The Chattanooga Football Club faced off against Orlando City in an MLS Next Pro nail biter Saturday night at Finley Stadium that would give locals their first win in over a month.
Both teams have been in a rut, not being able to find a win in the last four to five games. A win tonight would put them back in the positive and put some positive momentum on the rest of their season. Every point counts no matter how your season is going. CFC refused to let up, as they sought to find their winning ways again and show the fans what they are capable of.
They did just that, producing a 1-0 win for the home crowd.
The first half showed plenty of promising attacks and build up plays. Both CFC and Orlando City utilized their back line to get out of tight spaces and into an attacking formation. CFC pressed high the whole half in hopes of getting an early chance. This gave them a handful of chances; however, their main source of attack came from possession. They took their time on every build-up to make sure they were taking the best chance they had available.
CFC had their best chance of the first half early in the 4th minute. Taylor Gray took the ball out wide. Gray, leading the league in assists this season, looked up and found Alex McGrath at the back post. A perfect cross was hit and McGrath slid in, made contact, but the ball sailed over the crossbar to keep things even on the scoreboard. After this it would go back and forth with positive plays from both teams.
Orlando City were prepared to use a quick counter attack to catch Chattanooga’s defense off guard. Three total one on one chances with the goalkeeper came from those fast build up plays. Luck seemed to be on CFC’s side, as well as a ready goalkeeper. Both of these variables would keep CFC in the game and allow them to enter halftime tied at 0-0. Neither team was trailing, yet there was plenty that needed to be cleaned up and assessed in the locker room if either side was going to take home a win.
The second half kicked off and both team instantly pressed the ball high. The locker room talk showed a change in aggression and motivation for each side. Chattanooga’s halftime time proved to be much more influential as the boys in blue would find the back of the net in the 57th minute. After back to back consecutive plays into the box, it seemed CFC were bound to find a goal. The ball played in from the wing by right back Milo Garvanian to find McGrath’s feet open on the top of the box. McGrath has been a target to get in open spaces due to his ability to finish first time. That’s exactly what he did as he took the ball into open space to finish it in the bottom corner and Chattanooga FC would go up 1-0.
For the remainder of the second half both CFC and Orlando City would change possession multiple times. Fatigue would play a major role in the result. Passes were given away easily and neither team showed enough steam to change the result of the game. Chattanooga used all their left over energy to maintain their lead and keep Orlando away from the goal at all costs.
The head coach for CFC, Rod Underwood, spoke about the emotions after their win last night. He also spoke on the players improvement from here on out.
“Football is important to this club. Football is important to the fans. Football is important to the city. We take that responsibility. I look at it from a twofold,” Underwood stated. “People have an opportunity to spend their money and their entertainment dollar to see us play and we want to give them that. We believe the best way to give them that is to win games. Wins always give energy. Wins always create momentum, but its what you do next. You can have a great game and then play poor the next game, but you don’t want that. We want to use this as a big foundation piece.”
Chattanooga looks to continue bringing in points to the table with another game coming up on Saturday, august 3rd. This will be another home game for the blue and hopefully another victory.
Game Summary
Orlando City FC 0 0 --0
Chattanooga FC 0 1 --1
Goal Scorers:
Chattanooga FC- Alex McGrath.
Assist:
Chattanooga FC- Milo Garvanian.
(Contact Alex McElyea at alexmcelyea26@gmail.com)