Three days after failing to score against Charleston Battery, Birmingham Legion continued a worrying trend in front of goal.
Despite getting several chances to win the game after a 1-1 first half, the Three Sparks lacked the ruthless edge Mark Briggs said they needed after Wednesday’s game.
“That’s not good enough,” Briggs said on Wednesday. “You work hard to create those moments. You got to be ruthless in those moments.”
Birmingham had shown a ruthlessness in the first 45 minutes, scoring with their only shot on target. The Three Sparks did a lot of defending before going ahead on a direct play started by Fernando Delgado.
The young goalkeeper was a surprise inclusion in the starting lineup given Matt van Oekel’s midweek heroics, but showed exactly what he brings to the side. A long ball over the top found a streaking Stephen Turnbull down the wing.
The right back strode into the Rhode Island defensive area before delivering a perfect cross onto the head of Ronaldo Damus. The Haitian made no mistake to put the visitors ahead.
The goal came against the run of play and ended the Legion’s first real period of sustained possession. It did not matter to them, and it put them in the driving seat against a team they have yet to beat.
Birmingham Legion’s midfield struggled to retain the ball for most of the half, prompting wave after wave of Rhode Island attacks. However, the defense stood firm to prevent any real opportunities until right before the break.
In the 44th minute, a turnover in midfield ended with the ball at Noah Fuson’s feet just outside the area. The midfielder made no mistake, curling in a perfect left-footed shot into the bottom corner of Delgado’s goal.
Birmingham then had a terrible start to the second half as defensive stalwart Phanuel Kavita went down injured just eight minutes after the restart. The Rwanda international has been impressive at the heart of Legion’s three-man defense but pulled up with an apparent left hamstring injury and will now face a spell on the sidelines.
An enforced change brought on Jake Rufe, but it did not prevent Legion from enjoying a much better second-half display.
In the 58th minute, Enzo Martรญnez found himself completely unmarked in the penalty area following a knock down on a wide free-kick. Though he appeared offside, the flag did not go up. But the Uruguayan could not convert the chance, RIFC’s Jackson Lee making a massive stop.
“We’ve got to be more ruthless,” Briggs said after similar big chances went unexploited Wednesday. “That’s where we have to go. If that falls to Cal Jennings, it’s a goal and they win.”
Though those comments were made three days ago, they applied perfectly to numerous chances Saturday night as well.
Damus briefly thought he had a brace in the 66th minute, but an offside flag called the play back. Tyler Pasher then went closest for the Legion, hitting the left post on two occasions in the final 20 minutes.
The first came in the 73rd minute after a beautiful AJ Paterson through ball. One-on-one with the goalkeeper, Pasher tried to curl it inside the post only for Lee to deflect it onto the upright.
The next one was even closer, beating Lee in the 88th minute and careening off the inside of the post.
A few other chances went begging due to the lack of a final ball or dribble. Turnbull had a golden chance to get a second assist when a counter put him in the box with two unmarked Legion players waiting in the area, but he could not beat his man on the cross.
In stoppage time, Danny Trejo then squared up a defender one-on-one to go through on goal but could not execute the dribble. Moments later, he got a second chance and successfully evaded his marker only to underhit the crossfield ball to an unmarked Sebastian Tregarthen.
There were to be no more big chances either side, with Rhode Island’s first-half goal remaining their only shot on target of the game. After three games in eight weeks, the Three Sparks will now get a slight breather before another road game on Friday.
Birmingham Legion travel to North Carolina FC at 6:30 p.m. July 11. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
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