Richmond Kickers News Release - www.richmondkickers.com
Saturday, July 25, 2009
RICHMOND, VA -- The Richmond Kickers played host to a crowd of 2,192 on Saturday, July 25 as they took on reigning Guatemalan First Division champions CSD Comunicaciones in an exhibition match. The Kickers would come out on top 1-0 on an Edson Elcock strike.
The hard-fought, physical match featured more fouls than scoring chances in the opening 45 minutes, with two yellow cards issued to Comunicaciones players and one to a Richmond player.
The second half proved a much livelier affair as both teams enjoyed good spells of possession and created a number of scoring chances.
On-trial forward Edson Elcock came on for Mike Burke early in the second half and made an immediate impact on the game, winning corners and testing Comunicaciones keeper Juan Paredes on numerous occasions. Elcock was rewarded for his hard work in the 62nd minute as he headed a Chris Carrieri corner kick into the back of the net for the game’s only goal.
The match began in favor of the Guatemalan champions, who enjoyed the majority of the possession in the opening 15 minutes and didn’t allow the Kickers to create any scoring opportunities. While the scoring chances were few, the fouls were flying in. Comunicaciones midfielder Jean Marquez was the first player to go into the book after 16 minutes when he was shown a yellow card for not giving ten yards on a free kick.
The Kickers began to settle into possession and in the 21st minute a well-placed cross from Sascha Görres found the head of Matthew Delicâte at the back post. The forward’s header was well saved by Paredes.
Richmond’s possession continued and on 28 minutes Joey Worthen was fouled hard by CSD defender Carlos Castrillo. Castrillo was shown a yellow card. Kickers midfielder Chris Carrieri was on the receiving end of quite a few fouls throughout the first half, but was then booked in the 32nd minute for a reckless challenge in midfield.
Carrieri found himself on the end of a Delicâte through ball just before halftime, but his shot was saved by Paredes.
The game opened up in the second half as a slew of substitutions were made for each side. The Kickers began the changes in the 51st minute when they introduced Adrian Bumbut and on-trial striker Edson Elcock into the fray.
Elcock won a corner in the 62nd minute and rose highest to head Carrieri’s cross into the back of the net for 1-0.
CSD introduced Abner Trigueros in the 71st minute and the forward nearly scored with his first touch. His low shot careened into the side netting and out for a goal kick.
The Kickers gave number one keeper Ronnie Pascale the evening off, but his replacement Mark Murphy came up big on a number of occasions, most notably in the 75th minute when he pulled the ball from Marco Ciani’s feet after the striker was clean through on a breakaway.
The Kickers introduced a second trial player, Danial Revivo, in the 80th minute. Revivo and Elcock worked a neat one-two at the top of the box and Revivo’s shot was saved by Paredes, who recorded five saves on the night.
The final whistle blew after five minutes of stoppage time were completed, due to the 17 substitutions made during the match.
The Richmond Kickers are pleased to host their annual Free Youth Night, courtesy of SCOR, Sports Center of Richmond, on Saturday, August 1st. The Kickers are slated to face the Real Maryland Monarchs at 7:00 p.m. at UR Stadium and all kids ages 3-17 will be admitted free. Download free youth tickets via RichmondKickers.com.
