ICST Pegasus is running out of chances to escape the Vancouver Metro Soccer League premier division's relegation zone.
Mired in last place in the standings, the Newton lads squandered two opportunities on their home turf to gain ground last week. The Horsemen could only muster a 1-1 draw with fellow cellar-dwellers Inter in a Tuesday night affair and things went from bad to worse when they were blanked 2-0 by the Surrey United Firefighters in the latest installation of the Surrey Derby Friday night.
On Tuesday night, the two sides were scoreless in the first half but Pegasus finally took the lead in the second half when Reynold Stewart sent Sahil Sandhu free on a breakaway. Pegasus followed that up with some great scoring chances, none of which found the back of the Inter goal.
Those missed chances came back to haunt the Horsemen as Inter struck for the equalizer in the 85th minute, robbing the home side of two badly needed points in the standings.
Friday night brought more heartache for Pegasus as the archrival Firefighters strolled out of Newton Athletic Park with a 2-0 win.
Surrey goalkeeper Paul Shepherd stopped Pegasus forward Azad Palani on a breakaway in the 10th minute and the tide quickly turned on the home side.
Surrey took the lead in the 30th minute when a Jeff Clarke header bounced off a herd of Horsemen and into the net and the league leaders carried that 1-0 advantage into the break.
Shepherd was outstanding guarding the Surrey goal, turning aside a wave of scoring chances by Pegasus early in the second half. His work was not wasted as youth call-up Karn Phagura bagged an insurance goal for the Firemen late in the contest.
Elsewhere, Newton's CCB-RT United stayed in the thick of the five-team race for first place with a 3-1 road win over Westside in Vancouver Saturday despite playing most of the match with just 10 men.
Westside tied the game early in the second half, but the short-staffed United lads answered with goals from Navid Mashinchi and Milad Rahmati to pull out the win.