Ecstasy turns to agony once again at Foxboro
September 22, 2012
So close to ending the ten-year drought. So close to a remarkable victory. So close to earning three points so crucial to a playoff push. So, so, so close...
The referee signaled four minutes of stoppage time. Yet somehow, as the clock hit 94:00 and the ball had to be put back in play, the game went on. One final rush by the Revs up the field, a cross into the box... Bill Gaudette, so solid for the whole game, coming off the line, only for Darius Barnes to rise above and head in the equalizer. So, so, so close...
And just to think, they almost pulled one out. Starting with a baffling 4-5-1 formation (Sebastien Le Toux for the suspended Titi Henry, Jan Gunnar Solli for Joel Lindpere), Metro was outplayed for the entire match. Only Gaudette's goalkeeping and the Revs' finishing ineptitude kept the game scoreless. And when Connor Lade got his marching orders for his second yellow in the 74th, a point looked to be all they could hope for.
But then, a point became three. On the brink of injury time, Wilman Conde served a cross from the left side of the penalty area. Tim Cahill's relentless pressure stopped Rev keeper Bobby Shuttleworth from handling. The ball dropped onto the head of Lindpere, who came into the game in the first half for the again-injured Rafa Marquez. The Estonian nodded it home, and it looked like Metro had their first Foxboro win since 2002.
But it was not to be. And a week after such optimism after the win over Columbus, we're left staring at the schedule that is left and considering all the various permutations. How can a team that looked so good one week, look so terrible the next?
Lineup: Gaudette, Conde, Holgersson, Pearce, Lade, Marquez, Tainio, Solli, McCarty, Cahill, Le Toux. Subs: Lindpere, Barklage, Sam.
|
