Valour FC served up the perfect advertisement for its brand in a Wednesday matinee which featured enough moments to fill a Netlix episode.
Playing in front of a franchise record crowd of 11,390 in their first ever school-day game, Valour served up a solid performance in a 3-1 victory over Vancouver FC in a picturesque setting at Princess Auto Stadium.
The result not only helps wave the flag for the team's brand of football, it allowed Valour to climb out of the Canadian Premier League basement and into a sixth-place tie with Pacific FC -- just two points back of York United FC and the final playoff spot.
Just as important, the win represents growth for a team that is now unbeaten in their last four -- including a 2-2 draw with Vancouver Whitecaps in the first leg of their Canadian Championship series -- in south Winnipeg.
"Huge," said Valour winger Kris Twardek, who scored the club's first goal. "For moral it's massive. We have a little bit of a gap between games now (next playing on June 15th in Ottawa) so it gives you real positive emotions to sit on for 10 days or so.
"It was a really quick turnaround (since Sunday's draw with Pacific). We felt we should have beaten Pacific. We felt we were pressing for a goal so when today started we went in hungry; we went in hungry and ready to get chances and score goals today.
"And in the last five games it's been one defeat and for a team that's been sitting at the bottom of the table it's positive discussions to have. There's a lot of positive elements to the team and I would have said the same two-three weeks ago even when the results weren't there.
"It's a really good group. We had a really, really positive preseason. We've had really positive spells almost within every game of the season. Now we're starting to put more consistent performances over the 90 minutes.
"The idea now is to keep rolling with it and take that into the away games as well."
Valour fell behind 1-nil in the 17th minute with some shoddy defensive coverage off a corner but then rallied for full credit for the victory. That turnaround began with Twardek scoring his second goal of the season after some solid work by Kian Wiliams, Themi Antonoglou and Shaan Hundal in and around the box.
The end of the first half and start of the second was zany, with some hard fouling leading to a scuffle near the two benches and two red cards -- one to Frankie Facchineri of Valour the other to Kunle Dada-Luke of Vancouver -- and then a missed penalty chance by Hundal after Bruno Figueiredo was pulled down in the box.
Valour kept is collective foot pinned on the gas and then got goals by Kelsey Egwu -- his team leading third -- and a brilliant effort by Jordan Faria.
"Their character was unbelievable," said Valour GM and head coach Phillip Dos Santos in his post-match news conference. "When you go down 1-0 in a game where emotionally the guys were hyped and and they felt the energy... sometimes the balloon can deflate. It didn't. They knew they had to work to get back at it and even moreso when there's more space on the field with 10 men.
"Very happy with the outcome but I feel the team has been growing and, for me, that's most important."
Valour FC 3 Vancouver FC 1
Goals
Valour FC
43:20': Kris Twardek (assist: Shaan Hundal)
72:41': Kelsey Egwu (assist: Bruno Figueiredo)
81:53': Jordan Faria (assist: Roberto Alarcon)
Vancouver FC
16:41': Emrick Fosting (assist: Allan Enyou)
Card summary
Valour FC
36:24′: Raphael Ohin (yellow, reckless offence)
50:33': Frankie Facchineri (red, violent conduct)
68:54': Bruno Figueiredo (yellow, reckless offence)
Vancouver FC
22:00': Josh Heard (yellow, reckless offence)
50:30': Kunle Dada-Luke (red, violent conduct)
50:42': David Norman, Jr. (yellow, tactical foul)
62:26': Emrick Fotsing (yellow, reckless offence)
VALOUR STARTING XI
GK – Eleias Himaras
D – Zach Fernandez
D – Frankie Facchineri
D – Kelsey Egwu
D – Themi Antonoglou
MF – Raphael Ohin ©
MF – Diogo Ressurreicao
MF – Bruno Figueiredo
FW – Kian Williams
FW – Kris Twardek
F – Shaan Hundal
—
Valour substitutions
45:00’: On Roberto Alarcón; off: Diogo Ressurreição
63:00': On Jordan Faria; off: Kian Williams
63:24': On Myles Morgan; off Shaan Hundal
88:29': On Xavier Venancio; off Kris Twardek
92:37': On Safwane Mlah; off Raphael Ohin