Richmond Pioneers 3 Playmakers International 0. The Pioneers put their unbeaten home record on the line against Playmakers International on Sunday, and came away with a convincing 3-0 victory to inflict the first loss of the season for the highly touted Playmakers.

On a blustery day at McMath, the Pioneers got into their stride quickly, successfully denying the Caribbean-influenced Playmakers the space to play their favoured short passing game. In the 8th minute, the Pioneers took the lead when Ken Johnston dispossessed a Playmaker defender, passing the ball off to Graham Mason who beat the oncoming keeper with a nicely placed shot just inside the post.

The defense was barely tested in the first half, as the Pioneers controlled the game comfortably. Despite numerous chances, including a Johnston header that rolled tantalizingly along the goal line, and a spectacular diving header from Stanley Chan, the Pioneers went into the half time break with just the solitary goal to show for their efforts.

With the wind now behind them, Playmakers came into the game more in the second half, but the Pioneers defense was resolute, and keeper Dave Valitis was never really troubled. In the latter stages of the game, the Pioneers added two more goals to put the game beyond doubt. Mason and Johnston again combined well, this time Mason collected a through ball from full back Bob Heron before passing to Johnston, who still had some work to do before driving a low shot past the diving goalkeeper. Shortly afterwards, a nice passing play between Mike Mogul, Mason, Stan Bogdanovich and Johnston ended with Johnston adding his 15th goal of the season, and the 50th of the campaign for the Pioneers team.

The only real threat to Valitis' shutout was a wild, almost comical series of events following a Playmaker corner kick, when the ball bounced back and forth in the crowded Pioneer six yard box before eventually getting cleared.

Next game. We are on a three week Christmas break, with the next official game against Tugs Classics on January 5th at McMath. Mike will be trying to arrange a friendly game during the break, probably on New Year's Day. In the meantime, have a great Christmas!

Christmas Dinner. The Pioneers annual team Christmas Dinner is to be held on Saturday Dec 21st at the Richmond Inn, at 7:00pm.

Here's the Pioneers team photo taken before the third place game against Cliff Avenue in the Penticton Tournament.