As the Canada Games Centre prepared for Halloween with their annual spooktacular, skipper Jason Steele of Yukon Brewing was having his own nightmares.

His team started brightly, but that all turned sour as one by one his players were being eliminated like an Agatha Christie novel.

First paper thin Peter Mather succumbed to a hamstring injury, quickly followed by Jonathan Gorton, and Kruno Kunovic, but they soldiered on albeit at a slower pace.

Brewing woes played into the tactics of Chieftain, who always finish a game strongly.

From a game that was finely balanced, it became one-way traffic as Mark Chandler led the way with two goals, backed up well by Matt Larsen, Guliano Rayo and Phil Jackson as they raced to a 5-2 victory that maintained their 100 per cent winning record that takes them six points clear of their rivals in the league.

Perhaps it was the early 8:30 start that inspired Steele as he picked up two goals for his side in a losing battle, as he stood like a colossus that his team tried in vain to rally around.

Howells the reluctant hero

The second and final game in over-35’s soccer saw Driving Force take on Pepsi. Driving Force were supplemented by players from other teams, but they were still able to register back-to-back wins for the first time this season.

Jesse Koeller, who is a regular contributor to the Driving Force scoresheet, was again on target as they eased into the lead.

Then super-sub Gareth Howells found himself in unfamiliar territory in front of the net and with the faintest of touches eased the ball home to put the Force in the Driving seat.

Pepsi huffed and puffed trying to get a foothold back into the game, but it wasn’t until Graham White scored to make it 2-1 that they really applied pressure to the Driving Force team.

But skipper Keith Welch was having a great game, using his raw pace to good effect to keep Pepsi at bay.

Pepsi will be looking for some inspiration as the season enters the second third of the schedule.

Each team has now had a look at their opponents and will be able to deduce the strengths and weaknesses of each team.

– by ANDY TODD