.
“You could see the guys were taken aback by that,” he said, eluding to scrappy play “that wasn’t that pretty to watch. I just told them that we’ve got to bounce back and that we had created some good chances and we just had to take advantage of them—keep plugging away.”
Players followed his advice and began carrying the play in the second half but on its very first opportunity Gordon Head added a second goal.
At 60 minutes a Gordon Head player was alone at the top of the 18-yard line and took a shot that bounced off both posts and ended up in the net.
Down 2-0 Villa threw caution to the wind and was finally rewarded at the 85-minute mark of the game when Tristan Forsyth bent a ball on a free kick from 25 yards out to make the final 2-1.
Despite a decent effort through 90 minutes, it was evident Villa requires more time to gel as a unit.
“We didn’t play terribly,” said Taylor. “In fact, we played quite well for stretches, but they had two chances and made good on both.”
Bertrand’s injury, added to the loss of both Taylor and Liknes, is a concern for coaches, but they remain positive.
“We’ve got guys who are going to have to step up, show up for 90 minutes and play consistently,” said Taylor. “We have a couple of absences, but we still have to find a way to put the ball in the net.”
The next opportunity to do that is at 1:30 pm on Sunday, October 7 at Timberlane Park against Vic West Wolves 2.
