A Mishandled Basket of Gifts Results Opening Day Loss

 

            The Lions opened up MD1 against the newly relegated Polish side, Stal Mielec on 09/11/22 at Randall’s Island. Despite a relatively dominating performance by the Boys in Black and Gold, they came up empty handed losing 1-2. Stal opened up the scoring in the first 15 minutes. As the end of the first half neared, NYint was awarded a penalty. Josh Dutosme lined up to take the penalty, fired, but the keeper went the right way and saved. After almost an entire half of harassment directed towards the linesmen by the opposition side, the supporter sections from both teams were sent to the opposite side of the pitch and the half ended. Early into the 2^nd half Conor King opened up his account with a beaut, assisted by new boy Dan Cohen, leveling the score line. It didn’t take long for Stal to take back the lead after their player had his hope and prayer full volley shot outside of the box answered catching the entire defense and keeper unaware. It wouldn’t take long for the Lions to be given their second gift as Stal received a red in what would be a very card heavy match. A combination of time-wasting and missed opportunities would see the Lions squander that gift however and the final whistle blew at 90+4. It should be noted that the day wasn’t a complete loss as the Reserves Squad continued last season’s undefeated run by smacking the opposition 8-1. Here are some thoughts from Manager Minty from the First Team.

 

The Pride: So, we can obviously get into the officiating and opposition antics, but how much did possible match day inexperience for the new guys played into the loss today? Or was it simply a bad day in the office with the lack of efficiency up front?

 

Chris Minty: There were many players making their NYIFC debuts today. We’ve added a lot of talent and depth but it’s always challenging going up against an experienced team like Stal. They implemented their game plan well. We had chances to win the game and there were long periods when they hardly touched the ball. Moving forward we need to be more clinical in front of goal and take our chances when they come.

 

P: Getting into the opposition’s tactics, how much of their time wasting affected the rhythm and mindset of the team? Especially in the buildup to the penalty chance?

 

CM: It got increasingly frustrating as time was running out, but I can’t not applaud their game management. They got the result they wanted and imposed their way of playing. We needed to do better to assert our way of playing.

 

P: From the sidelines, it didn't look like a tactical failure or even a failure of execution but a slight lack of quality in shooting and passing. What positives did you take from the match that you'll carry through the season?

 

CM: We played very well throughout long periods of the game. The one- and two-touch passing was crisp and Stal chased the ball for a long time. We showed what we can do! Ultimately today wasn’t for us; sometimes the better team—at least technically—doesn’t win.

 

    The Reserves hope to keep the good times rolling while the Firsts hope to bounce back on Sunday, 09/19/22 against Brooklyn City FC at 6PM and 8PM respectively. Stay tuned for the match preview as well as the 4v4 Fundraiser Interview, benefiting our friends at EV Loves NYC.