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Premier [VMSL Premier] Predictions, Results & Banter 2018/2019

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Soccer Coach

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To be honest, you make a really good point. I mean: it is not like they have not worked hard for it. In addition, they play nice style of soccer.
I do not miss the coaching, but I do miss the TPP. I really loved the back and forth here....
 

Soccer Coach

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To be honest, you make a really good point. I mean: it is not like they have not worked hard for it. In addition, they play nice style of soccer.
I do not miss the coaching, but I do miss the TPP. I really loved the back and forth here....
Ps. and I promise to stop trolling them until the end of the season. As much as I bitch and complain, I do like the UK sense of humour. They do it well.
 

Leblue

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Ps. and I promise to stop trolling them until the end of the season. As much as I bitch and complain, I do like the UK sense of humour. They do it well.

Take a team over before the end of the year make it interesting.....
Your old team could really use you they are struggling very badly
 

Canucks4Ever

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And so it is then that one team stands above all the rest at the top while another is left to toil alone at the bottom. Rino's and Campo, who sit at opposite poles of the table, both face a crucial couple of weeks as they look to consolidate, or to avoid consolidating, their respective spots. Meanwhile, the field is start to become unpredictable, with a one or two eyebrow raising seemingly each week. What's in store for this week? Let's take a look in the apparently "Official VMSL" endorsed preview...

Croatia v Club Inter EDC
In a bit of a surprise, Croatia abdicated their share of the league lead with a 2-1 loss to Metro Ford last week. Meanwhile Inter continued to take it on the chin as their sputtering offense, which had seemed to spark to life in a 4-4 draw against Rovers, failed to produce in a 1-0 loss to West Van. Even with the two goals they conceded last week, Croatia still boast the league's best defense having conceded just six goals through eight games. That is not exactly a great stat to be staring at if you are an Inter side trying to kick start a fickle attack. Croatia have a monumental showdown coming up in two week's time against Rino's before the schedule rolls over and the reverse fixtures begin. If they want to be in a position to potentially take back top spot, they cannot afford to drop any further points heading into that one. Inter are never a soft touch, but given Croatia's stout defensive record, I have to think they should be able to capitalize on a "Chinter" side that is out of form at the moment.

Rovers Tigers v Rino's Tigers
The battle of the jungle cats is the MOTW this week as defending champions Rovers welcome would be champions Rino's. Rovers seem to be experiencing a bit of a hangover from their National Championship win as they have yet to pick up three points domestically since their return. A back and forth 4-4 draw with Inter was followed up with a drab 1-0 loss to local rivals CCB. Last season, Rovers saw off the upstart Rino's at both times of asking, but they question will be is the motivation there, after winning a treble last year, for the Surrey side to do it all again? Rino's are certainly motivated as they have soared the top of the table behind a blistering offense that has posted 32 goals in eight games behind the league's leading scorer Declan Rodriguez and his 11 tallies. Rino's suffered a set back themselves this past weekend when they were held to only a 1-0 win again newly promoted NorVan. Indeed that is was qualifies as a poor outing these days for Rino's, given their only setback thus far was their outlandish 2-1 loss to lowly Richmond in Week 2. Their title winning credentials are set to be put to the test however over the next three weeks as they face defending champions Rovers this week, followed by their two closest title challengers so far this season, West Van and Croatia, to close out the first half of the schedule. The Vancouver based side will also be without their leading scorer for this encounter, as Rodriguez finds himself on the VMSL's hot sheet for yellow card accumulation. Even without their main marksman, Rino's still boast plenty of attacking threats, but so to do Rovers with the likes of talisman Pavi Dhillon and former TFC striker and National's MVP Nick Soolsma. It will be interesting to see how Rovers approach this encounter, because Rino's generally feast on teams that open up and attack them, with the league leaders generally ending up getting the better of teams that want to trade chances. This one should mean a lot in the Rino's camp, but it will be interesting to see how they fair shouldering the mantle of not coming into this one as vast underdogs. In fact, with Rovers current form, I would say that Rino's are slight favourites here.

Pegasus v Coquitlam Metro Ford
It is a battle of the underachievers in this one as still struggling Pegasus welcome stuck in first gear Coquitlam. Metro Ford posted easily their biggest result of the season to date last time out with a 2-1 win over then co-leaders Croatia. If not for that win, the Tri-Cities boys would come into this fixture level on seven points with Peg and both staring over their shoulders at the looming relegation battle. Instead, Metro Ford enjoy a three point advantage after coming from behind to claim all three points courtesy of a pair of second half Adam Jones strikes. Peg should be a bit desperate in this one though, after losing to relegation threatened Guildford last week, instead of a ten point gap from safety they could now finish the evening just a point up from the drop zone. Coquitlam are not scoring goals at all; their total of six for the season is joint worst in the league, but they have only conceded nine time which has helped keep them afloat to this point. It does not help that talisman and perennial golden boot contender, Carlo Basso, has not scored since Week 2, fueling speculation that he may not be fully available for Metro Ford. On the other side, Peg have been able to find the net, 17 goals for in eight games, but are conceding at an even greater rate, having allowed 21 goals over the same span. Stats like that would indicate that this game could likely go either way. If Coquitlam can suck the life out of the game, it is likely that a single tally could be the difference. If Peg force the game open, then it will become a question of if they can keep the ball out of their own net while they go in search of offense. Both teams could certainly use the points, so motivation should not be a factor. Toss a coin here, I'll split the difference and call it a draw.

Richmond Hibernian v Guildford
Easily this is the biggest match in Guildford's short Premier Division life. The Surrey side posted their first ever win at this level last week when they beat local neighbours Pegasus, coming from behind to claim a 2-1 victory. Despite their woeful start to life at top of the VMSL pyramid, they can ostensibly erase all of it if they can post a win this week against Richmond. That would pull them level with the boys from below sea level on six points ahead of Guildford's match against bottom of the league Campo next week where a win would more than likely be enough to lift them out of the relegation places. Winning three in a row would certainly be a tall order for a team that has struggled to score and, therefore, win to this point of the season, but the opportunity has been laid before them nonetheless. Richmond will not be in any mood to just simply roll over, especially considering that if Guildford are to climb out of the drop zone it will most likely be at the expense of Hibs. Richmond surged to their second win of the season by beating last place Campo 6-2. Their six goals in that one match eclipsed the four they had managed through seven games to that point and their six tallies were all notched by players not named Brad Caldwell, who had scored 100% of their goals coming into the game. This game is a massive relegation six-pointer and should be a cracker. Both teams have the taste for winning at the moment, but can one of them turn that into a momentum swinging victory? Richmond are usually tougher to beat at home than if they were on their travels, but I just have a gut feeling that Guildford will be more than up for this match. Having dragged themselves into Prem after three seasons toiling as a bridesmaid in Division 1 and then starting the season without a sniff, they now have a chance to get a foothold at this level. If they can stay up maybe they can build moving forward and have a chance to accomplish that, a win this week is pretty close to a must.

West Van v CCB LFC
CCB and their cast of all-stars finally stopped the rot with a big 1-0 win over local rivals Rovers. That performance also showcased some defensive prowess that one does not usually associate with the Surrey crew, as they posted their first clean sheet in almost a calendar year (the last one having been a 2-0 against Richmond on Nov. 10, 2017). It also snapped a streak of two losses in a row for CCB, and a run of just one win in five. West Van, meanwhile, vaulted into second place with their 1-0 win over Inter combined with Croatia's loss to Coquitlam, and remain within striking distance of first place Rino's. Assuming both can continue their winning ways, those two sides are on a collision course for a titanic showdown next week. The North Shore boys won't be able to simply disregard CCB as they were last season when the Surrey side opted not to make the trek out to Ambleside, instead choosing to forfeit. This time around CCB figure they should be in the Provincial Cup conversation and will be crossing two bridges with the express purpose of bringing the points back home with them. Given the talent on their roster, they certainly have every chance of accomplishing just that, however, an in form West Van have to be the favourites in this one.

NorVan v Campo Atletico
This week's free hit goes to NorVan as they welcome last place Campo to the North Shore. Despite the scorelines, Campo has actually been performing well, scoring early goals and remaining in with a chance in three of their last four games. They came from one down to hold a 2-1 lead before ultimately being smoked by CCB; they opened the scoring and again had a 2-1 edge over Pegasus before they acquiesced and lost and this past week, in a major relegation showdown, they twice fought back from a goal behind to have things level with less than half an hour to play. Once again though, their absolute inability to defend crippled them. Having conceded an astonishing 41 goals in only eight games, they are on pace to concede well over 100 goals through a 22 game season (just over 112 to be precise). NorVan have got their feet firmly under them after their promotion and can now turn their attention to competing for a Provincial Cup spot. After a giving a solid account of themselves in a 1-0 loss to league leaders, and offensive powerhouses, Rino's Tigers, this should be straightforward for NorVan against a porous Campo side.
 

Leblue

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Croatia 3-2 EDC Inter
Rovers 2-2 Rino's
Pegasus 1-2 Metro Ford
Richmond 2-0 Guilford
West Van 1-1 CCB
Norvan 5-3 Campo Atletico
 

Canucks4Ever

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Finally had the chance to make it out to some games and ended up at the double feature out at Newton.

Pegasus 1-6 CMF FT
Rovers 1-0 Rino's FT

Not a ton of free flowing football on display between Peg an Coquitlam as it look like two tentative teams who were out of form. Metro Ford hit the post early but it was mostly long balls to Basso that were asking alot of him and were easily defended. Pegasus meanwhile would get into the final third and then seem to run out of ideas. Coquitlam would take the lead when Basso was able to chest one down to little Adam Jones who tucked it in on the half volley. Peg would answer on a well worked counter attack to square thing before imploding just before the break. They Jones in space and he hit a bolt from the blue that curled beautifully into the top corner. Basso then took the chance to go down in the box for a clear penalty that Duliba had no hesitation in awarding, despite protests of a dive from the Peg camp. Metro gave the PK to Jones who rounded out his hat trick in under 45 minutes.

Over on the other field Rovers were boxing cleverly. They clearly read the book on Rino's and we're happy to let them have the majority of the ball. Rovers rode their luck a bit as well as some smart saves from their goalie then hit on the counter against the run of play. Pavi drifted one in from the right and Rino's keeper could only parry it into the top of the far corner, though he likely should have done better, don't think he was their regular starter. Rovers hunkered down and defended well, taking the pace out of the game whenever possible. Other than Rovers winding up in Reuben's book on repeated occasions for getting involved after the whistle, there wasn't much else of subtances in the first half.

Basso salted things away early in the second half for Metro Ford. Classic Basso, outmuscling the defender in a one v one and then slotting. Peg would hit the crossbar before going gently into that good night. Basso would nod in his second off a corner and Metro wound add another to round out the scoring, though CMF had chances for more.

Rino's continued to carry the play in the second half but more good defending and goalkeeping along with some luck kept Rovers in the ascendancy. The frame of the goal is as close as the league leaders would come as the defending champs held on for the win in a top class performance. It wasn't necessarily pretty but their resolute and last ditch defending was likely worthy of the points on this night.
 

Regs

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2 other scores from last night:

GFC 5-1 RFC
Interchile 3-2 Croats

GFC has now made the bottom of the table VERY interesting

upload_2018-11-3_5-43-10.png
 

Soccer Coach

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And so it is then that one team stands above all the rest at the top while another is left to toil alone at the bottom. Rino's and Campo, who sit at opposite poles of the table, both face a crucial couple of weeks as they look to consolidate, or to avoid consolidating, their respective spots. Meanwhile, the field is start to become unpredictable, with a one or two eyebrow raising seemingly each week. What's in store for this week? Let's take a look in the apparently "Official VMSL" endorsed preview...

Croatia v Club Inter EDC
In a bit of a surprise, Croatia abdicated their share of the league lead with a 2-1 loss to Metro Ford last week. Meanwhile Inter continued to take it on the chin as their sputtering offense, which had seemed to spark to life in a 4-4 draw against Rovers, failed to produce in a 1-0 loss to West Van. Even with the two goals they conceded last week, Croatia still boast the league's best defense having conceded just six goals through eight games. That is not exactly a great stat to be staring at if you are an Inter side trying to kick start a fickle attack. Croatia have a monumental showdown coming up in two week's time against Rino's before the schedule rolls over and the reverse fixtures begin. If they want to be in a position to potentially take back top spot, they cannot afford to drop any further points heading into that one. Inter are never a soft touch, but given Croatia's stout defensive record, I have to think they should be able to capitalize on a "Chinter" side that is out of form at the moment.

Rovers Tigers v Rino's Tigers
The battle of the jungle cats is the MOTW this week as defending champions Rovers welcome would be champions Rino's. Rovers seem to be experiencing a bit of a hangover from their National Championship win as they have yet to pick up three points domestically since their return. A back and forth 4-4 draw with Inter was followed up with a drab 1-0 loss to local rivals CCB. Last season, Rovers saw off the upstart Rino's at both times of asking, but they question will be is the motivation there, after winning a treble last year, for the Surrey side to do it all again? Rino's are certainly motivated as they have soared the top of the table behind a blistering offense that has posted 32 goals in eight games behind the league's leading scorer Declan Rodriguez and his 11 tallies. Rino's suffered a set back themselves this past weekend when they were held to only a 1-0 win again newly promoted NorVan. Indeed that is was qualifies as a poor outing these days for Rino's, given their only setback thus far was their outlandish 2-1 loss to lowly Richmond in Week 2. Their title winning credentials are set to be put to the test however over the next three weeks as they face defending champions Rovers this week, followed by their two closest title challengers so far this season, West Van and Croatia, to close out the first half of the schedule. The Vancouver based side will also be without their leading scorer for this encounter, as Rodriguez finds himself on the VMSL's hot sheet for yellow card accumulation. Even without their main marksman, Rino's still boast plenty of attacking threats, but so to do Rovers with the likes of talisman Pavi Dhillon and former TFC striker and National's MVP Nick Soolsma. It will be interesting to see how Rovers approach this encounter, because Rino's generally feast on teams that open up and attack them, with the league leaders generally ending up getting the better of teams that want to trade chances. This one should mean a lot in the Rino's camp, but it will be interesting to see how they fair shouldering the mantle of not coming into this one as vast underdogs. In fact, with Rovers current form, I would say that Rino's are slight favourites here.

Pegasus v Coquitlam Metro Ford
It is a battle of the underachievers in this one as still struggling Pegasus welcome stuck in first gear Coquitlam. Metro Ford posted easily their biggest result of the season to date last time out with a 2-1 win over then co-leaders Croatia. If not for that win, the Tri-Cities boys would come into this fixture level on seven points with Peg and both staring over their shoulders at the looming relegation battle. Instead, Metro Ford enjoy a three point advantage after coming from behind to claim all three points courtesy of a pair of second half Adam Jones strikes. Peg should be a bit desperate in this one though, after losing to relegation threatened Guildford last week, instead of a ten point gap from safety they could now finish the evening just a point up from the drop zone. Coquitlam are not scoring goals at all; their total of six for the season is joint worst in the league, but they have only conceded nine time which has helped keep them afloat to this point. It does not help that talisman and perennial golden boot contender, Carlo Basso, has not scored since Week 2, fueling speculation that he may not be fully available for Metro Ford. On the other side, Peg have been able to find the net, 17 goals for in eight games, but are conceding at an even greater rate, having allowed 21 goals over the same span. Stats like that would indicate that this game could likely go either way. If Coquitlam can suck the life out of the game, it is likely that a single tally could be the difference. If Peg force the game open, then it will become a question of if they can keep the ball out of their own net while they go in search of offense. Both teams could certainly use the points, so motivation should not be a factor. Toss a coin here, I'll split the difference and call it a draw.

Richmond Hibernian v Guildford
Easily this is the biggest match in Guildford's short Premier Division life. The Surrey side posted their first ever win at this level last week when they beat local neighbours Pegasus, coming from behind to claim a 2-1 victory. Despite their woeful start to life at top of the VMSL pyramid, they can ostensibly erase all of it if they can post a win this week against Richmond. That would pull them level with the boys from below sea level on six points ahead of Guildford's match against bottom of the league Campo next week where a win would more than likely be enough to lift them out of the relegation places. Winning three in a row would certainly be a tall order for a team that has struggled to score and, therefore, win to this point of the season, but the opportunity has been laid before them nonetheless. Richmond will not be in any mood to just simply roll over, especially considering that if Guildford are to climb out of the drop zone it will most likely be at the expense of Hibs. Richmond surged to their second win of the season by beating last place Campo 6-2. Their six goals in that one match eclipsed the four they had managed through seven games to that point and their six tallies were all notched by players not named Brad Caldwell, who had scored 100% of their goals coming into the game. This game is a massive relegation six-pointer and should be a cracker. Both teams have the taste for winning at the moment, but can one of them turn that into a momentum swinging victory? Richmond are usually tougher to beat at home than if they were on their travels, but I just have a gut feeling that Guildford will be more than up for this match. Having dragged themselves into Prem after three seasons toiling as a bridesmaid in Division 1 and then starting the season without a sniff, they now have a chance to get a foothold at this level. If they can stay up maybe they can build moving forward and have a chance to accomplish that, a win this week is pretty close to a must.

West Van v CCB LFC
CCB and their cast of all-stars finally stopped the rot with a big 1-0 win over local rivals Rovers. That performance also showcased some defensive prowess that one does not usually associate with the Surrey crew, as they posted their first clean sheet in almost a calendar year (the last one having been a 2-0 against Richmond on Nov. 10, 2017). It also snapped a streak of two losses in a row for CCB, and a run of just one win in five. West Van, meanwhile, vaulted into second place with their 1-0 win over Inter combined with Croatia's loss to Coquitlam, and remain within striking distance of first place Rino's. Assuming both can continue their winning ways, those two sides are on a collision course for a titanic showdown next week. The North Shore boys won't be able to simply disregard CCB as they were last season when the Surrey side opted not to make the trek out to Ambleside, instead choosing to forfeit. This time around CCB figure they should be in the Provincial Cup conversation and will be crossing two bridges with the express purpose of bringing the points back home with them. Given the talent on their roster, they certainly have every chance of accomplishing just that, however, an in form West Van have to be the favourites in this one.

NorVan v Campo Atletico
This week's free hit goes to NorVan as they welcome last place Campo to the North Shore. Despite the scorelines, Campo has actually been performing well, scoring early goals and remaining in with a chance in three of their last four games. They came from one down to hold a 2-1 lead before ultimately being smoked by CCB; they opened the scoring and again had a 2-1 edge over Pegasus before they acquiesced and lost and this past week, in a major relegation showdown, they twice fought back from a goal behind to have things level with less than half an hour to play. Once again though, their absolute inability to defend crippled them. Having conceded an astonishing 41 goals in only eight games, they are on pace to concede well over 100 goals through a 22 game season (just over 112 to be precise). NorVan have got their feet firmly under them after their promotion and can now turn their attention to competing for a Provincial Cup spot. After a giving a solid account of themselves in a 1-0 loss to league leaders, and offensive powerhouses, Rino's Tigers, this should be straightforward for NorVan against a porous Campo side.

Oh well....I am glad that you finally have accepted that this is one of the "unofficial" propaganda and "damage control" accounts from the VMSL. Please do not take me wrong. It is appreciated that the VMSL tries to do this. Why not be straightforward like the FVSL?

In any case, this is explains why many of your comments do not resemble what is going on the field. I am still scratching my head to the comment "Campo has been performing quite well"
They just got annihilated once again. This time 7-0 by Norvan. What are you watching on the field?
I am seriously thinking of covering some of the games from a truly realistic and critical point of view instead of this Camel News type of coverage. The same for @GoF . Some journalism please instead of hidden propaganda.
 

Leblue

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Oh well....I am glad that you finally have accepted that this is one of the "unofficial" propaganda and "damage control" accounts from the VMSL. Please do not take me wrong. It is appreciated that the VMSL tries to do this. Why not be straightforward like the FVSL?

In any case, this is explains why many of your comments do not resemble what is going on the field. I am still scratching my head to the comment "Campo has been performing quite well"
They just got annihilated once again. This time 7-0 by Norvan. What are you watching on the field?
I am seriously thinking of covering some of the games from a truly realistic and critical point of view instead of this Camel News type of coverage. The same for @GoF . Some journalism please instead of hidden propaganda.

Some very interesting games this weekend and some surprising scores.
Today I had the opportunity to see a little bit of the West Van and CCB game and also the Norvan vs Campo Atletico game, and I must say I don't know what Atletico is doing in Premier division it is almost embarrassing what is happening to them.
Not sure what kind of a connection SoccerCoach has with Atletico but it sure seems they could have used him so far as it didn't look pleasant out there........
 

SmartCoach

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Some very interesting games this weekend and some surprising scores.
Today I had the opportunity to see a little bit of the West Van and CCB game and also the Norvan vs Campo Atletico game, and I must say I don't know what Atletico is doing in Premier division it is almost embarrassing what is happening to them.
Not sure what kind of a connection SoccerCoach has with Atletico but it sure seems they could have used him so far as it didn't look pleasant out there........
How was your trip from Kelowna
 

Leblue

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Metro Ford 3-0 Richmond
Inter EDC 2-1 Pegasus
CCB 1-1 Croatia SC
Campo Atletico 1-4 Guilford
Rino's 2-1 West Van
Norvan 2-2 Rovers
 

Canucks4Ever

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Perhaps there was some stage fright at the top last week because each one of the top three teams failed to get a win. The way the schedule is set up for the next two weeks before we reset and begin the reverse fixtures, it will be impossible for them all to avoid dropping points. Rino's play both West Van and Croatia, so they can either stride out into a healthy lead on top, or we could be set up to have the type of title race that we have been lacking over the past couple seasons. Things are getting just as interesting for the second relegation spot down at the bottom as well, so there is plenty to keep an eye on this weekend.

Completely Baseless Predictions - Week 10

Coquitlam Metro Ford v Richmond Hibernian
Richmond failed to build off their vital win over Campo when they were smashed, at home, by fellow strugglers Guildford. The match was an opportunity for Hibs to really put a strangle hold on safety, but instead are in more danger than even. Unless Richmond can bounce back with a result this week, it is likely that they will sit in the drop zone by the end of the weekend. A look at their upcoming run of fixtures would then beg the question of when could they reasonably expect to escape? Coquitlam made no such mistake in their last outing. They were hovering on the fringes of the relegation battle themselves, but thrashed Pegasus to give themselves some breathing room and move them instead closer to the Provincial Cup fight. Adam Jones has become an instant star for Coquitlam Metro Ford, with five goals in his last two games. Jones had both goals in their come from behind win against Croatia two weeks ago and followed that up with a first half hat trick against Peg. He now has the same amount of goals as Metro Ford's long serving talisman Carlo Basso, who was himself finally back on the score sheet with a brace against Pegasus, and it has been a long time since anyone rivaled him for the Metro Ford scoring lead. Having conceded 33 goals so far this season, Richmond simply have no answer for that kind of two-headed scoring monster. Look for Jones and Basso to lead the charge for the Tri-Cities boys over the boys from below sea level this week.

Club Inter EDC v Pegasus
A return for Mohammed Habib to the score sheet correlated exactly with a return to form for Inter. Habib had the winner late in Inter's come back from 2-0 to beat Croatia 3-2. It was his sixth goal of the season and first since Inter's Week 3 win over Campo as he has been hampered by injury since then. The once Chilean's have suffered greatly without his goals, going winless without his contributions. While "Chinter" will relish in being back in the win column, they will need to buck that trend if they are to remain there, as Habib is on the naughty list this week for yellow card accumulation. A blessing then for Pegasus who started brightly enough against Coquitlam last weekend before utterly collapsing and losing 6-1. It has been a woeful start to the year for the Surrey outfit who sit just one point above the relegation places and who seem to lack any real conviction to their play at the minute. For a team that is a perennial top side and almost automatic Provincial Cup participant, this is unfamiliar territory. It is obviously still early, but it is almost time to accept that an invitation to the post-season dance is probably going to be a stretch and, instead, focus on finding the points they will need to stay in the league. A relegation battle is not something this squad is designed for however, so you have to wonder if they have the fortitude for it. They certainly have the talent, players like Sahil Sandu, Javid Gill and Daniel Sagno have proven their VMSL credentials, but right now it is just not all coming together. This is an interesting one because Peg can never simply be written off, especially when Inter have a woeful record without Habib. However, based on form, I have to think Inter will have enough even without their leading scorer to pick up the points here.

CCB LFC v Croatia
A massive missed opportunity for Croatia last week as, after relinquishing their spot as co-leaders following their loss to Coquitlam the previous week, they squandered a chance to pull back level with first place Rino's who lost to Rovers. Even more frustrating for the Europeans is the manner in which they let this chance slip away, given that they were 2-0 up and in control against Inter before shipping three goals over the final 25 minutes to lose 3-2. Fortunately for Croatia, CCB did them a favour by holding West Van to a 1-1 draw. With West Van playing Rino's this week, and Croatia having their shot a Rino's next week, the have the chance to come away from this dip in form relatively unscathed. That is of course dependent upon them stopping the rot and getting things back on track beginning immediately this week with a result over CCB. The Surrey side, as mentioned, played second place West Van to a 1-1 draw last time out and this followed a 1-0 over treble winners Rovers the week before. This represents a much needed return to form for CCB who were expecting to challenge near the top of the league with the all-star squad they spent the summer assembling. More importantly it represents a much needed uptick in defensive form. The Surrey side had given up 15 goals over the first seven games of the season, easily the most outside of the four relegation threatened teams, but have conceded just once over the past two games. If they can continue with this level of performance, they win have a chance to climb the table and likely lock up a Provincial Cup berth. This match could easily go either way now that CCB have shown that they can hang with the boys. I am going to tip Croatia here though based on the fact that, with other results, they have been handed a chance to get out of jail free after their recent form and this is an opportunity that they simply cannot afford to waste.

Campo Atletico v Guildford
If you are wondering what that smell is in the air around the Guildford camp, it is belief. After beginning their stint in Premier with seven straight losses, they have now won two in a row and have the opportunity to pull themselves out of the relegation zone with a win over last place Campo. Campo, who had shown some slight whiff of perhaps maybe building towards a performance that would see them put some points on the board were absolutely hammered 7-0 by NorVan in a performance that had absolutely no redeeming qualities. The game appears to be genuinely a must win for Campo, despite the fact that we a just barely into November. A loss this week would put them nine points from safety and, looking at their performances to this point, it would be difficult to see where in the schedule they would have the chance to make that ground back. If they can somehow pull of a win, then all bets are off at the bottom and they give themselves at least to be in the conversation about safety come the New Year. Right now, the odds of that are unlikely at best as the Burnaby based outfit are on pace to finish worse than Rino's Tigers in 2014/15 when they did not win a game all season, though even they managed a pair of draws. Guildford have picked their moment and, so far, have taken full advantage of it. It is absolutely imperative that they keep that going this weekend and I would expect their performance to reflect that.

Rino's Tigers v West Van
No prizes for guessing that this will be the MOTW this week. Rino's were given a free pass last weekend when they lost to Rovers Tigers because West Van and Croatia also failed to pick up maximum points. Thus Tigers remain perched safely atop the table. Obviously, a further loss this week would see West Van climb to the top of the table, a place the former Trollers used to frequent but have not occupied for quite some time. Rino's ferocious offense has be found wanting somewhat over the past two weeks, scoring just once after tallying 31 times in the preceding seven games. They will hope the return of the league's leading scorer, Declan Rodriguez, after his one game suspension for yellow card accumulation will be the tonic they require. Fortunately for Tigers and their suddenly sputtering offense, they also boast the league's best defensive record. They have only given up eight goals so far this year, one fewer than West Van. It would seem likely then that defense will rule the day in this one and that was certainly the case in the first meaning between the two sides last season, which produced a 0-0 draw. The rematch, though, served up an entertaining 3-3 tie, so maybe things are less dire than they appear for any neutrals planning to be down at Trillium on Saturday. This one is a coin toss between two teams that have been bang in form this season, but are both coming off disappointing results in their most recent outings. A draw seems a very likely outcome and would fit well with their previous meetings, but I am going to tip Rino's here. I think it is likely to be a tight affair and, having almost lost their grip on first place last weekend, I expect Tigers to be in the mood for a bounce back. Having Rodriguez to call on could just make the difference and ensure that they are still comfortably in first place come Sunday morning.

NorVan v Rovers Tigers
It was a much needed return to winning ways for Rovers last week as they had failed to pick up maximum points since returning as National Champions two weeks ago. They were also able to flex some muscle in their 1-0 win over Rino's as it is that same Rino's side that seeks to depose them as Champions this season. NorVan, meanwhile, were taking the opportunity to pad their stats against last place Campo, post a 7-0 over the struggling side. That moves NorVan onto 20 goals through nine games and makes them look fully deserving of the top four spot that they currently occupy. Their paltry nine goals against is bang in line with the other top sides as the North Shore boys have taken rather well to life back in the top flight. It looks very much like they will be in the conversation for the Provincial Cup spots come February. Rovers have a pair of games in hand over the field and likely still have designs on defending their VMSL title, but if they continue to drop points at the rate they have been this season, they will quickly find themselves in a battle just to earn a chance to try and defend their Provincial Cup title. Not helping matters this week are the suspensions of key defender Harpreet Khakh and talisman Pavi Dhillon, who had the lone goal in Rovers' win last week. That will likely place the goal scoring burden squarely on the shoulders of former TFC man Nick Soolsma. For NorVan, their main threat is eight goal man Blake Burgon who is coming into this match on the back of a four goal outing against Campo. This one looks likely to be a cagey affair, especially given that Rovers will be at less than full strength. Either Soolsma or Burgon could well provide the moment of magic it might just take to win this one, but I think it shapes up really nicely as a draw.
 

Canucks4Ever

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CCB 1-0 Croatia FT

My affinity for Newton continued this week as I found myself out that way once more. Fairly even first half, though it was noticable that CCB have upgraded their defense. Croatia certainly still created chances and hit the post, but overall it was much improved from the Surrey side. The big moment of the opening 45 was the Croatia keeper saving a Milad Mehrabi PK.

Croatia would hit the post again early in the second half before Victor Blasco opened the scoring for the home side with a fantastic touch around the Croatia defender followed by a confident finish. CCB thought they doubled their lead soon after, only for the offside flag to deny them. Blasco continued to have joy down the left and put one on a platter for Mehrabi only to see him denied again by the keeper from point blank range. Croatia looked sure to tie it on a corner than went right across an open goal but nobody was there to turn it home. Despite some late pressure CCB held on for the clean sheet and ensured Croatia's recent dip in form continued.
 

Canucks4Ever

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Campo 1-4 Guildford

Looked to be pretty straightforward for Guilford. They scored early to set the tone and added a second before the half hour mark after some woeful Campo defending. Campo had no real shape, no team spirit and seemingly no real plan. They had a few half dangerous moments in attack, but nothing that would convince you that a goal was coming. Their goalkeeper was nowhere near Premier level; decent shot stopping but positioning and distribution left a lot to be desired. His defenders often hanging him out to dry was far from a recipe for success either, though they also bailed him out, clearing two off the line. If memory serves, I think Langara's starting goalie has usually been Campo's #1 in the past and it will be interesting to see if he returns given their current predicament. Guildford were nothing special, but hardly needed to be on the day. You could tell they knew exactly what this result would mean in terms of the standings.

Second half was interesting. Guildford missed two free chances with the keeper swimming to extend their lead then Campo had a chance but shot it straight at the Guildford goalie. Then Campo tried to make a sub at the hour mark but their player refused to come off. Eventually he was literally dragged off the field by a teammate and within two minutes of coming on his replacement set up a goal to pull Campo within one. Suddenly Guildford looked short on confidence at the back and Campo looked dangerous in attack. That being said Campo certainly remained vulnerable at the back themselves and the game degenerated into to desperate sides scrambling around and trading chances; which was decent entertainment value. Somehow no one scored until there were just 15 minutes left which said more about these teams finishing than the defending on display. After Campo absolutely should have tied it on a scramble, Guildford launched the ball long their striker was in alone. The Campo man clipped him in the box for his second yellow and Guildford converted the PK. They would use their man advantage to salt it away with a fourth and then put a late second PK off the bar. Hardly a work of art but it certainly served its purpose for the Surrey boys.
 

GoF

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Both the goals and some other highlights from the 1-1 draw between Rino's and West Van. First time seeing WV this year. Very impressive defence and so quick on the counter. Rino's had the majority of the play but it didn't look like it was going to happen for them but they grabbed the equaliser and now the top is even tighter.

 
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