Despite losing a man in the 29th minute to a straight red card and another in the 88th in the same fashion, Asheville City held on for a critical draw to pick up a point on the road against a still-undefeated Inter Nashville FC squad.

Mitch Botfield got robbed.

I’m not saying this as an angry fan that wants to complain or make excuses either; it’s just a fact that ruined this match. Mitch Botfield simply got screwed, and by default, an entire Asheville City team looking to make a statement on the road against the number one team in the West possibly did as well.

In the 29th minute, Botfield went in hard on a slide tackle on a 50/50 ball. Spikes were not up (although, it’s nearly impossible to tell from the only replay I could find — foul occurs around the 20 minute mark). Both players got to a loose ball almost simultaneously and it squirted out from between them. To the shock and dismay of the City bench, the referee came running up dramatically, blasting his glorified kazoo solo and reaching for his pocket.

This Inter goal was called back for offsides (Photo Credit: Alex Hamilton)

The hand in the pocket was surprising enough. But, when a red card came out… I don’t know. I got nothing. The expected eruption from the Asheville City bench would never see any results. It was too late at that point. Anyone who has watched enough soccer has seen, on a rare occasion, a ref that accidentally pulls out the wrong card, but then corrects his/her mistake. This was my immediate assumption. But, that was not the case.

Honestly, I was surprised to hear a whistle at all at the time, but upon reviewing it, I can see why the play was blown dead. And I can maybe understand a yellow… but it would have been a harsh one. A straight red card has to be warranted by intent, with off the ball motives… I’m sorry, but I just don’t see it.

And I’m not the only one. Sitting directly behind the bench when a stadium’s setup allows it has its perks. One of which is witnessing the intimate on-field exchanges between players, coaches, and referees. Asheville’s head coach, Gary Hamel, approached the fourth official directly after the call and she offered him a look and a few words that essentially said, “I completely understand, but I don’t want you to know I think that.”

I was also able to speak with Mitch after he left the field, changed clothes, and returned to the stands at halftime. He told me the player he “fouled” immediately stood up and said verbatim, “I can’t believe you’re gone for that.”

(Photo Credit: Alex Hamilton)

Rant (and vent) over. Let’s get to the game.

The entire first half, with and without Botfield, was the best half I’ve seen from the boys in blue (or “volt”). They are starting to develop some real chemistry and fluidity out there. They have used the same core starting unit the past 3 or 4 games now, and it shows. They weren’t as panicky under pressure. And they’re starting to get a feel for where each other is going to be, two or three passes in advance. It’s been fun to watch these guys mature into a team together.

Everyone knows how deflating an early red card can be. And I will be the first to admit, I thought 60 minutes was just too long to play down a man on the road. However, even in Botfield’s absence, Asheville maintained a high level of pressure. This would be a problem toward the end of the game, but it paid off early on.

In the second minute of stoppage time, just before the half, Tom Deeley was the beneficiary of a turnover and flicked a pass up to last week’s Mitre NPSL National Player of the Week, Elma N’For, just outside the box. Elma took a couple of quick, poised touches and waited for his window before ripping it into the corner.

Just like that, ten-man Asheville City went into the half with a one goal lead.

Elma walked over to the bench and said, “We have to clean it up, boys. We have to clean it up.” That following what I thought (outside of the mysterious red card) was possibly the cleanest half of the year thus far.

Asheville is awarded a PK on a handball. (Photo Credit: Alex Hamilton)

The second half started as clean he requested. Despite only running with 10, the Blues kept the intensity at a very high rate. I think it was psychologically fueled: players tend to step it up an extra notch to make up for their fallen comrade. They also surely wanted to give Nashville their first loss of the year. And that looked even more attainable in the 54' as an Inter defender blatantly blocked a shot with his hand inside the box.

Jascha Glueckschalt stepped up to the spot and gave City a two-goal advantage, down a man, and the momentum was really blowing in one direction now. It appeared as though Asheville was going to pull off the upset… on the road… with ten men.

Naturally, Inter Nashville took a few minutes to recover, but they would not go down quietly. INFC would steal the momentum for good on a beautiful shot from Andrew Chamberlain that came in the 62nd minute. Life and energy had been restored to the home team and all its fans. Chamberlain would repeat the exact same move and shot between defenders from the same spot on the field three minutes later. Both left footed strikes would beat Siegfried low and to the near post.

It’s eerie how similar the goals were. The second, somehow more beautiful than the first, actually rang off the post and shot to the far side of the goal, narrowly missing another post, but on the net side, unfortunately for Asheville.

The last 25 minutes were very, very long for the boys in lime green. By this time, Nashville were in complete control and it was becoming very apparent that the away team was wearing down from their high intensity first 60 minutes.

Asheville had one huge boon they could utilize, though. The NPSL allows 7 subs per match, not the standard 3 we are all accustomed to in the higher, more publicized leagues. They used 5 of the 7 subs to give some fresh lungs a chance to chase.

(Photo Credit: Alex Hamilton)

With time creeping up (technically down on their scoreboard… this is a pet peeve of mine) into the 88th minute, Jack Miller made a hard tackle on the sideline, right beside the City bench. The tackle definitely looked like it had a slight tone of frustration to it: frustration from giving up a two-goal lead and just being plain exhausted.

Deservingly, Miller received a card on the play. This one was borderline yellow/red I guess, but leaning more toward yellow under normal circumstances in my opinion. Alas, the gent in a uniform the same color of his favorite card promptly ejected Miller as well. Not as surprising when put up against the criteria laid out by the first ousting, but it didn’t seem malicious enough… whatever.

In giving a straight red card, there should at least be the burden referees must shoulder that the lad ejected must sit out the TWO full matches following said crime. It’s one thing to just jump to a red card conclusion in the heat of the moment to see some immediacy in punishment. But, it’s a whole other complication to cause this player, and the entire team, to suffer for two more matches!

This is why a straight red card must be extremely obvious that the defendant had malicious, off ball intentions, as noted above. Fortunately, there is an appeal process and I would put my money on the Botfield case being overturned. Miller’s…… not so much. But on the chance there is not good enough video evidence, Asheville will be down two of its core starters for the next two matches because of a trigger happy kazooist… surely that should be a word.

Back to the last minutes of action — and now down to nine men. City really seemed dejected with five minutes to play and down another man. That’s a lot of space to cover for a team that’s been working 10% harder for the last hour already. It would be all they could do to hold on for the tie.

On the other side, Inter Nashville is playing like they just got off the bus. The two quick goals and two-man advantage sparked a new fire in them that hadn’t been there all game. Let’s not understate these last 5 minutes…this was a very lopsided power play for the remainder, with the crowd adding even more to the charge.

(Photo Credit: Alex Hamilton)

In the end though, after a couple posts were dinged and a series of several corner kicks were fought off, the head referee/kazooist blew the final whistle (of many) like it was his opus in front of a New Year’s Eve crowd.

All things considered, the result was very satisfying for a completely spent Asheville City team. To give credit where it is due, Inter Nashville is a good team, and probably should have won on Saturday night. But fortune was not on their side as a goal was called back for offsides, they hit the post on more than one occasion, and Parker Siegfried and the entire defense came up huge the entire game.

I know I am not alone in my excitement on the thought of a rematch at Memorial in front of a sellout crowd, and, fingers crossed, with 11 men to boot.

That’s down the line, though. The Blues have other things to worry about before then, the first of which is this Thursday at 7:30pm at Memorial Stadium. It will have been a few weeks since our last home game, so I hope you guys haven’t forgotten about the team.

And I know it’s a Thursday, but what a great middle of the week treat.

We’re in playoff contention right now and home field advantage would be huge for our guys. There’s not a better atmosphere in our league, I can promise you that. And the season is half over already! That was quick! Let’s #MaxOutMemorial on Thursday and continue this special first season we’re having. #PTCB!