LOUISVILLE CITY FC 1, TORONTO FC ll 4

Well, this makes things interesting, doesn’t it?!

Suddenly, the bubble has burst and like it or not the honeymoon is over for Coach Hackworth – and by extension the intrigue of the new-look lineups we’ve been seeing of late.

No two ways, this scoreline and the proceedings leading up to it bring about more questions than they do answers.

Is it that 3 games in 11 days and 3 legs of travel have worn at a few pair of legs, and some heads?

With a game that ought to have been pain-free, has the repetitive shuffling of players and positioning come back to bite?

And would it be better to field a recognized “best 11” and then roll out the changes later if need be?

Whatever happened to the erstwhile tactics and execution we’d come to expect?

And was there an element of taking a home game against the conference’s perennial cellar dwellers much too lightly?

Several of the issues were plainly perceptible on the night, others will be learned later during debriefings and in the video review room.

One fact that cannot be denied … this Toronto unit, coming off a good outing a week ago at Indy Eleven (a narrow 2-3 loss), looked somewhat better than their record would suggest, and a lot better than the teams Louisville have been playing.

It felt all too comfortable at the beginning of the match. Returning to the friendly confines on the back of two outrageously easy road wins, the struggles versus Indy and Nashville having been all but forgotten, it seemed that nothing could stop Lou City, least of all the least of them all in the USL East.

No one knew quite what shape the lineup would take before the player’s emerged, led by Ilija donning the captain’s armband as Paulo took his turn at R & R on the bench alongside fellow regular starter Paco . That said, it did follow a recent pattern

The affair began on a theme of City controlling the vast percentage of the possession though unable to break down a staunch TFC ll defense, one reason being a tendency to play lofted balls out of defense that were either landing out of range of their desired targets or were not being handled well upon arrival.

As has become the mode in recent encounters Toronto were looking for nothing more than to feed off any slivers they could find on the counter, which once again appeared to be amounting to very few. At the back they were playing a high-ish line that was catching out the Purples’ attack at times, notably when Cameron and Kyle each had nice finishes pulled out of the net on offside calls.

Niall and George lV were again industrious and threatening, particularly the latter who was getting some dangerous balls in from out on the right, one of these leading to a misclearance that fell to the feet of Niall but his shot at goal was prevented by the defender’s desperate block.

Ilija, tucking in behind Cameron, was showing some nice touches in spite of finding his maneuvering room at a premium.

James was entrusted with his 3rd straight start in the holding role, while Speedy could be found further forward, linking the play as PDP had done on the road trip and in similar fashion was getting his chances in front of goal.

However, early on James’ effectiveness was blunted a little when he received a caution for a professional foul. Speedy lost the ball leading to Terique Mohammed tearing away down the left wing. James was compelled to step across his fellow 18 year old, incurring the call and the accompanying yellow . It was the first sign that City and James were not going to have things fall into place for them as had been the case on the last two outings.

And sure enough, in the 28th minute the unthinkable. From a left wing Toronto throw-in Alexis was drawn wide to challenge Shaan Hundal. The ball fell to Malik Johnson who beat the lunge of Sean’s to slip the ball in for super dangerous former Japan YNT wing man Tsubasa Endoh. He caught Kyle on the turn, raced in on goal and smashed his left-foot shot beyond an oncoming Greg who perhaps did not get his angle quite right.

This had been the first real look at goal the The Reds had earned but there was no sign of panic as the Slugger denizens went back to work on their possession game and chipping away at the other end.

And 10 minutes later the persistence would pay off. ASAY stroked a floater out to Niall on the left who checked his options, wheeled inside and swept a ball in for Cameron inside the area. The gifted striker was not able to control this time but the ball fell to Ilija who, with a magical whisk of his bow, made himself space and drove home beautifully from 11 yards.

The man just has the knack for showing up timely and in the right place in the penalty area and he’s already into double figures in scoring – such a valuable second fiddle he is for City.

This was to be Hack’s boys’ best period of the game and in rapid succession 3 more opportunities were narrowly missed. Ilija and George IV set up Speedy on the edge of the box and his strike was turned away well by ‘keeper/captain Caleb Patterson-Sewell for a right wing corner. Oscar sent over one of his beauties to Sean at the far post whose powerful header was turned over by a flying Patterson-Sewell, undoubtedly the save of the game.

Cameron then flashed one not far wide from a feed by Kyle.

One concerning recurrence of late is that Cameron seems to be collecting quite the variety of knocks. With halftime approaching, while helping out defending a set-piece he went down holding his left knee and, although he was able to continue, looked a little ginger on it till the break.

There was still enough time for FC ll to create a great chance as Hundal’s shot caromed back off Alexis for Johnson to blaze over Greg’s left arm, and fortunately also the crossbar. He should have scored.

For all City’s 1st half possession (76%, officially) the play had been a little pedestrian with only 3 shots logged on goal. What seemed to have been missing was the crafty terrestrial linkup play of the regular team captain and with James finding himself a little exposed and prone to error at times this, in hindsight, might have been the time to introduce PDP alongside Speedy.

A pat on the back to John Hackworth on the one hand for showing continued confidence in and encouragement for “The Kid” , however unfortunately this wasn’t to be his day. An 18 year old rookie should probably never be playing a full 90 minutes in his 3rd (ever) professional match in 7 days and this, along with an incorrect eventual substitution, would turn out to be the key to City not winning this one on the night.

Still, the 2nd half began promisingly with DSW forcing another save for a corner after nice combination play by Niall, Ilija and Cameron.

Niall has been particularly enthusiastic to showcase himself to his new coach and he and Oscar were really getting involved (in the playing sense, that is) as “We Are Sailing” rang out of the stands at the Floyd St. end.

In minute 59, Cameron got onto a raking clearance from Greg but the excellent Patterson-Sewell came well wide of his goal to thwart.

At this point came the change that perhaps the football match hinged on. Paolo entered, but instead of the like-for-like (James), it was the Jamaican jammer who was surprisingly withdrawn. Speedy, who had sat out the entirety of the game in Richmond, seemed to have trouble containing himself, immediately taking a long walk back behind the dugout, and the question hung in the air ….. Would this substitution prove to be a tactical blunder??

Hack definitely seems to prefer PDP in an attacking role and in short order No. 36 got on the end of a rebound Niall and George IV had generated but he hit his shot wide.

With his contributions in his initial two games James had been stellar, but if he didn’t come crashing to earth tonight he certainly landed with a pretty large bump as his pace and stamina were tested to the max.

Minute 64, and City were pushing hard but all of a sudden disaster struck. The ball was cleared to Johnson who charged through the middle, leaving an utterly gassed James in his wake. The numbers were still there in defense and at 3 on 4 it looked a good bet the break would be contained as the ball was played to Hundal at the corner of the area. But Hundal would pull off a fantastic play, initially checking back as if readying to fire with his right, he drew the attention of Alexis, Kyle and Sean. All the while a streaking Endoh was catching up on the play and Hundal foxed his adversaries by backheeling into his path. Endoh hit a wicked side-footer with his right from the angle which again ought to have been saved, but Greg did not get down to his left in time. TFC ll had patiently waited City out and they would never look back.

Reflexively Luke was introduced, but it was Alexis who was sacrificed and as with the first change a question might be asked here …

This needed to be a pivotal 5 minute spell for City, but frustration was setting in as FC ll were slowing the game to molasses at every stoppage and the over-the-top strategy was being well over-employed, leading to offsides and making defending easier for Toronto.

In the 70th, Matthew Srbely, another promising 20 year old juked through Oscar, Ilija and Paolo on the right and broke into the box. Sean rushed across to make a desperate, stretching challenge but Srbely cut it back right into the vacant CB position and with no coverage Johnson gave Greg no chance.

Richard Ballard came in for George lV and again showed signs of rust but also some glimmers of the thrilling wing play we know he’s capable of.

For such a young team TFC ll were maintaining their shape exceedingly well and the lack of sustained buildup play meant there was no momentum for City, and therefore no way back in.

Paulo picked up a caution for a frustration foul, his 4th of the season.

There were two clear-cut chances for Lou City the rest of the game and they both summed up the comedown from the seemingly charmed road trip.

Richie did well to set up Paolo at the edge of the area but his good-looking shot cannoned of Ilija who for once in his career found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Then Luke was fouled and Cameron’s well taken free kick crashed flush against the bar and out.

In the meantime, TFC ll added a humbling 4th, once again dismantling a by now bedraggled and isolated city defense when Endoh played a give-and-go with substitute and Ghana MNT call-up Gideon Waja. He could probably have completed his hat trick but so unselfishly turned it over to Dante Campbell for the tap in.

It was the fledglings of Toronto FC ll then, unbeaten in the last 3 meetings with City (2-1-0), marching through the breach and recording a franchise record 4-1 victory.

Just as when the hardy Coopers and cohort SG’s broke into a late serenade of “We Love Toronto, We Do”, the ironies abound.

Is there any solace or philosophy to be gleaned from this quite major upset?

Assuming morale on this football club is as high as we’ve been led to believe, this sobering defeat could be the best thing to happen just at this point.

With the toughest trifecta of the season (Charleston, Cincy, Pittsburgh) about to hit, the team is once again reminded that it is not infallible – and especially not infallible at home.

Irrespective of Friday’s record 4th fixture in 14 days, perhaps it’s already time for a back-to-basics reinstallation of the tried-and-true.

As a well known contemporary gentleman tells us from time to time … time will tell …..

~~~ Fun Fact Footnote ~~~

* Toronto FC ll has never finished above 3rd to last in its USL division

* Tuesday’s win was it’s 22nd in 114 USL games all-time