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MATCH REPORT Weekly Roundup - March 27th & 28th By Marion F Dent
Surrey United, after being a goal down at half-time, battled back to overcome Westside 3-2 in dramatic fashion with a goal in the last minute of the second period of over-time in the Imperial Cup semi-final at Cloverdale Athletic Park synthetic turf field. United had reintroduced striker Mike Evans back into the game in anticipation of a penalty shoot-out but Evans pounced earlier than expected when he ran onto a headed flick from Shawn Blakeway and hammered a powerful right foot shot past the despairing clutches of veteran Westside keeper Mike Wicken to send United through to the Imperial Cup Final at Kinsman Stadium, North Vancouver next Sunday at 1.30pm. From the opening kick-off everyone knew that the strong wind would be a factor and with the wind at their backs in the first half Westside enjoyed most of the early play with some of their wind assisted corner-kicks causing Surrey some serious problems. Midway through the opening frame Westside took the lead when their striker Ned Stoyanovic turned sharply in the box and calmly side-footed the ball into the corner of the net. While Westside enjoyed a territorial advantage, Surrey looked dangerous on the counter and Wicken pulled off two fine saves to deny Blakeway and midfield all star Cory Janzen. With the wind at their backs in the second frame United came out like gangbusters and within ten minutes had levelled the score when Janzen fired home his own rebound from close range. United poured on the pressure and won a series of corners which Westside scrambled away. Surrey, though did take the lead at the seventy minute mark when Shawn Blakeway broke down the left, then cut inside past one defender and hammered a twenty yarder into the top corner of the net. However, United's joy was short lived because Westside equalized three minutes later through Boban Aleksic who scored with a rising shot from the edge of the box after Surrey had failed to clear their lines. The games between these two teams are usually close and with the scores knotted at the end of regulation the semi-final game progressed into the somewhat anticipated sudden death overtime. United enjoyed most of the play throughout the overtime frames and created the majority of scoring chances but failed to find the net with Rob Wilson's shot striking the upright being the closest one to breaking the deadlock before Evans came up with the last minute heroics. The Cloverdale Athletic Field Turf was the venue the following day on Sunday for the Under 21 cup-final between Surrey United and Norvan Saints; with the very youthful United side losing out eventually by a margin of 3-1. United had totally dominated the opening half but could not convert their opportunities with Sean Kelly hitting the post on one attempt and Evan Howard miscueing on another opportunity. However, United did finally get the breakthrough their dominance deserved when Chris Powell battled bravely through the traffic to force Kelly's free-kick into the net from close range. The second half proved to be a different story and when United midfield ace was dismissed for his second yellow Norvan came roaring forward with the benefit of the out-manned situation. United weathered the early storm and were unlucky not to score when Kelly hit the post again with a well-struck free-kick. However, United committed some basic errors and when United keeper Ian Malnis miskicked the ball on two occasions it fell straight to Norvan forwards who seized the moment and hammered both chances into the back of the net. With ten minutes remaining United's ten men tried valiantly to force an equalizer but their commitment to that cause left them with an outnumbered situation and the visitors capitalized finishing with a well placed header to provide the insurance marker to win the game. The men’s masters team beat Sundowners 8-0 in a convincing league game and after a slow start built up a 3-0 half time lead before exploding in the second half for five more goals. Brian Cuthbert and Murray Howes both scored twice with singletons coming from Dave Harkisson, Mike Marini, George Paille and Ron Ritchie. Mike Evans who netted the dramatic overtime winner for the premier team is this week’s player of the week.Each Weekly Winner will have their name entered into a random draw for the month for Dinner for Two. |
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Player
of the Week