WEEKEND RESULTS
Through Sun Sept 1
Lower Alabama teams were on the wrong end of a clean sweep
Birmingham Legion
The Legion are in a spiral right now. After to losing to Rhode Island 0-2, they've lost three games in a row, without no goals in any of those games. A lot of credit has been given to the coaches for navigating through a ton of injuries this season. In particular, the midfield was devastated, but managed to become a strength. If they get credit for that, then they deserve the blame for what's happening now. The midfield is in disarray. With a glaring need for a striker, Bham brought in Zouhir (a midfielder) on loan and promptly inserted him into the starting lineup. At the same time, Matthew Corcoran was coming back from an injury. Saturday's game at Rhode Island was predictable. The lineup showed Zouhir starting again, and a dramatic change forward with Taborr-Etaka and Kasim basically playing as dual strikers. In addition, Enzo Martinez spent most of the first half playing defense. Not just as a CDM, but more like a center back. The score was 0-0 at halftime, but in the second half Coach K subbed in JJ Williams off of the bench. He got an assist on the first goal, and scored the second. Game over. Legion approached the game with heavy tactical changes up front, and in the back. But the midfield is the issue. Zouhir has been a bad idea. The coaches need to move on from him. Over the past three weeks, other results helped Legion stay afloat in the mix for a home playoff spot. A win in any of the past three games would have been incredibly important. Now, Bham is down to seventh place in the table, on a trajectory that may see them miss the playoffs entirely for the first time in their history.
Huntsville City
HV went into Orlando riding a three game win streak. Under head coach O'Neal, Huntsville has played a more aggressive, attacking style. Orlando was prepared for that, and played for goals from the counterattack. The result was that Huntsville dominated most of the stats for posession, shots, etc. But Orlando scored the first two goals. Huntsville pulled one back late, but lost 1-2.
UPSL
Image credit: FC Birmingham Facebook
FC Birmingham was on the road to start the Fall season, facing Kalonji Pro-Profile. KPP was the top team in the division during the Spring, while FCB proved to be a tough team in road games. KPP got an early goal and rode that into a 1-0 lead at halftime. The score would stay that way until the KPP goalie wiped out a Birmingham atacker in the 80th minute. FCB converted the PK to tie the score. But KPP scored the go-ahead goal with just two minutes left in the game. FC Birmingham loses a tough one 1-2.
The Adjacency
Fountain City played their first game in the UPSL Premier division, and met with harsh reality. After running through the Spring season undefeated, Fountain lost two playoff games that would have given them promotion to the Premier divsion. They were granted promotion anyway due to expansion of the Georgia division. North Georgia United has finished last in the division in Spring, but avoided relegation. Fountain City expected to go on the road for a relatively easy win to start the Fall campaign.