After failing to retain its division two status last year, Powell River Villa dropped down to the unchartered territory of division three A.
This division, like division four, has an A and B and Villa has no intention of finding out who or what makes up B.
The young team looked very comfortable in its first game of the year and came away with a well deserved 2-1 win over Peninsula Stachers on Sunday.
A ton of pressure from the Villa side kept Stachers on their heels for much of the first half and were lucky to escape, tied at 0-0 after 45 minutes.
Jake Kenmuir had the best chance to score early on but the Stachers' goalkeeper made a diving save to stop the ball from going into the top corner.
Nick van’t Schip also took a hard shot at 31 minutes that resulted in a rebound to Dylan Buckle who then lobbed it over the keeper and off the crossbar.
Five minutes later van’t Schip had another shot go just wide and the corner effort saw Kenmuir stopped again by the keeper.
On a tilted pitch with so many chances, there was a feeling that perhaps Stachers were just biding their time against the younger opponents.
Worst fears were realized when a forward struck the ball from the left sideline and it sailed over the outstretched hands of Villa goalkeeper Matt Liknes and high into the far side corner of the net.
At just five minutes into the second half, and after such domination, Villa was shocked to find itself trailing by a goal.
But youth is a wonderful thing and the resilience of Villa was remarkable as it battled back in the game.
At the 13-minute mark Villa, on the foot of Jordy Peters, swept down the pitch where he passed off to Buckle on his right.
Buckle returned the ball to the box where Peters continued his run and timed a beauty low into the left-hand corner.
“I was playing more of a defensive role,” Peters said later, “but I pushed up because we needed a goal and, on a give and a go with Dylan, I shot hard and low.”
Now tied 1-1, Villa kept coming and forced a couple of corner kicks.
On the second one Ben Elliot called out for Kenmuir to get it to the penalty spot and he did exactly that.
He hit a rope to the target where Elliot was airborne and headed a laser into the top of the net for the go-ahead goal.
“That was exactly what I wanted,” Elliot said. “Drill it across the penalty spot so I can time my header nicely. I’ve always done that ever since I’ve played football.”
His goal turned out to be the winner although Stachers did press hard with five minutes to go.
Fortunately, Villa held its ground and left the pitch with three points for its efforts.
“I thought they would be worse than that,” Elliot said of the division three Stachers, “and it’s going to be a little battle, but if we keep playing the way we are and we grow each game I don’t see why we can’t finish at the top.”
His coach, Chris McDonough, was also impressed with the opposition but liked his team’s play.
“We got two nice ones and carried the run of play,” he said. “I think we deserved the three points.”
He realizes there won’t be any easy games in division three. “It’s obviously a step down from division two, but Stachers brought a full squad and they were definitely here to get three points from us.”
Overall he was happy about the game. “We tried to play a formation game where we keep the ball,” he said. “We did that, so if we continue we’re going to get our chances.”
Villa hits the road this week to play at 1 pm on Saturday, September 21, against Penelakut United 3A.
