Pioneers Overpower Poles

Polonia 2 Richmond Pioneers 6

Sunday Dec 5, 2004 - On a weekend when all Richmond-based games were cancelled due to park closures following a week of heavy rain, the Richmond Pioneers were fortunate to find their game against Polonia had been moved to Polonia's home field on the artificial turf at Cloverdale Athletic Park. After a nervous opening 20 minutes, the Pioneers settled down and were comfortable 6-2 winners in a game they could easily have hit double figures.

After missing a couple or earlier chances, the Pioneers opened the scoring at the 10 minute mark, when a Ken Swanston long throw in was flicked on by Ken Johnston to Graham Mason, who made no mistake from close range. Polonia responded immediately with two quick goals, the first from a corner kick and a second following some naive defensive play from the Pioneers.

Down 2-1 after 15 minutes, Richmond seemed to wake up, although the Pioneers defensive comedy show would continue to entertain well into the second half. Fortunately, Polonia were ill equipped to exploit this defensive frailty, despite having a couple of lively forwards.

The Pioneers soon tied the game up when a dangerous cross from right back Jim Fitzgerald (no, that's not a misprint, he was definitely there) was met by a glancing header from Ken Johnston. The weak Polonia back line was struggling to contain the Pioneers, and Denis "35 yards" Harvington came close with a shot from 32 yards out, slighty out of his range. Even Lorne Baumel got into the action, skimming the bar with a first time shot that brought the Pioneer bench to its feet.

The Pioneers took the lead when a nice Henry Wan pass found Eugene Kishmere, and the Russian Rocket turned his marker nicely and fooled the keeper with a deft left footed chip.

Down 3-2 at the half, Polonia tried hard to reduce the deficit, and Pioneer keeper Gary Byrne—who replaced Dave Valitis at the half—was called upon to make a big save, continuing his great form of late.

The Pioneers fourth goal came when a Graham Mason pass sent Ken Johnston hurtling down the left wing unchallenged, before cutting inside and placing the ball beyond the reach of the Polonia keeper. Polonia seemed to lose interest in the game after that goal and it was pretty much one way traffic as the Pioneers dictated play. Kishmere scored his second of the game after being put through alone on goal following a delicate chip from Harvington.

The goals and chances were coming thick and fast, and Johnston got his hat trick with a trademark curling shot just inside the far post, with Mason again the set-up man. At 6-2, the Pioneers were in total control against a tired and dispirited opponent.

The miss of the match came when Johnston unselfishly set up Henry Wan, only for Wan to somehow put the ball over the bar from only seven yards out, an almost impossible feat on artificial turf. But Wan wasn't finished, missing another solid chance just minutes later. The holes in the Polonia defence were now gaping fissures, and it was all Pioneers now with Jim Fitzgerald hitting the bar with a powerful header from a corner kick and John Tsang shooting wide after cutting inside from the right wing.

Mercifully, the final whistle blew on a game that lacked the competitive edge that the Pioneers have been enjoying these past few weeks.

Man of the match: Ken Johnston.

Next Week: Away to Cosmos, although at the mercy of the weather.

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