The beautiful game it wasn’t, but the Vineyarders earned a hard-fought 2-0 Cape and Islands League win over the Monomoy Sharks on a brisk Tuesday afternoon at Dan McCarthy Field in Oak Bluffs.
The teams battled tough but fair through a physical match. Nary a yellow card was issued, but bodies slid, tumbled, and collided throughout the contest.
Lucas Reis gave the Vineyarders an early 1-0 lead five minutes into the match, assisted by Emanuel Silva, but from there the hosts struggled with their finishing, which has been a problem throughout the season. The Vineyarders squandered a whopping 28 chances inside the 18-yard box, save for a long-awaited insurance goal in the 71st minute by Silva, who joined Luidi de Oliveira in a rush toward the Monomoy goal, burst through a pair of Sharks defenders, and struck the ball inside the left post from 10 yards out.
“It wasn’t a pretty game, but we won and that’s what matters,” Vineyard Coach Esteban Aranzabe said after the match. “We are in the playoffs, and we need to keep winning to get a better seeding, and that’s what we did today.”
The win over Monomoy was a welcome tonic after the Vineyarders suffered a 2-1 upset to Sturgis West in a league match played on Saturday at Old Townhouse Field in South Yarmouth.
The Vineyarders defeated West, 5-0, on Sept. 8 in Oak Bluffs, but little went right for the Purple and White in the rainy rematch. The Navigators scored once in each half before Morgan Estrella converted a late penalty kick.
MV (10-2-1) hosts Falmouth Academy on Oct. 18, and Sturgis East on Monday. Both matches are 4:15 pm kickoffs.
