After holding the lead for most of the game, Powell River Villa fell 2-1 to Nanaimo United FC in their match at Timberlane Park on Saturday, February 5.
“It was a tough pill to swallow,” said Tony Leach, Villa’s coach. “There were lots of positives in the game, from the way we moved the ball to the strength of our defence, but we did give the ball away too many times, and a couple of those giveaways provided opportunities for Nanaimo to score.”
Villa opened the scoring early in the game with a goal from James Timothy in the second minute.
“This was James’ third goal of the season,” said Chris McDonough, Villa’s manager. “He had a great game on the weekend, and as a team, we worked together to hold the lead until well into the second half.”
Timothy’s goal stood alone on the scoreboard until the 76th minute, when Nanaimo scored, followed up by another from the visitors at 91 minutes in stoppage time.
“We had two more minutes of stoppage time to try and get a tie, and while we pushed hard and had a chance, we weren’t able to put the ball in the net,” said Leach. “We have to give credit to the guys, though, they didn’t give up.”
Despite the loss, Villa played well and were fairly evenly matched against the second-ranked team in Vancouver Island Soccer League’s top division.
“We’re definitely happy with the way we played today,” said Russell Pielle. “Nanaimo is a really good team, and we were able to push them right to the end, and showed a lot of spirit. Every game is a learning experience for us, and we’ll draw on this game coming into the last few of the season.”
The loss didn’t impact Villa’s position in the standings, as two of the teams also in contention for the last two Division 1 spots also lost on the weekend, and another tied.
“We are still five points back of Gorge and two points back of [Juan de Fuca] All Flows, both of whom we play again before the end of the season, and Comox is one point behind us, so it’s very tight,” said McDonough. “We have some interesting and important matches coming up, and they are all home games, which will give us a nice boost with some better weather to wind down the season.”
Villa’s next game takes place on Sunday, February 13, at Timberlane Park, when fourth-place Victoria Highlanders FC travels to Powell River. The game starts at 1:30 pm, with tickets available at the gate.
“Highlanders have a game on Friday night as well, which is why this weekend’s game is on Sunday instead of Saturday,” said Leach. “With them playing two games in one weekend, and with us hungry for a win, it should be a great game to watch.”
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