Two Surrey men's premier teams are still alive after the round of 16 of the Vancouver Metro Soccer League's Imperial Cup playdowns last weekend.
The Surrey United Firefighters and ICST Pegasus both posted wins and now advance to the quarter-final round this weekend.
Pegasus finally posted a win, but it won't help them in the league standings where they are currently teetering on the brink of relegation. The Horsemen picked up a shot of confidence when they prevailed over their Newton Athletic Park roommates CCB-RT United 2-1 on Friday night.
Pegasus came out of the starting gate quickly as Goldie Takhar took advantage of a defensive error by United and scored in the first minute of play.
Shortly before the break, the Horsemen doubled their lead when CJ Jhooty set up Reynold Stewart with a clever pass that led to the second Pegasus marker.
In the second half, United pushed back with considerable effort and were rewarded in the 60th minute when Bobby Jhutty cut the Pegasus lead in half.
CCB-RT pushed hard for the equalizer over the final 30 minutes, but solid scoring chances by Jhutty, Milad Rahmati and Navid Mashinchi were methodically turned aside by Pegasus keeper
Amar Dhinsa.
On Saturday in Cloverdale, defending provincial champion Surrey United Firefighters had little trouble eliminating the first division's Richmond Hibernians by a 4-0 scoreline.
Richmond actually took the game to the Firemen in the early stages of the opening half, but their efforts came up empty thanks to fine play by Surrey keeper Paul Shepherd.
After weathering the early storm, the Firemen wrested control of the proceedings in the 35th minute when Reece Miles headed home a wellplaced cross from Vince Stewart.
The score stayed at 1-0 for Surrey through the halftime break, but the Firemen quickly put the game out of reach in the final 45 minutes of play. Angus Burke got the ball rolling when he converted a Vince Stewart pass in the 55th minute.
The Hibs threw defensive caution aside in search of a goal to get back into the game, but the strategy proved costly as Colin Streckmann and Goran Vitic each scored for Surrey to put the game out of reach.
Quarter-final round of Imperial Cup play will take place this weekend. Surrey United will host Inter on Friday at 8:45 p.m. at Cloverdale Athletic Park while Pegasus welcomes Westside to Newton the same evening at 8:30 p.m.