Harbourside FC"s defenders deal with a Unity attack during the first game in franchise history on Saturday, April 29 in Nanaimo. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

first games

‘A good reaction from us:’ Harbourside FC men salvage draw as women fall just short

Apr 30, 2023 | 12:49 PM

NANAIMO — Over 1,000 people took in the debut of the region’s newest sports franchise.

Harbourside FC’s men’s and women’s teams took one of a possible six points on offer through a pair of games at Q’unq’inuqwstuxw Stadium (formerly NDSS Field) on Saturday, April 29.

The women hit the pitch first and fell 2-1 to Unity FC. The visitors took the lead in the 36th minute on a shot from just inside the 18 yard box from Luciana Andrews.

Harbourside countered seconds before half off a corner kick. The ball bounced through traffic in the box and found Shae Battie near the penalty spot to bury into the back of the net for the first goal in franchise history.

“It was a last minute corner and I kind of had a feeling it was going to come to me actually, it just bounced across the box, I did a little half volley into the side of the net,” Battie said.

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Unity regathered the lead in the 66th minute after a sharp save from goalkeeper Emily Rowbotham generated a rebound in front which was buried for a 2-1 lead.

Harbourside would continue to push for an equalizer but Unity held the lead and ran out the clock for a 2-1 win.

Harbourside’s women’s team fell just short in their first game against Unity FC on Saturday. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

The late game saw the men take the pitch around 5:30 p.m., also against Unity.

Disaster for Harbourside struck in the 17th minute as a long ball from deep in Unity’s half unleashed an attacker who made contact with Harbourside captain Matt Mehrassa.

The incident saw the referee issue Mehrassa a red card, forcing the home team to play a large majority of the game with only 10 players.

Unity opened the scoring on a defensive miscue from Harbourside in the 34th minute.

Goalkeeper Callum Weir made a short pass to defender Tyson Chatani, however his pass back to right back Fergus Hill was picked off and eventually wound up in the back of the net.

The home side wasted no time in tying the game back up.

In the 36th minute, a clearance from Weir found Hussein Behery on the left wing. He was able to break in to goal, sidestepping the goalkeeper and finishing for a 1-1 score.

Despite plenty of chances both ways, the score would remain unchanged and an under-manned Harbourside team would salvage the draw.

“It’s very enjoyable. We have a lot of people watching in the community, we went a man down and I feel like it’s a good reaction from us, we were pushing through,” Behery said.

Harbourside will travel to UBC-based Nautsa’mawt on Saturday, May 6 before returning home to entertain Nautsa’mawt on Sunday, May 7 at Q’unq’inuqwstuxw Stadium.

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