LOUISVILLE CITY FC 1

BIRMINGHAM LEGION FC _ 0

5-29-19

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McCabe

Davis IV <Jane Matsoso <Ballard

<Dee

Francis📒 McMahon

Totsch🎯 Peay

Hubbard

Subs:

DelPiccolo> Ownby> Craig>

Dobrowolski Jimenez Rasmussen Spencer

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They sure left it late but they left Lynn delighted as The Boys In Purple took care of a tricky customer in Tommy Soehn’s Birmingham Legion FC in the US Open Cup 3rd round on Wednesday evening.

The football itself may not have provided a lot to write home about – though we’ll certainly do our best – but there were enough takeaways from the night to give Louisville City fans a whole heap of encouragement moving forward.

High up on that list would be the return of traditional team captain Paulo DelPiccolo to the field of play for his first action since the second week of the season versus Atlanta Utd 2.

In addition, swashbuckling striker Brian Ownby rousingly reappeared and homegrown Chris Hubbard and Richie Ballard started also, leaving only unlucky Abdou Thiam on long term IR.

In fact Richie for Abdou was the only change from the starting lineup that faced Reading United a fortnight earlier, and this US Open Cup edition looked mostly comfortable as Birmingham shuffled their selection also.

The opening stanza was more absorbing impasse than attacking extravaganza as the teams wrestled each other to a scoreless 45 minutes.

The visitors might well have gone ahead as early as the 9th when Gael Mabiala received a long clearance by goalkeeper Matt Van Oekel. In the Championship meeting just 18 days earlier Mabiala was at right back but for this match was stationed in an offensive role. The Saint-Étienne born now wing midfielder received, turned Pat McMahon and found himself suddenly in good space inside the penalty box, but his underwhelming right foot effort was easily corralled by Chris in goal.

In the 15th minute, a similarly strong opportunity fell to Los Morados as Shaun Francis moved forward and, with a beautifully accurate diagonal ball, found Richie in yards of room on the far side of the Birmingham area. Starting a match for the first time in 20 months after battling back from injuries some dulling of the instincts may have been showing as No. 23 appeared to first look for support. In the half second delay the defense shifted over, the aperture narrowed down and the ex Hoosier was only able to squeeze his shot wide of the frame.

The Legion were finding it difficult to contain their opponents and Tommy Soehn’s side was resorting to a tactic of fouling to disrupt City’s flow through the midfield.

Almost exactly a year ago, Femi Hollinger-Janzen was on the left wing for New England Revolution as Louisville knocked them out of the 4th round at Lynn, but Soehn has converted him and in minute 22 the now central defender brought down Niall McCabe with a hefty challenge and deservedly went into the referee’s book.

Play settled down with both sides probing for opportunities though neither offense managing much more than the odd corner kick and a handful of blocked shots before Mabiala again very nearly put the visitors ahead just before halftime.

A rapid Legion transition caught the City unit skewing to one side at the same time Shaun overplayed his challenge on Tyler Turner. Receiving a deft flick from Chandler Hoffman, the right back made ground to take advantage of the gaping hollow and the former all levels USYNT member spotted Mabiala on the far side and swung it into the area. The Frenchman had time to set himself, sending a curling right-footer toward the far post, but with Chris well beaten the ball caromed away off the woodwork and the City lads traipsed off down the tunnel relieved not to be behind at the break.

Nevertheless, Hack’s men had enjoyed their fair share of the play for most of the period and the head coach stated after the match that he gave an “honest and direct” appraisal to the team on their effort – which probably translates to a somewhat less than pleasant reception.

Whatever was said took some time to sink in, with little immediate change as the 2nd half fell into a similar pattern of Legion FC looking to interfere in midfield while each side’s “false 9”, Niall and Hoffman finding very little opportunity to release their creative juices.

On 55 minutes, an unnecessary foul by the otherwise exceedingly reliably Geoff Dee put former Riverhound Joe Holland within shooting range and his free kick cleared the wall but continued just wide of Chris’ left post.

Just after the quarter hour mark Hack had seen enough and decided to pull the trigger with a double substitution that at once thrilled the home supporters and injected a most needed energy and quality into the Lou City attack.

Brian Ownby, out of action since the early season home encounter with Legion, along with Paolo DelPiccolo replaced Richie and Geoff. The effect was instant. City swung straight into attack mode as PDP crafted an excellent pass to George Davis IV who checked inside and fired from near the center of the 18 yard line. Van Oekel was down to snaffle at the second attempt.

The Legion almost caused a reversal when Napo Matsoso’s underhit pass to Paolo was picked away by Prosper Kasim who tried a quick effort that was blocked. The ball rebounded out to gritty Madrileño Marcos Ugarte and his followup was deflected away over the byline by a recovering Napo.

Soehn now decided to bulk up for an assault down the City right as tricky ex Card and Chicago Fire midfielder Daniel Johnson and hard driving left-sided wide man Kyle Culbertson replaced Holland and Ugarte.

But it was Pat who would get the better of things early as, with the Legion defense inching higher, he sent Brian away with a superb 73rd minute through ball, but the new returner who had taken up a more orthodox central striking role stabbed with his lucky left straight at Van Oekel.

Just beforehand a Taylor Peay breakout had resulted in chaos around the top of the area with a fearsome Napo 25 yard effort being blocked away.

Napo then put Brian through on Van Oekel and, although looking surprisingly sharp on the break once again, his shooting boots failed him. The play was adjudged offside in any case.

Paolo, Brian and Sunny Jane – late to the party but benefitting from the surge prompted by the returners – were involved in positive buildup play and George found himself with a great 77th minute look from 10 yards but disappointingly directed the ball wide of Van Oekel’s left-hand upright.

Ex Vegas Lights defender Eric Avila, who assisted on two goals in Legion FC’s March victory at Slugger, was introduced in the midfield to replace injured central D man Mathieu Laurent as a final bid to boost the Birmingham offensive push and Culbertson picked up a caution for taking out Taylor behind the play on another fast breakout.

Paolo, who had started with a bang, looked understandably bushed on occasion as he toiled hard to track back, however the City rearguard remained rigid and the net behind ‘Supporters Player of the Game’ Chris Hubbard had not been seriously threatened in the 2nd as Legion FC recorded just a single official shot on target over the 90.

In the 87th minute a quick George IV throw-in from the left touchline caught the now depleted black clad defense unprepared and Brian was onto it alertly, twirling in the area and sliding a 15 yard attempt not far wide of the near post.

‘The Boys In (3rd kit) Silver & Black’ were exploiting the now 3 man defense remorselessly and another fine rangy delivery from PDP arrived on George’s chest but the touch was heavy and the ball rolled in to the ‘keeper.

With barely a minute on the clock and a full 30 of overtime looming – and substitutions having been exhausted by each team – Sean Totsch began a breakout through Pat who hit Niall on halfway. In one fluid movement the devastating Dubliner controlled, spun and innately clipped over the head of left back Razak Cromwell for Brian who had darted out of the gate with perfect timing and was away behind the backline and racing for the Legion area. Van Oekel was out to meet him and as Brian, inevitably touched the ball by him for a left-foot finish, the ‘keeper took his legs out and sent him to the turf. The deliberate denial ought to have earned Van Oekel the red though he was only tagged with a caution – Louisville fans perhaps had less to raise in complaint in view of events at Bethlehem Steel just the previous weekend.

Sean Totsch had started the play and, as the reputed ‘penalty king’ in training, was sent up to finish it off. And finish he did, coolly waiting out Van Oekel’s committal to his left then slotting it into the opposite corner.

A year and 5 days after his last goal for the club – amazingly in the coinciding round of last year’s tournament versus St Louis – Sean had bagged his 4th ever Louisville goal, 3 of them in Cup play, and appropriately he headed for the same corner and took a requisite celebratory slide, exactly as he had done 12 months earlier.

The 8 minute stoppage period would be no formality as inside the area Shaun Francis heroically got in the way of a strike on frame and Mabiala headed wide from a Johnson set piece. There was still time for Shaun to balloon a shot over and later collect a card for time wasting before the final whistle sounded.

In postgame, Lamar Hunt loving Sean Totsch confirmed he was only too aware of his anniversary.

“My momentum was taking me there … in my head I was going to the corner and I had a flashback to last year”, related the proud penalty king.

A flashback of another kind will occur in the 4th round as Hack’s Heroes are juicily drawn to visit erstwhile loathed Leviathan … FC Cincinnati, now of of course of MLS, at 7:30pm on June 12th in a greatly anticipated reiteration of the ‘Dirty River Derby’.

Although the current FCC squad is scantly recognizable even from last season’s, including a new head coach after the rapid demise of Alan Koch, the Louisville Coopers and various other SG’s will not have forgotten, and the same can be assumed for their antagonistic equivalents just up Interstate Highway 71. With the Ohioans in free fall (1 win from their last 10 and sitting afoot the Eastern Conference standings) an extra significance surrounds this clash for all those in the Queen City, as well as the Derby City.

Upcoming clashes of crucial importance, both Saturday June 1st:

Euro Champions League Final ~ Liverpool FC vs Tottenham Hotspur FC (Molly’s for Scousers, Saints for sinners, er, cockerels), 3 pm

USL Championship Week 13 ~

Louisville City FC vs Charleston Battery, 7 pm

** Special surprise, there is a guaranteed “Elvis” sighting slated for this match !!

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@LouCityKiwi’s PLAYER RATINGS OUT OF 10:

Chris Hubbard: 7

Few issues to deal with as the local ‘keeper extended his bagel record to a perfect two in his two (Cup) starts for the club.

Shaun Francis: 7

Caught overplaying on a counter that almost produced a goal – a little trend to address – but otherwise played his wing most satisfactorily.

Taylor Peay: 8 1/2

Once again a tower of strength at the back and always eager to get attacks going when chances arose.

Sean Totsch: 8 1/2

Hard to fault over the course of the cup tie and was ice cold and clinical in converting his crucial penalty kick.

Pat McMahon: 7 1/2

Again did himself proud, enjoying a practically pain free evening, then playing a key part in the big event at the end.

Geoff Dee: 8 1/2

Another accomplished night out for the U of L alum on his old/recent stomping ground, completing passes and maintaining a presence while nobly keeping the catbird seat warm for his eventual replacement, Il Capitano.

George Davis IV : 7 1/2

Could have had another Cup goal or two beside his name, causing concern at times in dangerous areas. Pleasingly going the whole distance for the first time since the previous Legion FC home game.

Napo Matsoso: 8 1/2

Positive and aggressive, shrugging off Sunday’s ignominious premature termination to excel again in the Cup. Harried incessantly in the central areas and useful alongside Geoff Dee in deep coverage.

Sunny Jane: 6

Quiet night in general and failed to follow up on his standout display of Round 2. Unable to significantly impose in midfield and not the threat expected going forward.

Richie Ballard: 6

Spurned his one big chance early on, nevertheless a worthwhile hour of football – about the same amount of field time he managed the entire 2018 season – for the popular local.

Niall McCabe: 7

Strove for much of the evening endeavoring to find his game, however supplied the fabulous pass that led to the penalty and earned his laurel on that play alone.

Paulo DelPiccolo: 8 1/2

Outstanding display in replacement by the long lost skipper, oddly notable more in the night for his impressive contributions to team offense than for his more recognized no. 6 work.

Paco Craig: N/A

Handy late reinforcement, recorded few touches.

“LOS MORADOS NO. 1 ⭐️ OF THE GAME”

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Brian Ownby ⭐️⭐️⭐️: 9

A rousing return to the scene even the most deeply faithful couldn’t have anticipated, reviving a past role at center forward. Aside from that (or because) he could have had a hatrick, made the most of his pace and shrewdness, giving Birmingham’s back four/three fits through his 30 plus minutes on the park and proving instrumental in the winning goal as he gave the ‘keeper the one deadly option in order to stop him. Undoubtedly the principal factor in bringing a standard night’s football to a sensational finalé.

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