It took until late in the game for them to score, but a cobbled-together Craig Street 49ers team managed to win 3-0 over the Castaways Juniors on Sunday.
“It was one of those games we should win,” 49ers head coach Kevin James said. “But they could hurt you if you don’t show up.”
The game was the Masters A 49ers’ first this year against a B-level team, but James wasn’t taking anything for granted, especially when his team only took 13 players to Victoria — the fewest the team has had on hand all year. Three of them were injured during the match, and it was all the team could do to finish with 11 mobile bodies.
“I had a couple of guys on the field basically walking,” James admitted.
The game went scoreless until the last 15 minutes, when Todd Vass and Nick Zuback scored back-to-back. Zuback scored his second of the match — and second of the season — in the final three minutes.
“It was absolutely tense,” James said. “It was one of those games where we were controlling the majority of play, but anything can happen. They just have to score against the play and we’d be in trouble.”
Darcy Kulai was named Game MVP, and Preston Johnny completed the clean sheet in goal, having to make a few saves along the way.
“They were fairly routine for his ability,” James said. “But those are the ones where mistakes can happen.”
The 49ers will be at home this Saturday, hosting the Cordova Bay Bobcats on the Sherman Road turf at 6 p.m.
“They’re one of the top teams in Div. B,” James said of the Bobcats. “They were an A team last year, and we had good games against them.”
The Masters B Cowichan Steelheads picked up their first win of the season on Saturday when Lakehill Monkey Tree couldn’t field a team and forfeited. The Steelheads still made use of the field booking with a scrimmage.
The Steelheads will visit Gorge FC Backfit at Hampton Park on Saturday.