It’s so often true, isn’t it? The sequel isn’t as good as the first flick. Well, this column is a sequel to last Monday’s edition.

Last week, in this space, I suggested that York9 FC’s Alberta trip would be a fall-season defining jaunt for them. For a team that was in danger of losing touch with the leading pack after home losses to Valour FC and Pacific FC, going out west and getting little or nothing out of games with Cavalry and FC Edmonton could be the dagger to the Nine Stripes’ fall-season hopes.

Even though Y9 rallied twice to get a 2-2 draw with the Eddies on Sunday, after a 3-1 loss to Cavalry Wednesday, here is the bitter truth. The team is winless in four. York9 now sits six points behind Forge FC, who leads the fall-season table, and the Hamilton side has two games in hand.

Is York9’s season, for all intents and purposes, over? Not so fast, said coach Jimmy Brennan.

With three games left against Forge FC, including on Sept. 8 at Tim Hortons Field, all hope is not yet lost. The fat lady is not signing… yet. But, it also means York9 will need to not only dominate the three games remaining against Forge, but it must also go on some kind of hot streak that erases this four-game skid from memory.

“We’d like to think so,” said Brennan when asked about the prospects of making up the gap to the top of the table. “We’ve still got Forge three times. That’s nine points to play for. They are another good team. They’ve been playing very well at the moment, they’re on a roll and it’s going to be difficult for us.

“But I think we’ve got a good bunch of guys in that dressing room and we’ve just got to correct a few things and I think we’ll be all right.”

York9’s players will tell you that the first FCE goal in Sunday’s game was offside. But Y9 caught a break when what looked like a good FCE goal was scrubbed because of a linesman’s flag. The 3-1 loss to Cavalry was a bit of a mess, as there were a few offside decisions that went in Y9’s favour.

This isn’t about debating the offside rule or whether a play was on or off; it’s about the defensive improvements the team needs to make because, on top of the five goals conceded in Alberta, there were others chalked off because of razor-thin margins. As well, Y9 gave up a goal to FCE’s Easton Ongaro because, as Brennan pointed out, defender Daniel Gogarty lost his man off a corner kick.

How do you “lose” a guy who’s the hottest goal-scorer in the CPL at the moment? These are the kind of lapses that have been killing the Nine Stripes.

In hindsight, Y9 will be happy to be heading home to Ontario.

“It was tough,” Brennan admitted. “We went to Cavalry, couldn’t play the football we wanted to because of the pitch. We tried to change it up a little bit and be a little more direct. We were disappointed with that performance. And coming here (to Edmonton) we thought we have to get ourselves back on track, get a point or a win, just to stop that three-game losing streak.

“Obviously, the games against Pacific and Valour are still in the backs of our heads because those are two games we probably should have won and got something out of.”

But Brennan said there’s no need to keep crying over points lost.

“It’s about looking forward, now.”

And that means getting hot. And fast.