Weekend Results
A tough round for Lower Alabama teams
Birmingham Legion FC
Image credit: Drew Hill. A picture is worth 1000 words. Goodrum got a hat trick against Legion
Birmingham came into Saturday’s game against Lousville City looking to find any way possible to get points against the top team in the league. It wasn't a totally unreasonable thought, after getting a draw against Louisville in the second game of the season. Frankly, the game ended up being a bit of a disaster. The first sign of trouble was that Matt van Oekel was on the lineup as the keeper, but was scratched last minute to make way for 18 year-old Fernando Delgado. The next noteworthy thing was that Legion came out with a different formation, more in line with what Briggs has favored historically. The other odd thing was that Danny Trejo started the game on the bench. Individually, none of those things would be what you want to see against Louisville. Together, it was just too much.
Birmingham looked pretty good early, and actually drew first blood. The first goal was a shot from Edwin Laszo from very long range that deflected off the back of Ronaldo Damus (who was just trying to get out of the way). The deflection meant that the Louisville keeper had moved to intercept the shot, but instead saw the ball sail by him. It shows on the score sheet as a Damus goal assisted by Laszo. Lousville lets opponents have possession, and is deadly on the counter. The new formation proved problematic, as Louisville created confusion on counterattacks and by halftime they had a 3-1 lead. They scored a fourth near the beginning of the second half, with Phillip Goodrum getting a hat trick on the day. Legion got one more goal off of another fluke play where Trejo (who was subbed in during the second half) fired in a cross that richocheted off of a Louisville player for an own goal. Legion loses 2-4.
In a nutshell, Birmingham looked pretty bad at times, with a couple of flashes of decent play. One observation and complaint is that they're way too quick to play the ball backwatds instead of pushing forward. It's symbolic, as the team hasn't found a positive direction.
USL2
Feature match
Legion 2 were on the road to face a surging Dothan United team, just a few days after Birmingham ran afoul of Asheville City (losing 0-7). Dothan was ready to rumble at home, and had the fans show up dressed in white for a whiteout. The game was close through the first half, and Dothan held a 1-0 lead at halftime. The Dragons kicked things into a higher gear for the second half, winning 4-1. Dothan moves up to second in the division, while Birmingham has been shuffled down to fourth place.
Other matches this week:
Columbus United 1-3 Asheville City SC
Montgomery United 1-3 East Atlanta FC. This was Montgomery's third loss in a row.
The League for Clubs
Image credit: Gaffa FC. Hardy Lewis isn't saying hi, he's letting you know that he scored five goals.
Gaffa 8-0 AFC Mobile. Gaffa is holding onto first place in the West.
Union 10 3-0 Gulf Coast United. Union is in second place in the West, three points behind Gaffa with three games in hand, and an easier schedule remaining.
UPSL
Feature match
Fountain City's future in the Premier division is hanging by a thread. They lost to Dalton United this weekend 0-4, and are just one point above Albion Atlanta. Fountain City is done playing, while Albion should have a make-up game this week that could see them hop over Fountain.
This week's matches:
FC Columbus Elite 0-1 Potros FC
FC Birmingham 0-3 UMA FC
Women's matches
Once again, the FCB ladies had to play matches on consecutive days. A tough way to go.
WPSL - FC Birmingham 0-6 Tennessee Tempo
WPSL - Nashville Rhythm 5-1 FC Birmingham