The U17 Thunderbirds experienced an abrupt end to a great season on Saturday, April 8 as their Provincial Cup hopes were dashed when they were knocked out of the Coastal Cup at Kinnikinnick.
Tri-Cities champs Port Moody Barcelona, second in the 5 District League representing clubs east of Burnaby through Surrey and the Fraser Valley, travelled to the Coast Friday and arrived at the park well rested and ready for the big match.
As the week before, the T-Birds came out swinging and created several great scoring chances early on, but frustratingly they couldn’t find the back of the net, shooting wide, high and straight at the keeper. With neither team allowing the other time on the ball, the game developed into a tight and intense match until Barca found some luck as a ball in the box stuck a raised hand and they scored on the resulting penalty kick in what would turn out to be their only shot on goal all game.
The goal swung the game in the visitors favour for a time but a strong T-Birds defence denied them any more chances. The second half saw the Thunderbirds battle hard, keeping the bulk of play in the Barca end, and again created a number of good chances but just could not find the finish. With a last chance attack and everyone pushed up, keeper Isaac Oka’s shot on goal was well blocked at the whistle. The two-week break in the competition came a day late for the T-Birds injury woes, lacking their usual bite with all recognized strikers out or playing injured.
The loss capped off an otherwise good season for the boys where they lost just one league match since Oct. 1, went out late in two Cup competitions on penalties, won gold as North Shore District champs and silver in two tourneys, one playing in a U17/18 Division 1 group, which is a great accomplishment as a team composed of U16 and U17 players. The players can now relax with some fun Spring League soccer and the coaches can try to catch up on their lives before the new season sneaks up again.
– Submitted by Dean Schutz
