Birmingham Legion traveled to a winless Monterey Bay FC looking to finally kickstart their season. A sorry showing ensured the hosts got their first three points of the season instead.

The Three Sparks have held the majority of possession in most games this season, but the early minutes in California saw a near-total dominance for Monterey. The home team kept hold of the ball and recycled possession well, forcing Jassem Koleilat into his first intervention seven minutes into the game.

The Czech shotstopper ended up much busier than his Monterey counterpart, former Legion man Fernando Delgado, who did not face a shot of his own until well past the half-hour mark. Even then, the Three Sparks’ chance came against the run of play.

Legion struggled to show much energy early on and allowed Monterey to dominate the ball. Sebastian Tregarthen in particular, playing right back in the absence of Amir Daley, struggled repeatedly with defending his flank and was lucky to avoid a booking after multiple fouls.

The poor start could have been made irrelevant when a quick counter in the 37th minute ended with a Gevork Diarbian through ball to Ronaldo Damus. The Haitian just about poked the ball past Delgado, but not with enough strength to get it over the line. Any different kind of touch and the Black and Gold would have had a completely undeserved 1-0 lead.

By halftime, it was clear something needed to change, with Sam McIllhatton’s absence particularly notable in midfield. Seth Antwi and Kadeem Cole struggled to get anything going in the middle of the park, and the players in front of them were just as sloppy on the ball.

Jay Heaps opted against any halftime changes, however, and for a brief moment it looked like his words alone had actually done the trick. Birmingham came out of the break energised and took control for the first 10 minutes, with lengthy spells of possession and multiple final-third entries.

Those efforts all went to waste on the hour mark.

In the 60th minute, Legion’s left side completely switched off to allow Monterey acres of space down the flank. With nobody pressuring him in the box, Sebastian Lletget had all the time in the world to find Riley Bidois with a cutback. The striker, completely free in the box, needed just one touch to divert the cross past a helpless Koleilat.

Heaps responded with his first change of the night, bringing on Samuel Shashoua for Peter-Lee Vassell. The Englishman’s return from injury was a welcome sight and he busied himself trying to make something happen, but Delgado remained untested.

It wasn’t until another pair of substitutions in the 74th minute that Legion looked likely to score, as Leo Duru came on for Cole. The right back almost immediately found space down the flank to send in an inviting ball for Tyler Pasher to attack, but, with the goal gaping, the Canadian sent his shot well over the bar.

Monterey compounded Legion’s misery by immediately going up the other end and doubling their advantage. Once again, Legion appeared to simply switch off and completely lose their players, making it much too easy for the hosts to slip Eduardo Blancas through on goal for the 2-0.

Legion had a few half chances to halve the deficit in the final 10 minutes, but never really looked likely to score. Delgado maintained his clean sheet at the expense of his former employers, who will have a lot of reflecting to do after their lacklustre display.

With their next game seeing them host perennial heavyweight Louisville City, the Three Sparks cannot afford to come out as flat in that encounter as they did in California.

Birmingham Legion host Louisville City at 7 p.m. June 3 at Protective Stadium.

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