YFC 0 - 2 Sikh Temple

An unfortunate late goal saw YFC drop their first game of the season on a brisk friday night game against Sikh Temple in VMSL Division 2A action.    YFC started strong, with Joerg Merz firing a shot at the top corner of goal shortly after the opening kick.  The two teams then settled into a midfield battle, with few chances on either side of much quality.  Martin Sosa kept the match interesting with his witty banter with the referee during the many stoppages in play that occurred during the first 45 minutes.  At the half, the score was 0-0 with a roughly even split in possession.  The second half brought more of the same, with Temple making probing moves forward only to be stopped by the YFC back line, while YFC were content to attack on the counter but were also unable to generate more than free-kicks and corners near the Temple area.  Antonio Rabelo rattled the woodwork with a deft 25-yard free-kick, but that was the closest YFC came before the deadlock was broken.  With Sikh Temple seemingly contained up the right side, a ball that looked to have left the field of play was played as a hopeful cross into the YFC box.  Somehow, it hung in the air and snuck under the bar to undeservingly put Sikh Temple ahead with about 10 minutes to play.  Unfortunately, this seemed to unhinge YFC’s good positional play.  A subsequent scramble minutes later, after YFC had two solid chances to equalize at the other end, saw a tackle by sweeper Allyn Fong result in a red card after vocal appeals by the Sikh Temple players and sideline to the referee.  With YFC continuing to press to equalize, 3 minutes from time Sikh Temple found an attacker in alone on goal and he didn’t miss to put the game away at 2-0.  Unfortunately, a good effort led to a poor result, but the YFC squad can build on a solid effort next monday, when they face the Norvan JB’s in North Van.