Valour FC stretches win streak to three

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This article was published 10/07/2022 (1173 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Valour FC’s winning streak grew to three-games Sunday afternoon thanks to another late-game finish on home turf.

Valour improved to 5-4-4 on the year with a 1-0 win over HFX Wanderers FC, leapfrogging them into fifth place in the Canadian Premier League table. Sunday’s victory was Winnipeg’s second at home this season and a crucial result because they don’t play at IG Field again until July 30.

“It was a game where both teams respected themselves a lot,” said Valour head coach Phillip Dos Santos. “I think that… there were moments where they would install themselves in our half, moments we would do the same and it was kind of a chess game for large periods of the game.”

It should have been a 1-0 contest heading into halftime, but a costly Valour misplay kept the score at 0-0.

The celebration was on in the 17th minute after it looked like Valour attacker Alessandro Riggi potted one past Halifax goalkeeper Christian Oxner. However, both Oxner and the referees quickly signalled no-goal and a collective gasp could be heard at IG Field when the review was shown on the scoreboard.

Valour’s William Akio mistakenly cleared the ball before it could completely cross the goal line and the home side had to play on.

“Things happen so fast on the field and it’s hard to get into the moment and try to re-create it,” said Dos Santos. “We’ll all grow with it.”

Sunday’s contest marked the debuts of international midfielders Kevin Rendon and Daniel Ascanio, both Colombians, for the home side. Rendon was signed May 31 and gave his side a boost of energy, flying around the pitch all afternoon.

“Kevin’s good, he’s a beast in the midfield,” said Valour midfielder Moses Dyer. “He talks for someone that doesn’t speak that good English, I think he’s only gonna get better. I think his last game was last year (in) November.”

Valour trailed 50.5 per cent to 49.5 per cent in possession despite outplaying Halifax in the first half. However, their dominance was exemplified by a whopping 19 touches in the opponents’ box compared to just one for Halifax.

Valour kept Oxner busy with nine shots, three of which were on target. Winnipeg goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois was hardly tested with both of Wanderers’ two shots in the opening half being on target.

“Every moment that is adverse… just builds perseverance and I think these things are always gonna help us grow,” said Dos Santos.

The home side came out strong in the second half and Alessandro Riggi had a decent chance at a goal in the 56th minute when an Oxner clearing attempt came right to him, but he couldn’t hit from distance.

Winnipeg’s other debuting midfielder, Ascanio, wasted no time getting involved, after entering the match in the 54th minute.

Halifax’s defenders couldn’t keep up with him, his control in the box made a pair of Wanderers miss in the 81st minute and he helped break the deadlock in the 84th minute.

Midfielder Ascanio made a pass across the box and Dyer received the ball, sliding it low past Oxner for Valour’s first and only goal of the match. Dyer said all week he’d told Ascanio to cross the ball in and he just had to connect when the opportunity came.

“I knew exactly what he was going to do,” said Dyer.

Dyer’s goal was his fifth of the season and put him in a three-way tie for third place in the CPL’s golden-boot race.

“We’ve got a lot of players in, we have the two internationals we’ve been waiting for and everyone’s having to fight for their spot now,” said Dyer. “Everyone’s hungry, that’s probably the biggest thing.”

Dos Santos will have a good problem on his hands next Sunday when Valour heads to the nation’s capital for a match with Atletico Ottawa. He’ll have to decide who starts and who sits following an impressive three-game stretch for the club.

“If you don’t like to have those problems you could only coach teams that are limited,” said Dos Santos. “Limited teams won’t make it, so we wanted to put ourselves in that position.”

Gavin.Axelrod@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: Gavin77axe