LAPL XV Season Opener: Valhalla 3 Avanti 3 (6-18-09)

Avanti has now not beaten the Vikes in 3 games. Poor sods, they threw everything at Valhalla in the first half but missed almost all of it. From the sideline, Sir Alex Ferguson opined that the Persians should’ve been up 5 instead of 1 by the break. In years past, Valhalla heads would not have rallied, but times have changed and the weak are now strong. Valhalla stormed back to a 2-1 stance but Acanti equalised. With 2 minutes left, Cowan blasted in what in hockey terms would be called a ‘roof daddy’. However, the mercy of Alex Gorin reared it’s head and the final whistle was postponed just long enough for Avanti to tie it again and soon after the final whistle blew. Missing several starters to injury and having not played well, everyone on the good side agreed that this was a good result on the day.

Georgian Court Man of the Match: Mike Cowan

VICTORY!

Valhalla placed 3rd in the  LAPL XIV regular season but were still hungry.

After handely beating the top 5 seeds in the runup to the playoffs as follows: vs Coyotes 5-4 / vs. Hollywood 5-3 / vs. Avanti 5-3 / vs Dinamo 5-nil, the vikings felt they were on a hot streak. This proved to be true just in time for the LAPL Cup Tournament. After a second round scare against Dinamo (3-3), Valhalla imposed it’s will on Avanti in a 2-nil gladiator fight semi-final and then met Coyotes in the final on June 11th. 1-nil to the good at halftime, Valhalla saw the finish line and dug in for the hardware that evaded them a year and a half previously. Victory was a sweet fruit and the team celebrated at sponsor Sonny Macleans after the champagne at the field.

There were smiles all round and real feeling of accomplishment but everyone agreed there was one more thing to do…

win the regular season crown.

LAPL XV awaits.

Valhalla 3 Penmar 1

Valhalla storm to another victory! The  Nordic gods dominated another game without putting up double figures on the scoreboard. Valhalla should have been 10 goals up by halftime, but missed a series of easy chances. The unfortunate news was that during one of his misses Peter Bartlett was knocked to the ground and fractured his left collar bone. We all wish him a speedy recovery.

The second half did not start well for Valhalla, conceding an early goal after gifting away possession to easily, but this sparked Valhalla into action. New signing Steve Marlet raced away to tie the score, a deft near post finished helped regain Valhalla’s composure. This was swiftly followed by a MacLeod belter from fully 2 yards out! Valhalla confirmed the win after Marlet skipped passed his defender to l slot an inch perfect pass to the on-rushing Michael Weaver  who duly obliged with a neat finish.

Valhalla keep their run going as they rise to third in the table.