The game was a cold, blustery one. My son and I didn't dress as warmly as we should've, so we huddled next to a wall in Section 208, a new vantage point for me directly west of the northern goal.
The game was a pretty open affair and could've gone either way. Our "disciplined" defending that I noted earlier wasn't so disciplined. Or maybe it was too disciplined and not heated enough. We seemed tentative in closing down the opposition, giving them space (and, thus, time) to turn the ball -- even IN the box -- or make runs. Fortunately, we had luck and Onstad on our side.
On the other end of the field, in the attacking third, we seemed indecisive when we had time in front of the goal. Dalglish, DeRo, and Ching were shut down when going 1v1 with the GK (the young Guzan). When we didn't have time and had to rely on raw, viceral reflexes, we did better. Davis, Mullan, and Gray had at least an excellent chance apiece, and Ching scored the only goal of the game on his calling card header from a Davis freekick. We (my son and I) were walking down the steps between Section 210 and 211 during the kick and had the perfect vantage point for the goal and subsequent celebration.
All in all, Dynamo kept up the trend of soft first halves and solid second halves. We got the 3 points, and that's what matters, but we won't get many of them if we refuse to play 90 minutes of soccer -- 45 minutes just won't cut it.
Odds and ends...
It was good to see the Dynamo youth team recognized at the beginning of the match. They've done well in a short time, and here's hoping that the system becomes a credit to the community and the Dynamo organization.
Hey, what was Guzan complaining to the ref about in the second half? Looked like he didn't like something the Texian Army was doing. Maybe he didn't like the fluttering streamers.
Speaking of windswept: the flag looked good! A full-sized Dynamo flag (2-sided) flew above a similarly sized (if not same size) Championship flag. Very nice -- should've had these up the first day (or skipped the flag ceremony).
And with all the wind and cold, I felt sorry for the skimpily dressed and newly introduced Dynamo Girls. Hopefully their welcome warmed them enough. They were pleasantly posing for pictures with happy guys at the end of the match. My son (who's 10) felt compelled to avert his eyes as we walked past them. (Here's a raw vid of their Friday intro.)
I saw Craig Roberts watching the game just to the right of Section 109 towards the end of the match. Semper Fi.
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2 comments:
I heard that someone threw a battery at Guzan, which is why he approached the ref.
I hope that is just a rumor, God, someone throwing a battery is something that can easily end in the suspension of the stadium for a game.
Now, talking about the cold Sunday, yes, it was cold, but I prefer a cold day than a very hot and humid day, I know this is Houston and we don´t get really cold days, but folks in the north go to football games in really, really cold days, this was nothing in my opinion.
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