A hot midsummer day at the Banff Rec Grounds soccer pitch brought out some heated tempers and forceful play, Sunday (July 27).
Banff Sushi House faced off with Banff Springs first, ending in a 2-2 draw thanks to quick penalty kicks provided by Sushi House players near the end of the second half.
Banff Springs midfielder J.P. Giroux was able to find the net first for a goal in the second half, but paid a price for his valiant efforts.
“Sushi House is ... aggressive. I got an elbow to the nose, it hasn’t been that bad today but it’s been physical and there’s been pressure from both teams,” Giroux said.
Defender Rob Green came through moments later with an aggressive run to gain the second goal for Banff Springs.
Banff Sushi House stayed calm and collective throughout the second half and let the penalty calls of referee Craig Paton work to their advantage.
“Ben Tattersall was able to get the penalty kick and our other guy, Yuki Matsumoto, got the other penalty kick,” Sushi House coach Mayumi Yasuda said. “It was OK because we’re missing a couple of good players and they’re (Banff Springs) missing players as well.”
As the day grew hotter, player physicality intensified, resulting in a mid-game brouhaha during Banff Pump & Tap’s 3-1 victory over Chateau Lake Louise.
“It’s just the heat of the game, the guys’ tempers just get carried away a little bit,” referee Craig Paton said during a foul midfield, called against a Lake Louise player. “It was a tackle and a foul was called and the guy was still upset and the benches started talking and from there I don’t know what happened.”
What happened was a clearing of the pitch by both teams who took the heated argument to the bleachers, where even spectators joined in on the screaming match. Cool heads prevailed with Pump & Tap players Julio O’Callaghan, Dwayne Bloomfield and Nick Regian finding the back of the net for the 3-1 victory.
“We played hard, we played tough and the team with the biggest heart won,” O’Callaghan said after the match.”
“It was really intense and we needed the win desperately,” Regian said. “I was lucky to get that final goal, luckily I had enough power left over to get it in there ... it felt liberating, I was practicing last night and hard work pays off. ”
