Throughout their Tri-County Soccer Association season, Athabasca U14 Titans FC coach Glenn Martin has lamented the apparent lack of competition. Through nine league games, the Titans were undefeated with 41 goals for and only four against.
So it was a pleasant surprise at last weekend’s Tri-County Cup tournament in Ardrossan that the Titans’ opponents provided a stiffer challenge, holding them to two one-goal victories.
“It was a shock to us,” Martin said. ”We won our first game against Ardrossan, 4-3.”
The Titans jumped out to a fairly quick 4-0 lead, Martin related. “I tried something new, and we scored in the first 58 seconds.”
However, a breakaway goal and a penalty kick by Ardrossan brought the score to 4-2 at the half, and they added another in the second half to make it close.
“They came back,” Martin observed.
From there, the Titans moved on to eke out a 3-2 victory over Westlock.
“It could have gone either way,” Martin said. “Westlock really stepped up their game. It was actually a fun game to play in.”
He gave full credit to both Ardrossan and Westlock for their improvement, noting that the Titans played to his expectations.
“We played well,” he said. “(Their) goalies were all pretty good, making some good saves.”
After two close games, the Titans claimed Tri-County gold with a decisive 12-0 win over Legal.
With the Tri-County Cup victory, the Titans qualify for U14 Tier IV Provincials in Stettler July 10-12.
Martin said provincials will provide a much tougher test.
“I’m not really that pumped about how we’re playing,” he said. “There’s all kinds of stuff that we need to work on.”
