Lou City 1 NCFC 0 As it Happened

Jun 29

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Do you know how much you have to suck as a state for South Carolina to be known as the “good Carolina”? I hate North Carolina. It is the blandest state in the country, at least in its “urban” areas. I have visited Charlotte which has all the charm of a tapeworm and Cary which has all of the charm of two tapeworms. North Carolina’s stadium in Cary would be an embarrassment to a half-decently funded private school. All North Carolina sports teams are vastly overrated. Lebron is better than Jordan. Suck it, North Carolina!

Lou City Lined up as:

1-Las, 3-Morris, 7-Serrano, 15-M Perez, 17-T Davila, 24-Jones, 25-Wilson,31-Lambert, 32-Adams (C), 53-Lancaster, 83-Dayes

2nd Minute

Lou City has a decent long throw attempt from Jones, but it doesn’t find a Lou City head.

8th Minute

North Carolina keeper Mulqueen kicks it straight out of play to cheers from the Waterfront Supporters Zone.

9th Minute

Rinse and repeat: North Carolina keeper Mulqueen kicks it straight out of play to cheers from the Waterfront Supporters Zone. (He goes short with every kick for about 30 minutes after this.)

10th Minute

Serrano starts off the movement with a fabulous switch of play which finds Manny Perez who keeps it in beautifully and feeds it to Wilson who tucks it home. The scoring starts and ends there, and Lou City lead 1-0.

12th Minute

Lou City almost make a mess of things and would have given one right back it not for Jones clearing the ball off the line.

15th Minute

The officiating crew isn’t exactly ingratiating themselves to the crowd as the center referee misses an obvious tug on Lancaster’s jersey. Earlier (as part of the worst half of assistant refereeing I have seen in quite some time), the assistant referee on Lou City’s attacking right side misses improperly placed goal kicks multiple times.

18th Minute

This long throw by Jones is brought to you by Gatorade towel. (Gatorade towel: when the Gatorade you drank an hour earlier converts into sweat). The throw ultimately leads to a good chance from Serrano that is stopped by Mulqueen.

19th Minute

Las makes a great save when Morris is beaten for pace down the right side.

23rd Minute

The aforementioned assistant referee lacks the moral courage to make an immediate call on the throw in ultimately awarding it to Lou City after North Carolina took the throw when he very clearly indicated that he had no idea who the throw in belonged to.

27th Minute

Another long throw by Jones unassisted by the Gatorade towel.

36th Minute

North Carolina is having a lot of the possession and is doing absolutely nothing with it.

38th Minute

Old head Paco Craig baits Serrano into an unnecessary yellow card.

41st Minute

Lancaster finds some space for the first time (whether it was created legally or not is up to interpretation) but his cross is too shallow.

42nd Minute

It isn’t a good idea to concede unnecessary set pieces to this team, but Lou City escape unharmed.

45th Minute

Lambert puts in pass, but Wilson can’t get a boot on it.

45th Minute +1

Jones’ hustle prevents a corner by conceding a throw instead. Lou City see out the half unscathed.

Halftime

Lou City 1 - Uncultured Club 0

Lou City only have about 40% of the ball, but honestly that is the recipe for success in most matches.

51st Minute

Good save by Las on a dangerous chance.

55th Minute

Three subs by Lou City. All like for like. Dayes debut ends with him contributing to a clean sheet.

58th Minute

North Carolina is pushing for the equalizer, but Lou City is holding strong with fresh legs at the back.

60th Minute

The attendance is announced as 7002, which isn’t bad for a rescheduled match.

67th Minute

Serrano starts of a really good move with an excellent ball to Wilson and even though they get 3 or 4 good looks, all of them are blocked.

74th Minute

Wilson almost gets on the end of a good ball from Goodrum.

75th Minute

Another long throw by Jones is brought to you by Gatorade towel (Gatorade towel: now in beach towel size!)

80th Minute

“How is that not a promising attack,’ are the words out of Davila’s mouth to the half decent other assistant referee. It’s a good question. I thought for sure the foul on Goodrum was yellow card worthy. (PRO: when you want the best…look elsewhere.)

86th Minute

McFadden passes on a relatively open shot to pick out a pass for a worse chance for Serrano who can’t finish.

87th Minute

Davila the Younger for Davila the Elder. Hooray!

89th Minute

The usually levelheaded and completely rational McFadden commits an uncharacteristically rash foul giving North Carolina the chance for a set piece. It comes to nothing thankfully and McFadden will have surely learned his lesson for next time.

Full Time

Lou City 1 - Mayberry RFD 0

Post match, Danny Cruz rightly (but politely and mildly) complains about the USL’s bush league handling of the travel delays and the jammed pack schedule. North Carolina is a second-rate team in a fifth-rate city, but would it be too much to expect them to, I don’t know, charter a bus or something? You suck North Carolina! Your state elected Jesse Helms consistently for 30 years (I know, I know but we aren’t talking about Kentucky right now). Saw it off and dump it in the Atlantic Ocean.

Dayes talks about his debut. He certainly has a bright future. Yes, he talks to John Wynder from time to time.

Wilson is deferential on his goal, but it really was a fine finish.

Michael Shaw