Riverhounds earn draw at Birmingham
Photo courtesy of Riverhounds SC
In most situations, a tie on the road would be a satisfying result, but against a team that his squad should defeat, Pittsburgh Riverhounds head coach Bob Lilley wasn’t exactly thrilled as the Hounds played Birmingham Legion FC to a 1-1 draw Saturday night at Protective Stadium in Birmingham, Ala.
The Hounds (7-7-7) earned a point for 28 this season, which puts Lilley’s team at fifth in the Eastern Conference standings in USL Championship play. Detroit City FC also has 28 points with a record of 7-7-1, but Pittsburgh has the edge with a plus-one in goal differential, while Detroit is even.
“That’s a game that was winnable, and while there were some positives, I think we needed to do more on the night,” Lilley said. “It’s a positive to get something from this game, but at this point, draws aren’t what we’re looking for.”
The Legion took a 1-0 lead in the 28th minute when Ronaldo Damus took advantage of a rare mistake by Pittsburgh keeper Eric Dick, and found the back of the net, as his knuckling shot from distance bounced off the hands of Dick and into the net. The goal was assisted by Amir Daley.
Damus had an opportunity in the third minute on a chance that was stopped by Dick. Even if Dumas had scored, the play ended up being negated by the offside flag.
The Hounds had 69 percent of possession in the first half, but only one produced one first-half shot.
“We started the first 10 minutes slowly, but I thought we had a really good stretch from about minute 10 to minute 30,” Lilley said. “We worked our way into the game, but we only had one shot in the first half.
“We were clear and didn’t take enough risks. Our outside back usually gets around to the goal line, and that’s where we get a lot of our crosses from, but we weren’t getting that today. The ball’s in good areas, get it into the box, but we played back and played square too much.”
Pittsburgh had 60 percent of possession in the match, but Birmingham’s counter attack led the home team to a 15-7 advantage in shots, including a 4-2 edge in shots on target.
Despite only registering one shot in the first 45 minutes, the Hounds forced the Legion into some uncomfortable moments, and three Birmingham players were booked in the final 15 minutes of the opening half. Five players on the home side received a yellow card, compared to one for Pittsburgh.
The Hounds made two changes in the second half, as Lilley brought in Junior Etou and recently acquired Chase Boone for Luke Biasi and Robbie Metz.
“The subs we made a half made an impact initially, but we kind of lost our way late in the second half,” Lilley said.
Dick made two of his three saves early in the second to keep the deficit at 1-nil before Augi Williams scored the equalizer in the 66th minute.
Etou won the ball in the Legion half and touched the ball wide to Boone, who sent a cross into the box from the left on his first touch.
Williams settled the ball with his chest on one hop and fired a shot into the roof of the net with his second touch from inside the six-yard box for his 81st regular-season goal in the USL Championship. Williams is tied with Louisville’s Cameron Lancaster and former Pittsburgh forward Neco Brett for second-most in league history.
“I thought Augi was busy with his runs all night,” Lilley said. “He made lots of runs and defended, and he helped us press when we needed to. I thought it was a good all-around performance from him, and it was good that he got the goal.”
For his performance, Williams was named the “Modelo Man of the Match.” The striker netted his fifth goal of the season on three shots, but he also stayed involved throughout. Williams won 7 of 14 duels, the most won and contested by a Hounds player, including 3 of 5 in the air, and he won three free kicks.
Pittsburgh had another opportunity two minutes following Williams’ goal when Boone received a pass at the back post from Bertin Jacquesson. With defenders closing and no angle to shoot, Boone found Jackson Walti, who arrived late in the box, but Walti’s shot was high of the net.
Dick stopped Daley and Sam McIllhatton in the closing minutes to keep the match level.
“They were dangerous on the counter all night, and there were a few moments there where they could’ve made it 2-0,” Lilley said. “We got to half and had a pretty good response early in the second half.
“We talked at half about (trailing against) Orange County and said, go get a goal early, and if we get one, go after it and get a winner. I thought we got ourselves back into it well and got the goal with plenty of time left. We missed some chances, but we looked like we were going to push on and get a winner.”