Royals’ lack of discipline leads to loss
By Davie Wong, Sports Reporter
It was well into the afternoon on a beautiful October Sunday when the men’s soccer team hit the pitch. The Royals were looking to walk away with a win after a hard-fought tie against VIU the day before (October 3). They faced the Capilano Blues, a team at the bottom of the table. With the Royals on top of the table, the hope was that this would be an easy win for the Royals.
Both teams came out swinging. The Royals attacked often but were thwarted by the solid defence of the Blues. Capilano counter-attacked but could similarly not find a way to beat the Royals’ goalkeeper, Marc Mincieli, early in the game. As the back and forth raged on, tempers began flaring.
The first card of the game was shown when Blues midfielder, Kamyar Amini, took a yellow on a reckless challenge. This was followed later by a Royals defender, Devin Phelan, also picking up a yellow card for a hard challenge. The disciplinary situation only proceeded to get worse as Mincieli was also handed a yellow. A couple plays later, a long Blues pass sent Salah Hawsawi off on a breakaway. The striker took the opportunity to smash the ball into the top right corner of the goal, leaving Mincieli with no chance of making a save.
Not too long after, Phelan picked up a second yellow, sending him off the field and putting the Royals in a bad spot with 10 men left. The following play resulted in another goal for the Blues’ who found themselves in a good position going into half time.
The Royals’ coach, Robby Toor, was not happy with his team’s effort in the first half, making a number of substitutions in an attempt to revitalize his team. During halftime, he stated the lack of control and lacklustre defence were the reason the team was behind.
The team came out in the second half, determined to win. However, the Blues proved that it took a lot more than just determination. During the second half, the Royals were primarily confined to their own half of the field. The card situation did not get any better either.
In the last 45 minutes, the referee issued two more yellow cards to Douglas. The Blues went on to score two more before the end of the game.
The final score was 4-0. After this hard upset loss and the tie with VIU the day before, the Royals’ men’s team find themselves tied at the top of the table with KPU. Both teams have a record of 5-2-2 with 17 points each.
