RICHMOND, VA – In an ending that was filled with late minute dramatics the Richmond Kickers picked up 3 crucial points beating the
RICHMOND, VA – In an ending that was filled with late minute dramatics the Richmond Kickers picked up 3 crucial points beating the Harrisburg City Islanders 4-2. Richmond’s Fred Owusu Sekyere opened up scoring for the game in the 15th minute with Harrisburg’s Craig Foster equalizing things before the half. Jason Yeisley broke the tie immediately following the start of the 2nd half with Craig Foster leveling everything again in the 69th minute. Then late in the 88th minute; a crazy sequence that included 4 Richmond Kickers ended with George Davis IV giving Richmond the 3-2 lead. Jason Yeisley would then put the cherry-on-top of the 4-2 win in the 90th minute.
The opening goal happened after Sascha Goerres found Fred Owusu Sekyere who was just enough ahead of the defender to get the right touch on it to pass by the fingers of Harrisburg’s keeper Nick Noble. After conceding the early goal, Harrisburg brought on the first tie in the 25th minute after Erick Cruz incepted a pass and found Craig Foster in the box who was able to put in the back of the net. Richmond would fight through a lot of bumps and bruises in the match; including a moment in 29th minute when Yudia Imura was fouled taking a hit to the head and had to leave the field to get checked out by the trainers. The Kickers would test Noble in the 1st half to the tune of 8 shots; the opening set would end 1-1.
The 2nd half was opened immediately by Richmond breaking the 1-1 bond in the 47th minute. Fred Owusu Sekyere would come up the right side and chip a pass over to Jason Yeisley whose header went to right and slip pass Noble. The rain of shots would continue by the Kickers with new players Uriah Bentick and Adam Bedell getting looks in the 52nd and 55th minutes respectively. The match would go level again in the 69th minute after action in Richmond’s box saw two great saves from Ryan Taylor, but a rebound off of the 2nd save would find the net after finding Craig Foster’s head for his 2nd goal of the night.
As the drama would build up late, and when things looked to be heading to a draw, a spark would ignite for the Kickers. In the 88th minute a sequence that was ignited by Luke Mishu coming up the middle of the field and finding enough space to find Hugh Roberts alone on the left side of the box. Roberts would then pass it with his head to Jason Yeisley, who got enough of a foot on it to bounce off of Noble’s hands and become the goal of destiny for George Davis IV after he put the rebound in the back of the net. Richmond was not done after that; as Jason Yeisley would take a lob through pass from Luke Mishu, run out the Harrisburg defender and ripped a shot to the back of the net sealing the 4-2 win. Yeisley would have a scary moment himself in the 2nd half after colliding with Ken Tribbett on a run causing them both to go down with Jason Yeisley walking off the field for a moment to get looked at by the Richmond training staff. The Kickers shot total in the 2nd half would equal the 1st half giving a total of 16 on the night.
The Richmond Kickers will go on the road for back-to-back game to first face the Harrisburg City Islanders again on Saturday, August the 8th and then head to Rochester to face the Rhinos Sunday, August 9th. Another road game will follow that as Richmond will take on Toronto FC II Saturday, August 15th. The Kickers will return to City Stadium to host Saint Louis FC on Saturday, August 22nd for Family Fest presented by Bon Secours and B2TM. Tickets are on sale now at RichmondKickers.com.
