Valour FC fans have four more reasons to believe their team is second-round material at The Island Games.

Coach Rob Gale’s side crushed a ten-man Atlético Ottawa 4-0 on Wednesday, grabbing an emphatic victory – their first of the 2020 Canadian Premier League campaign – and showing off the best of their remade roster.

It was Valour’s biggest victory to date.

“Everyone was telling us how rubbish we were after the first game,” Gale said in reference to Valour’s shot-less 2-0 loss to Cavalry FC. “The guys wanted to prove a point, and I’m glad the fans have something to smile about.

“Credit to the boys – players win you matches. They executed the plan and showed the quality.”

It was a complete turnaround for Valour, who recorded 11 shots on target total, though the breakthrough came in a peculiar way.

After generating several chances through the first hour, Valour finally took the lead in the 65th minute when Atleti defender Milovan Kapor dragged down Stefan Cebara in the 18-yard box. Kapor, a repeat offender for the afternoon, earned a second yellow card. Fraser Aird found the bottom right corner of the net with his penalty, opening his CPL account and giving Valour the lead.

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Andrew Jean-Baptise put the game out of reach in the 78th minute when the Haitian international thumped a header into the corner. Substitute Dylan Carreiro got in the scoring action late before teammate Jose Galan completed the onslaught rather emotionally, dedicating his goal to his newborn baby.

Valour was exceptional across the board.

In attack, Aird, Austin Ricci, and Brett Levis connected well, routinely pinning Ottawa back and keeping possession in dangerous positions. They generated numerous chances left unconverted. Defensively, Gale’s side was decisive and compact, with Julian Dunn and Jean-Baptise following up a solid debut. Ottawa rarely penetrated and instead pushed the ball wide.

Atlético Ottawa is clearly missing Neufville, making them extremely lopsided tactically. Not looking as organized as in game one. #CanPL pic.twitter.com/ACbnt6V8WX

— Charlie O'Connor-Clarke (@charliejclarke) August 19, 2020

“They went down to 10 men, let’s be honest. When you’re down a man and you’re chasing… it’s very hard,” Gale said before mentioning his side’s 60 per cent of possession and 450 passes completed.

“Name a player, every player wanted to receive the ball. It started at the back with Jean-Baptise and Dunn and went all the way up.

“The way we moved them around the pitch… it’s hard to play in this heat. We’ve done two afternoon games on one less day’s rest than Ottawa, and we have another one on Saturday. If you can work the opposition instead of you, it’s good.”

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Gale said his team found the technical ability it was missing in their Island Games opener.

“They did a good job finding those spaces to exploit. The game is about unselfish running. If you’re willing to do those little things, you get rewarded,” Gale offered.

Gale also offered an update on Arnold Moutou. The former Ligue 1 left fullback went down with a leg injury in the second half of their 2-0 defeat to Cavalry FC.

“He’s going to the chiropractor (Thursday), he’s got a smile on his face,” Gale said.

With three points and five matches to go at The Island Games, Gale is quick to discount those Valour haters, despite the historical importance of a drubbing such as this.

“It’s only three points – nothing to write home about.”