The Shady Rest Over 55 soccer side may have had their hands full in a fiercely contested 3-1 loss to their longtime rivals the Nanaimo Masters at QB Rec Fields last Sunday, but the locals were game.
“We were down 2-0 at half time, held in the match by Ian Miller our keeper,” longtime Shady Jim Cameron confirmed after, adding the locals “played much better in the second half,” and pulled a goal back after some sustained pressure at the 65 minute mark when Jim Mitchell scored on a long cross that found the top corner of the net over a startled keeper.
Nanaimo scored a late goal to secure the win against the flow with the Shadies pressing for the equalizer.
Shady veteran Jim Wilson, who Cameron calls “the engine room of the O55s,” almost overheated at one point when he was checked hard and sent air born at midfield but didn’t get the call.
GAME ON
The 055 Shadies travel to Victoria Nov. 11 for the second and final stop of the 26th annual Manly Cup. Shady Rest captured the home leg of the annual two-game set for bragging rights by way of a 5-2 win back in May.