Dick's strong display in goal helps Hounds grind out victory over Sacramento

An imposing performance from Eric Dick in goal ensured that Edward Kizza's first-half strike would be enough to see the Riverhounds come away with a crucial 1-0 victory on the road against Sacramento Republic on Saturday night. 

Bob Lilley said after the game last Saturday that the Riverhounds don't have a lot of room for error when it comes to pushing for the playoffs, and it looked as if that message managed to get through to the team as they pulled out all the stops to pick up one of their most impressive wins of the season.

The tone for the Riverhounds appeared to be set right off the bat, with Emmanuel Johnson demonstrating his strength just before the 15-minute mark, as he ran over former Hound Shane Wiedt with a shoulder charge (a fair and legal one I should add) that would have made Hines Ward proud and forced Wiedt out of the game before getting off the game's first attempt with a strong header from twelve yards out. 

The Riverhounds, as has become customary this season, controlled the majority of the game during the opening 45 minutes, and in a half in which chances were few and far between, created the better openings between the two sides, including one effort from Danny Griffin that crept just past the post after Robbie Mertz’s cut back, and forcing Sacramento primarily to potshots from outside the box. Although they were presented with one slight scare when Jack Gurr managed to sneak behind the back line but scuffed his one on one chance wide when bearing down on goal.

That persistence from the Hounds was rewarded on the stroke of halftime with one of the best goals you are likely to see from this team all season. Mertz and Griffin continued to utilize their incredible chemistry down the left-hand side, before the latter fed the ball through to Kizza, who managed to shield the ball away from Jared Timmer before firing an effort across former Hounds goalkeeper Danny Vitiello:

Whilst Lilley has been happy to make a few tweaks throughout the season, primarily up front, the midfield is something that he cannot afford to mess around with. The cohesiveness that Griffin, Mertz and Jackson Walti have built together has kept growing and growing and can act as a real backbone to the team for years to come if they can play their cards right, and that was shown in abundance with this goal. 

The key for the Riverhounds now was to make sure they held onto that lead heading into the break, and they were able to do just that as Dick was forced into a smart diving save to his right to keep out Kieran Phillips’ curling effort from outside the box and ensure Lilley’s men went into the dressing room ahead.