LOUISVILLE CITY FC 1

OTTAWA FURY FC 0

4-20-19

On a greasy evening in the Bluegrass, The Boys In Purple slid by Ottawa Fury by the slimmest of margins courtesy of a chance turned in in the second half by Lucky Mkosana for his very first goal in a Lou City uniform, and a fine shutout by Ben Lundt and his determined defense corps.

With the Slugger turf absorbing a ton of rain over recent days the condition of the turf was treacherous for all concerned, but Hackworth’s heroes held firm at the back and eventually did just enough to overcome Ottawa and overtake them in the USL Championship standings.

It was clear early that City intended to take the Fury by the furries and in the opening minute a Lucky Mkosana cross from the right forced a corner, and after a delayed clearance Oscar Jimenez shot safely over the top.

Ottawa attempted to fire back but captain Carl Haworth’s outside drive across goal from distance was well wide and striker Mour Samb did the same after ex Riverhound Christiano Francois on right wing got the better of Sean Francis.

The Morados began a pattern of building play out from ‘keeper Ben Lundt – relying on distribution skills returning to him after a less convincing time down in Tampa -a tactic designed to draw their opponents front 3 (in a 4-3-3 formation) forward and create gaps via which to generate channels of attack.

This occurred most effectively as early as the 9th minute on a sweeping move as Ben chipped to Oscar who one-touched to Niall McCabe who likewise one-touched on to Lucky. The be-dreaded one struck a low ball across the Ottawa 18 yard line for Speedy Williams to attempt to complete the blitzkrieg. However, some spin on the ball and the dampness underfoot combined to cause the Jamaican’s side-foot drive against the grain to fly wide, failing to trouble Ottawa goalkeeper Callum Irving.

In City’s half a misplayed clearance by stand-in captain Francis created difficulty for Shaun Totsch who fouled Samb who, taking ownership of the free kick he had won, only skied his thirty yard free kick.

Another well executed buildup involving Shaun, Speedy, Magnus Rasmussen, Sean and Abdou Mbacke Thiam again brought about a look for Speedy from distance but this time he drove his effort high over the bar.

Footing was awkward as both sides grappled with the saturated Slugger surface which was not getting any relief from the ongoing light drizzle. City had adapted better and were settling in and playing some fine football while the Fury were having trouble gaining traction and getting compact enough to complete passing sequences.

Speedy and his cohorts were enjoying the benefits of time on the ball, and a hard press all over the park was keeping City on the front foot, with Fury content to cede the midfield and allow shots from distance.

A cross-field ball from Oscar was temporarily cut out, but Abdou won it back and now Shaun Totsch found himself with time to shoot from 30 yards, but neither could he find the requisite accuracy, and after 20 minutes Irving’s frame was still intact.

Speedy from 25 yards again could not find the target after skipper Sean had sent Magnus probing ahead, and a clip inside to Abdou, his back to the goal, was dropped perfectly into his path.

With both teams endeavoring to master the conditions before mastering their opponent, more balls were being elevated than usual. Consequently, possession was switching regularly, but City’s high level of compete was stifling Fury and traffic continued to be generally one way as the period progressed.

Finally, in the 29th minute, Los Morados got in on goal as an Oscar thrown-in from the right was conveyed through Speedy, Magnus and Niall to Sean making ground up left wing. Magnus had continued into the Ottawa area and he connected with Sean’s precision delivery, his header toward the net dropping off of English defender Onua Obasi right into the path of Abdou Thiam on the edge of the 6. However, Thomas Meilleur-Giguère, foiled the wide-eyed striker, making a heroic effort in stretching in a leg which caused the shot to loop over Irving’s crossbar.

A goal kick was given, but technically there was a case for a penalty call since the central defender had not made contact with the ball but placed his foot in between it and Abdou’s swing which is what it took to break up the chance. In fairness, it was a bang-bang play and difficult to adjudicate. Coach Hackworth was confident in what he saw, however, and let the assistant on his sideline and the 4th official know exactly what he felt about the situation.

On the field, The Boys In Purple were only buoyed to improve their efforts and a thrilling sequence ensued after Paco stepped up to collect a clearance and lobbed perfectly back over the top for Abdou. The Senegalese rookie took it out of the air, reached the side of the 6 yard area, and drove inside where Lucky was approaching. Former Swope Park Ranger Dakota Barnathan managed to intercept and the ball deflected off him and back off the shins of ‘keeper Irving, and Meilleur-Giguère was able to clear.

This ball fell to Shaun who relayed to captain Francis who swung it right back in from out on the left. Meilleur-Giguère rose to head clear and the ball squeezed by Magnus but dropped in front of Speedy. With room to fire in from 25 yards, this time he connected perfectly and unleashed a ferocious, rising rocket that forced Callum Irving to paw it off to the side. Abdou was stationed ideally and struck a solid left-footer back in on goal, but Irving threw up a glove and spectacularly fingertipped the effort wide of the post by the merest of margins.

The City boys were realizing they had come up against an expert shot stopper for the second straight match, after Rowdies’ John McCarthy had very nearly broken their hearts down in Tampa.

But now, on the corner resulting from the Irving save, Oscar curved over a threatening ball which just cleared Paco and Shaun at the near post and fell for Taylor Peay in a handy position. But the purple traffic preceding had left him unsighted and the ball caromed off his chest and wide for a goal kick.

Forward running German midfielder Wal Fall, a cousin of US international Jermaine Jones, should have been a handful for Speedy and Shaun but he was finding himself isolated from partner Charlie Ward and unable to wield an effective presence, and in minute 34 Speedy intercepted him and fed Sean who instantly identified a seam as he played forward to Abdou. The fresh UConn grad held up the ball inside the area then played back to Sean who was now overlapping inside and steaming toward goal. It was a fine return ball, with Sean receiving on his much favored left foot but just wide enough so that Irving could drop to parry away the attempt and Ward put it out for a corner from which Magnus received the clearance but shot well over the bar.

Principally through Francois up the right, Fury were finally making deeper forays and after Shaun’s giveaway, Paco covered with a robust tackle on the right winger. When shortly after he evaded Shaun again and crossed for the normally high profile 22-year-old left winger Kévin Oliveira, Oscar was on hand to rebuff the one-time Cape Verde International, and Louisville’s structure was looking essentially sound.

Niall had been diligent in a shutdown job on maestro Ward who was struggling to generate much play as City’s midfield continued to largely dominate, and now in transition Sean picked him out and for a moment he was in between the center backs with the goal in front of him, however he was not able to take down the ball as he would have liked and the chance quickly evaporated.

Lucky is normally recognized as a striker, though on occasions can be found tracking back and making strong support plays on defense, and he did so when covering for Oscar and muscling out Oliveira to shepherd the ball over the line and prevent a crossing opportunity.

An Oscar foul on Fury’s left wing side presented Oliveira a free kick and beyond the far post he found Barnathan who was not able to redirect the ball back in on goal.

The Morados closed out the half positively, with Abdou switching the ball for Oscar to whip in a great delivery which Lucky right in front could not set himself to get his head to. Niall almost benefitted from the garbage but Haworth’s presence was just enough to put him off on his attempt.

Right before time was called Oscar turned up again as he dispossessed Meilleur-Giguère and quickly fed Abdou to exploit the hole left by the center back. The well regarded West African stretched 5-time Canada International Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé and shot short side to Irving’s right but the Kentucky Wildcat graduate got down rapidly to save.

The intermission arrived with Niall in a heated discussion with the officials – possibly over the earlier play by Meilleur-Giguère to prevent Abdou – and being suitably serenaded with a Coopers modernization of ‘The First Noel’ (“Ni-all … Ni-all, etc).

Coach Nik Popovic’s Ottawans came out for the 2nd half showing intent and managed to force an early corner but before long Lou City had levered back control and Taylor telescoped a long diagonal ball to Sean, advancing into Fury territory. The sphere was played inside to Niall who rolled back and conveyed to Speedy and he stopped, spun, and slid the ball into the area where Abdou was lurking with intent. AMT could not have struck his effort better, back across Irving and toward the far side netting, but yet again the red hot rear man was down in a flash to push the ball barely around his left-hand post. Another apparent game saving play by the Vancouver, BC native.

Then, in the 53rd, out of the blue (or more appropriately the thick, pervasive cloud) the visitors almost manufactured a go-ahead goal.

City seemed in a lull as Haworth took a long, flat throw from the half line that scythed by Shaun and into the breach left in the central D triangle, also comprising Taylor and Paco. Mour Samb jumped in to take advantage as he let the ball run and fired in a one-timer under pressure from Shaun who had somewhat recovered his position. Ben, in a rare misjudgment, estimated the shot to be drifting wide and let it go, but it stayed on course, rebounding back from high on the upright, and Shaun needed to be first in to turn it away and over the goal line.

From Oliveira’s corner the Canadians came even closer as Dakota Barnathan edged Speedy and smacked a header right on target, but Lucky Mkosana, placed optimally inside the back post, crouched to head off the goal line, and effect the HUGE play of the game to that point (and earn the bulk of the prospective bagels Ben might be treating in the case of a team shutout).

The game flowed back and forth between penalty boxes until right on the hour mark when Hackworth’s heady hunters at last made the breakthrough they had been promising so long.

Sean Francis challenged a loose ball, beat his “Francophile” mark Francois and allowed Speedy to take over. He turned and switched to Oscar who reached it at pace on right wing and wasted little time in relaying forward to Niall, in a pocket in the penalty area. Before Ottawa’s rearguard had time to react Niall’s low ball inside invited Lucky forth, and the Zimbabwean gratefully and precisely turned it by Irving from 8 yards out to open his Louisville City account right in front of the international flags of Scouse’s House.

1-0, Louisville City!

The goal could not have come at a better time for Lucky who has begun to take on the characteristics of being snakebitten, but this sudden success had to have been a great confidence builder for him.

The Purples were not about to rest on their laurels as a minute later Magnus lobbed a ball forward for Lucky who chested down to Abdou, but City’s no. 14 pulled his 30 yard shot well wide.

Fury were naturally pushing higher in search of a response and the battle for the midfield resumed.

Oscar was outdone by Oliveira whose cross was headed out by Sean. Haworth was by now free-ranging and he collected with room to fire from the 18 and things were tense – but as he wound up Sluggers’ notorious ‘Turf Monster’ swallowed him whole, the captain ending up on his rear end, and now Shaun was able to block and feed out to Niall.

The dangerous Dubliner found Abdou who veered inside, teased Meilleur-Giguère and laid it to the center where Niall had caught up and now dummied for Speedy. This move froze Ward long enough for no. 80 to shoot, but in keeping with the trend for his evening his hurried 25 yard effort cleared the bar.

Speedy had hit the net in City’s 0-3 drubbing of Ottawa 9 months before, but it was from inside the area and every one of his 5 shots on this night had been from outside of the box. Interestingly, Speedy and only 5 others remained from the two starting lineups for that July fixture.

The impressive Fury leader Haworth was now coming forward and into his own, and his give-and-go with Fall allowed him to draw Sean and release Francois who crossed for Fall who had headed for the far post but Ben rose high to cut out the play, to the great frustration of Fall who fruitlessly took it out on the upright.

In the 70th, after aggressive work by Sean up the left, Niall collected a loose ball and clipped across the field for Oscar who had time to take two touches and crash one in on goal from 30 plus yards, and he was unfortunate to see it dip only in time to bound off the top of the crossbar and on to safety.

Back in home territory, and Shaun was caught too slow to clear the play and handled, and Haworth set the ball for the free kick. To the consternation of the Louisville bench staff, Haworth again delivered immediately and again caught the defensive line napping and unprepared, but not Fall who was alert to the excellent vision of his captain. The ex St Louis FC man left Abdou standing, caught up with the ball 15 yards out, and got everything on his hefty strike but was stoned by the one City player who had read the danger, Ben Lundt. The accomplished Akron grad advanced quickly enough to parry the shot, only to watch it float right into the path of Meilleur-Giguère who was flying in and the 21-year-old loanee from Montréal Impact had the goal at his mercy. However, in trying to steer the ball beyond three defenders who had raced back to the goal line he somehow punched his header wide and another grand opportunity for the Ontario boys had gone begging.

Fury were pressing hard and Morados were resolute and content to simply absorb and counter.

Fall again eluded Abdou on a Haworth free kick, only to see his flick-on skip off the surface and into the trusty arms of Ben. Once again, the defensive organization on a dead ball play was left in question.

In minute 86, another long Haworth free kick found Meilleur-Giguère undercutting Ben as he leapt to catch the ball and for a few moments after a hard landing the prospect of “fourth string” goaltender Casey Clark – the temp signing this week from St Louis Ambush (indoor), after Tim Dobrowolski sustained a non-contact injury in training – making an unexpected debut was on the cards, but the tall German shook off the effects and continued.

The infamous injury bug and the hairline nature of the game had handcuffed Hack and it wasn’t until the overtime minutes that Alexis Souahy and Pat McMahon were introduced as replacements, however time ran down and City had secured a second home win and third all told in the young season.

Afterward, game winning goalscorer Lucky Mkosana had praise for the buildup work of Oscar and Niall that led to his goal, and he acknowledged the improvement in his play from the previous week.

“My movement was a little bit smarter than last week and it helped me save my energy.”

Ottawa’s coach Popovic had lamented the dimensions and the sodden surface on the night, feeling they had given City an advantage. Sure enough, Paco Craig admitted he had reveled in conditions that suited his slide tackling talents to a tee.

Delighted Purples head coach John Hackworth was proud of his team’s performance, crediting players in all departments, notably the central defensive “triangle” and the fine transitional work of Niall McCabe who had had the difficult duty, among others, of shutting down, “The catalyst for everything they do”, playmaker Charlie Ward, “and he literally didn’t get on the ball tonight.”

Hack also praised the “double duty” performances of wing backs Oscar and Sean and the pressure applied high up by Abdou and Lucky to prevent Ottawa building out of defense.

“It was a good all around team defensive effort.”

The coach had stated earlier in the week that in light of the Rowdies game the team had gone a long way toward turning the corner and he was asked if he still felt the same and whether his players had delivered on this evening.

“Absolutely they did, and when you make a statement like that it’s awful nice when your players back you up.”

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@LouCityKiwi’s PLAYER RATINGS OUT OF 10:

BEN LUNDT: 7 1/2

While underworked for much of the night did most things well including a much improved showing in distribution from the Rowdies game. Pulled off the huge late save from Will Fall.

SEAN FRANCIS: 6 1/2

Once again positionally responsible, with confidence in getting forward on the overlap beginning to emerge, but still guilty of overreaching and giving away possession unnecessarily at times.

PACO CRAIG: 8 1/2

Best match of the season from the Londoner, working effectively in unison with new partner, Taylor Peay. Good in the air, some powerful tackles while covering well on others’ errors, and always looking to instigate attacks with canny plays out of defense.

TAYLOR PEAY: 8

3rd straight start and almost all caught up, looking more comfortable with every showing. Will be a major asset as the team’s identity morphs from offensive juggernaut to that of being built on its strong defensive platform.

OSCAR JIMENEZ: 6 1/2

Mostly steady defensively while still losing possession just a little too often.

Played a big hand in assisting the assist maker on the goal.

SEAN TOTSCH: 7 1/2

Playing as the proxy PDP for the 2nd week running and again acquitting himself creditably, forming a solid triangle with the center backs and, though stretched at times, generally keeping errors to an acceptable minimum.

NIALL MCCABE: 7 1/2

On one hand, inconsistent in distribution, giving up the ball on numerous occasions. HOWEVER, tasked with getting through a marathon workload: not only in shutting down Fury central midfield supremo Charlie Ward, but also splitting guises as either a “false 9” or a roving offensive mid – during which time he generated the fine assist on Lucky’s winning goal.

SPEEDY WILLIAMS: 7

Easier game than usual due to the time and space afforded him by the Fury system and the fine shift by his partner, Magnus. Got forward well in attacking support, particularly in the 1st half, and if shooting accuracy can be addressed could be a much needed supplementary offensive component this season.

LUCKY MKOSANA: 7

Incredible ‘International Night’ for the Zimbabwean. Again toiling to assert himself for much of the contest, with passing needing to be a lot more reliable. However, also starred in the two crucial moments of the game for his team when first turning away Barnathan’s goal bound header, then shortly after grabbing the game winner at the other end.

ABDOU MBACKE THIAM: 7 1/2

Nominally a lone central striker while predominantly plying his trade along the inside left and left wing channels, however also displaying canny senses around goal in supplying several instances of near misses from dangerous set-up play, as well as some strong efforts of his own. Will most certainly add to his personal goal tally before long here.

ALEXIS SOUAHY: N/A

Last minute sub to add a center back.

PAT MCMAHON: N/A

Last second sub to run down the clock.

“LOS MORADOS NO. 1 ⭐️ OF THE GAME”

⭐️⭐️⭐️ MAGNUS RASMUSSEN⭐️⭐️⭐️: 9

Immense performance once again delivered by the likable Dane, continuing a fine run of form since his reinstallation. A major factor in the efficacy of the midfield, ferrying the ball securely from defense to attack and threading precision passes all over the park. He was one player who was comfortable keeping the ball on the ground in the soggy conditions – well, he hails from Northern Europe, after all – and an all around classy and crucial contribution in a rearranged system caused by the spate of injuries to key personnel.

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MATCH HIGHLIGHTS: