It wasn’t so much a sigh of relief, as it was an affirmation of their collective quiet confidence.

Valour FC got its first win of the Island Games Wednesday afternoon at the UPEI’s Alumni Field in Charlottetown, thumping the Canadian Premier League’s new kids on the block, Atlético Ottawa, in a well-earned 4-nil decision.

The result – the first win by Valour FC since a 3-1 victory over FC Edmonton last October 5 – also marked the highest single-game goal total in the franchise’s short history.

“It feels amazing,” began Valour FC centre back Andrew Jean-Baptiste. “And it’s something we want to keep on reciprocating in the future games.”

The result gives Valour FC a win and a loss in two matches in the First Stage of the Island Games – a seven-game round-robin from which four teams will advance to the next round.

Praised for their physical bravery in Sunday’s 2-nil loss to Cavalry FC, Valour showcased their attacking skill in the win over Atlético, managing 21 shots, with 11 on target, taking 11 corners and finishing with 59.2 per cent of the possession.

After dominating the first half but not finishing, Valour withstood a surge from Atlético to start the second half and then took the lead when Stefan Cebara was taken down by Milovan Kapor in the box, leading to a Fraser Aird penalty-kick goal in the 65^th minute.

It was also Kapor’s second yellow of the match, leaving his side a man down for the final 30 minutes. Valour FC made Ottawa pay after that, as Jean-Baptiste headed home a Brett Levis corner in the 78^th minute, with both Dylan Carreiro and Jose Galán flashing nifty finishes on goals in the 90^th and 91^stminutes. Galán then celebrated with a salute to his new daughter, pretending he had a soother in his mouth and then pantomiming the cradling of a baby.

“In the first game they collectively felt they’d not shown the technical bravery we wanted to match the physical, which we discussed,” said Valour FC GM and head coach Rob Gale. “They wanted to right that wrong today and they executed the game tactics from very early on, finding our rhythm, trying to find the spaces we thought we could exploit.

“Players win you football matches. I’ve said it over and over again. We can draw up whatever plans we like, but credit to the boys for executing today and showing some of the quality that they have.

“A clean sheet will give you a chance in a game. That’s where it starts first and foremost. Be better in both boxes, as we said. I was pleased we scored from a set piece and Andrew got his reward for another terrific performance. But they went down to 10 men, let’s be honest, and it’s very difficult. They did have a day’s extra rest than us but when you lose a man and they’re chasing the ball it’s very hard. That decision impacted their running. We needed that second goal to kill any chance they had to get back in the game.”

Gale and his staff made a number of adjustments to their starting XI, with Raph Ohin, Moses Dyer, Austin Ricci, Diego Gutiérrez and Masta Kacher all getting their first starts.

“It’s just based on the opposition, their qualities and what you need to do and where you can find their potential weaknesses and nullify their strengths” said Gale of the changes. “We had a specific detail for Raph Ohin today and then the players around him had to react to that on the defensive side of the game. And then we had specific roles on the attacking side we needed to see… more forward momentum and attacking prowess because everyone was telling us how rubbish we were in the first game.

“The boys wanted to prove a point and I’m pleased for them. I’m pleased for the fans to have something to smile about.”

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V NOTES:

Gale offered an update on Arnold Bouka Moutou, who was injured in Sunday’s loss to Cavalry and did not suit up on Wednesday. “He’s doing awesome. We’re getting him to see the chiropractor (Thursday). He’s got big smile on his face – hidden by a mask – but he’s doing awesome.”… Jean-Baptise, Galán and Aird all scored their first goals as members of Valour. Carreiro’s marker was the third of his Valour career.

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GOALS

Fraser Aird, 65’ (penalty); 1-0 Valour

Andrew Jean-Baptiste, 78’ (assist: Brett Levis); 2-0 Valour

Dylan Carreiro, 90’ (assist: Shaan Hundal); 3-0 Valour

Jose Galán, 90+1’ (assist: Shaan Hundal); 4-0 Valour

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VALOUR CARD SUMMARY

Fraser Aird, 4’ (yellow)

Austin Ricci, 29’ (yellow)

Masta Kacher, 81’ (yellow)

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BOXSCORE:

VALOUR STARTING XI

GK James Pantemis

D Brett Levis

D Andrew Jean Baptiste

D Julian Dunn

D Stefan Cebara

MF Raphael Ohin

MF Moses Dyer

MF Masta Kacher

MF Diego Gutiérrez

MF Fraser Aird

F Austin Ricci

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VALOUR SUBSTITUTIONS

65:46’ – On Federico Pena, off Stefan Cebara

66:07’ – On Jose Galán, off Moses Dyer

66:10’ – On Dylan Carreiro, off Fraser Aird

77:50’ – On Shaan Hundal, off Austin Ricci

85:02’ – On Solomon Kojo Antwi, off Masta Kacher

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NEXT: vs. York9 FC, Saturday August 22^nd, noon CDT.