Queens 0 Rustlers 0
RDC Queens soccer head coach Dave Colley isn’t one to sling excuses.
Despite the fact his club carried the play throughout their ACAC women’s match versus the visiting Lakeland Rustlers Saturday, the Queens sideline boss wasn’t blaming bad luck for the fact the game ended in a scoreless draw.
“We dominated, but it doesn’t matter. That’s two points we should have had,” said Colley. “At the end of the day, it’s our own fault. We had the chances, we couldn’t convert.
“Everybody couldn’t convert. I think everybody at one stage had a shot on net. Their goalkeeper was good, but we made it easy for her.”
Austin Rae McDaniel-Perrin recorded the shutout for the visitors, with Lauren Good shutting the door in the RDC net.
On a positive note, the Queens have yet to allow a goal in three games while opening with a 2-0-1 record.
“At one stage of the first half I thought we were going to give up a goal when we went to sleep,” said Colley.
But the Queens didn’t give the visitors much, and yet failed to cash in on their own opportunities.
“We had all the attack play up to the 18-yard box and just couldn’t get it done,” said Colley. “It’s the most frustrating of games. We saw a little of it in previous games, but this team (Lakeland) came in and weren’t interested in scoring. They were interested in not losing.
“They came determined not to lose and they didn’t. With the quality that we have, we should have beaten them easily. It’s our fault that we didn’t, it’s not their fault. They did their job.”
Kings 3 Rustlers 2
The RDC Kings built a 3-0 lead and then hung for the men’s victory after the visiting Rustlers scored a pair of late markers.
“It was a big win, a must win as they have a very good side,” said Kings head coach Steve Fullarton, whose club improved to 2-1 and moved into a share of second place with the 2-0 Lethbridge Kodiaks and two points back of the front-running SAIT Trojans (3-0).
Chase Grenier gave the Kings a 1-0 first-half lead, a margin that was upheld due to the strong play of keeper Luke Owen.
“We rode our luck a lot in that first half and we have Luke to thank for keeping us in the game,” said Fullarton. “He was sharp and they missed a few chances.”
The Kings came on strong in the second half and got goals from Jeremy Gopal and Mark Ibbotson before surrendering a pair of late tallies.
The RDC squad suffered a string of injuries in the contest, losing Andrew Jevne, Haydn McLean and Hayden Slaymaker with leg injuries and TJ Johnson, who hurt his spine when he fall on his tailbone with six minutes remaining. The game was delayed for close to 30 minutes after an ambulance was called to transport Johnson to the Red Deer Regional Hospital.
“All that affected our team a bit, but we still like to do things the hard way,” said Fullarton.
“However, our performance was much better than last week. We tightened up a lot and we were more compact when we didn’t have the ball. That made a big difference.”
The Kings and Queens are on the road this weekend for games in Medicine Hat and Lethbridge.