We had a mixed series of results for the past weekend with some unexpected losses for some of our teams and where it was left to the men’s and ladies’ premier teams to register the only victories of the weekend.

The men’s premier team opened the weekend for our adult teams with a 1-0 home victory against Burnaby Canadians at Cloverdale Athletic Park. The win extended United’s lead at the top of the standings and was even more impressive when you consider that they were missing six of their usual starters and therefore dressed five teenagers from their Division One Cat team. The youngsters responded magnificently and if not for some poor finishing on breakaways the margin of victory could and should have been much greater as they ran the veteran Burnaby side ragged in the second half.

The first half remained fairly uneventful and the closest either side came to breaking the deadlock was in the 25th minute when Sean Crocker’s free-kick for Surrey smacked against the upright and rebounded to safety. In the second half the superior fitness of the young Surrey team proved too much for the veteran Burnaby team. United’s enthusiastic and talented youngsters chased Burnaby into gradual submission and deservedly took the lead from a rehearsed set-play at a corner-kick that saw young Vince Stewart cleverly redirect Gareth Wilkshire’s fierce drive past Burnaby keeper Trevor Jones into the gaping goal. Stewart, playing with increased confidence since his recent appearances with the National Under 20 team, proceeded to miss an easier chance three minutes later when, after bursting through the defence, he shot tamely at the keeper. Five minutes later Stewart’s confidence was clearly evident, when seeing Jones off his line, he cleverly chipped the stranded keeper from thirty five yards out only to see the shot hit the bar.

United manufactured two more clear-cut breakaways but on both occasions their players fluffed the opportunities. Then with the game in injury time Burnaby almost made Surrey pay dearly for their failure to notch the insurance marker when they almost tied the game up at a corner-kick but were thwarted when Sean Crocker headed the ball off his own goal-line to deny Burnaby a share of the spoils which, based on the balance of play, they did not really deserve.

With so many players in action for the premier team and with the Under 21 team playing simultaneously our resources were stretched to the limit for the division one men’s game. It was not surprising that they ended their 10 game unbeaten streak losing 2-0 to Burnaby at Cloverdale Athletic Park. United battled hard but spent too much time defending and the Burnaby pressure paid off in the 40th minute when they scored from close range. United battled back and enjoyed a better second half territorially but were unable to level the scores before Burnaby added a second goal deep into injury time.

The men’s Under 21 team fared no better and lost 4-1 to Croatia in a league game at Adanac Park which incidentally was better suited for pot-holing rather than soccer. United keeper Taylor Weakes did not enjoy one of his better games and a couple of mistakes on routine plays cost his team dearly and allowed the home side to establish a 2-0 lead. Under 16 player Jag Gill reduced the deficit for United and they fought hard to level the scores but regrettably a further goalkeeping error allowed Croatia to re-establish a two goal lead which proved insurmountable for the United players who surrendered a fourth goal late in the game.

The men’s division two team visited Richmond United in their top of the table clash and ended up on the losing side going down 2-1 in a highly competitive game. The home side opened the scoring in the twenty first minute but United tied it up ten minutes later when Nick Gollogly slammed home a Brendan Wilkinson pass. The game see-sawed back and forth with both sides having opportunities to score on a number of occasions but it was Richmond who broke the deadlock in the 60th minute to notch what proved to be the game winner. United rallied strongly in search of further goals but were denied by some resolute defending by the league leaders.

In ladies’ action our premier team had a 4-2 win at home in the cup against a continually improving Richmond Selects team who provided some stern opposition. United raced out into an early lead at the ten minute mark when following a defence splitting pass by Martina Holan Franko, fellow United striker Natalie Halcro fired home a lethal shot from twenty yards. The same two players were involved in the play five minutes later and after Holan Franko’s shot was blocked by the visiting keeper, Halcro snapped up the rebound and lashed the ball into the net. The goals have been coming thick and fast for Natalie and she extended her goal-scoring streak to eight successive games during which time she has notched her ten goals taking her season tally to a team leading 12 goals. However, the game continued and in the closing fifteen minutes of the opening half Richmond battled back to level the scores.

Surrey Premier 1-0 Burnaby Canadians February 12 - Cloverdale Athletic Park Surrey Div 1 CAT vs Burnaby Canadians February 12 - Cloverdale Athletic Park

In the second half United re-established a firm grip on the game when Bianca Wilkinson slammed a fifteen yard drive into the corner of the net after Holan Franko had again provided the set-up. In the 80th minute United added the insurance marker when this time Martina Holan Franko crowned a fine solo run by this time shooting and scoring herself to crown a fine individual performance and put the result of the game out of reach for the opposition.

In ladies’ division one action, the flu had ravaged the team line-up eliminating a couple of their best players and reducing their line-up to 11 players, many of whom were also suffering from the flu but tried bravely to overcome their sickness. The result needless to say reflected their suffering as they lost 5-0 in the first round of round robin cup play.

In ladies’ Under 21 play, our exciting and talented team came up with one of their poorest games of the season and lost 2-1 to Norvan Speed in round robin cup play.
The loss was all the more disappointing after United got off to a bright start that saw them take the lead at the seven minute mark when Lexi Iggulden headed home a Nicole Stewart corner-kick. Norvan from evened the score 25 minutes later hen their striker pounced on a loose ball in the six yard box and flicked it past United keeper Kendra Klemke. The first half offered up numerous opportunities for the United ladies to take charge but because of their poor finishing and otherwise lack-lustre performance the first half end in a 1-1 deadlock.

The second half belonged to a more determined Norvan, who ended up scoring the go head goal mid way through the second half, again from a scrappy play that developed as a result of poor clearances by United. The ladies now must win their remaining two round robin matches to advance through to the next round starting next weekend against EWYSA Rage and then the following weekend against Golden Ears Lightning.

We selected Martina Holan Franko as this week’s Player of The Week for her goal and three assists in the premier ladies 4-2 cup win. Each Weekly Winner will have their name entered into a random draw for the monthly prize of for Dinner for Two.