The U15 rep Thunderbirds came back again in a hard-fought win at Kinnikinnick Park in Sechelt last Saturday to give them sole possession of second place in the gold one division.
Coming into the match tied with the visiting North Van Torrent, the Thunderbirds saw themselves over run in the early going and went down on a looping shot from 25 yards.
The goal seemed to wake the home team up and several outstanding saves by Issac Oka, solid defence by Will Magnussen, Quin Huibers, and Angelo Pinsonnault and hard work in the centre mid-field by Sean Pletz and Elliot Wadge, helped to see out the half without more damage.
The second half saw much more action in the North Van end and the visitors looked rattled as the T-Birds pressed well and their speedy strike force looked to even things up.
Inevitably Kai Hannsen broke free and found the onrushing Casey Baines whose deadly finish tied it up.
The visitors responded and won a penalty, but Isaac would not give, saving the penalty kick in a man-of-the-match performance.
With time running down and the T-Birds pushing for the win, Kai broke into the box and was brought down for a penalty kick, which he finished expertly for the win.
In a very tight division the win was massive, seeing the winner stay second and the loser drop to sixth.
The Thunderbirds play their first cup match at home this Saturday at 1:30 p.m. against the North Van Fury.
