No Games
Scheduled
Date: Sunday, February 14, 2010
vs: FC Sagres
Venue: Hampton Turf
Result: 1-2 Loss
Heart Breaker Ends 2009-10 Season
Going into the final regular season game of the 2009/10 season Gorge needed at least a tie to keep their hopes alive for a promotion spot. With all 4 teams chasing them having games in hand it made the game vs FC Sagres vital to stay out in front of the pack. The last time these two teams face each other FC Sagres eked out a 2-1 win at Hampton Park on Nov. 8, 2009, a game which the Us-Guys felt they deserved at least a draw.
The weather on this day was unseasonably warm for a February tilt. The sun was out, there was no wind and the field was dry. Perfect conditions! The warm weather must have healed some sore muscles too as Gorge showed up in force with a 17 man roster. The largest squad since very early in the season.
As has been the custom of late, Gorge started off slow and were pushed hard by Sagres. Before Gorge knew it they were down 2-0 thanks to a well place free kick in which Tony picked the wrong side of the wall to look past. The other came courtesy of the smelliest goal of the year. A threw ball by Sagres was gobbled up by Tony Huibers in net but the Sagres forward got a foot to the ball in Tony's hands and jarred it loose. After potting the open net goal Gorge stood dumbfounded that this wasn't called back. Even unbiased write-ups on the VISL forum described this goal as garbage:
 | Sagres second goal was complete garbage... Sagres player manages to kick the ball out from the Gorge keepers hands, and score, with the referee allowing it and calling it a bobbled handling by the keeper... (saw this from the sideline and call 100% bulls**t-cheapest goal all year!) |
Maybe being down by 2, or maybe it was being screwed over, but whatever it was the Gorge Us-Guys woke up after the second FC Sagres goal. For the rest of the first half Gorge came at Sagres in waves. Pushing up from the defense whenever possible Gorge created opportunities on crosses from both wings and the midfield dominated and controlled the game.
With the possession that Gorge enjoyed it was inevitable that they were going to score and before half they pulled to within one on a rebound goal by Jeff Auld who was stellar on the outside right.
The second half was more of the same for Gorge. Shot after shot, push after push they came at Sagres and if not for some absolute thievery by the Sagres keeper this game would have seen Gorge win by a wide margin. Diving from post to post, stopping breakaways, headers in tight, nothing got by and also as impressive was the fact that no rebounds were available after the initial saves. Probably the best game by a keeper we've seen all year.
With the half winding down Gorge saw the game almost slip away entirely when they were called for a hand ball in their own box (we won't even talk about the hand ball save on the goal line at the other end of the park) after a shot was deflected the ball rebounded up in the air and struck Dan Moniz in the arm giving him little to no chance of getting out of the way. It was truly a harsh call given the no call against Sagres previously. But like he has done all year, Tony came up huge and his diving stop on the goal line kept Gorge's hopes alive.
During the last minutes of play Gorge generated even more chances and as the final whistle went ending the regular season Gorge couldn't believe their lack of fortune in the game. They played one of their best games of the year and still came out behind. Tough to take and even tougher to accept when now all they can do is wait and hope that the other teams chasing them lose. This unlikely scenario would allow Gorge to slip into the promotion round robin tournament against the other 2nd place finishers in div 4A and div 4C. We aren't holding our breath, but ANYTHING can happen, especially in div 4B.
Here's to a great season!
Power8 this week.
by Jason Gillett
jason@us-guys.com
Return to 2009/2010 Schedule
Posted by: P on Feb 15, 2010 - 10:44 AM
Sorry boys I let you down, but just because of how crazy this div is, I have a feeling we have a couple of more games left! Thanks for the great season!
Posted by: Henri on Feb 15, 2010 - 01:30 PM
we lost a frustrating one but it sure felt great going out on a high - we all played hard and we all played as a team better then we have all year. Yeah who knows? maybe we'll get another shot. are we practicing this week?? after last week's turnout it might be hard fielding enough guys without a game scheduled.
Posted by: gorgeous girl on Feb 15, 2010 - 01:53 PM
GREAT SEASON YOU BIG LUGS!
Posted by: Greg on Feb 15, 2010 - 03:38 PM
Monday Feb 22 Spinnaker's Brew Pub - I'll be there from 7pm onwards ringing in my 27th - if anyone wants to make a cameo. I think we'll be downstairs. Yanni - I can give you the money for the guest banquet ticket there or drop it off this week otherwise.
Posted by: LEN on Feb 15, 2010 - 04:29 PM
Great season boys!! I wish I could have been fit enough to have been a part of it...Cheers..!!
Posted by: YANNI on Feb 16, 2010 - 09:02 AM
NO practice this week.. we all deserve a week off!
Also, CUP matches resume this weekend, so we're gonna have to wait 'at least' 2 weeks to see how the league matches and final results play out.
Nanaimo U, Motherload & Sagres are all still in the cup, Sooke was out round 1 (so they may Vic West this weekend)
Should a league match in a couple weeks provide us with some hope, then we'll schedule a practice then!
Greg, I'll call you about your guest ticket this week.
... anyone want to bring a guest to the Banquet ?
$25 (date and time are in your emails) please contact me (Yanni) BEFORE February 22nd, Monday night.
Posted by: Jason on Feb 23, 2010 - 03:43 PM
And we're done...
With the Sooke win over Vic West our promotion run has ended early. Best we can hope for now is third.
Still a great season guys!
