As kick off approached, a beautiful, sunny day in Vancouver turned grey and chilled as clouds gathered over the Rino’s home turf in Point Grey — surely it must be a clever metaphor. Inside the dressing room, anxiety grew as the Rino’s squad prepared themselves for an important matchup against the table leaders and former premier squad, Norvan.
Just when Rino’s chances looked most grim, general manager, Robert Freedman, announced that his back problems had improved! Was it a sign of better things to come?
Coach Ken
Adloff, much to the delight of Norvan’s strikers, opted for a warm and fuzzy-feeling defensive lineup, made up of Jordan Haas, Brent Hanson, John Bligh and Peter Bohdal. Throughout the game, they presented Norvan with ankle-embracing tackles, offering plenty of material for Norvan’s vocal coaching staff.
The first half was a tight engagement between both sides with several goal-scoring opportunities exchanged. The best of them came from leading goal-scorer, Charlie Carrick – he drove a low cross into the 6-yard box that was narrowly deflected by a Norvan defender leaving Charlie’s shorter and prettier sidekick, Cyrus Greenall, unable to continue his 6-game goal scoring streak (note from author: “F%@$!”). The rest of the half could be summed up with the following: late tackle outside the penalty area by Rino’s; dead ball for Norvan followed by a free kick over the net or into Tyler’s hands. Rinse. Repeat. The first half ended 0-0 with both sides unsatisfied as neither had really tested the keeper.
The second half started off with an eager Rino’s offense that delivered several counterattacks. The best came from a well-timed through pass from Charlie that a sprinting Cyrus managed to receive and touch past Norvan’s keeper. Unfortunately, a Norvan defender swept in and cleared the ball for a corner. On the ensuing play, a two-man corner led to a low, far post shot that just barely glanced the glove of Norvan’s keeper. The ball, now slightly redirected, hit the far post and bounced across the goal line until a Rino forward struck the ball only to have the Norvan keeper make another acrobatic stop.
Rino’s hard work eventually paid off after a brilliant diagonal pass from Dylan Smith that found Charlie Carrick inside Norvan’s 6 yard box. Charlie first-timed the shot into the back of Norvan’s net. 1-0, Rino’s. The goal charged up Norvan’s attack as they pressed nearly all of their players into Rino’s third of the field. Rino’s defense admirably weathered the proverbial storm and frustrated Norvan’s attack until a dangerous cross from Norvan’s wing landed on the foot of a Norvan attacker inside the 6-yard box who first-timed the shot into Rino’s goal. Score 1-1.
With only a few minutes left, each side traded chances but neither would test the keeper. Rino’s left the game with a hard-fought draw, but unsatisfied as 3 points were nearly within grasp. By the Norvan coach’s own admission, Rino’s defense “took no prisoners” – an apt description of the entire match.