With just one more set of games to go, three teams are within reach of wining the Howe Sound Men's Soccer League cup.
By earning another win on Sunday (March 27) Ellis Moving Eagles took the lead in the four-week playoff finals with nine points.
Ellis played Zephyr FC in a relatively one-sided game walking away with 6 -1 win.
Coach, manager and fill-in player Dan Ellis said the game was well played by both teams, but an easy win for Ellis against a struggling team.
"The team we played against they're kind of struggling. They're trying their best but they're just not up to the same level of the rest of the teams on the league.
"It looks like they're having a good time and they're trying to be competitive but in the end it was a relatively easy game for us."
With lots of good passes and a solid defence, Ellis was practically impenetrable, except for the one goal Ellis himself let in.
"It was a good goal by them actually we had some nice play and we were passing the ball around pretty effectively."
Ellis said he thankfully doesn't set foot on the pitch very often but had to on Sunday because their regular goalie was nursing an injury.
"I was kind of a last resort," he joked.
On the adjacent field, Dyer Straits played a sub-less Khalsa, which resulted in a 6 - nil win for Dyer.
Dyer coach Dave Harrison said he felt both teams played well but Dyer over powered an under-manned team for the win and a good position going into the finals.
"We played very well and Khalsa played very well for the number of players they had but you just over man them."
Harrison said Dyer exposed a weakness in the opposition by capitalizing on the fact that Khalsa has not had one goaltender playing the last few games, rather a different player sits in net each game.
"This season they've had trouble that way but once they get a regular goalie, they'll be a good team."
With more than enough substitutes waiting on the sidelines, Dyer defence was strong only allowing a few shots on net.
"We had 18 players out and that makes a big difference because we can get subs in and out.
"You get tired in the second half if you don't have a full team, so when we have a full team out we're really good."
Dyer Straits is scheduled to face-off against Ellis Moving Eagle on Saturday April 10 at the Brennan Park fields starting at 2 p.m.
If Ellis wins they take the league cup with 12 points, if Dyer wins it's a point tie with Dyer and Ellis having nine points each.
The tie would be broken, according to Harrison, by tabulating the difference between how many goals a team scored and how many goals were scored against them throughout the finals.
Ellis is optimistic about the team's chances of taking the cup.
"We're playing really well as a team and we haven't lost a game since [December] and I think going into the last game we're kind of riding a high. We've done all the preparation we can and it's just down to one game and I believe we can win it. We're playing against a pretty good team, mind you. It's going to be fun."
Harrison said the game between Dyer and Ellis is sure to be a good one.
"We beat them at the beginning of the season and they beat us later on."
Also on Saturday (April 10) Canex will square off against Khalsa. While Canex currently has six points in the league standings, a win on Saturday could create a three-way tie between Canex, Dyer and Ellis.
Again, the tie would be broken by calculating the difference between how many goals a team scored and how many goals were scored against them throughout the finals.
