It was just one of those nights when a team can do no wrong, a night that a team comes together for a match that will not be easily forgotten by either side. Saturday, June 24th was one of those nights for the Atlanta Silverbacks, and their unfortunate opponent, the El Paso Patriots, had to suffer through it.
The Silverbacks seemed very happy to have amazing Midfielder Alex Bahr back in the line-up. After playing with the Silverbacks last year, Bahr played with Monterrey in Mexico before returning to Atlanta Saturday. Bahr would start, and rookie Brian Piesner was demoted to the bench for the first time this season. Also back in the lineup was the Bulgarian Bomber Stilian Shishkov and Guy Valcourt yet again did not dress. The Silverbacks very much benifited from Bahr's play and the scoring began in the 16th minute when Bosnian Midfielder Junuz Coralic faked out a defender close to the right touchline and then closed in on the right side of the 18'. Coralic found a wide open Josh Henderson (my man of the match in the previous game), Henderson drilled the ball into the net and the Silverbacks had their first goal of the match, the first of many. Less than one minute later, Bahr found an open Henderson streaking down the left touchline. Henderson sped right by his man and easily put the ball into the net. This was something I have never seen before, two goals by the same player in less than one minute.
Henderson, who had switched positions with Iggy Moleka moving up to forward (Moleka back to Midfield), switched again with Moleka and dropped back a bit. But the excitement was just starting. In the 23rd minute Alex Bahr netted the third goal of the match on a glorious shot from just inside the 18' that hit the top netting. Then, two minutes later Patrick Beech got open inside the 18', faked out the keeper, dribbled around him and put the ball into the open net. It was now 4-0 and the onslaught was on. Three minutes after Defender Sylvan Bednar received a yellow card an El Paso goal was called back in the 36th minute because of offside. Just before half-time, Henderson scored his hat trick on a booming shot from outside the '18 to make it 5-0. The crowd was ecstatic as the Silverbacks playfully began to kick soccer balls into the crowd. It was pandemonium at Dekalb Memorial Stadium as the crowd gave the Silverbacks a standing ovation and Atlanta left the pitch at half-time looking as pleased as ever. But it wasn't over yet.
At the half backup keeper Walter Valesky entered in place of magnificent Tony Roberts, and Brian Piesner replaced Josh Henderson while Sylvan Bednar also exited the game in favor of Richard O'Sullivan. The Patriots also switched keepers. In the 52nd minute, Iggy Moleka the leading scorer in the A-League dribbled into the box and unselfishly found a wide open Patrick Beech on a magnificent back-heel pass, Beech's left footer shot right into the corner for the 6-0 lead. A few minutes later, Ahmed Mohyeldin entered in place of Beech.
Eleven minutes later, sensational captain Jacenir Silva's header found the net and it was 7-0. Two minutes later El Paso finally got on the board. Shishkov entered in place of Moleka in the 66th minute and Ahmed Mohyeldin just missed a shot over the crossbar in the 70th. One minute later Stilian Shishkov found an open Junuz Coralic at the top of the box, but Coralic's shot was thwarted by the Patriots's keeper. In the 72nd, El Paso scored again and gave themselves something to play for, a bonus point. They couldn't get it, the Atlanta defense of Jacenir Silva, Richard O'Sullivan, Danny Care and of course the 1996 defender of the year and former Everton FC player Guy E. Norcott (who continually begs me to mention him more in my articles.) help fast.
And then it ended, Silverbacks 7, Patriots 2, I looked at the scoreboard a few extra times just to make sure if this was really happening, it was. So I went home wondering how all this occured and how one team could play so well, then I came up with the perfect solution....... it was just one of those nights.
Man of the Match
Josh Henderson- For the second straight game, he's the man of the match, but this time Henderson takes the award without a doubt. There was no question he was the best player on the pitch Saturday night, he looked faster and better than ever.
