We last left our heroes facing the unsavoury prospect of ending a five-game home stand with less points (let alone wins) than their season-opening six-game road trip. Alas, even with the starters inexplicably dropped for the trouncing by Madison reinstated, it wasn’t to be.

Besides debunking once and for all the notion the BTG’s Limonta turf confers some additional home field advantage, the loss to Greenville didn’t tell us much we didn’t already know.

Perruzza and friends were always likely to struggle against the league’s best defence, Gideon Waja makes an adequate stand-in at both right- and left-back, and Yann Fillion is just as prone to the faux-Neuer antics that lost Alex Bono lose his job.

Oh, and Terique Mohammed is officially a walking yellow card.

On a happier note, Mehdi Essoussi showed some real promise in his first pro start, even initiating a counterattack. I’d be more indignant about him being subbed at halftime if he and Okello hadn’t essentially been playing the same role.

His replacement Ayo Akinola finally opened his USL1 account at the third time of asking. Tellingly, he netted the consolation goal playing out wide.

Moving onto Saturday’s game, Richmond’s City Stadium has never been a happy hunting ground for the Young Reds. In five visits over four seasons, they’d never even tied a game, so coming away from this one with anything more than a loss would be an achievement of sorts.

For the first time since April, Rabasca ditch the 4-1-4-1 formation in favour of a 4-3-3. With Griff Dorsey still stuck at right-back, Ayo started to the right of Perruzza, and the one and only Jacob Shaffelburg covered the left flank.

Yellow card magnets TeMo and Adolfo Ovalle were benched, replaced respectively by debutants Themi Antonoglou (18) and the indomitable Ralph Priso-Mbongue (17).

In Ovalle’s absence, the captain’s armband fell to Caleb Patterson-Sewell who, owing to Kickeroo’s presence, wasn’t the only Australian in attendance for a change. Quite why a Virginian team employ a marsupial as its mascot is another question entirely…

Whatever the rationale for bringing Caleb out of storage, his hands proved only marginally safer than poor Eric Klenofsky’s. Just four minutes in, his non-catch of a so-called cross became a goal on the rebound. He was infinitely less culpable for the Kickers’ second, when he was beaten one-on-one by fellow NASL survivor Daniel Jackson.

Hopefully, young Themi won’t be too affected by the turnover that initiated Richmond’s counter. I’ve found nothing to suggest he’s ever consistently played in a defensive capacity with TFC III or the academy sides.

At least Ralph Priso had a better time of things. Anything but daunted by the occasion, he made for a very reliable cog in central midfielder, completing many a tight pass with Kickers breathing down his neck. He also showed flashes of class, such as a through-ball to the hitherto-invisible Shaff the Nova Scotian proceeded to over-dribble.

He might even have seen out the 90, had he not limped off the pitch late in the second half. Here’s hoping its nothing serious. The prospect of seeing some chemistry between him and teammate Jayden “Primetime” Nelson is almost as tantalising as Dante Campbell’s eventual comeback.

On the offensive end, the kids were treated to their first taste of Akira Fitzgerald. Another NASL survivor, he miraculously denied TFC II an equalizer twice in milliseconds. Having successfully lunged to prevent Okello chipping in a Shaff cross, he was on his feet quick enough to palm away Perruzza’s headed rebound.

Ultimately, the team had to rely on set-pieces to beat ol’ Fitz. Perruzza kept himself in the running for a certain shiny shoe with a nifty under-the-wall free kick in the 52nd. Then, three minutes from time, second-half sub TeMo somehow got his head to a Matt Srbely free-kick, sealing the team’s fifth come-from-behind draw of the season.

It ain’t perfect, but it’s progress.

Maybe it’s premature to be calling the playoffs a fading hope, what with the kids sitting only seven points outside 4th place with eight games to go. However, that includes two more bouts with the Upstate Boys of Greenville Triumph and a trip to the echoey confines of Dallas’s Toyota Stadium.

Assuming there won’t be any more games hijacked for pre-Voyageurs Cup workouts, anything’s possible. Still, with home field advantage a cherished memory at this stage, I’ll need to see Dante back and Rabasca allowed to keep Ayo and/or Shaff before I dare to dream of post-season soccer.

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Gwyn Richards An Englishman with no worldly connection to Canada. Descended from a long line of Queens Park Rangers fans but whose own interest in European football was killed by Florentino Pérez's credit card. Was indoctrinated into Toronto FC fandom at the hands of some irresponsible podcasters. "Professional football is philanthropy on a grand scale." -David Dome, New Zealand soccer executive

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