Premier [VMSL Premier] Predictions, Results & Banter 2016/2017

[Canucks4Ever]

Oh... I see. I should have commented in Premier you make very good assessments and deliver accurate predictions.
Then go to the Division 1 thread, and then do the same. Then add. However, there is only one team which you have been consistently under-estimating.
Should we create separate a thread so we can make comments that involves multiple divisions?

I think you'll find my Premier predictions regarding Campo have been 100% accurate...

 

[Jack13]

Metro Ford 1-0 Richmond

 

[Regs]

Other results from last night:

Chile 2-0 Croats
Peg 1-1 Inter
Trollups 2-0 PULFC

Any word on the Rovers Tigers United vs North Delta result?

 

[LION]

4-0 tigers over North Delta.
They were better and clinical in their finishing.
We have to come with a better team game if we want any success this season.

 

[robj]

4-0 tigers over North Delta.
They were better and clinical in their finishing.
We have to come with a better team game if we want any success this season.

Lion, your boys worked hard and worked till the last second much respect for you lads. Keep up the hard work Lion. The results will come.

 

[wednesday]

RMD PEG 1-1 Richmond were the better team in the first half. Peg grew stronger throughout the second. Bogus second yellow shown to C-Mac for (I believe) not retreating 10 yds on a free kick. You might have forgiven the Ref had the ball been stationary when it was kicked...

That was a bit of a head scratcher that call, but by the letter of the law, he deserved to be sent off.

Actually, if the YC was in fact for the the above mentioned offence (and I'm only guessing that this was the case) then the Ref, by the letter of the law, got it wrong. This is covered in the changes and Q&A's about the changes for this year which is being presented at Ref refresher. You can find it on line but to quote "13 Free kicks What is the difference between 'preventing' a free kick and 'intercepting'.. ? ... However, if a player decides to take a free kick quickly, when an opponent is less than 9.15m away and, after the kick has been taken, the opponent gets possession of the ball (even though less than 9.15m away) this is allowed as the player took a risk by taking the free kick quickly.

 

[Regs]

4 weeks in the books and already shaping up as a 2 horse race

 

[Regs]

Is it a big deal to point out that there is only a single game in the whole premier schedule that is to be played on grass?

 

[robj]

4 weeks in the books and already shaping up as a 2 horse race

View attachment 16182

Bang on regs maybe the VMSL should just cancel the remainder of the season and just have west van play metro ford for the imperial cup and the provincial cup spot .

 

[cascadesoccer]

What about a wild card match between Rovers and Div 1 Campo?

 

[Canucks4Ever]

This Week:

Croatia v Richmond
Croatia are about as unpredictable as they come this season. Big win over Columbus, draw vs the star laden Tigers, loss to winless Chile. Richmond have been playing consistent low scoring games and even kept things close against Coquitlam last week. Could be a chance for the boys from below sea level to chalk up their first W of the season, but draws seem more their style so I'll lean that way.

Pacific v Columbus
No goals in two for Pacific and no win in three. Columbus a hard fought draw last time out with Westside, who had just beaten Pacific handily. At home on a Friday Pacific might offer more of a challenge, but it's a case of "prove it," so I'll take the Italians until I see some substance out of Pacific.

Inter v West Van
MOTW as West Van look to go top while Metro Ford have the weekend off thanks to Peg being at Nationals. Inter proved they still have the jam to dig deep, even if they are waiting for their CIS big boys to finish the season and rejoin for the back half of the VMSL campaign. I gotta go with West Van, especially with that first place carrot dangling in front of them, but looking forward to a tasty one at Empire.

North Delta v EDC
There's points to be had for whomever wants to step up and claim them in this one. North Delta were trounced by Tigers last week and have shipped 7 unanswered goals over their last two matches. Discipline issues have contributed to that record, but still a woeful run at the moment. Chile stopped the rot last week with a surprise win over Croatia for their first points of the season. Have they figured it out? Or was it just a case of everything going right on the day? It's a total toss up on this one; I'll tip the ND boys on home turf.

Westside v Rovers Tigers
A couple of decent results for Westside, but it's back to reality vs the heavy hitting Tigers. No doubt the Vancouver boys will do their level best to make a game of it at home, but this should be fairly straight forward for Tigers.

 

[Regs]

Richmond
Columbus
Trollups
North Delta
Rovers Tigers

 

[bulljive]

I don't know if people realize how much of an advantage Westsides field is. That field has to be boarding on the limits of how narrow a soccer field is allowed to be.

 

[dezza]

This Week:
Inter proved they still have the jam to dig deep, even if they are waiting for their CIS big boys to finish the season and rejoin for the back half of the VMSL campaign.

I think Inter are down to only 1 current UBC player and a couple of SFU players.

 

[wednesday]

Croatia 0 Richmond 2 Fair result. Ruben was in fine form in the middle.

 

[club_i_champ]

Croatia 0 Richmond 2 Fair result. Ruben was in fine form in the middle.

I'd like it if @wednesday introduced himself to myself, or anyone for that matter. The lad seems to be in tune with everything RFC related...

Honestly, not a very exciting fixture. We felt comfortable throughout, recognizing that Croatia, for all their possession and ball movement, didn't seem to go anywhere with it?! In the end, glad to finally get our first victory of the league campaign after starting the season against last years top 3 clubs in the league.

On a side note, great acoustics out at BBY Lake last night. Listening to the High School football game "play by play" announcer on the loudspeaker was a right treat...

 

[wednesday]

I'm sure we've spoken. Used to live in Richmond, original Westsider, former Whitecaps supporter and particularly hate AT

 

[Regs]

Week 5 is in the books:



RFC 2-0 Croatia
Trollups 0-0 Inter
Chile 2-2 North Delta
Roving Tigers 2-2 Westside

---

Week 6 Matches:

Columbus @ Trollups
Westside @ Chile
Pacific United @ Roving Tigers (MOTW)
North Delta @ RFC

Croatia @ Peg is tentatively postponed apparently due to Jet Lag (new Peg signing).

 

[lego3]

Week 5 is in the books:

View attachment 16364

RFC 2-0 Croatia
Trollups 0-0 Inter
Chile 2-2 North Delta
Roving Tigers 2-2 Westside

---

Week 6 Matches:

Columbus @ Trollups
Westside @ Chile
Pacific United @ Roving Tigers (MOTW)
North Delta @ RFC

Croatia @ Peg is tentatively postponed apparently due to Jet Lag (new Peg signing).

The premier league is really competitive this year, only 4 points separate from 3rd place to last place. My early season prediction is that Columbus and Croatia get relegated and Metro Ford wins the league.

 

[Canucks4Ever]

Week 5 is in the books:

View attachment 16364

RFC 2-0 Croatia
Trollups 0-0 Inter
Chile 2-2 North Delta
Roving Tigers 2-2 Westside

---

Week 6 Matches:

Columbus @ Trollups
Westside @ Chile
Pacific United @ Roving Tigers (MOTW)
North Delta @ RFC

Croatia @ Peg is tentatively postponed apparently due to Jet Lag (new Peg signing).

Definitely good parity in Prem this season, as evidenced by the amount of draws. A single win can jump a team a handful of places in the standings.

Found myself at Newton Athletic Friday night and caught some of Pacific v Columbus (which @Regs left off his recap as well as Inter v Coquitlam for this coming weekend for some reason...). It was a classic case of Pacific getting the first goal and getting their tails up. Certainly a different animal when things are going their way and the players are all pulling in the same direction. As a sidebar there was an FVSL Prem game being played on the adjacent field (Coastal v Dashmesh I think) and that looked more the caliber of Rino's v GN, which was on yet another adjacent field. I get that the FVSL teams were towards the bottom of the table, but still the contrast was stark. I don't want to get into the whole argument about the differences in the leagues, but I was shocked to see just how different the quality was when they were literally on display right next to each other.

Moving on to Sunday and I was out at Musqeum for a game report on Westside v Tigers. I expected Tigers to boss this one and it seemed to be going that way from the outset. Five or six minutes in Soolsma was gifted the ball just outside the six in the middle of the goal with time for a touch and the keeper rooted to the spot. You would have bet your mortgage on him scoring, yet he inexplicably dragged his shot wide. Tigers remained on the front foot until around the 25 minute when Westside hit with a complete sucker punch. Their striker, who had received no service to this point, got in behind the back line and lifted the ball over an on rushing keeper into an empty net. The Tigers were stunned and the Westsiders grew in confidence pushing forward and forcing a couple of saves out of the Hurricane keeper. Just when it seemed as if Tigers might descend into chaos, the equalizer appeared almost as unexpectedly and the opener. A nice one v one move by the winger down the right flank and a cross that was turned in at the near post for an own goal. The Surrey man who had supplied the cross argued vociferously that he should be credited with the goal (no doubt with a bonus on the line) but was rebuffed by the referee. This brought some swagger back to Rovers and with five or so to go before half time a free kick was swung in and the Tigers lad rose unmarked for the simplest of headers to make it 2-1 at the break.

Second half started tilted in the Rovers/Hurricanes/Tigers direction again as Westside struggled to relieve the pressure. A series of 3 or 4 corners in succession failed to produce anything tangible for the visitors and the Vancouver boys slowly played there way back into things. A quarter of an hour to play and a nice passing move released the Westside winger down the right flank behind the fullback. The covering centre back either slipped or attempted to make a slide tackle from another area code, but regardless ended up nowhere near the play. This turned a partial breakaway into a complete breakaway and the finish was classy, into the far side netting. At this point both teams went for it and could have won it. Soolsma hit a screamer from 30 yards, curling top corner that clanked off the junction of where the post meets the crossbar. Westside answered when their winger fired a cannon from the top of the 18 and just caught the wrong side of the post. Westside forced a couple more decent saves out of the Tigers keeper, but the best chance to win it fell to the Surrey boys. A set back to an onrushing midfielder was labeled for the back of the net but the Westside keeper flying through the air at full stretch made an incredible save. It looked like he tipped it over the bar, but in fact it went straight up in the air and could have gone anywhere, but the keeper gratefully found it before anyone else.

In the end a draw was maybe harsh on Tigers, but at the same time I am sure Westside felt they had chances to claim all three points as well. Good entertainment for the neutrals though, no doubt!