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Old Boys ruffle Eagle’s feathers

Shady Rest blanked by Oak Bay for traditional Manly Cup
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Shady Rest Eagles’ Dietmar Quint comes close to scoring as tries to go around the Oak Bays Old Boys keeper during their Manly Cup home-and-away series that was played at the Kwalikum Secondary Field on May 28. — Michael Briones photo

The Oak Bay Old Boys made the Shady Rest Eagles feel like old crows when they scored a 3-0 win at the Kwalikum Secondary School field on Sunday.

The match was the first leg of the annual home and away contest for the Manly Cup, which is now entering its fourth decade. They began playing against each other in 1986.

Sixty-two games later, the Old Boys hold a narrow edge in victories, 29-28, with four games ending in draws. The Eagles travel to Victoria in November for the second leg of the annual competition.

Oak Bay put the Eagles under pressure early and pened the scoring in the 35th minute, scoring on a breakaway that gave Shady Rest keeper Ian Miller no chance.

The Eagles worked hard but were a bit rusty. The bad weather over the past few months limited their playing time and it showed as they had trouble stringing passes together and hardly threatened the Oak Bay keeper in the first half.

Regrouping at halftime, the Eagles started playing much better with strikers Terry Stewart and Dietmar Quint launching good attacks. But with the Eagles pressing, it was Oak Bay that scored the critical second goal against the run of play. With the Eagles throwing everything into attack, the Old Boys scored on another breakaway with 15 minutes left in the match.

The Eagles enjoyed some faint hope of a comeback, when Stewart was brought down in the penalty area as he rounded the keeper. Unfortunately the ensuing penalty shot sailed over the bar and the Eagles’ last hopes were dashed.

Coach Jim Cameron, gave all credit to the Old Boys.

“They were hungrier than we were,” said Cameron. “We had beaten them three times in a row at KSS, and held the Old Boys to a 0-0 tie Victoria, so we held the Manly Cup. It will be our challenge to take the Cup back in November.”