Surrey United had the tough task of meeting a red hot Croatia in the first round of the Provincials and despite missing five normal starters Surrey came away with a 2-1 overtime victory. Surrey started brightly and after a couple of close efforts took the lead at the twenty minute mark when young Justin Carvery broke down the left and then squared the ball for Shawn Blakeway who finished clinically from fifteen yards. From that point onwards Croatia took the game to Surrey who were clearly content to sit back on and play a passive game.

Early in the second half Surrey’s diminutive Rob Wilson hit the bar which might have given Surrey an unsurmountable lead. However, Croatia deservedly levelled the scores in the 60th minute when in their own penalty area Surrey player Dave Hleucka bundled over lightweight Croatian defender Dario Kuna. Aaron Keay fired home the resultant spot-kick. The game had an exciting edge to it and contrasted the artistry of Croatia versus the grit and determination of Surrey. Croatian substitute Tom Babic had the Croatian flares going off prematurely when his brilliant free-kick seemed goal-bound but a magnificent diving save by the impressive Drew Smiley saved the day for Surrey. Surrey almost snatched a late winner of their own when Gareth Wilkshire’s right wing overlap saw him finish his run with a powerful shot that just missed the post.

The pattern in overtime remained much the same but once again Surrey’s speed on the counter attack paid off midway through the first overtime frame when Carvery outpaced Kuna to cut in and smash a left foot shot home from twelve yards. In the second period of overtime Croatia threw all they could at Surrey and Babic had another brilliant swerving free-kick brilliantly turned aside by Smiley. With time running down to the final five minutes Croatia created two of their best chances of the day against a tiring Surrey team but youngster Lucas Cimosko skied a close range shot over the bar and then two minutes later headed wide of a gaping open goal. Croatia knew then that it was not going to be their day and Surrey on the back of a brilliant display by Drew Smiley advances to the next round.

An injury depleted men’s Under 21 team visited the Island for their opening provincial cup game but sadly came away on the wrong side of a 2-0 score-line. In a fairly even affair United got caught on a quick counter-attack midway through the second half and then surrendered a late goal as they valiantly pushed forward in search of the equalizer.

In the first round of Provincial cup play, our defending champion Masters team won their home game by a massive margin of 12-1.

Somewhat, ironically when the game started there was no indication of what was to come because the visiting North Shore Malones pushed United back on their heels for the first 5 minutes and looked quite confident and determined. However, all they really succeeded in doing was to wake the sleeping giant. United then notched their first when a defence-splitting pass from Doug Muirhead sent fellow midfielder Kelly Bey racing through and he made no mistake slotting the ball into the net. From that moment forward, the dam burst open and shortly after his first, Bey followed up with his 2nd at the 12 minute mark for what would eventually prove to be the game winning goal. There were several highlight reel type of goals out of the remaining 10 goals and also some that arose from arose from a comedy of errors. In addition, to Bey's first two goals United added another five in the first half from Steve Reed, Robin Regnier, Dave Ellenwood, Daryl Holmes and Dave Wyatt on a penalty shot.

The five second half goals were scored by Daryl Holmes, Murray Howes (2), Mike Marini and with the final tally coming from a Randy Carmichael twenty yard top corner thunderbolt.

Our Ladies, who are also the defending provincial cup champions, also enjoyed a comfortable home victory at Cloverdale Athletic Park versus the Castaways from Victoria by registering a 4-0 victory. After a bright start that produced some early opportunities United finally broke the deadlock in the fifteenth minute when Sara Maglio raced onto a Marina Holan-Franko pass to round the keeper and then place the ball into the net. Four minutes later Maglio turned provider when she set-up leading scorer Natalie Halcro with a measured pass that enabled Halcro to cut back inside the defender and calmly slot the ball into the corner of the net. Holan-Franko rounded out the first half scoring firing home a Bianca Wilkinson cross. United were rarely troubled throughout the game and Halcro added her second of the game in the second half from the penalty spot after she had been upended in the penalty area. Stephanie Weston registered the shut-out for United.

We selected Drew Smiley of the men’s premier team as this week’s Player of The Week for his outstanding goalkeeping performance that enabled his team to progress to the next round. Each Weekly Winner will have their name entered into a random draw for the monthly prize of for Dinner for Two.