Knoxville Force vs Mississippi Storm

At Regal Stadium, Knoxville, Tennessee

6/22/12

Head Coach, Stephen Lyons

After back-to-back away games it was nice to be back on our home field to face last weeks opponents the Mississippi Storm.  It was a hot and humid summers evening at Regal Stadium which made the conditions challenging for both teams at the start of the game.

Knoxville had a number of opportunities early on and was creating chances like in the previous encounter.  On the odd occasion we were caught out when we were not organized and could have been made to pay.  However, after a spell of pressure in the 32-minute Knoxville finally took the lead when Andy Palumbo redirected a corner onto Frank Doumbe’s head who nodded the ball home to make it 1-0.   Shortly after taking the lead the Force were almost caught when Mississippi broke with a one on one opportunity that Rummy Le Guevel managed to keep out with a quality reflex save.  At half time the game remained 1-0.

In the second half Knoxville continued to push for a second goal with chances from numerous corners that were being whipped in by Gary Higgins.  In the 75^th minute a suspect decision from the ref saw a Mississippi player run clear of the defense and take his chance to make the game 1-1.  The reaction from the Force was still positive and they kept attacking in search of a second goal.   In the 86^th minute Niall McCabe went on a jinx run in the Mississippi box and was brought down to get a penalty.  Niall took the responsibility of taking it himself and slammed the ball home to make it 2-1.  Knoxville ran the clock down and finished with a 2-1 win.  The Force play Rocket City Tonight at 7:30pm.