It came in a flash, a brief moment in Valour FC’s scrimmage against a team of Manitoba Selects Friday morning at the Winnipeg Soccer Federation South Complex.

And yet, big picture, it could be a critical development for a Valour squad always on the hunt for creativity and finish around the opponent’s box.

Winger Kian Williams — the same man who missed all of last season with a knee injury after tying for the team lead in goals in 2023 — came on in the second half of Friday’s match to provide some quality minutes, 15 in total, in his first on-field experience in over a year. The fact his stint included a trademark move which saw him cut from his left to right across the top of the box before burying a shot wasn’t just icing on the cake, it was the cherry on top of the icing.

As Valour FC GM and head coach Phillip Dos Santos said afterward in a post-match handshake and hug of Williams, ‘that was the biggest story of the day.’

“He hasn’t lost the characteristics he has so it was good to see that,” said Dos Santos. “Getting that fitness back and his confidence on point means we will be getting the same Kian we had back in 2023. That’s encouraging.”

“That was nice to come back to in my first 15 minutes,” added the Englishman with a wide grin. “I’ve had those moments where I wondered if I would even touch a pitch again, so to just be out there — even for just a practice game — was special. And to not only play but get rewarded with a goal is big for me.

“We’ve been building up things in training. Hopefully this is something that carries over into the start of the season.”

Valour didn’t concede a goal on Friday and has now posted four clean sheets in as many matches dating back to a week in B.C. that featured matches against Vancouver FC, Altitude FC of League1 B.C. and Whitecaps2.

“Speaking first from a team perspective, our locker room is good. We’re in a good place,” said centre back Frankie Facchineri when asked to weigh in with where the squad is at this point of camp. “We’ve been at it for 12 days in a row now and these couple days off coming up will be good to recharge.

“Overall, I’m going to echo the words of my good friend and teammate Jono (Viscosi) in that we’re where we need to be right now. We’ve got a lot of things to work on yet, but we’ve got good building blocks. What we’ve done so far has been a really good start to preseason.

“We’re trending in the right direction.”

The club will now be off until Monday and then head to southern Ontario next week for their final tune-ups before the opening of the regular season on April 5th in Victoria against Pacific FC.

“A game like today teaches us we have to be mentally there all the time,” added Facchineri. “In the CPL the games can come fast and furious. We’re going to have a midweek game or two. We’re going to be tired sometimes. We have travel. We’re going to be playing in places that are unfamiliar to some of our guys. So, mental toughness is going to be a huge thing.

“So far in preseason we’ve yet to concede a goal and that’s obviously a good thing for us. A key now is seeing how we respond after we concede and how the boys respond after that happens. We’ve got to work on continuing our defensive form and finding ways to break the opposition down.

“We’ll get a sense of that coming up with our next round of games. Then we’ll finally see where we’re at. We’re at a good place now but we’ve got to be continually building.”

What changes going forward now is this, too: the matches aren’t just about getting everyone minutes, but settling on a starting XI, on who will handle set pieces and who works well together. The closer the start of the season gets, in essence, the more the attention focusses to some of the smaller yet vital details.

“The truth is as we get closer over the next two weeks it’s going to be about who is responding better now in this moment,” said Dos Santos. “Then we can set them up for the start of the season and make sure everyone else follows and becomes available for the squad.

“We must make sure we don’t lose the perspective that it’s still early days and that the clarity won’t necessarily be there right away. The real games will give us the answers, so we need to still be open-minded and see where the progress can be made collectively and individually.”