For one half on Saturday, San Antonio FC played in a manner that explained how in recent weeks it catapulted itself from the bottom of the United Soccer League Western Conference standings and into the thick of the playoff conversation.

The final 45 minutes? Well, the local club made enough miscues that explained how it went winless in its first four games, the franchise’s worst start.

Real Monarchs SLC scored three second-half goals and rallied to defeat SAFC 3-2 at Zions Bank Stadium in Salt Lake City.

SAFC (2-4-1) had a two-game winning streak snapped.

“We have to focus,” SAFC coach Darren Powell said. “In the first half, we had a better performance. In the second half, we got ourselves on the back foot and couldn’t recover from that. We are disappointed by the result and as a group we know we can perform better.”

Monarchs SLC (3-2-2) quickly dug itself out of a 2-0 halftime deficit, scoring goals eight minutes apart in the first 11 minutes of the second half.

Maikel Chang pulled Monarchs SLC within 2-1 when he converted on a penalty kick in the 48th after SAFC was called for a pushing foul inside the penalty area. Eight minutes later, Jack Blake tied it at 2-2 when he also converted on a penalty kick after SAFC was called for a foul inside the penalty area.

Monarchs SLC added the game-winner in the 72nd minute when Kyle Coffee was left unmarked inside the penalty area and headed in Douglas Martinez’s pass.

“It’s one of those days where some stuff didn’t work for us in the second half, but we have to learn from it and go back and correct those mistakes,” SAFC midfielder Billy Forbes said. “That’s the way soccer works sometimes.”

The second-half collapse took away from solid performances from SAFC midfielder Brian Gomez, who scored twice in the first half, and goalkeeper Matthew Cardone, who had a season-high six saves and made a point-blank stop just before halftime.

tthomas@express-news.net

Twitter: @en_terrence