Norvan JBs 2 - 5 YFC
On a pristine Monday evening in dewey North Vancouver, Yaletown Football Club won a hard fought match against a very game Norvan JBs. Norvan have always had a bit of a friendly rivalry with YFC with them racking quite a few home wins in a row against Da Latte Boyz, however yesterday was not to continue that trend. On the “heels” of last season’s shellacking of the JBs (they had 9 or 10 men for long periods) YFC eventually took the game by the horns to score 5 unanswered goals, effectively passing a tough test in VMSL’s Division 2A.
The game started promising, with Norvan seemingly content to absorb some pressure and hit on the counter. YFC held the ball well, moved it from flank to flank with competent passing and peppered the JB goal with some tentative long range shots. This lasted 10-15 minutes before some disorganized play at the back for YFC led to a weak shot not getting cleared and the JBs reacting far quicker to sneak one in. That wasn’t quite the wake up call YFC needed as play all over the pitch seemed to sag for the next 15 minutes. This eventually led to a through ball played on the left side of defense that allowed Norvan’s number 5 to get in behind the back line, and finish well past Sherman Lai with relatively no pressure.
Enough was enough and YFC made a few substitutions to give the team a new look which paid immediate dividends as it brought Man of the Match, Nima Farahmand onto the pitch. In the closing 10 minutes of the first half YFC won a corner down the left side of the pitch, which Antonio Rabelo curled in for Jordan Watson to head home powerfully. Jordan’s goal kicked it all off and from that moment Norvan wasn’t truly in the game, their long balls to their gargantuan striker was one of two tactics, the other being “give it to number 5 and hope”.
Shortly before the half a brilliant ball down the left wing from Jackson Castellanos cut the JB line to shreds. It found Nima Farahmand at full sprint who cut inside around the 18 and curled in an unstoppable shot that nicked the inside of the post from 14 yards. The half ended on that note and YFC was hardly finished.
In the second half Norvan had few positive moments as YFC really stepped up their game and controlled the midfield, shut down the defense and were clinical up front. Steffen Mennekes struck a sweet goal on the half volley from a pass from Jackson Castellanos to make the game 3-2 after about 20 minutes of play. This took the wind out of Norvan’s sails a bit as up to that point, despite YFC’s solid play they had to have thought they could steal a goal somewhere to win it. It didn’t stay 3-2 for long as Antonio Rabelo struck a gorgeous freekick into the upper netting past a bewildered JB keeper from all of 25-30 yards. Shortly after on a through ball from Antonio, Nima Farahmand blazed into the 18 and squeezed a quick shot from close to the 6 at the keeper’s near post. Game over.
Despite some early struggles Yaletown played a great game with tough tackling and solid play from Bruno Wanderley, Minoru Echizenya, Darryl Sheepwash, Dan Rankin, Peter Rossing and Stuart Trann in defense. Allyn Fong missed the match through suspension and Jason Moore and Blair Guppy played their parts in the win. Many thanks to Peter Kozic who came out to cheer on the team as 2nd keeper, along with new signings Adam, Benjamin, the red card killer Allyn Fong and fresh from knee surgery Masa Egami. Thanks for the support! And as always cheers to Yaletown Manager Glyn Roberts for the tactical know how.