Those around the Canadian Premier League were right to wonder when long-legged striker Reon Moore would show his offensive prowess, which has been so evident in international play, with 10 goals and 28 caps for Trinidad and Tobago.
That moment came Thursday night. Second-half sub Moore scored twice in the final 10 minutes to give Pacific FC a dramatic 2-1 victory over York United in the Greater Toronto Area in a game the Tridents pretty much had to win.
“Reon would be the first to tell you that he has been frustrated with the season. It has not always gone his way,” said PFC head coach James Merriman.
“He has scored goals for the Trinidad and Tobago national team but it took time to adapt to our club. He deserved his moment tonight.”
The goals were Moore’s second and third on the CPL season in 18 appearances for PFC.
Off a corner kick, Colombian-import Juan Quintana glanced the ball to Moore at the left side of the box, and the Trinidadian made no mistake and buried it at 82 minutes to tie the game 1-1.
The winning goal came six minutes later. The play began when a daring diving tackle by PFC stalwart Kunle-Dada Luke resulted in a clean strip of the ball off the feet of a York United midfielder. That led to a quick two-man breakaway the other way with PFC forward Dario Zanatta carrying the ball down the right side and drawing the ’keeper, before passing off to a wide-open Moore, who tapped in for the winner at 88 minutes.
“Dario being unselfish in the moment shows his character,” said Merriman, of the former Canada U-20 player and Scottish Premiership pro, who hails from the Island.
Oswaldo Montoya had put York United into the lead with an against-the-flow goal just before half-time despite PFC having had 11 corner kicks in the first half to just one for the Nine Stripes.
The win puts the Tridents into the fifth and final playoff position, three points ahead of Vancouver FC. The Eagles, however, have two games remaining to PFC’s one, and controls the tie-breaker.
“This was basically a playoff game for us,” said PFC goalkeeper and Canada-capped Sean Melvin, once under MLS contract to the Vancouver Whitecaps.
“We put a lot of pressure on them [fourth-place York United, which has clinched a post-season berth]. It eventually paid off,” added the Island-product Melvin, who made a couple of timely saves.
“We’ve put ourselves in a good position to make the playoffs. We’ll watch the weekend results [most notably the VFC game against Valour FC of Winnipeg].”
Pacific FC closes out with a game against regular-season champion Forge FC of Hamilton, Ont., on Oct. 19 at Starlight Stadium.
