LOUISVILLE CITY FC 2,

BETHLEHEM STEEL FC 0



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If you were John Hackworth and there were any USL coach you might worry about being privy to your coaching style and techniques, it would probably be Brendan Burke. Only a few years ago, the pair probably spent plenty of time together at Philadelphia Union, with 35-year-old Burke as an up-and-coming assistant to Hack in the MLS club’s system.

So, who should City draw in their crucial Eastern Conference Semifinal but Burke’s Bethlehem Steel FC, the Union‘s reserve side.

There is much mutual respect between the two men. Each had recounted separately during the week that in email exchanges they had agreed it would be nice to see each other but not to coach against one another. Bethlehem, riding a brilliant final 2 1/2 months of the regular season (8-2-2), emerged from the wilderness to claim the sixth playoff spot in the East. Then, they visited and and heroically overturned Pittsburgh Riverhounds (2-2, 8-7 on penalty kicks) in the 1st Round.

The stage was set then for an intriguing contest, one that could by no means be taken lightly by the favored Kentuckians.

Hack went with his tested and true playoff 11. Burke – fielding a side averaging 23 years of age (22, if you discounted 31-year-old skipper James Chambers – was forced to deal without regulars Matthew Real and Anthony Fontana, away together on international duty for the US U/20’s.

First Half

George Davis lV, 3rd on the club in scoring yet struggling in front of goal of late, nearly broke the ice when he found a window in the very opening seconds but, in keeping with the ongoing trend, his shot on Kyle Smith’s service was blocked and cleared.

The Steel, at the other end, threatened early as well, with dangerous overlapping right back Olivier Mbaizo’s cross a shade high for his centrally positioned Cameroonian partner Faris Moumbagna.

It turned out not to be a night for the center forwards and Faris would become largely invisible for the remainder of his 60 minutes on the park, bottled up and marginalized to the periphery by the formidable Louisville central defense.

Wing midfielder Santi Moar was in the mood however, and Greg Ranjitsingh safely caught a rising, speculative outside effort from the Spaniard in the 9th minute.

Mbaizo continued his probing down the wing. Chambers failed to emulate his excellent free kick goal versus Riverhounds when he struck one low into the wall, but mostly the opening 20 minutes were something of a feeling out process.

City then began to exercise a measure of control. Kyle, as usual stretched on defense but a terrific supplement to the offense, was the beneficiary of a move by George IV and Ilija Ilić, his attempt blocked away around the post by defender Ben Ofeimu.

Oscar Jimenez’ pinpoint near post corner in the 23′ landed flush on the head of the unmarked Paco Craig but his header against the grain flew wide. His sight line was perhaps partially obscured by players challenging for the ball just ahead of him. Still, it was an opportunity he would have liked to do over again.

Niall McCabe, these days bossing the midfield as a central running link man, has been developing a potent partnership with Brian Ownby. The two were beginning to dominate and feature in the best of City’s attacking movements.

Niall’s arcing diagonal ball into the area missed a notably subdued on the night Cameron Lancaster’s head by a whisker as Los Morados continued to apply the pressure. However, Mbaizo and his cohorts were being given a little too much room to operate when working their counters. Anything breaching the area, though – including from corners, on which curiously City were outscored for the 3rd game running – was being dealt with, particularly by Paco and Alexis Souahy, with Greg tidying up nicely in behind.

For all the vigor expended, the half had been a little choppy and punctuated by ball handling errors. It didn’t help that the recipe of the match referee was to display firmness with the whistle while simultaneously endeavoring to avoid cards or overcalling the game. The output from his decision making, though, was beginning to lead to raised temperatures in certain quarters. Several petty clips that took players down behind the play over the course of the game may have been overlooked.

Nevertheless, after 33 minutes a deserved breakthrough came for The Purples. Niall, carrying confidently through midfield and drawing attention, slipped wide to Oscar whose flat ball inside met a dashing Brian and he skipped by Brandon Aubrey’s sliding tackle and slotted left-footed back across ‘keeper Jake McGuire, a little too tight to his post, and into the side of the net. 1-0.

Incredibly, it was Brian’s 1st goal in 21 league appearances this season to go along with the 2 he bagged in 5 US Open Cup matches.

The celebration barely over, City were almost caught out as Moar sent Canadian right winger Chris Nanco forward. Cutting inside to avoid Niall’s challenge, he unleashed a strong 20 yard riser which an alert and stretching Greg fingertipped over his bar to safety. A blitzkrieg reply here would have been a morale sapper and this was an alarm for the home side to reset their focus.

Another golden opportunity arrived for The Purples on 40 minutes as Kyle picked up a long corner kick clearance and fed inside to Niall. No. 11 set himself and chipped a rangy, precise delivery back into Paco who had not yet vacated after the set play. No. 5’s header was at perfect height for Ilija. Another opportunist snipe from City’s elusive No. 14 looked on, but his flying volley at point blank range found McGuire in just the right spot to beat it away.

In spite of instances of fine quality from both sides, the 1st half ended with each coach no doubt expecting an improvement in ball management and execution. Hack might have been more impressed with the way his side played through the powerful gale during the Indy Eleven game the previous weekend.

If anybody reemerged motivated to build on achievements in the 1st half it would probably be Brian and shortly after the resumption he helped Oscar and Ilija for half-chances, the latter after rounding his defender and sending in an excellent cross. The former Houston MLS draftee continued to look as likely as anyone to produce the next highlight as the teams resumed the battle to achieve midfield superiority.

Second Half

Nearly 10 minutes in, Kyle might simply have shadowed Moar but committed to a challenge and brought him down at the corner of the area. Chambers repeated his lack of emulation on the ensuing free kick and again failed to bypass the defensive wall.

Things threatened to boil over when Niall was tripped by Moar. McCabe less than politely announced his frustration at a tactic that was beginning to become repetitive due to his commanding presence through the middle of the park. For safety’s sake (his own as much as anyone’s) the official obliged with the 1st yellow card of the game to Moar.

Niall advisably collected himself and just 2 minutes later, in the 59th, he engineered the goal that would afford City the chance to seal their passage on the evening. Kyle broke up Steel possession in his own half and tapped inside to steady captain Paolo Del Piccolo who shuttled it on to Niall. The Dublin Dynamo spotted Brian, rolling off his marker and showing for him in the center forward lane, and he instantly clipped a delicate ball over No. 10’s right shoulder. Aubrey attempted to grab the other one but, slippery as an eel, Brian evaded, locked on to the ball on the edge of the area and struck it on the run to the right of the advancing McGuire and inside the post for the insurance marker. 59 minutes elapsed and 2-0 Louisville City.

It was a bang-bang play of the highest order and an earned reward to the two men on the pitch who had deserved it the most. And with Cameron (who had changed his shoes at halftime, to little avail) playing a rare 2nd/3rd/4th fiddle role, there was no better occasion for the Beastly Bearded Beauty to rediscover his own shooting boots.

Now, Burke’s boys brought out the kitchen sink. For a brief moment for Louisville it was all hands on deck as Bethlehem forced a succession of free kicks, corners and goal attempts. Kyle received a yellow card for a foul to prevent Nanco escaping him and then recovered to make a critical tackle for a corner after a dangerous Steel give-and-go in the home area. In a rare moment of uncertainty, Greg got himself off balance as Drew Skundrich had his effort blocked away close in.

It was the 72nd minute when Hack made his 1st change, wisely, albeit belatedly sending in Devon “Speedy” Williams for Ilija. Brian continued the pattern of imposing his heavy headache treatment on the Bethlehem backfielders as he received on the left from Paolo,spun away from a pair of opponents, and drove into the Bethlehem area. In the process he turned Aubrey into a pretzel (is it still Octoberfest..?) with a devastating stepover and bore in on goal for his hat trick. Unfortunately, his shot from the angle was not quite so devastating and was partially saved by McGuire, then cleared from the goal line.

Bethlehem had one more scare in store when Moar received a slick, low cut-back from Matt Mahoney, worked some space with Paolo in front of him and launched a curling, dipping 30 yarder at Greg’s goal but the ball skipped off the top of the crossbar to safety.

Never letting by a chance to embellish his body of work, Brian took a yellow card deep in the opponent’s half for a foul on Aubrey.

Inside the final 10 minutes, Luke replaced Cameron (again a tad late) and The Steel began pressing hard, leaving acres of room for counterattacks.

On one of these, Brian received 45 yards out and broke for goal but couldn’t quite muster the acceleration to get clear and close enough, his improvised lob over to Speedy’s head. Unfortunately, that is not the No. 80’s strongest suit as he was not able to get much behind it.

No. 10’s final stat grabber was managing to generate a caution on Mbaizo when he went flying on a (firm, but probably fair) shoulder-to-shoulder challenge. The prickly crowd and the sympathetic scorer’s flail was enough to persuade the referee. Paolo assessed the keeper’s stationing and, with Cameron off the field and Oscar standing by, put his left-foot free kick well over.

Ofeimu took a caution – the match’s 5th, all in the 2nd half – for a foul on George IV who then made way for Sean Totsch to sub in.

Mbaizo flashed a decent late chance wide of Greg’s goal and that was all she wrote as City had taken care of business and qualified for the Eastern Conference Final, it seeming their destiny to meet NY Red Bulls 2 once more. Orange County SC will host Phoenix Rising FC in the WCF.

Final Thoughts

The Purple’s top performers Man of the Match Brian Ownby and Niall McCabe literally took the ball and ran with it all night. Kyle Smith was strong going forward, as was Oscar Jimenez’ service from the left wing and set-pieces. Captain PDP once more held down the middle and provided an effective screen for the defense. Paco “Pacman” Craig and Alexis Souahy again were a formidable partnership and Greg Ranjitsingh did everything he needed to in timely fashion. Distribution can be spotty, but this is a minor concern. George Davis lV and Ilija Ilić were in and out of the match, and Cameron was mostly out of it – he’ll be back sooner rather than later, of course. The subs were all good , though none of them had enough time to make a significant impact. Focal point for The Steel, James Chambers worked very hard for little return, but the talent and quality displayed by Santi Moar might have stood out above all others on his team in the end.

Go City!

~~~~~ Fun Footnotes ~~~~~

* On Friday, November 2nd, Louisville City meet New York Red Bulls ll, the 2 clubs’ 3rd straight meeting in the USL Eastern Conference Final.

* To reach this Final, Red Bulls 2 defeated FCC which ended Cincinnati’s 5-month-and-1-day, 24 match (18-6-0) USL unbeaten record. FCC’s previous loss the weekend prior was to …. Louisville City FC.

* Within that streak was a 10-game run of victories which Lou City would match should they prevail in these final two matches.

* One more time, Go City!