Inspire FC playing with top-tier aspirations

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This article was published 12/07/2020 (2157 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Close isn’t good enough for Pizza Express Inspire FC this season.

The Brandon club joined the Manitoba Major Soccer League’s men’s first division in 2019, losing its first three games before a 12-match winning streak to have a shot at being promoted to the premier division.

Inspire (12-5-1) dropped a few key games to top teams and ultimately finished five points back of CCS Sweatshack (13-2-3) for the second and final promotion spot and is hungry to get through in 2020.

The 18-game campaign kicks off today against Lions FC in Portage la Prairie at 7:30 p.m.

“It’s going to be a bit shorter so things are going to be a bit tighter but so far from what I can tell from the team, We’re all in a mindset where we’re definitely in it to win it. We definitely plan on getting promoted this year,” said midfielder Phil Norton.

The 29-year-old moved to Virden from the Caribbean with his parents at 21 and spent three years in school in Winnipeg before moving to Brandon last year to work as a CAD technician.

He spent time in men’s leagues in Brandon and the MMSL before Inspire made its debut last year and knows they’re not the same animals.

“It’s a lot more competition. For us when we played here in Brandon, we won the league two years in a row and I think we lost maybe one game those two years,” Norton said.

“These teams are a lot more aggressive. There’s a lot of skill … and a lot more fitness.

“It’s a lot more physical, so that tends to take a greater toll on you.”

The team has plenty of goal-scoring ability with former Brandon University Bobcats Osian Edwards, Vasilios Giannopoulos and Taylor Blue in attacking roles. Edwards notched a team-leading 15 goals last season, while Giannopoulos netted eight of the team’s 53 markers.

At the back, Inspire features a combination of experience and talented youth as Carlos Ortiz, Anastasios Spiropoulos and Antonios Vasilarakis are joined by BU centre backs Adam Hay and Corbin Glufka.

Norton said the collective group is a versatile one.

“We can play a physical game. It’s not something we shy away from,” Norton said.

“We’re definitely good at playing a physical game and a skill game: We have a very good mix of guys when it comes to body size, fitness and skill with the ball at your feet. Last year was really good for us to get in there and see how we can compete with the guys there.

“For the most part, we more than held our own.”

Inspire picked up a few guys with potential to take it over the top in former Bobcats Nolan Melanson and Alex Alvarado.

While the team came close to its goal before an underwhelming 3-0 loss to Granite FC in the quarterfinals — playoffs don’t count towards promotion and relegation — it never climbed the hurdle of beating a top team. Four of Inspire’s five losses were to FC Northwest and Sweatshack by a combined 17-4.

“We got caught up in the other team’s game a couple of times,” Norton said.

“We got thrown off our game and lost touch of our foundation for a few games. I think this year from the practices we’ve had and the group of guys going in, we have a lot more guys who are going to help us stay steadfast.”

 

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