Yea they are out. It also says extra div 3 team up next year. So, last year only one team went up to div 1 once akal folded. This year how many div 2 teams going down? Only two plus spot of squamish team, or will it be three plus the spot of squamish team? Vmsl needs to have a rule about this so every year its not the same. vmsl needs to be consistent.
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Div 2 [VMSL DIV 2] Predictions, Results & Banter 2017/2018
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Canucks4Ever
Well-Known Member
Obviously still early days but starting to see a few trends in the two pools.
On the A side, Metro Ford's Week 2 win over 13th Legion means that they are certainly the clear favourites for the group. No one is expecting them to run the table, but an early 3 point edge on the team likely to be their main rivals shouldn't be overlooked. Bombastic looks to have established itself as the best of the rest, however their strength of schedule to start the season is nothing to be overwhelmed with. They took 7 points off the current bottom three, before a fairly impressive win over Strikers this past weekend. They play the aforementioned 13th Legion this weekend, so a true test of there merit and I would suggest the Legioners are heavy favourites. Bombastic, though, have to be happy as, if I remember correctly, it took Bombastic until the New Year to reach this point total last season. Points on the board and an early buffer on the relegation race certainly will be a welcome change of pace for the East Van boys and, with the parity on the A side this year, maybe they end up within striking distance of a Provincial Cup berth.
Other surprises on the A side are Royal City and Rino's both sitting on zero points. As a promoted team Royal City were always likely to have to fit to establish themselves at this level and, while their promotion cousins Metro Ford are the exception rather than the rule when it comes to promoted teams, their other fellow promoted teams (Bosna and Westside) are having an easier time getting their feet in, arguably, the more challenging of the two pools. The New West boys are bleeding goals at the back, 22 against in 4 games and one has to believe that the brothers who carried them to a Division 3 title last season are either no longer involved or have somehow lost a step. Rino's is a real surprise to be on no points, but they are a veteran group and many of them played Division 1 last season. Clearly they are more CAT than Div. 1 at the moment, but I would expect to see them steady themselves and move away from the drop zone in due course.
Twin Arrows is rooted to the bottom on the B side and that is perhaps to be expected given that they needed to survive a relegation playoff last year to ensure another season in Division 2. At the other end of the table, the top four look poised to breakaway from the chasing pack. Provincial B Champions, Greencaps, are on top, unbeaten with 10 points through four games. They will have a good test against Gastown this weekend who sit fourth and unbeaten as well on 8 points. Recently relegated Metropolitan and Shaheen, sitting in second and third respectively, can continue their climbs back towards Division 1 with wins this weekend against Punjab Tigers and Sarajevo, both of whom are among the mid-table pack who will be looking to pick up enough point to end up closer to the Provincial place, instead of the relegation race.
On the A side, Metro Ford's Week 2 win over 13th Legion means that they are certainly the clear favourites for the group. No one is expecting them to run the table, but an early 3 point edge on the team likely to be their main rivals shouldn't be overlooked. Bombastic looks to have established itself as the best of the rest, however their strength of schedule to start the season is nothing to be overwhelmed with. They took 7 points off the current bottom three, before a fairly impressive win over Strikers this past weekend. They play the aforementioned 13th Legion this weekend, so a true test of there merit and I would suggest the Legioners are heavy favourites. Bombastic, though, have to be happy as, if I remember correctly, it took Bombastic until the New Year to reach this point total last season. Points on the board and an early buffer on the relegation race certainly will be a welcome change of pace for the East Van boys and, with the parity on the A side this year, maybe they end up within striking distance of a Provincial Cup berth.
Other surprises on the A side are Royal City and Rino's both sitting on zero points. As a promoted team Royal City were always likely to have to fit to establish themselves at this level and, while their promotion cousins Metro Ford are the exception rather than the rule when it comes to promoted teams, their other fellow promoted teams (Bosna and Westside) are having an easier time getting their feet in, arguably, the more challenging of the two pools. The New West boys are bleeding goals at the back, 22 against in 4 games and one has to believe that the brothers who carried them to a Division 3 title last season are either no longer involved or have somehow lost a step. Rino's is a real surprise to be on no points, but they are a veteran group and many of them played Division 1 last season. Clearly they are more CAT than Div. 1 at the moment, but I would expect to see them steady themselves and move away from the drop zone in due course.
Twin Arrows is rooted to the bottom on the B side and that is perhaps to be expected given that they needed to survive a relegation playoff last year to ensure another season in Division 2. At the other end of the table, the top four look poised to breakaway from the chasing pack. Provincial B Champions, Greencaps, are on top, unbeaten with 10 points through four games. They will have a good test against Gastown this weekend who sit fourth and unbeaten as well on 8 points. Recently relegated Metropolitan and Shaheen, sitting in second and third respectively, can continue their climbs back towards Division 1 with wins this weekend against Punjab Tigers and Sarajevo, both of whom are among the mid-table pack who will be looking to pick up enough point to end up closer to the Provincial place, instead of the relegation race.
Football.Goalie
New Member
does everybody knows who the twin arrows keeper is ?
Canucks4Ever
Well-Known Member
Football.Goalie
New Member
The guy with the joint worst GAA in the pool...?
Lol, i was just watching the game last week, Twin arrows vs metropolitan he was insane
Canucks4Ever
Well-Known Member
Whoa, Lupi drop points in back to back weeks, this time with a draw to lower table VUFC, which bring things back into a dead heat with the 13th Legion boys in 2A. Strikers, the team that beat Lupi last week are also tied atop the table on 16 points, but have payed a match extra.
Greencaps with some separation in 2B as we close in on the half way mark of the season. Metropolitan are their closest rivals as they bid to bounce immediately back up; 6 points back but with a game in hand. Those two are set to play in Match Week 11, right before we make the turn.
Greencaps with some separation in 2B as we close in on the half way mark of the season. Metropolitan are their closest rivals as they bid to bounce immediately back up; 6 points back but with a game in hand. Those two are set to play in Match Week 11, right before we make the turn.
Good start by the Greencaps.twin arrows seemed to have pulled there socks up getting 4 points in the last 2 games. Harps and Snipers look weaker than last year. Shaheen look like a quality side but havent had the best results big win for the greencaps against them.big loss for Bombastic 4-1 at home to merlaoma. Are both these teams still playing on grass?
Serbia 2-2 NK hrvat
Being a spectator watching this game got me very excited and hyped up about football again. You could tell from start of the game that the rivalry was all there and it showed on the field with a lot of challenges finished. Serbia took early lead and took it to Nk early and scored within 10 min and then Nk responded with a goal soon after to make it 1-1 at half. 2nd half had a racial slur from #9 I believe of Serbia. This got very heated to the point where the ref was thinking of calling the game but eventually continued. Serbia got a fortunate bounce and capitalize on a breakaway but Nk didn't give up and equalized with about 15 min to go. Wild game
Being a spectator watching this game got me very excited and hyped up about football again. You could tell from start of the game that the rivalry was all there and it showed on the field with a lot of challenges finished. Serbia took early lead and took it to Nk early and scored within 10 min and then Nk responded with a goal soon after to make it 1-1 at half. 2nd half had a racial slur from #9 I believe of Serbia. This got very heated to the point where the ref was thinking of calling the game but eventually continued. Serbia got a fortunate bounce and capitalize on a breakaway but Nk didn't give up and equalized with about 15 min to go. Wild game
NucksNation
New Member
looks like the drought is over for the new west boys (Royal city).. speaking to one of the guys that plays for one of the teams.. he said Royal city controlled the match really well from beginning and was up 2-0 at half.. 10mins in or so in 2nd half they scored another 3-0 and NK switched formation and some of their players around to push with 3 in the back and scored 1, they kept the pressure up to make 3-2 but not enough to save a point or all 3 for NK..apparently Royal city never had a full team till this game.. been relying on their Div3 team that's not doing too good themselves.. and calling up players from O35 team.. season is just halfway, these two teams meet one more time as the last game of the season and it could be a relegation battle.
Congrats. I really feel bad for Royal that they couldnt field the strongest side up to now. We know that all other teams in both div2 have been playing every game with their strongest starting 11. Maybe they should ask the league for first round rematches. You never know.
Liam O'Dowd
New Member
Any Result from the Westside vs Shaheen game??
Canucks4Ever
Well-Known Member
Excellent Site has it at 3-3. Heard a crazy story that Westside's keeper tied it off a corner in injury time.
At the half way point, Greencaps are looking set to follow up their Provincial B Cup Championship with a promotion to Division 1; their eight point cushion in 2B already looks insurmountable. On the other side CMF Lupi and 13 Legion look to be in a grudge match to go up and it should be a really interesting battle. Will the Legion be able to draw on their experience from just missing out last season? Or will CMF's overwhelming momentum from two seasons of almost constant winning carry them to another promotion? Huge tilt between those two in a couple of weeks time and then it will be a matter of which group can hold serve against the rest of the league.
Big win for "full strength" Royal City; relegation races on both sides both very much wide open.
Took in second half of 13th Legion and Metro Ford Lupi at Empire on Saturday. Lupi looked very impressive. Move the ball around quickly and won 4-1 in the end. They play some nice football.
Not sure how much that flattered them - it was 2-1 when I got there, with Legion pressing hard for the equaliser - but they could easily have had a couple more by the end.
Grabbed their fourth goal on video, and the tail end of their third.
Also saw a little bit of Vancouver Greencaps v Harps at Trillium in between watching Rino's and Pegasus. Finished 1-1. A feisty a match between two Celtic sides as you'd expect!
Not sure how much that flattered them - it was 2-1 when I got there, with Legion pressing hard for the equaliser - but they could easily have had a couple more by the end.
Grabbed their fourth goal on video, and the tail end of their third.
Also saw a little bit of Vancouver Greencaps v Harps at Trillium in between watching Rino's and Pegasus. Finished 1-1. A feisty a match between two Celtic sides as you'd expect!
Canucks4Ever
Well-Known Member
That Lupi win over 13th Legion all but ends the promotion discussion. Tough to see where Legion can make up the five point that they now find themselves adrift over the final nine games of the season. Certainly not impossible, but it would take a pretty epic meltdown from CMF and nothing they have shown us to this point would suggest that is likely. Same story in 2B where Greencaps continue to cruise, despite dropping two points to Harps this past week. They are nine points up on Metropolitan, though Students do have an extra game to play. Those two don't meet until the final match of the season, so if the Irish lads do take their foot off the gas that could be an epic clash to decide things right at the death, but the way things are headed at the moment it's looking more likely to be merely academic.
Big win for Hrvat in the 2A relegation race as they leave new boys Royal City five point back at the bottom of the table and looking odds on for an immediate return to Div. 3. NK will now try to focus on pulling themselves all the way out of trouble and dodging the cross over relegation playoff. In 2B things are wide open at the bottom with Euro, Twin Arrows and former Div 1. boys Sarajevo all within a point of each other. Twin Arrows and Sarajevo have a game in hand over Euro and newly promoted Bosna are far from safe on 11 points, especially when they are forfeiting games as they did two weeks ago. Should be a fun race to watch over the second half.
Big win for Hrvat in the 2A relegation race as they leave new boys Royal City five point back at the bottom of the table and looking odds on for an immediate return to Div. 3. NK will now try to focus on pulling themselves all the way out of trouble and dodging the cross over relegation playoff. In 2B things are wide open at the bottom with Euro, Twin Arrows and former Div 1. boys Sarajevo all within a point of each other. Twin Arrows and Sarajevo have a game in hand over Euro and newly promoted Bosna are far from safe on 11 points, especially when they are forfeiting games as they did two weeks ago. Should be a fun race to watch over the second half.
Canucks4Ever
Well-Known Member
Getting set for the home stretch in Division 2 and the two groups are almost a complete dichotomy of each other. One has a promotion race that is, somehow, still on going, while the other has seemingly known it's champion for some time now. However, that side boasts an incredibly tight relegation battle as opposed to one that is, for all intents and purposes, decided. As for the Provincial spots, well that riddle will likely go right down to the wire to solve. Let's take a look and see if we can't reason out how all this is going to finish up.
2A
A bit of a strange look to this table with newly promoted teams at either end. At the top Coquitlam Metro Ford seem to refuse to want to win this group. Despite twice placing themselves out of reach of their pursuers they continue to drop inexplicable points. Certainly their form from last season never saw them slip up to teams in the lower reaches of the table, but clearly the level is higher in Division 2 compared to Division 3 and the teams at the bottom have something to play for as they try desperately to remain in the league. Of the points CMF have dropped, their only loss came to third placed Strikers, but they have two draws, one against seventh placed VUFC and, most recently, a 0-0 before the break against relegation threatened NK Hrvat. They still control their own fate though, with a game in hand over their promotion rivals, but no longer have any room for error. 13th Legion are currently second, level on points but having played a game extra, however, after dropping all six points on offer to Lupi they will require further missteps from the league leaders if they are to avoid a disappointing second place finish in consecutive years. Vancouver Strikers, the only team to beat Lupi this season, as mentioned, will need to do so again when the two meet in January and hope that someone else on the docket can replicate their success if they hope to pull of a last minute miracle and win the group. After going to the wire with Rino's Fury for promotion two season's ago, Strikers were a non-factor in the promotion race last year. They seem to have recaptured their winning ways for this campaign, but are looking likely to miss out on promotion. This year's surprise package, Bomabastic, are still technically in the promotion race as well, though they, like Strikers, must beat Coquitlam and hope for some help if they are to go up. After a 2-0 loss to Strikers before the break and with 13th Legion awaiting on the other side and then Lupi in their penultimate fixture, it is likely an uphill battle for the East Van crew. That being said, a spot in the Provincials looks very much on the cards and that should surely be considered a success for a team that has taken advantage of being in arguably the weaker of the two pools and is more accustomed to a relegation battle than one for promotion.
Speaking of relegation, the battle in 2A appears all but settled. Newly promoted Royal City SC look set for an immediate return to Division 3 which is surprising given how effective the Gray brothers were at the lower level last season. While Division 3 is obviously a step down, it's still somewhat hard to believe that they have only four goals apiece and their team has a woeful 1-0-13 record. Barring a miracle, their season is over given that they are seven points back of HK Hrvat and nine back of safety, having played a game more than Rino's. Hrvat's unexpected draw with Lupi gives them hope of escaping the relegation playoff that awaits the team finishing second bottom. After the break they will play the two teams directly ahead of them in the table in Rino's and Astro, so it's now or never for one of the VMSL's longest tenured clubs. Hrvat have been on a steady decline since five or six seasons ago when they were playing in Division 1 but it would be surprising to see them go down. They are generally a decent second half team and always seem to turn up in the Cup, so playing must win games down the stretch will likely bring the best out of them. Rino's Bulldogs I believe are a mix of some lower end players from last season when they had three teams in Division 1 along with what was left over from their CAT team. Looks like they have found their feet at this level though and there are likely enough points on the board for them against bottom half teams to avoid being dragged into relegation trouble. Astro on the other hand have lost four straight and have not won a game since beating Royal City 5-0 at the end of October. Their only three wins have come against the three teams below them in the table in Rino's, Hrvat and Royal City and they have already lost the reverse fixture against Rino's. Their league best five draws have kept them afloat, but safe to say their game against Hrvat after their bye week on the other side of Winter Break will be crucial. A loss there and there is every chance they will be playing a "bonus" game this season...
2B
Things are much more settled at the top in 2B. Defending Provincial B Champions, Greencaps, have backed up their cup win with what seems all but certain to be a title and promotion winning campaign. They will have a chance to defend their Provincial title before bidding the division adieu and trying their hand at the next level unless they somehow throw away their at least eight point lead (if Metropolitan win their game in hand, otherwise it is a 10 point lead) at the top. The only relegated team from Division 1 last season, Metropolitan, have put together a solid campaign, however, their performance against the top half of the league looks to be their undoing. They have losses to the other promotion contenders, Greencaps and Shaheen, and draws against the next four sides immediately below them in the table. It would take two losses by Greencaps and a perfect run from Metro to make their fixture scheduled for the final weekend of league play count for anything meaningful. Shaheen would need a similar perfect run combined with Greencaps losing more than three games to give them a shot at the title and a return to Division 1 after two seasons. Tough to see where all those dropped points will come, but I suppose it is possible and the VMSL has proven to be unpredictable once the page on the calendar turns.
The real battle in 2A is at the bottom. In their second season in Division 2 following relegation, Sarajevo are now staring down relegation to Division 3 as they currently prop up the table. They have lost seven straight, eight of their last nine and have not won since beating Twin Arrows back on October 15. Things are looking bleak for this former Division 2 champion, however, they held on in Division 1 and survived relegation battles in their time there and it is likely that the squad has enough quality to get the points they will require to avoid the drop. A relegation battle for Twin Arrows is nothing new after they survived the relegation playoff last season. They have moved off the bottom and now occupy that same playoff place, though they are within striking distance of safety. Newly promoted Bosna are hovering just above the relegation places, though they do have one and two games in hand over their rivals, but after a decent start their form has deteriorated. They have lost five of six which includes, rather disconcertingly, a pair of forfeits. One more failure to appear and they could well be out of the league, just like Sea to Sky in 2A. A major showdown with Twin Arrows looms as soon as play resumes in January as a loss could well doom Bosna, especially if they lose interest. If they were to drop out of the league, I believe that their first half results would still stand however, they have not yet played Twin Arrows, though it stands to reason that they will within a week's time. If the league were to keep their results from the first half, while it would likely infuriate Sarajevo, who lost to Bosna, it would surely mean that Bosna would have to count as the "relegated" team from 2B, as opposed to 2A where Sea to Sky have been removed and there is still a team to go down and then another to playoff. All in all it is rather murky waters and surely the VMSL would rather just Bosna stay in the league and avoid this altogether. Bosna's promotion cousins, Westside, look safe in seventh on 18 points, but Euro FC and one time promotion contenders, Snipers, would do well to pick up a few more points in order to ensure their safety.
The real battle though is hotting up for the Provincial Cup places. Setting aside for the moment the fact that two of the seven places are reserved for the Division 2 Cup finalists, let's just assume for now that those two teams will come from the top seven finishers. 2B has lived up to it's billing with only Provincial Champions Greencaps unscathed while having five former Division 1 sides in the group has seen them cannibalize each other. In 2A Bombastic has taken advantage of an arguably weaker pool and shot into Provincial contention. After the top four on each side there is some separation, so it looks like eight teams competing for seven spots, though perhaps Harps or BC Tigers in 2B could catch fire and make things interesting. Presumably the league will have to use points per game to determine the spots given that 2A has one less team thanks to Sea to Sky leaving the league, which might just give those sides in 2A a slight edge if they can continue to produce points at the same rate as their 2B counterparts. From 2A the contenders are Lupi, Legion, Strikers and Bombastic while in 2B it is Greencaps, Shaheen, Metro and Gastown.
Predictions:
Promotion 2A - Coquitlam Metro Ford Lupi; despite not being able to coast to the finish line, they will have only themselves to blame if they bottle this one.
Promotion 2B - Vancouver Greencaps; all but out of sight already, it would take a monumental collapse to see the Irish lads in Div. 2 again next season.
Relegation 2A - Royal City SC; the gap looks just too big for the New West boys and, given their record to date, there's no real reason to expect the kind of drastic improvement that they will require. Will be interesting to say where this leaves their program going forward.
Relegation 2B - Bosna SC; the warning signs are there for the newly promoted side and with experienced sides below them it is set to be a very dodgy second half, if they even manage to stay in the VMSL at all, given propensity to forfeit matches.
Relegation Playoff - Astro FC v Twin Arrows; nothing new here for Twin Arrows as they will battle to stay in the league once more. Astro have a tough schedule in the second half and their overall record is not exactly cause for reassurance.
Provincials - Coquitlam Metro Ford Lupi and Vancouver Greencaps as Division Champions along with 13th Legion, Vancouver Strikers, Shaheen FC, Metropolitan and Bombastic who ride an easier schedule and higher points per game ratio into an appearance at the dance.
I look forward to being way off base on all of these prognostications, but will enjoy watching it all unfold nonetheless. Good luck in 2018!
2A
A bit of a strange look to this table with newly promoted teams at either end. At the top Coquitlam Metro Ford seem to refuse to want to win this group. Despite twice placing themselves out of reach of their pursuers they continue to drop inexplicable points. Certainly their form from last season never saw them slip up to teams in the lower reaches of the table, but clearly the level is higher in Division 2 compared to Division 3 and the teams at the bottom have something to play for as they try desperately to remain in the league. Of the points CMF have dropped, their only loss came to third placed Strikers, but they have two draws, one against seventh placed VUFC and, most recently, a 0-0 before the break against relegation threatened NK Hrvat. They still control their own fate though, with a game in hand over their promotion rivals, but no longer have any room for error. 13th Legion are currently second, level on points but having played a game extra, however, after dropping all six points on offer to Lupi they will require further missteps from the league leaders if they are to avoid a disappointing second place finish in consecutive years. Vancouver Strikers, the only team to beat Lupi this season, as mentioned, will need to do so again when the two meet in January and hope that someone else on the docket can replicate their success if they hope to pull of a last minute miracle and win the group. After going to the wire with Rino's Fury for promotion two season's ago, Strikers were a non-factor in the promotion race last year. They seem to have recaptured their winning ways for this campaign, but are looking likely to miss out on promotion. This year's surprise package, Bomabastic, are still technically in the promotion race as well, though they, like Strikers, must beat Coquitlam and hope for some help if they are to go up. After a 2-0 loss to Strikers before the break and with 13th Legion awaiting on the other side and then Lupi in their penultimate fixture, it is likely an uphill battle for the East Van crew. That being said, a spot in the Provincials looks very much on the cards and that should surely be considered a success for a team that has taken advantage of being in arguably the weaker of the two pools and is more accustomed to a relegation battle than one for promotion.
Speaking of relegation, the battle in 2A appears all but settled. Newly promoted Royal City SC look set for an immediate return to Division 3 which is surprising given how effective the Gray brothers were at the lower level last season. While Division 3 is obviously a step down, it's still somewhat hard to believe that they have only four goals apiece and their team has a woeful 1-0-13 record. Barring a miracle, their season is over given that they are seven points back of HK Hrvat and nine back of safety, having played a game more than Rino's. Hrvat's unexpected draw with Lupi gives them hope of escaping the relegation playoff that awaits the team finishing second bottom. After the break they will play the two teams directly ahead of them in the table in Rino's and Astro, so it's now or never for one of the VMSL's longest tenured clubs. Hrvat have been on a steady decline since five or six seasons ago when they were playing in Division 1 but it would be surprising to see them go down. They are generally a decent second half team and always seem to turn up in the Cup, so playing must win games down the stretch will likely bring the best out of them. Rino's Bulldogs I believe are a mix of some lower end players from last season when they had three teams in Division 1 along with what was left over from their CAT team. Looks like they have found their feet at this level though and there are likely enough points on the board for them against bottom half teams to avoid being dragged into relegation trouble. Astro on the other hand have lost four straight and have not won a game since beating Royal City 5-0 at the end of October. Their only three wins have come against the three teams below them in the table in Rino's, Hrvat and Royal City and they have already lost the reverse fixture against Rino's. Their league best five draws have kept them afloat, but safe to say their game against Hrvat after their bye week on the other side of Winter Break will be crucial. A loss there and there is every chance they will be playing a "bonus" game this season...
2B
Things are much more settled at the top in 2B. Defending Provincial B Champions, Greencaps, have backed up their cup win with what seems all but certain to be a title and promotion winning campaign. They will have a chance to defend their Provincial title before bidding the division adieu and trying their hand at the next level unless they somehow throw away their at least eight point lead (if Metropolitan win their game in hand, otherwise it is a 10 point lead) at the top. The only relegated team from Division 1 last season, Metropolitan, have put together a solid campaign, however, their performance against the top half of the league looks to be their undoing. They have losses to the other promotion contenders, Greencaps and Shaheen, and draws against the next four sides immediately below them in the table. It would take two losses by Greencaps and a perfect run from Metro to make their fixture scheduled for the final weekend of league play count for anything meaningful. Shaheen would need a similar perfect run combined with Greencaps losing more than three games to give them a shot at the title and a return to Division 1 after two seasons. Tough to see where all those dropped points will come, but I suppose it is possible and the VMSL has proven to be unpredictable once the page on the calendar turns.
The real battle in 2A is at the bottom. In their second season in Division 2 following relegation, Sarajevo are now staring down relegation to Division 3 as they currently prop up the table. They have lost seven straight, eight of their last nine and have not won since beating Twin Arrows back on October 15. Things are looking bleak for this former Division 2 champion, however, they held on in Division 1 and survived relegation battles in their time there and it is likely that the squad has enough quality to get the points they will require to avoid the drop. A relegation battle for Twin Arrows is nothing new after they survived the relegation playoff last season. They have moved off the bottom and now occupy that same playoff place, though they are within striking distance of safety. Newly promoted Bosna are hovering just above the relegation places, though they do have one and two games in hand over their rivals, but after a decent start their form has deteriorated. They have lost five of six which includes, rather disconcertingly, a pair of forfeits. One more failure to appear and they could well be out of the league, just like Sea to Sky in 2A. A major showdown with Twin Arrows looms as soon as play resumes in January as a loss could well doom Bosna, especially if they lose interest. If they were to drop out of the league, I believe that their first half results would still stand however, they have not yet played Twin Arrows, though it stands to reason that they will within a week's time. If the league were to keep their results from the first half, while it would likely infuriate Sarajevo, who lost to Bosna, it would surely mean that Bosna would have to count as the "relegated" team from 2B, as opposed to 2A where Sea to Sky have been removed and there is still a team to go down and then another to playoff. All in all it is rather murky waters and surely the VMSL would rather just Bosna stay in the league and avoid this altogether. Bosna's promotion cousins, Westside, look safe in seventh on 18 points, but Euro FC and one time promotion contenders, Snipers, would do well to pick up a few more points in order to ensure their safety.
The real battle though is hotting up for the Provincial Cup places. Setting aside for the moment the fact that two of the seven places are reserved for the Division 2 Cup finalists, let's just assume for now that those two teams will come from the top seven finishers. 2B has lived up to it's billing with only Provincial Champions Greencaps unscathed while having five former Division 1 sides in the group has seen them cannibalize each other. In 2A Bombastic has taken advantage of an arguably weaker pool and shot into Provincial contention. After the top four on each side there is some separation, so it looks like eight teams competing for seven spots, though perhaps Harps or BC Tigers in 2B could catch fire and make things interesting. Presumably the league will have to use points per game to determine the spots given that 2A has one less team thanks to Sea to Sky leaving the league, which might just give those sides in 2A a slight edge if they can continue to produce points at the same rate as their 2B counterparts. From 2A the contenders are Lupi, Legion, Strikers and Bombastic while in 2B it is Greencaps, Shaheen, Metro and Gastown.
Predictions:
Promotion 2A - Coquitlam Metro Ford Lupi; despite not being able to coast to the finish line, they will have only themselves to blame if they bottle this one.
Promotion 2B - Vancouver Greencaps; all but out of sight already, it would take a monumental collapse to see the Irish lads in Div. 2 again next season.
Relegation 2A - Royal City SC; the gap looks just too big for the New West boys and, given their record to date, there's no real reason to expect the kind of drastic improvement that they will require. Will be interesting to say where this leaves their program going forward.
Relegation 2B - Bosna SC; the warning signs are there for the newly promoted side and with experienced sides below them it is set to be a very dodgy second half, if they even manage to stay in the VMSL at all, given propensity to forfeit matches.
Relegation Playoff - Astro FC v Twin Arrows; nothing new here for Twin Arrows as they will battle to stay in the league once more. Astro have a tough schedule in the second half and their overall record is not exactly cause for reassurance.
Provincials - Coquitlam Metro Ford Lupi and Vancouver Greencaps as Division Champions along with 13th Legion, Vancouver Strikers, Shaheen FC, Metropolitan and Bombastic who ride an easier schedule and higher points per game ratio into an appearance at the dance.
I look forward to being way off base on all of these prognostications, but will enjoy watching it all unfold nonetheless. Good luck in 2018!
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