Jacksonville Still Alive in NASL Championship Race

Mike McCall, ArmadaFC.com | Oct. 17, 2015

Final Stats

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — If the Jacksonville Armada FC’s debut season is to be judged by results, the jury is still out. If it’s to be judged by the amount of excitement and special moments that it produced, enter Saturday’s clash with FC Edmonton into evidence immediately.

Down to 10 men and trailing by a goal, the Armada pulled off an improbable, electrifying 3-2 comeback win in front of 6,503 fans at Community First Park, scoring two goals in three minutes via Pascal Millien and Akeil Barrett to keep slim hopes of an NASL Playoff berth alive.

To get there, the Armada (5W-3D-9L Fall Season, 8-6-13 Combined) need to win all three remaining games and get some help from both in-state rivals, the Fort Lauderdale Strikers and Tampa Bay Rowdies, who are ahead in the standings.

But the value of Saturday’s three points went beyond the postseason push. This was a surreal victory, punctuated by a surreal postgame setting where players celebrated on a darkened field that was being prepared for a fireworks display.

After the show the Armada and Eddies put on, those pyrotechnics were somewhat redundant.

“This was certainly one of the best games of my career because of the effort that my teammates put in,” said goalkeeper Miguel Gallardo, who was emotional enough that a few curse words crept through his usual polished, composed demeanor.

“It’s very difficult to get 10 guys on the field to be on the same page and be positive despite a negative result. When somebody made a mistake, everyone was there to support him, and that speaks volumes of this team and what we can do in the future. Definitely a night to remember.”

There were many things to remember: a dominant first half and goal from Alhassane Keita, Keita’s second yellow card and the subsequent FC Edmonton resurgence, and the fiery, efficient response from the Armada to take back the lead and hold it.

When Keita was sent off in the 51st, the visitors had already been pushing for an equalizer, and they finally got it in the 62nd when Daryl Fordyce tapped in a rebound that came off the post. Just three minutes later, Eddies winger Sainey Nyassi slipped behind the back line, collected a through-ball and beat Gallardo to snatch a lead that seemed destined to hold.

Stunned silence hit the stands, and it looked like a more depressing replay of the last home game, when the Armada went down to 10 men, lost a lead and settled for a draw with Indy Eleven.

But Akeil Barrett had other plans.

Shortly after being subbed on at the half for injured defensive midfielder Lucas Scaglia, the speedy Jamaican became the key to Jacksonville’s playoff hopes.

Interim head coach Eric Dade had organized his short-handed squad into two lines of four, with Barrett up top alone. His instructions were simple: “Coach told me if I get space, I should just go at the defenders,” Barrett said.

That’s exactly what he did.

Mere seconds after Nyassi’s gut-punching goal, Barrett broke through in the FC Edmonton box and drew a penalty from Johann Smith. Millien put that away with a no-doubter to his left, restoring hope for a draw that would have been palatable, but not enough for a meaningful playoff surge.

Barrett took care of that just three minutes later.

This time, a deflected shot from Jemal Johnson bounced out wide to the right, Barrett rounded it and fired a shot across VanOekel. The next second took place in slow motion, as the ball rolled toward the far post, caromed off it and into the net, setting off an explosion of noise from the flag-waving fans behind the goal in Section 904.

It was a moment of delirium on par with the last home match against Edmonton, when Johnson scored just 12 seconds in to propel the club to a 3-1 win in its NASL debut.

But that was far from the end of the drama.

Two minutes later, in the 72nd, Dustin Corea nearly pulled Edmonton level with a shot that was deflected off the post, and on the ensuing corner, Mallan Roberts managed a header that Gallardo had to dive to keep out.

Then, in the 83rd, Armada center back Matt Bahner headed a shot off the line when Gallardo was pulled out of goal — the last big stop the team would have to make to secure the three points.

“It definitely was a gut-check time for us,” Dade said. “We had to dig deep and say we can either give up or we can play, and I thought Akeil came in and did a good job.”

Barrett was the night’s hero and took home deserved honors as the Farah & Farah Man of the Match, but Keita’s efforts shouldn’t go unnoticed even with his two yellows, which he earned for one sloppy tackle and one late challenge.

The Guinean had a sterling first half that harkened back to his early season form. He pestered the FC Edmonton backline on loose balls, made back-heel passes, took on defenders with devastating one-on-one moves, and added a goal from a quick-thinking pass by Jemal Johnson in the 32nd.

“He had a bite to him,” Dade said. “He had that all week in training. … I think he felt as if he hasn’t been as good as he wanted to be, but today he was very fun to watch and I think the guys fed off of him.”

Now, the challenge is to keep momentum going while Keita is suspended and on short rest against Ottawa Fury FC, who leads the Fall Season standings.

The Armada will host Ottawa on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., before hitting the road to Edmonton and then hosting the Strikers on the next two weekends. During that span, they’ll look to keep an unbeaten home record (5-3-0, Fall) intact while notching their first road win of the entire year (0-2-12, Combined).

Tickets to Wednesday night's match start at $12 and can be purchased by calling 1.844.2.ARMADA or visiting armadafc.com.

NASL Fall Season

Armada FC 3, FC Edmonton 2

Saturday, Oct. 17, 2015

Community First Park – Jacksonville, Fla.

Attendance: 6,503

Scoring Summary

JAX – Alhassane Keita (Jemal Johnson), 31’

FCE – Daryl Fordyce, 62’

FCE – Sainey Nyassi, 65’

JAX – Pascal Millien (penalty), 67’

JAX – Akeil Barrett, 70’

Discipline Summary

JAX – Alhassane Keita (caution), 14’

JAX – Lucas Scaglia (caution), 24’

FCE – Kareem Moses (caution), 38’

JAX – Alhassane Keita (ejection), 52’

JAX – Miguel Gallardo (caution), 80’



Armada FC Lineup (4-2-3-1): Miguel Gallardo (GK), Lucas Trejo, Matt Bahner, Mechack Jerome, Shawn Nicklaw, Lucas Scaglia (Akeil Barrett, 45’) (Nurdin Hrustic, 89’), Nicolas Perea, Jaime Castrillon, Jemal Johnson, Pascal Millien (Tyler Williams, 82’), Alhassane Keita

Unused Armada FC Bench: David Sierra (GK), Lucas Rodriguez, Marcos Flores, Tommy Krizanovic

Eddies Lineup (4-1-4-1): Matt VanOekel (GK), Allan Zebie (Frank Jonke, 58’), Kareem Moses (Tomi Ameobi, 80’), Mallan Roberts, Eddie Edward, Johan Smith, Sainey Nyassi, Cristian Raudales, Ritchie Jones (Pablo Cruz, 58’), Dustin Corea, Daryl Fordyce

Unused Eddies Bench: Tyson Farago (GK), Michael Nonni