When you have a target on your back like the Cowichan Craig Street 49ers do, you can’t take time off.
With 10 wins in 10 games, they are the last team in the entire VISL — not just the masters A division — with a perfect record. And everyone wants to end that run.
“Everybody wants a piece of us,” Cowichan coach Kevin James said. “They want to be the first team that beats us or ties us. We’re not being cocky; that’s just the way it is. We’ve got to be in every single game, otherwise we’re going to lose.”
The 49ers saw just how important it is to be on their toes for the entire 90 minutes when a sub-par second half almost cost them in a 3-2 win over Cordova Bay Red Barn Bobcats last Saturday evening.
Cowichan dominated the first 45 minutes, taking a comfortable lead on goals from Darcy Penner, Stu Barker and Dave Tuckey.
“In the first half, we played one of the better halves we’ve played all season,” James said.
The second half was the complete opposite.
“It was by far the worst half we’ve played all year,” James stated. “For whatever reason, I guess we came out of the room up 3-0 and figured the game was over.”
A tough opponent for the 49ers as long as they’ve been in the league, the Bobcats seemed to know exactly how to throw Cowichan off their game on Saturday.
“They got under our skin and we totally bit into their style of play,” James said. “That’s not a knock on Cordova Bay; it’s a compliment. They know how to get under our skin and it almost cost us the game.”
As the Cowichan players got frustrated, they began to bicker amongst each other, uncharacteristically.
“Our team never does that,” James said. That’s the first time I’ve seen that from this team.”
The game was the closest the 49ers have come to giving up a point in the standings all season, and it’s a testament to the players’ individual skill that the team was able to hang on.
“We were fortunate to come out with three points instead of a draw,” James said. “If we would have played that way for 90 minutes, we would have lost the game.”
The team recognized what happened in the second half and addressed it right after the match, James said, and he doesn’t think anything similar will happen again.
“You can’t take any game for granted at any score when you’re playing against good teams,” he said. “We will know exactly what to do next time a game like that is put in front of us.”
The 49ers will put that to the test this coming Saturday when they visit third-place Gorge FC at Hampton Park in Saanich.
The masters B Cowichan Steelheads also won at the Sherman Road turf on Saturday, edging Prospect Lake 2-1. The Steelheads are third in the B division with four wins, two draws and four losses, and will visit Juan de Fuca Ghostfinger Alliance this Saturday.