Morning Star Staff
There was a full moon Thursday night at Beasley Park in Lake Country.
And while full moons are traditionally associated with temporal insomnia, insanity and various magical phenomena such as lycanthropy, the Executive Flooring Inc/Enco FC didn’t really need any extra mojo.
The fifth-place flooring crew, a week after stunning first-place Penticton Masters, knocked off defending playoff champion Vernon Kal Tire 2-0 in the Kelowna Tree Brewing Men’s 35+ Soccer League final.
Enco started their sweet playoff run by brushing back the fourth-place Salmon Arm Beer Badgers.
Enco struck with a goal off a cross that went by a few legs before an Enco forward enjoyed an easy finish at 10 minutes.
“The turning point came with about 15 minutes left in the half when Kal Tire forward Jesse Knight was about to walk in on the Enco keeper but got tripped from behind,” said Kal Tire veteran Jason Beck. “The Enco defender was only given a yellow card.”
Kal Tire had a couple more chances in the remaining dying minutes of the half but just couldn’t find the net.
In the second half, play went back and forth with the only opportunity coming about 30 minutes into the half when an Enco forward was able to get a good shot off for the insurance tally.
Kal Tire keeper Mark Zaino made a couple of good stops to keep his team in the chase.
Enco went 10-8-3 in the regular season, while Kal Tire was 15-6. There are eight teams in the 35+ division.
Meanwhile, the Silver Stars grounded Kal Tire 2-0 in the Vernon men’s 55+ derby Thursday night at MacDonald Park.
Last time the two heated rivals played, the game was abandoned with 15 minutes left to play. Longtime referee Darrell Buckham maintained control with a few early warnings and the teams stuck to tough, fair soccer.
Crafty striker John Matejicka scored twice in the opening half as the Stars finished fifth at 12-9-4. Yogi Kongsdorf recorded the easy clean sheet with Kal Tire sending balls wide on a couple of early chances.
The Tiremen, who had several core players on injured reserve most of the season, ended up seventh in the 10-team loop at 6-16-2.
The Burger King Man of the Match for the Stars was Matejicka, while the Dairy Queen Man of the Match for Kal Tire was central midfielder Jim Sparrow.