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Revs And Rapids Fight To A 1-1 Draw
Colorado and New England played out a 1-1 draw in Foxboro.
May 16, 2009 11:11:13 PM
Foxboro, Mass--It was another wet night in Foxboro when the New England Revolution hosted the Colorado Rapids on Saturday night.
New England came into the match off of a bit of a dry spell and still missing some vital pieces as goalkeeper Matt Reis and striker Taylor Twellman were both sidelined with injuries.
Colorado came in with fresh legs and a clear desire to better their record, but both teams would have to settle for a mediocre 1-1 draw.
First Half
The visitors came out on the front foot and didn’t have to wait long for a goal. In just the third minute Conor Casey nodded home his fifth goal of the season after Jordan Harvey’s delivery from the left found the big striker with just enough space in the box to pick out his spot with his head.
The early goal and slick turf made for an extremely fast paced match, and it looked as though Colorado were having the better of play until a nice move down the left in the 17th pulled the Revs back into the match.
Midfielder Chris Tierney swung a nice ball into the box searching for Steve Ralston who was playing as a striker. Ralston’s first step put him past his mark but he brought down inside the box. The Revolution captain then stepped to the spot and dispatched the penalty calmly, leveling the match at one goal each.
The events took on a very physical nature over the course of the next 15 minutes, but both teams did well to hold their ground. Ralston nearly carved out a chance for New England when he turned his defender and tried to float a ball into the mixer, but Colorado just pushed the ball past for a corner.
On the other end Casey was becoming more and more menacing with his charging runs, but the makeshift New England back line did well on most occasions to contain the big striker.
Casey was involved on Colorado’s only other great chance of the half in the 36th. The striker suffered a crushing tackle from Revolution defender Emmanuel Osei near half field, but managed to slide a pass to Clarke at the top of the area. Clark held the ball long enough to allow Mehdi Ballouchy to make an overlapping run into the box and then laid the midfielder into a great spot. The shot was always going to be tough from a narrow angle, but Ballouchy still forced a great save out of New England keeper Brad Knighton.
Ballouchy’s chance would be the last meaningful look at goal for either team in the first half and the game would go to the break still all square at 1-1.
Second Half
The Rapids opened the second half back on the front foot and in the 53rd Ballouchy nearly created a goal for Omar Cummings. The midfielder cut around Revolution defender Osei with a nice step-over and hit his cross to the near post where Cummings was making the run, but the striker scuffed the shot and slid it over the bar.
After the early Cummings chance the match took on a tamer tone in terms of goalmouth action, but the hard tackles continued to fly with personal battles having popped up all over the field.
Casey got a great chance to put his team in front in the 60th when he was slipped in clean on goal, but his shot lacked conviction and was actually a rather easy save for Knighton.
New England’s only real chance in the second half came from a long throw by defender Darrius Barnes that floated across the box and found Tierney at the back post. Tierney looped the ball back across the frame and Shalrie Joseph got on the end of it with a powerful header that forced Colorado ‘keeper Matt Pickens in to his only meaningful save of the night.
Cummings had one last look at goal in the 78th when he stung a low shot from 25 yards that could have given Knighton trouble, but the Rev’s ‘keeper was on fine form all night and made the save comfortably.
The match closed with the Rapids pushing for a winner and New England trying to defend their home turf, but nothing more was in the offering and the match would end in a 1-1 draw.
Allen Ramsey, Goal.com
New England came into the match off of a bit of a dry spell and still missing some vital pieces as goalkeeper Matt Reis and striker Taylor Twellman were both sidelined with injuries.
Colorado came in with fresh legs and a clear desire to better their record, but both teams would have to settle for a mediocre 1-1 draw.
First Half
The visitors came out on the front foot and didn’t have to wait long for a goal. In just the third minute Conor Casey nodded home his fifth goal of the season after Jordan Harvey’s delivery from the left found the big striker with just enough space in the box to pick out his spot with his head.
The early goal and slick turf made for an extremely fast paced match, and it looked as though Colorado were having the better of play until a nice move down the left in the 17th pulled the Revs back into the match.
Midfielder Chris Tierney swung a nice ball into the box searching for Steve Ralston who was playing as a striker. Ralston’s first step put him past his mark but he brought down inside the box. The Revolution captain then stepped to the spot and dispatched the penalty calmly, leveling the match at one goal each.
The events took on a very physical nature over the course of the next 15 minutes, but both teams did well to hold their ground. Ralston nearly carved out a chance for New England when he turned his defender and tried to float a ball into the mixer, but Colorado just pushed the ball past for a corner.
On the other end Casey was becoming more and more menacing with his charging runs, but the makeshift New England back line did well on most occasions to contain the big striker.
Casey was involved on Colorado’s only other great chance of the half in the 36th. The striker suffered a crushing tackle from Revolution defender Emmanuel Osei near half field, but managed to slide a pass to Clarke at the top of the area. Clark held the ball long enough to allow Mehdi Ballouchy to make an overlapping run into the box and then laid the midfielder into a great spot. The shot was always going to be tough from a narrow angle, but Ballouchy still forced a great save out of New England keeper Brad Knighton.
Ballouchy’s chance would be the last meaningful look at goal for either team in the first half and the game would go to the break still all square at 1-1.
Second Half
The Rapids opened the second half back on the front foot and in the 53rd Ballouchy nearly created a goal for Omar Cummings. The midfielder cut around Revolution defender Osei with a nice step-over and hit his cross to the near post where Cummings was making the run, but the striker scuffed the shot and slid it over the bar.
After the early Cummings chance the match took on a tamer tone in terms of goalmouth action, but the hard tackles continued to fly with personal battles having popped up all over the field.
Casey got a great chance to put his team in front in the 60th when he was slipped in clean on goal, but his shot lacked conviction and was actually a rather easy save for Knighton.
New England’s only real chance in the second half came from a long throw by defender Darrius Barnes that floated across the box and found Tierney at the back post. Tierney looped the ball back across the frame and Shalrie Joseph got on the end of it with a powerful header that forced Colorado ‘keeper Matt Pickens in to his only meaningful save of the night.
Cummings had one last look at goal in the 78th when he stung a low shot from 25 yards that could have given Knighton trouble, but the Rev’s ‘keeper was on fine form all night and made the save comfortably.
The match closed with the Rapids pushing for a winner and New England trying to defend their home turf, but nothing more was in the offering and the match would end in a 1-1 draw.
Allen Ramsey, Goal.com
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