CHATTANOOGA FC 3 GEORGIA REVOLUTION FC 1

Game night had finally arrived at Finley Stadium in 2020, albeit under most unusual of circumstances. The home side Chattanooga FC would not have the usual big crowd on hand, but being able to play a competitive match again would be enough motivation. And it would not be a NISA match but a NISA Independent Cup match against an old NPSL rival Georgia Revolution FC.

The Revs started a defensive-minded lineup with Ryan King as the lone striker. The talk of the lineup was between midfielder Braham Gamarra (the man to watch from the commentators), head coach Scott Redding calling his own number into the Starting XI, and defender Noel Elder – and at age 16 was hardly an ‘elder’ statesman on the field.

CFC came out with a lineup that was quite different from the last time we saw the team play a competitive match. Only three of the Starting XI started against the Oakland Roots in the opening game of the curtailed NISA spring season. One of the new players was not new at all for fans of CFC: Jose “Zeca” Ferraz, who has been part of the club going back to 2013. The insertion of Zeca gave Chattanooga a more potent offensive look.

And it didn’t take long for CFC to get on the scoresheet as Zeca fed a streaking Richard Dixon down the right side who sent a ball into the box that Ian McGrath got a foot to before the defender and slipped it in near post for 1-0 lead in the sixth minute. Zeca and McGrath would help create multiple chances over the next few minutes, and you started to get the feeling that this was going to be an easy night for the home side.

But the Revs weren’t ready to go down just yet. Quickly down the field after a CFC missed chance, Georgia midfielder Todd Fidler would find himself with the ball just outside the 18 and would uncork a rocket that found the upper corner and even the score. POW! Game on! And for the next ten minutes, the Revs would find some success in picking spots to press CFC, creating some turnovers. But Chattanooga didn’t panic, with defender Alec McKinley keeping things tidy in the back.

The game settled back down for Chattanooga, and Zeca would once again make his mark, delivering a well-weighted pass to a streaking Brian Bement to the right of goal. Bement’s long putt of a shot tucked in just inside the far post, and CFC were back in front. Bement, who had been on the quiet side of things for much of the first half before that goal would have more to say in the second half.

And so on to that second half – or, at least those of us watching on mycujoo tried to go on to that second half. But to no avail. The streaming service froze up and could not get back to live action until almost twenty minutes had elapsed. So while those of us on muycujoo fumed, the trio of McGrath, Zeca and Bement would put the game on ice. A long ball from middle of the field from McGrath would be headed down by Zeca and onto the path of Bement, and he clinically slotted it home.

The last fifteen minutes of the match saw play open up, and while the Eskay brothers came on and injected some life into the Revolution’s offense, the team could not sustain enough pressure to really mount a stiff enough challenge.

With the win, Chattanooga put themselves in a great position to be in the championship game. Along with the trio of offensive players, honorable mentions should be made for midfielder Juan Hernandez for his work in transitioning CFC from defense to offense as well as for goalkeeper Alec Redington in his first professional start.

For the Revolution, Todd Fidler made his presence felt with his goal and his lack of fear in taking shots from all over the place. I don’t think there’s a spot of the pitch where Fidler doesn’t think he can get it on frame.

One more word about mycujoo: simply put, this kind of problem must stop happening, or NISA needs to pick a new platform for streaming. But while the freeze up by mycujoo was frustrating, that in no way took away from the overall production of the game. The play-by-play provided by John Freeman and Dale Schilly was solid and professional. Their commentary was an enhancement to the match.

SAVANNAH CLOVERS 1 SODA CITY FC 2

OK – since I could only watch one game live, I chose to go with the CFC v Revs game. This game I decided to watch the replay. And evidently the first ten minutes there was a problem with the feed, so we pick up the action already in progress…

Soda City and Savannah Clovers are division rivals in the UPSL, so they know each other all too well. And it didn’t take long for play to get a little chippy, with Savannah getting a yellow card within the first twenty minutes of the game. It would not be the only yellow card in the first half.

It would be Soda City striking first, as a long free kick would bounce through a maze of players and find an unmarked Dominik Byars for an easy header in the 19th minute.

But the lead would be short-lived ad the Clovers would push the action the other way. Forward Timo Mesa looked particularly dangerous, giving Soda City defenders fits. ‘Keeper Jack Pondywas called upon to make a great reaction save on a point blank shot. But on the ensuing corner kick, Pondy could only deflect the ball away, and Henry Banegas would side volley a shot past the Soda City goalkeeper.

Image courtesy of Savannah Clovers social media.

The second half would see both teams take turns in pushing the action to create chances. But the difference would come down to the play of the goalkeepers. Jack Pondy stood tall – literally – as he handled every dangerous opportunity that came his way. At the other end, J.W. May didn’t make himself big enough when Soda City’s Troy Paul (a second-half substitute) took a lovely weighted pass and found himself behind the Clovers’ defense. May came out to challenge, but Paul got there first and floated one over the prone keeper and into the goal at the 84th minute.

Savannah was a little unfortunate to not get points out of this one. They seem like a club with a lot of good pieces that when they put it together will be formidable. For Soda City, the game spoke volumes about the needs for a good goalkeeper. I’m not sure if Jack Pondy was the best player of the field, but the was by far the most poised.

Oh, and a word about the commentary. While not at the same level of professionalism as the Chattanooga crew, these guys were enjoying themselves and were knowledgeable about both teams. And I could swear that one of the guys (Don) was doing his best Josh Duder impersonation. Oh – and it’s OK to say “NEEsa” – you don’t have to spell it out.

- John Howard-Fusco