Kings Arms finds going tough in men's Premier Division

BY JOHN DECOSTE

The Advertiser/NovaNewsNow.com

The Valley Kings Arms men’s Senior A soccer team is finding the going a bit tough in the Premier Division of the Nova Scotia Soccer League.

After a 1-3-1 start to the season that included four home games, Valley played five games in 11 days, four of them on the road, losing four and tying one to drop to 1-7-2.

Though four of their losses had been by two goals or less, Kings Arms remained offensively challenged as a group, having scored just seven goals in their first 10 games while allowing their opponents 29.

Morgan Harrop (two) was the only player with more than one goal.

Three of the team’s four most recent losses were shutouts, 1-0 to Halifax County June 26, 4-0 to Halifax City June 28 and 6-0 to PEI June 29.

Valley played to a 1-1 tie with Cape Breton June 22 in which Jacob Smith had the lone Valley goal. In Wolfville July 2, Kings Arms dropped a 3-1 decision to Halifax City, with Neal Forton netting the only Valley goal.

Meanwhile, the Valley U-18 girls no longer have a perfect record, but they remained undefeated at 7-0-1 following a 1-1 draw with Halifax City June 30 in a game rescheduled from the previous day. Acacia Dunphy had her team’s only goal.

The U-14 girls were not so fortunate, dropping a 2-1 decision to Halifax County July 2 for their first loss of the season after five wins and three draws. Haleigh Fletcher scored the lone Valley goal, her team-high ninth in eight games played this season.

The game was a battle between two unbeaten teams; Halifax entered the contest at 8-0-2 and improved to 9-0-2 with the win.

The other Valley United Tier 1 teams had no games scheduled on the June 28-29 weekend.

The U-18 boys played the provincial U-16 team Wednesday, July 2 in Halifax and won 5-0 to improve to 2-3-1 on the season. Scorers were not available.

The U-16 boys took on Halifax City July 3, also in Halifax, and also emerged victorious by a 3-1 score, improving to 3-4-0 on the season. Zach Shaffelburg continued to give Valley a boost, scoring two goals. Cochrane Noseworthy-Smith had the other goal.