Valour comes out guns ablaze in first win

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This article was published 19/08/2020 (2199 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Valour FC head coach Rob Gale demanded more from his soccer squad Wednesday afternoon and the message was clearly received.

A four-goal outburst in the final 25 minutes of play propelled the Winnipeg pro soccer squad to a resounding 4-0 triumph over Atlético Ottawa in Canadian Premier League action in Charlottetown, P.E.I.

Fraser Aird, Andrew Jean-Baptiste, Dylan Carreiro and José Galán hit the scoresheet as the team registered its largest margin of victory since the CPL formed for the 2019 season.

Valour launched 11 shots on goal on Ottawa keeper Nacho Zabal.

The win came just three days after Gale identified some technical deficiencies in the team’s performance in a season-opening 2-0 defeat to Cavalry FC (Calgary). But he was far more complimentary after the convincing shutout.

“I just thought the boys executed the game. In the first game, they’d not shown the technical bravery to match their physical bravery, which we discussed, and they wanted to right that wrong,” said Gale. “I thought they executed the game tactics from very early on, finding our rhythm, finding the spaces we thought we could exploit.

“I thought we were a little unlucky to go into half-time at 0-0 and you just hope that the work the boys did collectively to move the opposition and work them will lead to chances later on, because it’s very, very difficult for both teams to play in this heat (25 C) and to play a game every two or three days.”

Valour has now posted a victory and a loss at the regular-season tournament, dubbed The Island Games, in the Maritime hub city.

The team battles York9 (Toronto) on Saturday afternoon.

Valour keeper James Pantemis faced just three shots on target but made a sensational, leaping stop with his right hand in the 56th minute to preserve the scoreless tie. Just moments later, he dove for a drive by Ben Fisk that slammed the post and bounced wide.

The block by Pantemis, on loan from the Montreal Impact of MLS, provided a major boost, said Jean-Baptiste.

“It’s something that just keeps us in the game. That’s what we brought him in here for,” Jean-Baptiste said.

“We’re hoping to limit the chances the other teams get, and it’s an opportunity for him to make a save. We have full confidence with James behind us. Knowing that’s who your goalkeeper is behind you, it’s a whole lot more reassuring and builds a whole lot more confidence for the guys on the team.”

Aird scored on a penalty kick in the 65th minute after Ottawa defender Milovan Kapor tripped up Stefan Cebara inside the 18-yard box. Kapor earned a second yellow card and was ejected, leaving Atlético a man short and vulnerable.

Valour increased their lead on Jean-Baptiste’s brilliant header off a corner kick in the 78th minute, Carreiro ripped a goal from well out in the 90th minute and Galán added a fourth in extra time.

Gale was most impressed with his club’s work on the defensive side of the ball, noting Ottawa was in tough after being forced to play with only 10 men.

“A clean sheet will give you a chance in the game, that’s where it starts first and foremost,” Gale said.

“They had a day’s extra rest on us, but when you lose a man and they’re chasing the ball, it’s very hard. That decision obviously impacted their running. I think we needed to get that second goal to sort of kill any hope they had to get back into the game, so that was pleasing.”

Atlético coach Mista (Miguel Angel Ferrer Martinez), a Spaniard and former striker with Toronto FC, was none too pleased with the performance of his first-year CPL club.

“We had no intensity whatsoever, we lost one-on-one duels… and then we got the red card. But generally, a lack of character and intensity from some of our players, something we didn’t like to see,” he said through a translator.

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Ottawa wore its home jersey, the red-and-white colours of its Atlético Madrid parent club, however, Mista said his squad did little to represent the tradition of the threads.

“It’s not only a badge, it’s not only red and white stripes, it’s a sentiment, it’s an attitude, it’s a way of being,” he said.

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell