Powell River United over 35 FC travelled to Victoria this past weekend to compete in the second round of the Tony Grover Cup.
United was matched up with Westcastle who plays in the Masters “A” division of Vancouver Island Soccer League. United was coming off a big win against the Uvic Alumni the previous weekend and was looking to continue on with its winning ways.
The match started off slow with both teams getting a feel for each other and a feel for the field, which at this particular stadium is very large and can really stretch a team out. United started to get its possession game going and was able to string along nice passes moving up the field and attacking the Westcastle end of the field.
United was defending well and had a few decent chances but was unable to break the deadlock until late in the first half when, off a corner kick, Robbie Veenhof charged in and pounced on a loose ball in the box and buried it into the back of the net. The half ended with United up 1-0 and starting to look stronger.
The second half had a similar outcome with United carrying more of the possession but being unable to put one past the busy Westcastle keeper who had to make some great saves to keep the game 1-0. As the second half went on the Westcastle team started to fatigue and United turned up the pressure and was rewarded with the second goal of the game. Aaron Cramb was able to get his foot on the ball during a scramble around the six-yard box and put it past the Westcastle keeper giving United a 2-0 lead. United put it into cruise control and again played great team defence in helping Rick Bombardir get his second shutout of the Tony Grover Cup.
United’s next cup game has been postponed to a date not known at press time.
