Valour FC’s 2021 CPL season came to an end Saturday as they drew 3-3 with FC Edmonton, and failed to launch their final bid for the fourth and final playoff spot.

Despite going down 3-0 by after halftime, the Winnipeg side rallied for a staggering three goals in less than 10 minutes late on, including a Moses Dyer quickfire brace, but it was not enough to get the win needed ending an emotional surge for the playoffs.

Valour was given a pre-game boost on the live table when David Choiniere put Forge FC ahead over playoff hopefuls York United in the match before. The goal stood as the match-winner, increasing Valour’s chances as long as they won in Edmonton.

Phil Dos Santos’ side was, rightly so, a strong one with a recently-named player of the week William Akio lining up alongside Dyer in attack. The squad missed Rafael Galhardo, who missed the match due to injury, and veteran midfielder Jose Galan.

The Eddies replied with another top squad after a 10-day layoff… And it was them who looked on the front foot from the third minute when Shamit Shome on the fast break shovelled a pass wide to winger Tobias Warschewski who scored off two deflections – first the defender then goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois, who got a piece of the near-post attempt.

Valour was, as you could imagine, taken aback from the first touch in the opposing box all match being a goal. Edmonton, meanwhile, seemed to play with freedom and purpose especially in attack. They added their second soon after, in the 16th minute, on a classic near-post header from talismanic defender Amer Didic, who thundered an effort past a diving Sirois. Alan Koch’s side nearly scored again soon after, if Easton Ongaro wasn’t called for a foul.

This sent Valour down a slippery slope – though they managed to recover well in terms of the general pace of play, keeping the ball much better as the first half wore on, though with no goals or shots on target to show for it by the halftime interval.

Winnipeg made some adjustments at the interval, adding Federico Peña and pushing Daryl Fordyce higher in search of a goal… but more chances went the other way. Eddies left-winger Azriel Gonzalez added a third after being left wide open at the top of the six-yard box, carefully placing his fifth goal of the season from a pass from Ongaro. The pair nearly combined for another a few minutes later if it wasn’t for a heroic clearance from Rocco Romeo.

Winnipeg’s comeback – while unlikely – was very much in the cards when, in the 78th minute, Dyer slipped between defenders and thumped a shot off the back post. He added another just a few minutes later, bringing the score to 3-2 and lighting a fire in a team still with playoff potential. Fordyce tapped home a third by the 88th minute as play became an end-to-end series with quality chances abound. Akio’s back-post header saved by ‘keeper Connor James in injury time was Valour’s best chance, though, as they failed to get a third despite the spirited late attempts.

That was all she wrote on Valour FC’s season as the final whistle blew, ending their season on 35 points and a 10-5-13 record. The Eddies, meanwhile, will close out their season on Saturday against Forge FC (2:00pm ET/12:00pm MT) live on OneSoccer.

BOX SCORE

Goals

4′ — Tobias Warschewski (FC Edmonton)
16′ — Amer Didic (FC Edmonton)
48′ — Azriel Gonzalez (FC Edmonton)
78′ — Moses Dyer (Valour FC)
80′ — Moses Dyer (Valour FC)
88′  — Daryl Fordyce (Valour FC)

Discipline

72′ — Yellow: Mele Temguia (FC Edmonton)
90+3′ — Yellow: Adam Najem (FC Edmonton)
90+3’ — Yellow: Rocco Romeo (Valour FC)