Morning Star Staff
It was North Okanagan Soccer League play at its fastest and finest Wednesday night at MacDonald Park.
Archrivals North Enderby Timber and Salmon Arm Courvas put on an epic display of speed, skill and grit in a 2-2 draw.
The Timber opened the scoring after defender Menno Burnet made the tackle of the game by sliding a Courvas forward and then playing a through ball to Pat Schindler, who fed Danny Stein for his 30th birthday tap-in.
The Timber controlled possession in the first half to take a 1-0 lead into the break.
NET sputtered in the second half, allowing two quick goals 10 minutes into the final 45.
Things started to get heated for the rivals with referee Wayne Aasen giving both teams multiple yellows to keep the game under control.
Timber veteran Brodie Couch – fresh off the airplane after living in Australia for two years – picked up right where he left off by setting up Brent Poulsen on a breakaway.
Poulsen fooled the keeper and everyone on the sideline with a knuckle-ball shot that no one except Poulsen knew went over the goal-line.
In other play, the Revelstoke Stallions held off Peters Tirecraft 1-0 in Salmon Arm.
Revy carried a slight advantage in the early minutes, but tirecraft soon started to test the Stallions with some nifty passing.
The Stallions scored near the 42nd minute on a 25-yard deflected shot which just snuck past keeper Kevin Nevens, who had a solid outing.
Tirecraft right outside midfielder Aman Singh headed a corner off the post and then headed the rebound which was cleared by a defender.
The Richardson boys – Clark and Kyle – were highly effective for Tirecraft, while rookie defender Liam Semeniuk had his best showing of the year, tracking a forward on a breakaway from centre with a sweet slide tackle.
Tirecraft pressed hard for the equalizer with Trevor Rachwalski striking the crossbar in the dying minutes.
“We had lots of scoring chances and they (Revy) looked really good,” said Tirecraft veteran Brad Conlin. “We were lights out except for not scoring. It was our best game of the season.”
“Liam’s been a real pleasant surprise. Justin Mitchell and Gavin Brewster were stallions at central defence and they shared the Longhorn Man of the Match. Their play together is smooth and rock-solid with great outlet passes. They’re fun to watch.”