Clock ticking On Valour FC playoff hopes

By: Staff Posted: 6:18 PM CDT Sunday, Sep. 17, 2023

Valour FC did so much good Sunday afternoon but still came away empty.

Read this article for free:

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

Valour FC did so much good Sunday afternoon but still came away empty.

Read unlimited articles for free today:

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/09/2023 (1082 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Valour FC did so much good Sunday afternoon but still came away empty.

Winnipeg’s pro soccer squad let a second-half lead slip away in an eventual 3-2 defeat to Forge FC (Hamilton) in front of 3,311 fans at IG Field.

Valour’s playoff hopes are fading fast. The squad has five victories to go with eight draws and 11 defeats, good for just 23 points and seventh place in the Canadian Premier League standings with just four matches remaining.

Valour FC winger Jared Ulloa (left) moves the ball against a Hamilton defender Sunday afternoon at IG Field. (Supplied)

Five teams make the CPL playoffs. Valour is 10 points of both Atlético Ottawa and HFX Wanderers FC, who are tied in fourth spot with 33 points apiece.

Forge, meanwhile, improved to 10-9-6.

Ahead 2-1 in the second half on goals by Kian Williams (13th minute) and Matteo de Brienne (60th minute), Valour mismanaged two moments after that, with both getting behind keeper Rayane Yesli. Forge’s Woobens Pacius notched the tying goal in the 66^th minute and then Beni Badiganga’s free kick deflected off a wall of bodies before bouncing in (84th minute).

“It’s frustrating,” began Williams. “We had opportunities to carry the game and 2-1 up I felt we could have kept it that way. But it’s kind of been the story of our season – making mistakes at key moments and it’s stuff like that that’s kind of killed us. I don’t know whether it’s bad luck or… sometimes you create your own bad luck.

“I felt we played well throughout the game, but it’s so frustrating.”

Valour has no time to wallow as Vancouver FC pays a visit Wednesday at 7 p.m. in its second-last home match of the season.

General manager and head coach Phillip Dos Santos said his team has to continue to look forward.

“Even though we’re 100 pe rcent in this season until we’re mathematically out, we also need to be very realistic and stay on what we can take now for what the future is going to look like,” said Dos Santos.

“… Right now, I don’t want to dwell on the things that I can’t control or the things that have passed. I have to look at the positives and see what this team has built as a foundation and as a platform and the type of players that are here and game after game after game given so much to the team and build from that.”

— Staff