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The Flash beat the Vipers 2-0, in a midweek game that drew 1,877 fans!
The attendance was the thing I was most interested in coming into tonight's game. This was the first Wednesday night game of the season, and I was hoping that our attendance wouldn't dip too much. I was thinking that it would be great if we could break 1,000. I didn't know if we would. But 1,877! That was pretty good! I was talking with fellow Thunder member Carl Hammond, we were looking around the stadium and thinking that there weren't 1,000 there. But it looked pretty good to me. I thought there were more than 1,000. Then after the game I asked in the press box, and they gave me the figure. So great! We're still doing good!
The game started out great. Jerome Watson scored the first goal off a corner kick by Kevin Legg in the third minute. When I saw that I thought there would be a lot of goals in the game. But as the game wore on, each side had chances but couldn't score! It was quite frustrating as a fan. The Flash scored in the 81st minute by a Kevin Legg shot on goal, assist to Jerome Watson. But in between, like I said, very frustrating. In the second half the Vipers got not one but *two* red cards, so they played much of the second half with only 9 men. yet the Flash couldn't put it away!
I was sitting next to my friend Jeff White who is back from the World Cup. He showed me some pretty nice pictures of his trip to France. He noticed that on a short, narrow field such as ours, it's easier for teams to get back and pack the defense, so that might have been a reason for the lack of scoring. My idea was that the Flash players were playing like they were tired. But if they're tired now, that's going to be rough, because they have a game just the day after tomorrow! We're in a stretch of a lot of games played close in time, including the game next Wednesday against Chivas in Tijuana, and the following Sunday against Necaxa. So this team better not be tired!
A more likely reason for the lack of goals was that Antonio Robles wasn't playing. He's an attack minded player who was sitting out for a red card he got a while ago. I guess in the A-League you don't have to sit out the very next game when you get a red, but a game the next week or so. Not sure why, but that's the way it is. Carlos Cruz was out too, due to a previous red. Carlos is a tough defender, who may have been able to help push the ball up more. In any case, we won by two goals, but it was kind of frustrating.
Early on there was a Staten Island player who was yelling at the ref for a call that went against him, so I yelled to him, "Hey shut up #6! Just play the game!" And so he showed me the bird! Well, I was very happy about getting into his head! And a few others around us started in to him as well. But unfortunately, he was subbed for at halftime! So then we turned to another player, I forget his number, but shortly after that he was taken out too! I guess we really had an effect!
Another funny moment was late in the second half, but before the second goal, the Flash were having a hard time clearing the ball out of their end. That was the end I was seated in. After a particularly dumb play by the Flash, the ball rolled out of bounds towards where I was. I blew on the last of my airhorn to show a little disapproval of how play was going. Defender Jimmy Conrad came over to collect the ball and looked up to me and said, "It's just that we want to keep it down here for you!" I laughed, and just cheered him on. But if I had been a little quicker witted, I might have told him that I didn't want it down here, I wanted it up there, in the back of the net!
Not as many kids tonight to bang on the drum or blow the airhorns, but then I didn't buy any new airhorns, so they ran out by about halftime. I'll have some new ones for Friday! That game should be good. We play the California Jaguars who are pretty much a volunteer team. Their last six games have ended 0-4, 2-3, 0-4, 0-8, 0-5, 0-10. So hopefully we'll put a few away against them!
Everyone is more than welcome to come down and catch a game! If you want to contact me beforehand, I can arrange to get discounted tickets, and I can promise you'll have a good time!
-Eric Bekins-
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