Abdulahi Nur leads Crocus to first victory

It may have taken longer than they would have liked, but the Crocus Plainsmen are now in the win column.

Abdiriziak Abdulahi Nur cashed in on two goals in the second half as the Plainsmen defeated the Neelin Spartans 3-1 to snatch their first Brandon High School Soccer League victory of the season in Neelin on Wednesday afternoon.

Abdulahi Nur, a Grade 11 midfielder, was the first to admit he’s not a goal scorer and that it had been a while since he had buried one in a game, but he knew the stakes of this game and put his best foot forward — literally.

“I knew we had to win the game,” Abdulahi Nur said post-game. “It’s been so hard to win, but it feels good now and I was so excited to score and help my team.”

Abdulahi Nur’s first and second goals of the season came after a fairly even first half between the two rivals.

Crocus came out of the gate hot and asserted themselves quickly, earning a corner kick just a few minutes into the game that Vincent Enisenyin almost capitalized on with a header that floated just over the net.

The Plainsmen had a few more close calls offensively and then finally broke through thanks to a quick counter attack from as Ben Ibitoye sped to the right wing before feeding Ousman Ali, who delivered a perfect shot into the left corner to beat Spartans goalkeeper Nico Betancourt.

Crocus kept on the gas pedal, carrying all the momentum early into the contest, but one costly turnover proved to be all Neelin needed as less than fives minutes later forward Robinson Diaz collected a ball that was coughed up through the middle, juked around a defender and then tapped it into the right corner.

Once the home side evened the game at ones, the Spartans looked more connected as a group with the way they were passing and communicating with one another. They began creating more chances and even produced a partial breakaway that saw Timmy Oladiti sprint down the left corner and attempt a sharp angle shot, however, Crocus keeper Sani Ameh came out to challenge and made a solid diving save to keep it tied.

A few clean Neelin touches on offence also allowed Emytt Pearce to get all alone in tight but with limited time and space, he cleared his shot just wide to the left.

After the green sweaters were in charge for a 10-minute stretch, the Plainsmen fired back with their own opportunity off a poor decision from Betancourt, who ran out of his net to challenge a shooter and then got walked, but was bailed out by his defender Colsyn Comis, who stuck out his left leg and blocked a sure-fire goal.

After a fairly quiet first half for Abdulahi Nur, he managed to put himself front and centre of the contest with a tap in goal shortly into the second frame. Ibitoye made a beautiful cross into the box from the right corner, which the goalkeeper was able to get a piece of but not enough of, as Abdulahi Nur cleaned up the leftovers in front to put the Plainsmen up 2-1.

The two then traded chances as Neelin’s Pearce had another opportunity around the box that sailed just wide and Crocus’ Ezra Adeneye had a glorious opportunity a few feet away from the goaline but Betancourt came out of nowhere and was able to stick his foot out for a brilliant stop to keep his team within one.

With 15 minutes left in the game, it looked as though the Plainsmen were going to hang on and then they made sure of it.

Abdulahi Nur found himself on a partial break and ended up beating Betancourt to the ball, chipping it through his legs and then guiding it into the back of the net for his second of the game and season to make it 3-1.

“The goalie was out, so I couldn’t pass up on my chances,” said Abdulahi Nur. “It’s great to help the team win and I think we have to communicate like this in all other games.”

The Plainsmen finished the regular season in second place with a 1-2-1 record after 2-1 and 7-0 losses to the undefeated Vincent Massey Vikings (4-0) and a 3-3 tie to the Spartans on May 4. They are now set to host Neelin on Wednesday at Cougars Field in a battle between the No. 2 and 3 seeds, while Massey will wait for the winner after clinching a berth into the final.

The championship is on Monday, May 25.

» mdelucataronno@brandonsun.com