2017 BC Provincial Cups: Deryl Hughes Masters Cup quarter-final preview

There’s an exciting weekend of BC Provincial Cup action coming up. The A Cup and Doug Day U21 Cup are at the semi-final stage, with the larger B Cup and Masters competitions at the quarter-final stage.

You can check out our round ups of both the A Cup and B Cup action from this past weekend on the site, along with a couple of video highlights from two of the Keith Millar B Cup matches.

In the meantime, here’s Canucks4Ever’s preview of the Deryl Hughes Masters Cup quarter-finals. [You can read his U21 semi-final preview HERE]

West Van (VMSL) v PCOV (VMSL)
[Ambleside ‘D’, West Vancouver – Friday May 5 – 7.30pm kick off]

PCOV’s tour of the Burnaby Men’s Soccer League has concluded after they saw off a pair of BMSL teams in their opening fixtures. Now they must contend with domestic rivals West Van. These two teams finished second and third in the table so this one sets up as a cracker. It’s tough to get a read on the match up based on their previous encounters this season. PCOV knocked off West Van with 4-0 win in their first meeting before the former Trollers responded with a 3-1 victory and then thumped the Portuguese 5-0 in their final meeting. That third fixture came all the way back at the end of January though, which makes it tough to give these early season performances much weight. It’s your classic coin toss in this one with both teams likely fancying a win here and an ultimate place in the final. The bottom half of the draw has been kind to these two clubs, but only one can progress. History suggests that the edge goes to the North Shore crew as past champions in 2011, but these are razor thin margins. However, something has to separate these two and that pedigree combined with winning the season series means West Van gets the edge in this one and a place in the semis.

Coquitlam Metro Ford PCE (VMSL) v Columbus (VMSL)
[Coquitlam Town Centre East – Friday May 5 – 8pm kick off]

It’s the Match of the Round here as two long time VMSL, and Provincial, powerhouses clash in an all VMSL quarter-final. Both clubs are former champions of this tournament with Metro Ford being the current holders. If you go off league results, this one is a no-brainer, as Coquitlam was 3-0 against the Italians this season to the tune of an 11-1 aggregate score line. Metro Ford, then, are clear favourites in this one as they should be, being reigning VMSL and Provincial Champions. It falls on Columbus to play the role of David against the Tri Cities Goliath and with a full squad, led by former Welsh International Robert Earnshaw, surely the Vancouver boys fear no one. Will they have that full squad, though? That is the question. The Italians have posted some impressive results in the competition to this point, clobbering FVSL heavyweights Temple in their opener and then posting an eyebrow raising 4-3 on the Island over VISL Champions Saanich last weekend. Clearly the Columbus old boys know how to get it done. Coquitlam had nearly a carbon copy opponent in the previous round in Westside FC, who arrived with plenty of pedigree and on the back of some impressive results. Metro Ford saw them off with little trouble and I would expect something similar this week. Columbus always in with a chance, but Coquitlam are the clear favourites to progress from this one.

Cowichan 49ers (VISL) v Port Moody Rangers (FVSL)
[Sherman Road Turf, Duncan – Saturday May 6 – 4pm kick off]

Both teams won away from home against league champions last week, however, Port Moody’s last gasp dramatic win again rival North Delta was likely the more noteworthy of the two victories. It was all ND early, but two late goals saw the Tri Cities advance with a 5-4 win in a barn burner that might be a contender for match of the tournament. Cowichan brought an army of fans to watch them see off BMSL Champions Roma at a jog, controlling the match in a 3-1 win. A disappointing effort for Roma, who likely had high hopes of advancing further in the competition, but it was a great showing for Cowichan on their travels, becoming the first Island team to win on the Mainland this year across the four brackets. They, and their fans, get to return home to their friendly Island confines and will surely create a difficult environment for the travelling men from the Fraser Valley. Both teams will fancy their chances in this draw as they both avoid the VMSL. The Vancouver League teams are yet to lose other than to domestic opponents in the tournament to this point so surely a nice bonus then for one of these teams to be able to reach the semi-finals before encountering a perennial juggernaut. Definitely a coin toss in this one, but I’ll take the Islanders to make home field count.

Delta United (FVSL) v Croatia (VMSL)
[Dugald Morrison Turf, Delta – Saturday May 6 – 4pm kick off]

Delta are rolling at the moment, as the sixth place and final FVSL Masters entrant saw off an experienced UVIC Alumni side in their opener and then knocked over the RASA Champions, Old Blacks, last time out. Now though, along comes their first VMSL test in Croatia. As mentioned earlier, the VMSL is perfect in this competition against other leagues and, while the other leagues, specifically the FVSL, are gaining traction in the open divisions this season, the old boys seem to be sticking to that familiar VMSL pattern of dominance. Croatia saw of the FVSL’s fifth placed South Surrey with little trouble in the previous round and are no doubt fancying the draw they received in the bottom of the bracket. Delta have been underdogs for most of this competition given that they just snuck into the tournament thanks to the expanded field. So I doubt Croatia and the big bad VMSL will have them shaking in their boots; it’s just another day at the office for the Ladner based crew. Best of luck to Delta, it is always fun to see an upset and they seem a decent lot; Croatia to advance.