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It was FC London's first home game in the history of the
franchise and the excitement was running high at TD
Waterhouse Stadium. The home team had already played three
games on the road preceding this match-up and was this far
undefeated, coming off a 3-1 victory over this same
Cincinnati team in their most recent game. With the opening
whistle the London squad showed just why they enjoyed such a
record early in the season. They came out with a level of
speed and assertiveness that kept the Kings at bay for most
if not all of the half. Other than a hard shot taken on net
from the left side of the box at the 21 minute mark that
tested the London keeper, it was all London. Having already
scored 2 goals in this young season, it was naturally #11,
Kevin Zimmerman (a native of Mexico) that the team in blue
was looking too for their first marker throughout the half.
At 24 minutes in he received an accurately placed pass
generated from the mid-field at the Kings defensive line.
He then used his sheer speed to outpace the defenders and
neatly placed a shot in the bottom left corner of the goal,
putting FC London up 1-nil in the early going. London
followed this same pattern for the rest of the half -
working the ball forcefully through the mid-field and
attempting to connect with their strikers with accurate
on-side passes for scoring attempts. Although the Kings
were nearly held at bay for the entire first 45 minutes,
London went to the locker room enjoying only a one goal
advantage. |
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As the second half opened, the sun had gone down, along with
the temperature, and unfortunately with FC London's on-field
aggressiveness as well. Despite Head Coach Martin Painter's
vociferous encouragements, the team in blue could not
re-create the first half scenario. It was the team in red's
turn to turn the screws on London and apply nearly
continuous pressure throughout the second half. London's
strategy of working the ball forcefully through the
mid-field and then following this with accurate passes to
awaiting strikers within scoring reach had somehow broken
down. Their top striker #11, who had been such a threat
throughout the opening stanza, was often seen simply jogging
up and down his area of the field without the ball, as he
watched the determined Cincinnati mid-fielders work the ball
and the play into their own offensive zone. Subsequent to a
number of excellent corner kicks taken in the London end
that came very close to scoring, it became apparent that
London would likely not be able to protect their one goal
lead. Despite lots of noise being made by hundreds of
enthusiastic fans, with about 6 minutes left in the game the
Kings connected with a fine header placed neatly in the top
left corner of the net that came directly from an excellent
throw-in taken from the left side at about 20 metres out.
Cincinnati had tied the game and avoided another loss while
London remained undefeated in four games with the one-one
tie. JHS |
