On a night when every team the Three Sparks are competing with lost the pressure was on to earn points in a very tough away game. The Legion came agonizingly close to taking all 3 but even 1 point was huge. Here’s how the players did individually.
GK: MATT VAN OEKEL – 7. MVO made 3 routine saves in the game and came pretty close to stopping Taylor Calheira’s penalty. Passing was even worse than usual at just 45.5% accurate on 22 passes.
LB: JACKSON TRAVIS – 6.5. Jackson got another yellow card (they were handed out fairly loosely) but otherwise was decent. 2 tackles and an interception while winning 7 of 10 duels. Moderately acceptable passing with a completion rate of 69% on 29 attempts. He added 1 unsuccessful cross in attack.
CB: A.J. PATERSON – 7. A.J. racked up 9 clearances but no other defensive actions, oddly. He won 4 of 7 duels and had a reasonable passing score of 77.1% on 35 tries. He was also credited with creating 1 scoring chance.
CB: JAKE RUFE – 9. Jake answered Briggs’ call to prove he deserves the shirt. 1 tackle and 10 clearances together with winning 9 of 14 duels. An above average (for this game) accuracy rate of 79.6% on a relatively high 54 passes. His only attacking action…well, you know. Man of the Match without a doubt.
CB: TIAGO SUAREZ – 7.5. Tiago was another yellow card victim, probably deservedly so. It didn’t slow him down much: 3 tackles, 5 clearances and 1 interception. He won 10 of a hefty 16 duels and was good on 48 of 63 passes. He also delivered 1 good cross and created a scoring chance.
RB: AMIR DALEY – 7. Amir has been a really good addition to the roster already. No scoring credits this time, but he did get a shot on target and sent in 2 crosses, neither finding a man. 3 tackles and 3 interceptions, 8 of 12 in duels. Good on 75% of his 32 passes.
LM: SAM SHASHOUA – 7. The game plan was probably sent sideways when Sam was forced to leave after just 24 minutes. He connected on all of his 5 passes and won 3 of 4 duels. Not bad for short time.
CM: SAM MCILLHATTON – 8. The other Sam (he claims they don’t get confused by that) put in 83 minutes. In attack he attempted 1 cross, unsuccessfully. At the other end he recorded 4 tackles, 2 clearances and 2 interceptions. 8 for 16 in duels and a high 82.1% accuracy score on 28 passes.
RM: ENZO MARTINEZ – 5.5. When cards are being given out wholesale Enzo is not one to miss out on a bargain. His yellow was in a pretty dangerous area. He played 72 minutes and managed just 2 unsuccessful crosses and no other attacking contributions. He also lost all 3 duels and his passing was weak at 59.1% accurate on 22 attempts.
FWD: RONALDO DAMUS – 7. Ronaldo had 1 shot on target, and a good one at that. Another one was blocked and he blocked one himself on defense. He created 1 scoring chance and was perfect on all 9 passes. Just 2 for 10 in duels but his defensive input is mostly hassling defenders in a high press.
FWD: SEBASTIAN TREGARTHEN – 6.5. Seba got a very early yellow card, which was not optimal. He was held to 3 unsuccessful crosses in attack and no shots. Defensively, he provided 1 clearance and won 4 of 10 duels. Not his best game.
SUB: PETER-LEE VASSELL – 8. Peter likely was not expecting an early insertion into his first Legion game but he was called on to replace Sam Shashoua. He proved his veteran quality. He of course came close to a late winning goal and also provided 3 good crosses. He had 1 interception, won 1 of 3 duels and was a very creditable 83.3% accurate on 30 passing attempts.
SUB: PRESTON TABORT ETAKA – 8. Preston subbed on in place of Enzo and did his best to provide an attacking spark. He lobbed in a whopping 6 crosses, 3 of them finding his mark, and created 1 scoring chance. Good on 5 of 7 passes.
SUB: STEPHEN TURNBULL – 7. Stephen came on in the 83rd minute and didn’t do much. 3 for 4 in passing and 2 for 4 in duels.
SUB: DAWSON MCCARTNEY – 8. We haven’t seen too much of Dawson lately because of injuries but he really made his 14 minutes count. He connected on just 1 of his 2 passes and won his only duel. But he had a shot off target, an unsuccessful cross and the tying assist.
COACH: MARK BRIGGS – 8. Mark had limited lineup options made worse by having to make an early substitution. His team stepped up exactly as he has been asking them to do. And they did not get fazed by a questionable PK call. A potential season-changing game.
