A brave FC Edmonton side were left heartbroken after having a semi final victory cruelly snatched away from them by Vancouver Whitecaps in tonight's Voyageurs Cup match up.
Despite going down to an early Camilo free kick, the NASL side fought back to lead 2-1 at the half with goals from Michael Cox and Chris Nurse.
As the game entered the final ten minutes, Camilo grabbed a second from the spot, after diving to win a penalty, in a decision which saw Edmonton coach Colin Miller sent to the stands.
Worse was to come for the home side as Tommy Heinemann bundled home the winner in the 89th minute after Edson Edward's headed clearance crashed off the post and into his path.
Vancouver seemed to have cut off all four feet of Edmonton's Rally Rabbit and have set themselves up nicely to reach another Voyageurs Cup final.
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Martin Rennie rang eight changes from the starting eleven that lost in Dallas on the weekend, but those changes made for a stronger side than for the MLS match.
There were three new faces in the backline, with Johnny Leveron making his full Whitecaps debut, and brad Knighton made his first start of the season in goal.
Rennie surprised many by starting Andy O'Brien and Nigel Reo-Coker, an indication as to how seriously the Caps are taking the competition. The inclusion of Camilo Sanvezzo and Darren Mattocks up front was further proof, with both men eager and needing to prove their worth to the starting eleven.
It only took the little Brazilian five minutes to do just that, hitting a low free kick past the wall and everyone else to nestle in the net. The Edmonton defence was left standing but Eddies keeper Lance Parker was thrown off by Darren Mattocks' air swing at the ball right in front of him.
The Whitecaps had dominated the opening minutes but any thoughts of a one sided game were dispelled almost immediately when Edmonton tied things up just two minutes later.
Lance Laing hit a long free kick from deep in the Edmonton half. Andy O'Brien tried to head the ball back to Brad Knighton but fell woefully short and Michael Cox nipped in before heading over the onrushing keeper with a fine finish.
The goal gave Edmonton a lift and big Cox got the better of Andy O'Brien once again two minutes later and bore down on the goal. The Irish international managed to recover just in time to deflect the striker's on target shot past for a corner.
The home side had now settled and were making the running, with Robert Garrett running at the Caps defence unchallenged before firing narrowly over in the 15th minute, after picking up a terrible giveaway from Gershon Koffie.
Vancouver had fallen out of the game as any kind of attacking threat and it was no surprise when Edmonton took the lead in the 27th minute.
Laing, whose set pieces and crosses had been great all match, whipped in a corner from the right on to the head of an unmarked Chris Nurse and the Englishman easily headed home from the edge of the six yard box.
It was another goal lost to terrible Whitecaps marking. The usually so reliable Andy O'Brien was the man at fault once again and he was having real trouble handling Cox.
Edmonton nearly made it three in the 30th minute.
Laing was sent clear on the left and he whipped a ball to the back of the box and into the path of Garrett. The Northern Ireland international crashed a shot goalwards, which Knighton did well to parry at near point blank range. The rebound bounced off the head of Garrett, straight to Cox in front of goal and Knighton threw himself at the ball to deflect for a corner with the striker set to grab his second.
Vancouver started to get a bit more possession and should have tied things up a minute before half time when Camilo sent a perfect cross into the box but Mattocks headed into the ground from six yards out and the ball bounced easily into Parker's arms.
It was a terrible effort and just about summed up Vancouver's last forty minutes of the half.
The Caps came out with more passion in the second half after a certain bollocking in the dressing room.
Mattocks forced an easy save out of Parker four minutes in to the half and then O'Brien nearly made some amends for his defensive lapses with a header that troubled Parker in the 54th minute, but the Edmonton keeper dealt with the danger well.
The Whitecaps started to dominate possession but were doing very little with it. Things changed dramatically however, much to the anger of the Edmonton management.
Camilo Sanvezzo went down in the box in the 82nd minute after a clear dive but referee Silviu Petrescu had no hesitation in pointing to the spot and the Brazilian picked himself up to stroke the ball home and level the tie up.
The decision sent Eddie's coach Colin Miller ballistic and he was sent off for comments to the fourth official, having been warned previously about his language.
You could fully understand his anger, but it will just have got worse as the Whitecaps played their final 'Get out of Jail Free' card in the final minute.
Reo-Coker sent in a cross from the right which Edson Edward looked to head behind for a corner. His header ended up crashing off the right hand post, straight into the path of substitute Tommy Heinemann and the big striker bundled the ball home to give Vancouver an unlikely, and an undeserved, 3-2 victory.
Despite dominating possession 66.5% to 33.5%, Vancouver did little with it all night and not many of the players coming in will have done much to strengthen their case for a spot in the starting eleven.
What that leaves as Martin Rennie's best starting eleven is anyone's guess right now.
Edmonton will feel aggrieved by the final result and you can be sure they will be fired up for next week's second leg at BC Place.
If they can get an early goal, it will make for an interesting night.
FINAL SCORE: FC Edmonton 2 - 3 Vancouver Whitecaps
ATT: 2,832
EDMONTON: Lance Parker; Edson Edward, Mallan Roberts, Adrian LeRoy, Lance Laing; Chris Nurse, Neil Hlavaty, Robert Garrett (Edem Mortotsi 59), Daryl Fordyce, Shaun Saiko; Michael Cox (Sadi Jalali 85) [subs Not Used: John Smits, Antonio Rago, Massimo Mirabelli, Hanson Boakai, Michael Nonni]
VANCOUVER: Brad Knighton; Greg Klazura, Andy O'Brien, Johnny Leveron, Jordan Harvey; Nigel Reo-Coker, Gershon Koffie, Russell Teibert; Daigo Kobayashi (Tommy Heinemann 65), Darren Mattocks, Camilo Sanvezzo [subs Not Used: Simon Thomas, Brad Rusin, Erik Hurtado, Jun Marques Davidson, Kekuta Manneh, Caleb Clarke]
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