Things were looking pretty good for Yorkton United鈥檚 men鈥檚 soccer team at the World Class Players World Cup in Regina.
The United men鈥檚 team 鈥� representing Netherlands 鈥搉eeded just one win in their final two games in order to reach the WCP World Cup men鈥檚 playoffs for the first time in two years as they took on Jamaica and Laos this past weekend. 鈥淲e came into the weekend in good position with two wins, so we knew we had a chance to advance,鈥� said Yorkton United men鈥檚 coach Andy Wyatt, alluding to the 16-0 and 8-0 wins over China and Eritrea. 鈥淏ut we also knew we were playing the two stronger teams in our group, so we knew we had to play hard if we wanted a chance at advancing.鈥�
The first test proved to be pre-tournament favourite Jamaica, who not only had the skill but also the fan support. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e always a favourite, so it鈥檚 tough to go in knowing you鈥檙e probably going to get booed,鈥� laughed Wyatt, adding that he thought his team was prepared for what was in store, having played Jamaica at last year鈥檚 tournament to a 3-3 draw.
Unfortunately the Yorkton men came out slowly on Friday night, allowing Jamaica to jump out to an early 2-0 lead on a pair of goals by Jordan Kraft, much to the delight of the majority of the crowd.
A Netherlands goal off the foot of Ben Fetsch cut the Jamaican lead in half.
Fetsch then brought Yorkton-Netherlands even with his second goal of the game, however a Garret Peters goal late in the first half gave the favourites a 3-2 lead after 25 minutes.
Two goals by Jerson Barandica-Hamilton increased the Jamaican lead to three at 5-2 early in the second half, and while Yorkton-Netherlands managed to get one back to make it 5-3 thanks to Steven DeLong, the effort proved to be not enough as Yorkton-Netherlands felt the sting of defeat for the first time at the 2016 WCP World Cup. 鈥淗ats off to Jamaica, they played us well and are a good team and really deserved the win,鈥� stated Wyatt after the defeat, adding he felt his team didn鈥檛 show what they were really made of in the two goal defeat. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 play up to our capabilities, and they came out really hard and pressured us and with those two combined, we just couldn鈥檛 get the win.鈥�
Friday night鈥檚 loss meant that Saturday night鈥檚 match against Laos had a playoff style atmosphere to it, as a win for either side meant a berth in the 2016 playoffs, while a loss meant an early exit from the competition.
The Yorkton side showed they didn鈥檛 want a repeat of the previous night鈥檚 disappointment, dominating the first 10 minutes of play and after several spectacular chances, Yorkton-United finally opened the scoring as Dillon Ferridge booted the rebound past the Laos keeper for a 1-0 advantage.
Yorkton-Netherlands looked to increase their lead several times soon after, but wonderful chances by Steven DeLong and Ben Fetsch were turned away by a combination of the Laotian keeper鈥檚 efforts and the woodwork, keeping the game at 1-0.
A Laos goal by Andrew Zerr late in the first half drew the Laotians even, while a Fitzroy Christey marker not long after made it 2-1 Laos at the half despite Yorkton-Netherlands dominating the flow of play.
Laos increased their lead to 3-1 early in the second half when Jaden Wong sliced through the Yorkton-Netherlands defence and put a shot past keeper Tyson Greene, but a Caleb Friedrick goal soon after brought the Yorkton side back to within one at 3-2.
It seemed as if it were just a matter of time before Yorkton-Netherlands drew even as the Friedrick goal gave them back the momentum, however it was Laos that got the next goal when Roman Doutkevitch took advantage of a rare defensive lapse by Yorkton-Netherlands to put his side up 4-2.
A late goal by Leon Derks gave Yorkton-Netherlands some hope, but in the dying seconds of the game all they could do was ring a ball off the crossbar to fall 4-3 to Laos and eliminate themselves from playoff contention. 鈥淲e had so many chances, we just couldn鈥檛 find a way to finish today,鈥� mentioned the Yorkton-Netherlands head coach following the game. 鈥淲e had lots of chances and lots of opportunities, we just couldn鈥檛 cash in on them and it came back to haunt us at the end.鈥�
Yorkton-Netherlands finishes the 2016 WCP World Cup with a 2-2 record over four games and a goal differential of 21 (30-9). Their 30 goals were also a round-robin tournament best, indicating that the team deserved better than their third place finish in Pool 鈥楧鈥�. 鈥淚 think we should have advanced, but we didn鈥檛 play a full 50 minute game in our last two, and that cost us,鈥� said Wyatt, adding that this earl exit will only fuel the team to do better at next year鈥檚 tournament. 鈥淲e鈥檝e always got next year and it was a good learning experience for the guys. We just have to play a complete game every time next year.鈥�
