The weekend offered great contrasts in weather and field conditions between Saturday and Sunday which resulted in two of our teams having their games cancelled.

In Men’s premier action this weekend a depleted Surrey United line-up was forced to field three seventeen year olds but still managed to beat a depleted Sapperton line-up by a 3-0 margin at Byrne Creek turf on Saturday afternoon. Surrey started strongly and should have taken the lead at the five minute mark when Shawn Blakeway broke through the Sapperton defence but he fired his powerful shot shot straight at keeper Cory Breure. Ten minutes later Surrey had a strong claim for a penalty turned down when youngster Ryan Reynolds was upended in the penalty area just as he was preparing to shoot but the referee turned down Surrey’s claims. United right back, Brian Fowler, who had an excellent game made a great run down the right flank and then fired a low cross into the Sapperton six yard box which somehow eluded the Surrey forwards who all failed to gain the necessary simple touch which would have produced a certain goal.

With the first half ending scoreless, United came out with renewed determination at the start of the second frame and deservedly took the lead after 55 minutes when a flowing move involving Clayton Dobbin and Todd Stauber saw Fowler once again fire over a low cross from the right. This time it was met by Blakeway driving to the near post and he made amends for his earlier miss by hammering the ball home from close range. Five minutes later Surrey increased their lead when Blakeway scored again pouncing onto a long clearance and outpacing the Sapperton defence before calmly slotting the ball past the advancing Breure and into the corner of the net. Sapperton’s only real chance came with the score-line at 2-0 but Surrey net-minder Drew Smiley produced a magnificent save to deny Sapperton and also preserve the shut-out. Shortly afterwards, Surrey added a third goal when teenager Harpreet Khakh crowned a fine game by collecting a pass from Fowler and then accelerating past two defenders before slotting the ball into the net with the coolness of a seasoned veteran.

On the Sunday both the first division and second division men’s teams had their games postponed due to waterlogged pitches.

The men’s masters team won 6-2 over Peace Arch at South Surrey Athletic Park amidst monsoon conditions but twice had to come back from a goal down to eventually register an emphatic victory. United played well enough in the early frame but were thwarted by the outstanding play of Peace Arch keeper John Parker who produced one memorable save to somehow deprive United midfield veteran veteran Ian Farquhar from close range. Peace Arch inspired by their keeper’s performance took full advantage and took the lead against the run of play midway through the first half. United player coach Steve Reed, normally a defender, took matters into his own hands and brought himself on as a striker. Within five minutes he broke clear of the Peace Arch defenders to level the scores on a breakaway with saw him finish with the coolness of a seasoned striker. With the game knotted at one apiece at the interval Peace Arch regained the lead early in the second half only to see Reed once again tie things up for United. Reed completed the hat-trick later in the half which also saw United add three further goals; one coming from a Mike Marini penalty shot and two from the boot of United midfield dynamo Kelly Bey.

In Women’s action the two-time defending provincial champion ladies team resumed league action following their return from the National Championships where they secured a bronze medal for the second successive year. After playing five full games in the preceding ten days they could be forgiven for being somewhat exhausted but they started brightly and signalled their intention to their opponents from Norvan as early as the second minute when Sara Maglio hammered home a terrific right foot drive from 25 yards. Five minutes later United were on the score-sheet again when Megan Blaker collected a great pass from Bianca Wilkinson and then calmly lobbed the ball over the keeper’s head and into the net. United cruised their way to half-time but were surprised when Norvan reduced the deficit just before the interval. The visitors perhaps thinking with a sense of optimism that they might cash in during the second half against a travel weary United team were in for a very rude awakening as their goal only served to fire up the United ladies who then proceeded to fill the net with seven second half goals. Maglio rounded out a fine game by adding two more goals to complete her hat-trick. Blaker added another to give her a pair and United got single markers from Amber Allen, Chelsey Hannesson, Martina Franko and Randee Hermus who notched her fifth goal of the season and kept her goal a game streak in tact.

Our two division one teams had mixed fortunes again with our “C” team impressively winning away 7-1 at home to Aldergrove while our “B” team suffered a heavy defeat to Chilliwack Rapids by a 6-1 margin.

The “C” team were missing several key players who were all playing for their respective college teams but despite the line-up shortage they totally dominated the first half scoring six goals in the first forty minutes before allowing Aldergrove a consolation goal just before the half-time whistle. The scoring was truly a team effort with goals coming from Krystle Gauvin 2, Lexi Iggulden, Charday Vonic, Jaide Helgason and Nicki Carchesio all getting single markers. In the second half United, due to lack of numbers were forced to play with ten men and adjusted to a more defensive strategy. Four minuets into the second half Aldergrove were award a penalty but United’s back-up keeper Nikki, came up big, turning away the high rising shot up over the cross-bar. United’s seventh and the final goal of the match came from lone United striker Iggulden who outpaced the Aldergrove back-line and tucked the ball into the short side of the net. It was difficult to single out one player as this was a determined effort by a bunch of tired ladies who worked hard for their impressive win.

The “B” team found the first placed Chilliwack Rapids too tough to handle in their own backyard losing 6-1 with Amanda Henderson getting the lone marker for United from the penalty spot.

While we had two hat-trick contenders for this week’s award (Sara Maglio - ladies premier and Steve Reed mens masters) they both came in lop sided victories and we therefore selected Shawn Blakeway of the Mens Premier as this week’s Player of the Week for his two goal performance in his team’s 3-0 victory in their top of the table clash against Sapperton. Each Weekly Winner will have their name entered into a random draw for the monthly prize of for Dinner for Two.