The wait was long, often exhausting, occasionally painful and – somewhat fitting based on the year to date – ultimately also delayed.
And yet ask Valour FC and their loyal supporters if it was all worth it after Sunday’s lightning-delayed rain-drenched 2-nil win over Vancouver FC in front of 4,262 at Princess Auto Stadium and the answer would be a resounding, yes.
Make that a resounding, hell yeah.
Indeed, after opening the season with seven straight league road matches all over the CPL map, Valour finally played its first home match of 2024 – and first since last October – and delivered its most-complete effort of the young season courtesy a brace from forward Jordi Swibel and with Jonathan Viscosi & Co. authoring the club’s first clean sheet of the season.
Swibel’s two goals came in the 38th and 47th minutes and Viscosi made a trio of highlight-reel stops to seal the victory. Swibel’s brace now gives the Australian four goals in his first CPL season.
“It’s just on the back of hard work by the whole team and myself and it’s a great feeling to score in front of the home fans after being away for so long,” said Swibel. “It was really important to bring a good performance today and on a personal note, like I say every time I score, this is what I came here to do and there’s nothing more I love than doing that. To bring that joy to our fans after a long way from home is really, really nice.
“(The home environment) was brilliant, I couldn’t ask for more, honestly. It was everything I dreamed of, not only to score two goals but to win the game and keep the clean sheet — that’s our first clean sheet which is fantastic for us. We worked really, really hard at that and to that at home in front of our fans — there’s no better feeling.
“We’ll just continue to work on this. We’ve got another two home games and we’ll continue to fight and look forward to those.”
The win extends Valour’s current unbeaten streak to three matches with two wins and a draw and has breathed more life into a campaign that had flat-lined early with five straight defeats. Now 2-1-5 on the season, Valour has inched closer to the pack with seven points – two back of sixth place Cavalry FC and three in arrears of York United FC, who hold down the final playoff spot.
“There all very big in this league,” said Valour GM and head coach Phillip Dos Santos of the home victory. “It was special because you spend so much time away from home, you have a good crowd and they weathered a wait and a storm. The guys in the locker room and the levels of anxiety raise up… it was important for us to come home and win the match.
“Man, it’s been a while since we played at home. It was a perfect night. You look at it, it was almost from a movie scene — rainy, the lights, the crowd and a lot of good things. A lot of good things. I’m very happy.”
Dos Santos had just returned home from Europe after completing the final stages of his UEFA Pro Diploma coaching license and found his squad energized and ready to kick off its home schedule. Critical now is to keep the momentum rolling into what will be a home-dominant run of matches that will see 13 of the final 20 at Princess Auto Stadium.
“We’re playing games that are cleaner,” he said. “Very little mistakes. We’re defending well. We’ve conceded one goal (not including a penalty in a 2-1 win vs. HFX Wanderers)… for me, it’s how this team has grown. We were bleeding goals and now we’re willing to pay the price and we’re not making mistakes.
“This club has its own challenges, but we’re a reflex of our community and who we are as a city. It’s always going to be based in hard work, a strong commitment and fighting for a cause.”
‘V’ NOTES
- The win was Viscosi’s first in Valour colours and the team’s first clean sheet since a 1-nil win over Atlético Ottawa last September 24th.
- Valour scored two goals at home since September 17th of last year and ended a four-match home losing streak that ended the 2023 season.
- Vancouver was without forward Moses Dyer due to suspension.
- Special note for Valour faithful: the weather delay and rain pushed the post-match autographs to following next Sunday’s match against Ottawa with a 12:30 start time. All youth present today will receive a free youth ticket for next week’s match.
Valour FC 1 Vancouver FC
Goals
Valour FC
37:43’: Jordi Swibel (3)
46:35’: Jordi Swibel (4) assist: Diogo Ressurreicao
Vancouver FC
None
Card summary
Valour FC
58:55:’: Shaan Hundal (yellow, tactical foul)
88:24’: Abdul Binate (yellow, reckless offence)
91:12’: Zach Sukunda (yellow, time wasting)
Vancouver FC
43:59’: Vasco Fry (yellow, reckless offence)
VALOUR STARTING XI (4-2-3-1)
GK – Jonathan Viscosi
D – Roberto Alarcon
D – Haris Chantzopoulos
D – Tass Mourdoukoutas (C)
D – Themi Antonoglou
MF – Dante Campbell
MF – Juan Pablo Sanchez
FW – Diogo Ressurreicao
FW – Abdul Binate
FW – Shaan Hundal
F – Jordi Swibel
—
Valour substitutions
59:19’: On Noah Verhoeven; off Diogo Ressurreicao
80:20’: On Raphael Ohin; off Shaan Hundal
80:30’: On Frankie Facchineri; off Haris Chantzopoulos
89:49’: On Zach Sukunda; off Dante Campbell