Pioneers Return to Winning Ways

Richmond Pioneers 2 Trafalgar Thistles 0

It was ugly and, as the saying goes, it'll never replace soccer, but the Richmond Pioneers returned to their winning ways with a 2-0 victory over Trafalgar on Sunday.

The third meeting of the season for these teams, Trafalgar were definitely pumped for this one, as the Pioneers represent the "ultimate benchmark of our progress" according to their website.

Plagued by injuries, and with two key players on holiday, the Pioneers numerical deficiencies were once again a pre-game concern. However, thanks to John Tsang working the phones tirelessly, some welcome guest players showed up—six of them—to bolster the depleted squad.

Played on a beautiful spring-like day at McMath, the Pioneers struck first. A beautiful lob from John Tsang went over the Trafalgar defence into the path of Ken Johnston, who was tripped as he went in on goal. Although not intentional, the referee had little choice but award a penalty kick, which the queue-jumping Johnston converted himself.

Five minutes later, a Denis Harvington pass found Johnston, who displayed his predatory instinct with a nice individual effort to put the Pioneers up 2-0.

The Pioneers were getting most of the play, with John Tsang full of running, having his best game of the season. Stan Bogdanovich was also playing well filling in on the back line, in front of sweeper Ken Kan, before withdrawing in the second half through injury.

The game became disjointed, partly because of the deteriorating surface at McMath, and also due to the Pioneers team being unfamiliar with one another. In one frantic goalmouth scramble that resembled beach soccer, goalie-cum-striker Gary Byrne almost increased the Pioneers lead, but the ball refused go in and the Pioneers went into half time with just a 2-0 lead.

The second half saw Trafalgar come into the game more, as the Pioneers just couldn't find that third goal that would have afforded some security. In one key sequence, Gary Byrne—now back in goal—produced two excellent saves just seconds apart to preserve the Pioneers increasingly tenuous lead.

On the back line, Bob Heron was having a stellar performance doing his bit to keep Trafalgar at bay, and up front John Tsang continued to run hard, proving to be a good target man as well as a good provider, on one occasion nicely setting up Graham Mason for a shot that whistled past the post.

At the final whistle, the two early goals proved to be all the Pioneers needed, although they had to work hard to win this one, as Trafalgar are definitely not the pushovers they were last season. Plus they are a great bunch of guys. (Note: The webmaster is not just saying that in the hope of getting some games with them in the summer!)

Man of the Match: John Tsang, for his great contributions on and off the field.

Next Week: Dutch Masters, at Sunset.

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