It was a sunny Saturday evening when the game kicked-off at UR stadium. Then 1,919 fans that showed up on the evening NASCAR was in town were (eventually) treated to a slew of goals, as the Kickers finished 5-0 winners against the Long Island Rough Riders.
It started off so well for the visitors, who much like Cincinnatti in the last game, immediately began piling pressure on the Kickers defense. Rob Fucci set the tone in the second minute with a 40 yard free kick that looped towards goal forcing Ronnie Pascale to reach up and safely gather it.
Richmond were forced into a counter attacking strategy as Long Island controlled the game with some nice passing and looking particularly dangerous with set pieces. Eleven minutes in it was a Kickers counter that changed the game when Mike Burke sent a long ball over to Matt Watson who was clear on the left side of field. The lack of defense forced goalkeeper Eric Masters to rush out of the box and instinctively stretch in front of ball, only for it to strike his hand as Watson tried for goal.
The referee was immediate with his decision, pulling out the red card to eject Masters. Since the reserve goalie hadn’t turned up for the game, the Rough Riders were forced to play forward Mousa Sy between the sticks. Once everything had settled down the resulting free kick saw Tim Brown hit the left post and bounce out for a goal kick.
It took just five minutes for the Kickers to take advantage of Long Island’s unfortunate situation when Mike Burke sent the ball into the box, ricocheting it’s way to Matt Watson who blasted it over the makeshift keeper and into the net, allowing the Kickers to take the lead.
The Kickers continued to attack the Rough Riders territory, taking full advantage of the extra man. Chris Carrieri thought he had the 2nd in the 27th minute when his perfectly placed volley was ruled offside.
But the Rough Riders refused to give up and sent the ball forward at every opportunity, lone forward Derrick Ettiene hustled hard to keep the visitors in the game and made sure the Kickers defense stayed on their toes. This combined with the Kickers shyness in front of goal meant the score remained at 1-0 by the time both teams went in for half time.
The Home team stepped it up in the second half, as they seemingly worked out how to take advantage of the extra man. Tony Williams pushed forward on the right wing, out-hustling the Long Island defensive substitute Jose Sura on numerous occasions to deliver some dangerous passes. Chris Carrieri was equally intrusive on the left after Christian Neagu came on for Andy Metcalf in the 59th minute. Suddenly the Kickers looked hungry and ready to kill the game.
Neagu almost got Richmond’s second in the 61st minute when Tony Williams delivered him a perfect cross 16 yards from goal, but the makeshift goalkeeper made an outstanding save to parry it wide.
The Kickers had to wait until the 67th minute to double their lead when Burke delivered a corner into the six yard box and Knight’s shot was pushed away by the goalkeeper and eventually found the head of Robert Ssejemba, who did not waste the opportunity to power it into the center of goal.
With a cushioned lead the Kickers were relentless, Kelvin Jones came close when he shot wide of the near side post after a dangerously delivered free kick. But in the 74th minute, Tim Brown delivered a perfectly timed ball into the box where Chris Carrieri beat the offside trap, leaving the Long Island back-line standing still and allowing him the time to place the ball on the right side of the keeper and make it 3-0.
Just a minute later, Ssejemba beat his marker to dribble the ball down the right wing and then cut back a pass to Neagu who was in plenty of space to blast a shot inside the far post and put the game out of reach for the Riders. So comfortable was the lead, Leigh Cowlishaw allowed substitute keeper Steve Ankiel to make his home debut in the 83rd minute. Ankiel has been on the Kickers roster for three successive seasons.
With three minutes of injury time to play, the Kickers had one more left in them when Carrieri again hustled on the left and crossed the ball to Eric Dutt on the far side. The rookie trapped the ball and sent a nice chip to Neagu who had no problem heading the ball into the net for his second and Richmond’s fifth.
The Kickers can be happy that they got a few names on the score sheet today, even if it was against a forward. They can only hope that it builds some confidence for the games to come because up until the 67th minute they looked dreadfully indecisive .
Richmond Kickers: Ronnie Pascale (Steve Ankiel – 83), Kevin Knight (Trevor McEachron – 78), Steven Wolfe (Ed Hayden – 76), Kelvin Jones, Tony Williams, Matt Watson, Mike Burke (Eric Dutt – 76), Andy Metcalf (Christian Neagu – 59), Tim Brown, Chris Carrieri, Robert Ssejemba
Subs not used: Ihor Dotsenko, Sasha Gorres
Long Island Rough Riders: Eric Masters, Rich Bradley, Gary Sullivan, Darrell Etienne (Jose Sura – 45), Rob Fucci, Fausto Klinger (Fabio Bianchi - 75), Ismael Mintah, Ricardo Ordain (Anthony Barbiere - 79), Lee Snodin (Paul Robson – 31), Mousa Sy, Derrick Etienne (Douglas Narvaez – 75)
Subs not used: Shaun Higgins, Dan Siroti
