The Lord Byng Grey Ghosts finished an improbable post-season surge from sixth place to win the senior boys city soccer championship.
The Ghosts scored only six goals in seven regular season games but defeated the Churchill Bulldogs 5-1 to win the city title Oct. 22 at Magee secondary.
“We finally did it,” said Lord Byng head coach Andy Johnston, remembering the 2012 championship loss to Kitsilano. Lord Byng last won the city title in 2002.
Churchill finished ahead of Byng in fourth and both upset higher ranked teams to reach the final. But on Tuesday afternoon as the fog closed in on the West Side pitch, both teams played tentative, kick-and-chase soccer.
“Neither team was really showing they were able to take the gamble to win it in the beginning,” said Johnston. There was a lot of lack of possession and turnovers.”
The Bulldogs struck iron in their best scoring chance of the half but didn’t find the back of the net. Johnston called it a “lucky break” for his side. “You’re down one-nil at that point and everything can change.”
Instead, the Grey Ghosts went on the board off a monstrous throw-in that reached the six-yard box. Tom Severson flicked the ball past the Bulldog’s keeper Rajan Sangha, who was Churchill’s standout player and stopped a barrage of shots in the second half.
“That took the pressure off us because we do have trouble scoring goals,” said Johnston. “We got one and we could build on that.”
Ahead 1-0 at the half, Johnston still wasn’t seeing enough energy from the team that lost this game a year ago. “The first five minutes, [they] were doing exactly what we told them not to do, dribbling and not distributing the ball.”
Lord Byng went up 2-0 on a designed play off a short corner kick. Ricky Lee controlled the ball near the sideline and crossed it in front of the net. Sangha leapt and collided hard with a Grey Ghost, leaving the net open and the ball still in the air. Ben Houtman headed in the goal.
“You could see that just deflated them,” said Johnston.
The Ghosts added three more goals to lead 4-0 when the Bulldogs answered with one of their own on a fast-break transition attack. Kengi Ng tore down the left wing and hit the back of the net from 20 yards.
Lord Byng added another to win 5-1 and hoist the Gary Haensgen Cup, named for the former sport commissioner and Killarney coach who was at Magee to present the trophy.
On Thursday, Magee hosted Kitsilano in the third-place game and Eric Hamber headed west to play Point Grey for fifth place and the final berth at the zone tournament. Visit vancourier.com/sports for the latest results.
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