by Timothy Belin
Birmingham Legion headed into their trip to Hartford Athletic riding the wave of their first win of the year. Against the only team left without so much as a point in the USL Championship, the Three Sparks were eager to get a second success and finally start building momentum in what has been a disappointing season so far.
Instead, a self-inflicted goal was all that separated the two teams as a below-par Legion handed Hartford their first league win of the season.
After a fairly even opening 70 minutes had the game scoreless, Birmingham shot themselves in the foot in the 71st minute with back-to-back errors. Teenage centerback Ramiz Hamouda attempted to dribble the ball out of his own box only to lose it to a Hartford forward. The ensuing shot seemed straightforward for Matt van Oekel to block in goal, but it bounced off his hand and spun into the net despite a desperate lunge by Sam McIllhaton.
The unfortunate goal ended up being the only one of the encounter as the Legion fell 1-0 in Connecticut.
Going into the game, the Three Sparks were hungry to add on to their first win of the season, but also weary of the threat a still-winless Hartford might pose. Interim head coach Eric Avila revealed pre-game that they weren’t entirely sure what to expect from a team still figuring itself out, and that was evident in the opening 15 minutes.
In stark contrast to last week’s win over El Paso Locomotive, Legion entered the Hartford encounter with little intensity and let the hosts dictate play for the opening exchanges. Tyler Pasher did have a shot fired over the bar from close range in the 5th minute, but other than that Hartford were by far the most likely team to score, notably drawing four corners early on.
Only after the Three Sparks seemed to figure out what Hartford’s plan was did they grow into the game, dominating possession for the second half of the first period, though with little to show for it.
Danny Trejo was the biggest threat for Birmingham down the left wing, but though the Mexican forward repeatedly showed good feet to get past his man, the final ball was lacking.
Legion’s best chance — and only shot on target of the afternoon — came in first-half stoppage time as Kobe Hernandez-Foster’s free-kick drew a good save from the Hartford goalkeeper in the bottom right corner of his goal.
Legion started the second half even worse that the first, giving up two big chances in the first five minutes.
Van Oekel came up big to save the first barely a minute after the restart, and Hartford’s forward could not bring the ball under control for the second, looping it over the bar after going through on goal in the 49th.
Only after the Hartford goal did Legion seem to up the intensity, but even then they struggled to find a way past a resolute Hartford defense. The best chance for the Three Sparks came off a corner in the 86th minute as the ball bounced around the box but nobody could find the touch to put it into the net.
After all the goodwill and positivity last week’s win engendered, the disappointing performance and result will have brought the Legion faithful crashing back to earth. The team will need to quickly bounce back next week as they host USL League One side Chattanooga Red Wolves in their first-ever USL Jägermeister Cup game.