In some circles, they say, ‘Play for a win at home and a tie on the road,’ but so far, the Cowichan Farm Store Fury have followed that maxim to a T.
The Fury were victorious in their lone road game so far in the Vancouver Island Soccer League Div. 3 season, but have played to draws in both their home matches, including a 4-4 barnburner against Juan de Fuca Kings at the Sherman Road turf on Saturday afternoon.
The game went back and forth between the two clubs, with JDF taking first blood, then Cowichan going up 2-1 on a pair by Brandon Tolfo. JDF went back ahead 3-2, then two goals by Man of the Match Alex Smith put Cowichan in front 4-3 before the Kings added one more in the 90th minute.
“We started very tense today and made it an uphill climb with lots of bad passes and missed chances,” Cowichan head coach Will Chaster observed. “After going down a goal we started to create link-up play and some attacking-zone pressure led to a couple of goals and a 2-1 lead at the half.”
JDF scored one of their goals on a free kick that went directly in, and Chaster knows his team needs to focus on preventing shots from range.
He’d also like to see the team close out games when they have the lead.
“After taking a 4-3 lead with less than five minutes, game management dictates take the ball to their goal line, not ours,” he commented. “We are a young team, but we will learn these lessons.”
The Fury will have two weeks off before their next game, against Vic West Wanderers at Finlayson Turf on Halloween.