BB5 United threepeat after VMSL Premier Division title race goes down to the wire (with video highlights)

The battle to be crowned 2023-24 Vancouver Metro Soccer League (VMSL) Premier Division champions went down to the very last match of the season, with three teams fighting it out for the title going into the last month of the campaign.

In the end it was BB5 United CCB that were crowned champions for the third straight season, but they were pushed all the way by VUFC Hibernian, who denied the Surrey powerhouse another league and cup double by lifting the Imperial Cup in March after a dramatic penalty shootout victory.

Heading into March, BB5, VUFC, and Columbus FC all had hopes of winning the title. Columbus has led for much of the season but were faltering down the stretch, winning just one of their last five matches. A 7-0 shellacking at home to BB5 at the end of February put a serious dent in their title chances, with a 4-3 defeat at BCT Rovers Hurricanes on March 22nd providing the killer blow.

VUFC Hibernian, meanwhile, were doing all they could do to keep the pressure on, winning their last five games by a combined scoreline of 18-4, including a 2-1 win at BB5 United at the start of February. Unfortunately for them, the race to the title was out of their hands, with BB5 having games to make up after being away at Nationals in October.

That set up last week’s dramatic conclusion to the season, with BB5 needing to play two matches over a four-day period and needing to take four points from them to do the threepeat.

First up was the visit of Columbus to Newton Athletic Park last Tuesday.

For the longest time local fans had circled this game as the potential title decider, but with Columbus having nothing to play for now except pride, BB5 took the game to them from the off, scoring within the first two minutes through Daniel Hobson. Further goals from Nic Morello and Albert Kang gave the Surrey side a 3-0 lead at the half and a fantastic second half free kick from Devin O’Hea was the icing on the cake.

You can see our highlights from the match below:

The victory moved BB5 up level on points with VUFC, but with one game left to play.

That match was at Newton four days later and it was a game with huge implications at both ends of the table.

BB5 United just needed a single point against the visiting Westside to clinch their third-straight VMSL title. A defeat would have seen a playoff for the title against VUFC. Westside needed all three points to avoid relegation and force a relegation playoff between Rino’s Fury and BCT Rovers Hurricanes.

A lot to play for for both teams and it was an entertaining back and forth game.

Westside created some early chances before BB5 started to take over. The breakthrough finally came in the 39th minute when Danylo Smychenko poked the ball home from a corner to give BB5 a lead they weren’t to give up.

The Surrey side had a slew of second half chances but somehow couldn’t add to their tally, not that they cared too much as the 1-0 victory sealed both their and Westside’s fate.

Our match highlights are below (with our Flickr photo gallery from Residual Image HERE):

A historic title triumph for BB5 United, and the fact that they clinched the championship on Brandon Bassi’s birthday (the player they changed their club name to honour after he was taken from us way too soon) made it extra special.

BB5 now head into the Provincial Cup as favourites and looking for another threepeat, although they do find themselves in the tougher half of the draw alongside Vancouver Island Soccer League (VISL) champions Vic West FC. What a tasty semi-final on the island that could prove to be and it could also be another tasty all-VMSL final with VUFC the favourites to come through the top half of the draw.

Columbus, Croatia, Port Moody, and Coquitlam Metro-Ford all booked Provincial Cup berths for themselves, while at the other end of the table, former powerhouses West Van FC find themselves relegation to Division 1 alongside Westside.

Here’s how the VMSL Premier Division table finished up:

It was another great season of action across all of the VMSL divisions. You can find out how the rest of it played out at VMSLsoccer.com.

Attention now turns to the Provincial Cups that kick off this weekend. We’ll be out and about at three matches and will bring you a full round-up next week here on the AFTN. If you want to get out and support local soccer, you can find all the Provincial Cup fixtures at BCsoccer.net.