Hounds stumble at home, playoff chances take big hit after late Birmingham goal

Was tonight a classic ‘six-pointer’? Well, that depends on how you view the Riverhounds’ season, and if their aim should be just to make it to the playoffs, or finish as high as possible. If it’s the latter, then yes you could make that argument. But regardless, three points were needed for the Hounds as they continued their playoff push.

In the end though, they didn’t get all three as a late goal from Birmingham Legion substitute Stefan Pinho canceled out Edward Kizza’s first-half strike as the Riverhounds were only able to grab a 1-1 draw at Highmark Stadium and deal their playoff chances a pretty big blow.  

The opening stages played out exactly the way you might expect, with both sides playing very cautiously, not wanting to make a mistake and just sizing the other up, although that message didn’t seem to make it through to Illal Osumanu who nearly gifted Birmingham the opening goal, coming out of the back line to play a ball, missing it and allowing the visitors to bear down on goal, thankfully though when the ball was fed through to Tyler Pasher, his first-time effort was scuffed wide in a major let off for the home side. 

In the end though, the breakthrough came from the simplest of plays, although arguably it came from one of the unlikeliest of sources, the head of Kizza, all 5’9 of him, as he rose to flick Robbie Mertz’s freekick past the flailing arms of Matt Van Oekel in the Birmingham net:

The Hounds found themselves rather lucky not to find themselves back on level terms at the half-hour mark, Derek Dodson hitting the woodwork with a header after a deep cross to the back post from Kobe Hernandez-Foster, then in the ensuing pinball around the box, Diba Nwegbo tried for an overhead kick, only to connect with Luke Biasi’s head instead as the defender cleared the ball away. 

With the first half winding down, the Hounds didn’t seem to be too eager to break forward on their own accord, but two mistakes from Birmingham provided Danny Griffin with two great chances to double the lead. First he was denied by Van Oekel’s impressive stop after charging through the midfield, and seconds later the outstretched leg of Jake Rufe after a shot on target as the Hounds ended the first half on top.

As is the way with the Riverhounds this season, especially with the run they’ve been on over the past few months, with the lead in hand, there wasn’t much of an emphasis to get forward of their own volition, and much like the first half, it was only going to be through a Birmingham mistake that they’d get close, as was the case when Langston Blackstock’s cross was played onto his own post by Rufe, with the rebound millimeters away from crossing the line, only for Van Oekel in the Birmingham goal to get a hand to it and keep it out.

There were a few more chances beyond that, none of them really clear-cut, and speaking afterward, Bob Lilley relayed how that lack of conviction would come back to haunt them "We had moments where I think we rushed the shot and we just had to hit the target, or control the ball rather than shoot one time, then it turns into a real chance rather than a half-chance. 

"I knew we needed to get a second goal because we weren't defending great, they hit the crossbar in the first half ... there was enough in it today for us to get a second and a third, we've just been underperforming in the attacking end all year. To me if we get the goal we're having a different conversation."

The Hounds didn’t have much to do defensively for the vast majority of the second half, but things certainly ramped up with 15 minutes to go, first they were given a big warning when Eric Dick was forced to pull off a stunning save to deny Enzo Martinez’s header from six yards out. 

And then minutes later, substitute Pinho showed why he is the Legion’s top scorer this season, tying Sean Suber in knots before unleashing a very impressive shot into the far corner to bring the two sides level:

There are a few moments that don’t shine the Hounds in good light here. First Jackson Walti slid in and missed the ball, and then Suber allowed himself to be sold the dummy the way he was by Pinho, he committed himself too much and didn’t give himself enough room to maneuver, which then left the Birmingham man plenty of room to find his spot.

After the game though, there seemed to be two trains of thought when it came to who should take the blame. Lilley seemed to think it was a team issue, saying "If guys are running behind you late in the game you shouldn't let them get in behind you. We gave up a soft goal in my mind. Suber had no help on the play ... I'm going to watch it back and know that we didn't have enough cover." 

Mean while Dick felt that he should have done a lot better with it on his end "It starts with me, I have to be better and sharper in those moments ... I could see it, but it was one of those where the touch dictates where I'm going to be on the goal. It's a tough one on the angle because I didn't want to cheat too far to the right, because he could go near. I think I've got to move my feet a bit more. A curler is never easy, but I'm athletic enough to move my feet ... it's one that if I'm being self-critical, I'm going to get a shuffle in and move my feet. 

A flashing header from Suber late on was the closest that the Hounds would get, and as the final whistle blew and the reality made its way into the stand to the fans of what needs to happen between now and the end of the season, you could tell that the mood around Highmark had changed, and that even the fans know now that they had ruined a massive chance to make the end of the season a lot easier. 

Speaking earlier in the week, Lilley said that the team didn’t need to be perfect, and they are still on course for the 48 points that he believes will be enough for the team to make the playoffs, but to do that, they now need to be perfect. 

But for Lilley, that might not even be enough, as he admitted after the game that the team's chances of making it into the playoffs are not looking great "Our head is starting to tilt as the water is rising so that we can breathe ... The reality is we put ourselves in position to get a lot more juice in the standings and we just haven't taken advantage of it. It's going to eat away when the season is over if we don't make the playoffs which is more than likely."