Last updated October 11, 2006

Pioneers Reach Consolation Final

2006 Penticton Annual Masters tournament (Oct 7-9)

The Over 50s Division comprised of one group of nine teams, with points to decide the top four teams that would go to Monday's finals.

Pioneers 1 Penticton 0
On Saturday , the Pioneers faced a strong Penticton team. Penticton had all the play in the first half but Gary Byrne stonewalled them with five great blocks. The second half saw much of the same, but our defence held on. Against the run of play a clearance by our defence found the head of Chris Smith who flicked the ball into the path of an onrushing Ken Johnston who outpaced two defenders and slotted the ball by the onrushing keeper for the winner.

Pioneers 0 Summerland 0
Sunday saw us play two games. First up was Summerland who were not usually a strong opponent, but they were bolstered with a couple of imports from the Chilliwack / Aldergrove area. The game was destined for a 0-0 tie from the start, chances were few and far between with Summerland probably having the best two in the Second half which Dave Valitis kneeing the first one around the post and tipping the second one over the bar.

The referee, somewhat confused by the tournament rules, forced us to play OT with no outcome. Then penalty shots were taken to decide the issue, which Summerland won 4-3. In the clubhouse the organisers quashed the OT and PK's and awarded 4 points to each team for a 0-0 tie.

Pioneers 4 Calgary 3
Next up was a Calgary team complete with a team bus and Owen Hargreaves' dad. With the Pioneers needing a win to progress to Monday's finals, this turned out to be a real Ding Dong affair between two teams that have never having played each before.

Calgary scored first on a rebound off the crossbar, a real Howitzer which Gary had no chance on.Pioneers quickly equalized with a Chris Smith header, then two soft goals were scored one at each end, both goals caused by goalkeeping errors. 2-2 at the half.

Ken Swanston giving the Pioneers a 3-2 lead with a tap in. Calgary pressed, and were rewarded with a tying goal with 10 minutes to play. The dying minutes were mainly played in the Calgary end and on the last kick of the game Chris Smith slid one home from an acute angle to win it for the Pioneers.

Back in the clubhouse, the computations were being worked out. The Regals had 23 pts, Vernon had 23 and the Pioneers had 21, with Cliff Avenue rounding out the top four.

Consolation Final
Pioneers 1 Cliff Avenue 2
Two arch rivals again fighting it out for bragging rights, neither team fielding their strongest eleven. Pioneers missing Ken Johnston through family commitments and Jim Langlands through injury. The first half ended as a 0-0 tie with both teams having a couple of chances.

The second half opened up a little more, Cliff scoring first on a breakaway from the half line with Dave Valitis meeting the forward just outside the penalty area, the forward deeked around Dave (not really a tough task) and slid the ball home past a sliding defender.

Pioneers pressed as hard as they could and were rewarded with an equalizer from a Stan Bogdanovich cross shot which the goalie could only parry into the path of Ken Swanston, who tapped home his second of the tournament.

Cliff Ave got the winner in the dying minutes when an attacker was allowed through on goal and managed to get it past a diving/falling Dave Valitis.

A disappointing result to lose to Cliff, but in all fairness the Pioneers were fortunate to even make a final at all.

- By roving reporter Dave Valitis

This week: Home Game against Delta United

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- Based in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, the Pioneers play in the Over 50 Division of the BCOTS (BC Old Timers Soccer League). The division has over 36 teams from all over the Lower Mainland region

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