YORK UNITED 3 - PACIFIC FC 1
York United continued to bedevil Pacific FC, stealing away with a 3-1 come-from-behind Canadian Premier League road victory Saturday at Starlight Stadium.
It was a disastrous homecoming for Pacific FC, which returned to Starlight after a long road stint, only to squander a 1-0 half-time lead on a goal at 31 minutes by Kunle Dada-Luke.
“We got too complacent and too comfortable and laid back in the second half,” said Dada-Luke.
“We were not ready in the second half. We thought we could see it out and kill the game and we switched off.”
PFC head coach James Merriman laced into his group’s second-half performance: “We switched off. Our mentality in the second half was very disappointing. There were no excuses for it. We have to want it more.
“We can’t let ourselves down like this. It was unacceptable in the second half. We have strong character and we need to bring it back out, starting tomorrow.”
But this is nothing new for head coach Martin Nash’s York United crew from Toronto, which moved to a win, loss and two draws against PFC on the league season.
There was also the win on penalty kicks by York United in the Canadian Championship quarter-finals to deny the Tridents a semifinal date with the Vancouver Whitecaps of MLS.
“It was a tale of two halves,” said first-year head coach and Victoria product Nash, who as a player was 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup champion and a 38-time Canada-capped former Whitecaps pro.
“We have had some good battles and good performances against them [PFC].”
York United got second-half goals by Molham Babouli, Osaze De Rosario and Sebastian Gutierrez. De Rosario has especially been a Tridents killer. It was the third goal of the season against PFC for the 21-year-old son of Dwayane De Rosario, the second all-time leading scorer for Canada.
“We know we need to play at the highest ability against [PFC] and always manage to raise the tempo against them,” said the younger De Rosario.
“We came out with energy in the second half and showed ruthlessness in front of the net.”
De Rosario said the York coaching staff upbraided the squad at the break for its poor first-half performance. “We took it on the chest, took it like men, and came back in the second half with a lot more energy,” he said.
York United moved to 7-11-5 in wins-losses-draws to keep alive its long-shot hopes for the post-season.
“Nothing in this game is impossible,” said Nash.
A season of swings continued for PFC in league play. A strong start was followed by a low period, followed by five consecutive league victories in an unbeaten in six stretch, and now followed by three consecutive league losses. It has left the defending CPL champion (10-7-5) hanging by a thread to the fourth and final playoff position by just two points with six games remaining.
“We have gone through ups and downs this season,” said former Canada U-17 player Dada-Luke. “We are in a slump right now, but we will talk about it in training and will get back on track soon.”
PFC hosts Atletico Ottawa next Sunday at Starlight Stadium.
cdheensaw@timescolonist.com
