Last weekend, in the Gordon Head Soccer Jamboree held near the University of Victoria the West Vancouver Fury swept aside the opposition winning all four games and not allowing a single goal. Faced with opponents from the North Shore, Dunbar and West Vancouver, the Fury didn't miss a beat on the way to win their grouping. A number of Bowen players played key roles in their success.
In a tight first game against Dunbar United, Bailey Jones powered in a game-winning goal giving the Fury a 1- 0 victory. Later that afternoon the Fury routed the North Shore Eclipse 3 - 0 with Colleen Woodward having a solid defensive game including a turn as goalkeeper. The final match of the round robin was a closely fought affair against the archrival West Vancouver Panthers (albeit they are nice arch rivals) and again Jones came up with another game-winning goal.
When the points were tallied to determine who would play for the championship, you guessed it, it was the Fury v. Panthers.
The championship game was a classic combination of skill and determination. Ashley Callister was the 'tower of power' on defence, breaking up several Panther rushes on the left side and, in fact, turning it around and almost scoring on a wicked shot that forced the Panther goalkeeper to make a finger tip save. At the end of the half, however, the score was still nil - nil.
The Fury came up with three unanswered goals to defeat the Panthers. In the Fury's engine room playing holding mid-fielder throughout the tournament was Kiera Schuller who helped set-up the winning goal. Of course, Bowen players made up only part of the team, full credit goes to all the players from Bowen and West Vancouver for their teamwork, intelligence and sportsmanship. Winning is nice but the most important part of the Jamboree was the time spent together as teammates, the camaraderie, getting to know each other, making memories and having some fun.
The West Vancouver Fury team was coached by Bowen Islanders Jack Callister and Chris Crowley.
A special thanks to the man with the GPS and, rather conveniently, a bus to go with it, Peter King, who got us safely to the various soccer fields in Gordon Head and from Bowen to Victoria and back. Lastly, special thanks to team manager Jayne Lloyd-Jones and to all the parent chaperones.
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