FC Edmonton and Valour FC split the points on Sunday afternoon in the Albertan capital as Tobias Warschewski’s stunning bicycle kick equalized for the Eddies at the death after Valour took the lead just before halftime.

Valour started a lineup with a lot of returning faces from 2021, with just one debutant in the starting XI — Matt Catavolo — alongside a core of veterans like Moses Dyer up front, Daryl Fordyce in midfield, and a centre-back pairing of Rocco Romeo and Stefan Cebara. Edmonton, meanwhile, had seven new players in their starting lineup, although returnees Tobias Warschewski, Azriel Gonzalez, Shamit Shome, and T-boy Fayia all slotted in.

The visitors took control of proceedings in the early going, putting Edmonton under pressure and taking a significant lead in the possession battle. Despite their 11 first-half shots, though, for a while the goal seemed to elude them. The Eddies started to grow into the game, defending well while playing into extreme wind, but ultimately Valour found their breakthrough just before halftime.

With the final kick of the first 45, right-back Andy Baquero found space at the top of the penalty area and he curled a low shot through the Eddies’ backline and buried it at the left goalpost from distance to make it 1-0.

Playing with the wind at their backs in the second half, Edmonton began to open up more after the break, finding more space and venturing into the Valour half more consistently. The Eddies had a golden chance to level the score around the 70th minute, as a cross found Julian Ulbricht completely unmarked within the six-yard box, but the German striker’s header missed the open net.

Both managers went to their bench for the final 20 minutes, as Alan Koch handed Masta Kacher and Wesley Timoteo their FC Edmonton debuts and Phil Dos Santos gave Jacob Carlos and Alessandro Riggi their first minutes for Valour. Kairo Coore and Terique Mohammed would also go on to make their first appearances for the Eddies as the home side pressed for a goal on home turf.

At last, the Eddies found their moment. Deep in stoppage time, Wesley Timoteo sent a low cross into the box from deep and Tobias Warschewski received it with an excellent first touch before finishing with a phenomenal acrobatic bicycle kick to make it 1-1 at the death.

BOX SCORE

Goals

45+1′ — Andy Baquero (Valour FC)
90+5′ — Tobias Warschewski (FC Edmonton)

Discipline

64′ — Yellow: Moses Dyer (Valour FC)
90′ — Yellow: William Akio (Valour FC)