Powell River Villa travelled to Nanaimo amidst dire circumstances on Sunday and needed a win to secure a spot in division two next year.
It turned in a good game against United FC 2 but had to have a great one and consequently lost another tight contest 2-0.
All the key players made the trip and Villa set the pace early.
It had several good chances to score on Nanaimo but lack of finish, which has haunted the team all year, once again bit the players on their behinds.
Jake Kenmuir and Jordan Peters both played well and they had a nice little one-two down the sideline. However, Kenmuir’s shot from 15 yards narrowly missed the target.
Later, Sean Jenkins fought to control a breakaway pass, but the keeper reacted just in time to tackle him as he was shooting.
Tied 0-0 at the half, Villa came out pressing in the second 45 and Kye Taylor had a header off a corner kick that crossed the face of the goal and Kenmuir just missed steering the ball into the net by a mere foot.
Another corner kick minutes later was also headed by Taylor toward the net, but a defender was well positioned on the line to clear the ball.
As so often happens in sport, missed opportunities come back to bite and Nanaimo bit hard at 85 minutes by scoring the winning goal.
Villa opened it up in an attempt to tie in the remaining minutes, but Nanaimo sealed the game with a late goal in the 2-0 win.
“It was a tough one to swallow,” said Kye Taylor with a sigh. “We were right there ready to battle and taking it to them for big chunks of the game but we weren’t able to capitalize. This year we don’t seem to be able to get any breaks when we need them. The team we played today only had a few good chances and maybe they missed one but the other two were in the back of the net. We probably had a half a dozen and we weren’t able to take any of them. That has been the story for us all year.”
The loss puts Villa in a precarious position with just one game remaining on the schedule. They have a very slim chance of staving off relegation.
Villa is three points behind Gorge United 2 and both of the teams face Nanaimo in their last match.
Nanaimo, if it wins both games, can still finish first and move up to division one.
If Villa can beat Nanaimo at home, however, and Nanaimo can knock off Gorge then Villa might survive through goal differential.
“Bottom line,” said Taylor, “is we need the soccer gods to smile on us.”
Ahead of those important games is the Jackson Cup schedule in which Powell River is the host to Nanaimo.
For this game Villa is facing Nanaimo United FC 1, who are the top division’s fourth seed and represent a strong challenge to Villa’s historical success in the competition.
“We’ve got a lot of excited young guys that want to come out and prove that we’re a good team,” said Taylor, “and hopefully we can shock a good division one Nanaimo team.”
The call goes out for Villa supporters to come to the Jackson Cup game starting at 1:30 pm on Sunday, February 17 at Timberlane Park.
Team Standings
Rank Team GP W L T GF GA Diff Pts
1 Cowichan United 2 16 8 6 2 23 16 7 26
2 Lakehill Reds 2 16 8 6 2 23 17 6 26
2 Lakehill United 2 16 6 2 8 16 10 6 26
4 GH Blazers 2 16 8 6 2 27 26 1 26
5 Nanaimo United FC 2 14 6 5 3 21 20 1 21
6 Saanich Fusion FC 2 16 5 5 6 20 20 0 21
7 Vic West Wolves 2 16 5 8 3 20 28 -8 18
8 Gorge United 2 15 4 7 4 21 27 -6 16
9 Powell River Villa 2 15 3 8 4 13 20 -7 13
