Valour FC scores first win for new boss

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This article was published 11/10/2021 (1770 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The gulf between Valour FC and the best teams in the Canadian Premier League may have narrowed slightly but the Winnipeggers had been struggling to find a winning formula under new boss Phillip Dos Santos.

On Monday afternoon, Dos Santos had his first Canadian Premier League victory to celebrate — a 3-1 decision over Hamilton-based heavyweight Forge FC at IG Field — after overseeing two losses and a pair of draws since replacing Rob Gale as Valour’s general manager and coach on Sept. 23. It was Valour’s first win since a 3-0 result over visiting Edmonton Aug. 24.

“It’s great,” said Dos Santos, who was fired from his post as an assistant coach with the MLS Vancouver Whitecaps in late August. “It’s not only my first one as Valour coach, it’s my first win as head coach in the professional game, so it’s always special to do it with a group of boys that have given all to try and make that happen. I think that you just need to feel grateful and humbled by the opportunity.”

On Monday, the hosts surged to a 1-0 lead on Rocco Romeo’s third goal of the season in the fifth minute before allowing the equalizer from Forge’s Garven Metusala in the 39th minute.

A spectacular late strike from William Akio in the 45th minute put Valour up 2-1 at halftime.

Akio’s fifth goal of the season, coming 19 minutes after he hit the post on an earlier foray to the net, was an inspired solo run that began 15 yards deep in his side of centre.

The 23-year-old from Calgary weaved his way through three Forge defenders before his left-footed shot beat goalkeeper Triston Henry. Akio celebrated with a front flip in front of the Valour bench.

“I see a space in front of me and once I beat the first defender everything kind of opened up and I just relied on my speed and it came off,” said Akio.

The hosts padded their lead in the 60th minute when Moses Dyer potted his sixth of the campaign.

Sixth-place Valour improved to 8-4-11 and 28 points, four back of the HFX Wanderers FC, who hold the fourth and final playoff position. Second-place Forge dropped to 12-1-8 and 37 points.

“It’s always better to grow in wins and results so looking at the standings… after another round we’re still in the race and that’s what we wanted to do and hopefully at the end when we do the math, we’ll be in one of those top four positions,” said Dos Santos.

Akio insisted the post-season remains a legitimate goal for his club.

“We know that we need to get points in the board so it’s just like it’s coming from within,” said Akio. “All the boys have decided and worked on making these playoffs. (It’s) something that we really want to do. So I feel like the momentum shift has just completely changed and we just need to get points and we’re just going to continue to do that.”

Valour players made a point of going on the attack throughout the game.

“We wanted to respect them but not be afraid and I think today the team was very, very disciplined, very well structured and we didn’t back off,” said Dos Santos.

“Yes, we had moments where they had a bit more of the ball in our half and we dropped a little bit lower than we would like to. But I think that overall we were stepping the lines every time we had the chance to, we were putting pressure on the ball carrier… and never allowed them to really settle in their game.”

Forge head coach Bobby Smyrniotis was bothered by a lack of urgency from his squad.

“We just lacked some energy (and) we lacked some fight that was needed in this game,” said Smyrniotis. “Valour’s a good team and they’ve been on a tough run of results and every time they’re gonna play at home you know they’re looking to get that first win in a while.

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“So they’re always going to come out, they’re going to play with good energy, they’re going to come into all of their duels and sometimes try to make the game a little bit scrappier than it needs to be. We lacked a little bit of that energy to be able to match some of that stuff and allow our football to take over.”

Next up for Valour is a road game Saturday against league-leading Pacific FC. Four of the club’s final five games are away from IG Field.

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14