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Themi Antonoglou -- photo by Cameron Bartlett
Match Report | Valour FC 1 Atlético Ottawa 1
September 9, 2024
Ed Tait
by
Ed Tait

Valour FC keeps trading punches with the elite of the Canadian Premier League in its push for a first-ever playoff spot in franchise history.

And while Monday night’s 1-1 draw against Atlético Ottawa in front of 2,242 at Princess Auto Stadium moves them one point closer to the playoff line, it was the two points lost from a potential win that will be the talking point in the days ahead after a controversial call in the 75th minute led to a penalty goal that allowed the visitors to escape with the tie.

Valour improved to 6-4-12 on the season with the draw and picked up one point on Vancouver FC this week — they fell 1-nil to York FC last Friday — to move to within four points of the fifth and final playoff spot. Vancouver has 26 points, Pacific FC is at 23, with Valour at 22 with six matches to play.

Valour has a short turnaround with a match this Friday in Toronto against York and then will play four of its final five at home. Ottawa, meanwhile, is in second spot overall, four back of first-place Forge FC.

Valour opened the scoring in the 10th minute, as Shaan Hundal headed home a deft pass from Jordan Faria from inside the box for his fifth goal of the season.

The home side defended well for long stretches in the first half and allowed only nine shots overall, with just one on target. Inching toward a potential mammoth full three points in their push, the game suddenly changed with the decision by referee Ben Hoskins as Valour centre back Dante Campbell — both hands behind his back — had a pass deflect off his forearm, with the solid defensive play instead ruled a handball.

It was a decision One Soccer commentators criticized, referring to it as ‘incredibly controversial.’

“I’ve been in this league now since 2021 and I’ve seen the players growing; players that were in their first-second years as pro becoming better and growing. And that has allowed the league to grow,” said Valour GM and head coach Phillip Dos Santos, choosing his words carefully. “Unfortunately there are too many calls that have a direct impact on the result across the league.

“Today we didn’t lose the game, but we lost two points because we weren’t allowed to have those two points. The time in which the goal came was crucial. It’s never a penalty — it doesn’t matter the interpretation, the report of the referee that might say supported decision or correct decision.

“I’ve been in football. It’s not only them that know the rules, we know the rules and the truth is that today it was not a penalty and it had a direct impact on a title (Forge trying to hold off Ottawa for top spot) because there’s a race there and maybe on playoffs.

“People have to understand that you can’t just go about it and think that there’s not responsibility,” Dos Santos continued. “In some leagues of the world when you make these types of mistakes it takes a few weeks if not months before you’re reffing another game. I don’t wish that to anyone because I don’t think the mistakes are made because they want to be make. But, it’s still a mistake.”

All that said, Valour continues to play its best football of the season of late with three wins and three draws against two losses in its last eight matches. And while there was frustration in the locker room afterward, that’s the silver lining as it moves forward to Friday’s critical match against York.

“Everyone’s disappointed and everyone knows why we’re disappointed and the cause for it,” said Hundal. “But I don’t think anyone’s head is down. We have other players on other teams tell us how difficult we are to play against now and how we’ve grown as a team. As long as we keep getting more and more points, whether it’s one or three, it’s going to add up at the end of it.

“Me, personally, I love having games quick — Monday and Friday — I love having the quick turnaround, especially back home in Toronto. A lot of guys are excited to go back home and see family. Of course, this is a tough result, but there’s a lot of positives we’re going to bring into the next game.”

‘V’ NOTES
-Valour was without centre back Frankie Facchineri, who sat out the match due to yellow card accumulation. The versatile Campbell was solid in his place.

Dante Campbell

Valour FC 1 Atlético Ottawa 1

Goals

Valour FC
9:49′: Shaan Hundal (assist: Jordan Faria)

Atlético Ottawa
76:04′: Ruben del Campo (penalty scored)

Card summary

Valour FC
51:35’: Tass Mourdoukoutas (yellow, reckless offence)
71:58′: Dante Campbell (yellow, time wasting)
74:42′: Dante Campbell (handball, penalty awarded)
75:28′: Jonathan Viscosi (yellow, time wasting)

Atlético Ottawa
34:19’: Dani Morer (yellow, reckless offence)
46:24′: Gabriel Antinoro (yellow, tactical foul)

VALOUR STARTING XI
GK – Jonathan Viscosi
D – Roberto Alarcon
D – Dante Campbell
D – Tass Mourdoukoutas
D – Themi Antonoglou
MF – Raphael Ohin ©
MF – Safwane Mlah
FW – Diogo Ressurreição
FW – Jordan Faria
F – Shaan Hundal
F – Jordi Swibel

Valour substitutions
62:45’: On Abdul Binate; off Jordi Swibel
76:33′: On Juan-Pablo Sanchez; off Safwane Mlah
85:35′: On Noah Verhoeven; off Raphael Ohin