Detroit City Bludgeons CFC 3-0 in Championship Game

In a game Chattanooga’s newest mayor called “the most Chattanooga thing ever,” their opponent turned it into a "very Detroit kind of game." Detroit City FC may have been playing on a couple of days’ rest, but one would have thought they were the team who hadn’t played in a week if one didn’t know any better. The visitors used their physicality and some aggressive fouls to whittle down CFC in their 3-0 championship rout.

“They did not respond well in the first half,” coach Peter Fuller said. “I thought we ended up on the wrong end of all the battles in the first half, but we were a little better in the second half.”

Wingback Tate Robertson was a key member of the attack early, and he was comfortable spraying passes to all areas of the field. Sometimes he would switch play back to Shaun Russell, while other times he would launch longballs to attackers like Brian Bement and Ian McGrath, who usually came down with the ball or knocked it to a teammate. He and opposing midfielder Cyrus Saydee jostled back and forth throughout the game, neither wanting to give ground in the final match.

“I thought Tate was very good and he played with his heart on his sleeve like he always does,” coach Fuller said. “We just didn’t have enough other good performances tonight.” 

Detroit City FC started to find their rhythm around the ten minute mark. After a counterattack ended in a couple of corner kicks, CFC’s bitter rivals were able to take advantage of a kind bounce off the corner. Defender Matt Lewis flew into the box and blasted the rebound past Chattanooga’s keeper Phil D’Amico for their first goal of the game.  

“I think the long layoff did hurt us, but I think Detroit would turn around and say they had to play on two days’ rest, so you have to give them a lot of credit too,” coach Fuller said. “They’re a well-organized and well coached team and tonight they were better than we were.”

The game’s physicality seemed to ratchet up several notches after this goal, as both teams pushed and grabbed and wrestled until the echo of the whistle. The blue bombers had no space inside, and were relegated to taking low-percentage volleys from outside the box which either went wide or high. Robertson put his defender on skates in the 23rd minute and served in a rare CFC cross from the right wing, but his target couldn’t quite get a handle on it and the attack fizzled out.

“Detroit played that same diamond they played against San Diego in the midfield,” coach Fuller said. “We prepared for it, but we just didn’t execute it, plain and simple.”

Chattanooga was very fortunate not to be staring down a 2-0 deficit at the half hour mark when Detroit City FC mounted another spirited assault. Their shot from the right side was low and had power, but it just barely clanked off far side woodwork instead of glancing into the net. Their luck ran out in the 35th minute when a reckless challenge in the box resulted in a penalty. Max Todd shot into the top right corner doubled DCFC’s lead over CFC. Even though Chattanooga FC were able to get a few chances in the box, nothing came of them and CFC entered halftime down 0-2.

“Some people have called these games the most Chattanooga thing ever,” former chairman Tim Kelly told the crowd at halftime. “Thank you again for (allowing me) the privilege of leading the club, and now I’ll see you out there in the stands! Now let’s cheer our boys in blue on to victory!”

Both clubs were direct to start the second half, and took turns bombing up and down the pitch. These surges grew less sharp the further they advanced, and by the time either team had the ball near the box, a player either lost the ball or was called offsides, as was the case on an apparent DCFC goal in the 55th minute. Some nifty short pattern passing before the score was wiped out when one of their players lingered a little too long behind the line.

Chattanooga FC’s fans sarcastically cheered the decision, as there were several apparent missed handballs in the box that could have given CFC penalty kicks in the first half. When Ian McGrath went up for a header in the box and got knocked around by the defense in the 56th minute, he didn’t get a foul and expressed his frustration at the referee, who quickly handed out a yellow card in response.

“You’re not going to candy coat it or sugarcoat it; we didn’t play well,” coach Fuller said. “We struggled and they were the much better team. I have to give them credit.”

“We got drawn into some things with the officiating that we shouldn’t have. It doesn’t matter what I think about it, because at the end of the day you have to go out there and play.”

Chattanooga FC had another great chance in the 73rd minute when a cross into the box fell gently to the ground. Surrounded by about a dozen players, CFC could have cut the deficit in half had they just been able to get a shot away. But Detroit City’s defense collapsed around the ball and they were able to clear it after some initial stress.

Detroit City painfully salted the game away after this, giving Chattanooga a few good opportunities but usually finding a way to slow their roll before things got too dicey. After 90 minutes, DCFC scored one more goal as time expired and were crowned tournament champs. CFC will now focus on the regular season, which starts on May 2nd against California Strikers.

“Tonight was a disappointment but I think we’re on the right track and right road,” coach Fuller said. “I think we also need to get some injured players back and that will be a big help.”

 
You can contact the author at Joseph.A.Dycus@gmail.com or you can follow him on Twitter at @joseph_dycus .