The Cowichan 49ers ousted the new-to-the-league Prospect Lake Lakers 3-nil at the Sherman Road Turf Saturday night but only had to score two goals to do it.
The Lakers gifted the home team with an own goal midway through the first half.
“Our first goal came off a corner kick from Matt (Arnie) Arnett, off to Stuart (Shake N Bake) Barker back and into the goal. The ref deemed it an own goal,” team manager/player Neall Rowlings said. “From there we ended the half 1-0; the Prospect Lake goalie definitely did some work as did the cross bar and posts.”
The Lakers are new to the league this year, having moved to Masters from Division 3 and the 49ers wanted to make sure they knew the old guys can still play too.
“We knew they would be younger but wanted to give them the proper welcome to the Masters league,” Rowlings said. “We had another full roster of 20 players, while they only had 13 players. We started strong and carried most of the play.”
In the second half Arnett scored on a cross from Brad (Archie) Archibald. The third and final goal of the game came from a ball in from Matt James to Yamato who finished it nicely for his first goal for the 49ers.
Rowlings said that Yamato, along with Kale Haley and Doug Nestor have been great additions to the squad and are really fitting in.
Jesse (The Mayor) Winter won the Chain for the hardest working individual. He was everywhere with a tall order to shut down Lakers phenom Jordie Hughes.
Goalie Darian Achurch earned his second clean sheet of the season.
Cowichan now sits atop the league standings as the only team thus far to win their first two games outright.
“The 49ers have always been a successful team, but something is very different this year,” Rowlings said. “Our culture is all hard work and work ethic, our training sessions have never been so busy. Kevin James is leading the team with such a high energy. We are ready for most challenges, and want to chase every title we can.”
The 49ers pregame on Satuday featured a moving ceremony to honour the family of teammate Brad Thorne who recently lost his 14-year-old daughter Yelina Gracie Thorne.
The Quw’utsun Tzinquaw Drummers and Singers performed and a moment of silence was held to honour the family.
“The entire valley stood behind the Thorne family in their time of need,” Rowlings said.
The 49ers next play in Victoria on Oct. 1 against Gorge.
