The Atlanta Silverbacks continued their fantastic play Monday night and prolonged their winning streak to four matches. A 2-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Mutiny of MLS has the Silverbacks' confidence sky high as they prepare for a crucial weekend match against the Charleston Battery.
Both teams entered the match extremely relaxed. The Silverbacks made one player change in the lineup. Jimmy Glenn exited the lineup and Ryan Walker moved up from midfield to striker. Seth Marks moved up from defense to right midfield in place of Walker, and Ian Checcio moved back into the starting 11 by taking Marks' spot in the back. The Mutiny named six starters to the first 11 who had made four or starts or less in 2001. MLS and Colombian superstar Carlos Valderamma didn't start, but would enter late in the match as a substitute.
The match got off to a quick start when the Silverbacks scored within a minute of the opening kickoff. An errant back pass by Mutiny defender Chad McCarty was intercepted by midfielder Sean Michael-Callahan who easily put the ball into the net past a charging Matt Nyman for the first goal. The Silverbacks continued to dominate early and almost took a 2-nil lead when a long service found Ryan Walker behind the defense. With Mutiny defender Chris Demmin putting on pressure from behind, Walker let go a shot that was saved by a diving Nyman. After the 15 minute mark, momentum began to swing towards the Mutiny as they began to sustain possession for longer periods of time and generated some quality scoring chances.
In the 16th, Silverbacks Captain Billy Andracki was forced to make a diving save off a well-placed Mutiny header from the top of the 6-yard box. Three minutes later, the Mutiny were able to put one in the back of the net. A beautiful curving ball by Mamadou Diallo landed at the feet of Eric Quill as he raced inside the box. A charging Andracki had little chance to make the save as Quill easily shot the ball into the corner.
The rest of the second half was mainly played in midfield with Tampa Bay holding the ball for the majority of the time. The Mutiny began to substitute players in minute 29 when Diallo exited the match.
The second half saw numerous substitutes enter the match. However, Sean Michael-Callahan would remain in the lineup for Atlanta, and he continued his outstanding play with the go ahead goal in the 49th minute. A Paul Schneider cross found Callahan inside the box and he rifled a shot past Nyman and into the back of the net. Callahan and Schneider have both been on fire the past few weeks as they have combined for 7 goals and 3 assists in the last 4 matches.
The Mutiny pushed forward in the second half but could not find a way to put a ball in the net. Twice Andracki ended Mutiny attacks with some nice saves. But the Mutiny's main problem turned out to be the post, they hit the woodwork three times in the second half.
Not long after Callahan's second netter, a quick restart by Tampa Bay resulted in a one-on-one from the left side of the box, the ensuing shot beat Andracki and clanked off the left post. Later in the half, Andracki was beaten to the ball by a Mutiny attacker on a sailing free kick, but the ensuing header skimmed the top of the cross-bar to result in an Atlanta goal kick.
Callahan almost scored his third goal of the match with less than 5 minutes remaining. Unfortunately for him, the shot was taken on the wrong goal. Callahan attempted to clear a Mutiny cross but miss-hit the ball and it clanked off the right post, and was quickly cleared by Atlanta. John Dugan substituted Quentin Hart for Paul Schneider for the final 3 minutes of the match to give the little used striker (and crowd favorite) some playing time as the lone Atlanta striker. Hart failed to get a touch in those final 3 minutes, but displayed some great speed in the attacking half. The final whistle sounded with Atlanta getting the win 2-1.
A lot of exhibition matches don't turn out too be as friendly as desired. But this one did. Both teams played hard but it was clear that they were very relaxed.
"We were very relaxed. We played this match like it was a training session," Tampa Bay defender Chad McCarty said, "But the Silverbacks have a very solid team and to their credit they came out and played hard."
The Silverbacks will spend the next four days preparing to play a talented Charleston team who leads the Central Division. The Silverbacks sit 6 points behind the Battery in third place in the Central division and only two behind the Richmond Kickers. The game is also the first match for Atlanta in the 2001 Southern Derby. It will be a tough test for the Silverbacks. But with the way Atlanta is playing now, anything is possible.
Man of the Match: Sean Callahan
Callahan probably owes his fellow teammates an apology as he continued his good play and subsequently continued to hog the man of the match honors. Callahan's great play got even better against the Mutiny as he received my vote for man of the match for third straight game. Callahan scored two goals and also set up a few chances with his excellent speed and passing against Tampa. Callahan is likely the A-league's hottest player at the time with 4 goals and 1 assist in his previous 3 matches.
