Sometimes, it seems meant to be.
Birmingham Legion were supposed to host Rhode Island on August 1st, but after a two hour rain delay the game got postponed by 23 hours. The result? Three months to the day since their last league win, Birmingham Legion found themselves hosting the same opponent that success came against.
And for the first time in the last 10 USL Championship games, they left the field with three points.
Ronaldo Damus scored the only goal off a Rhode Island FC defensive miscommunication to give the Three Sparks the 1-0 win. It was only his second goal of the season, with the last one coming, you guessed it, on May 2nd against the same opponent.
“I feel so happy,” Damus said. “Not because I scored a goal, but because the most important thing is that we got the three points.”
Jay Heaps, who celebrated his 50th birthday this same day, said he received the perfect gift from his players.
“It’s been a tough week in terms of the last home game getting cancelled, and then a tough game in Louisville,” Heaps said. “We had to respond. It wasn’t our best performance from a technical or tactical standpoint, but it was a really great three points and to grind out a tough win.”
Added to that tough week, the team originally showed up for the game on August 1st, with kickoff set for 7 p.m. that evening. Less than 10 minutes before then, severe weather caused an initial 30-minute delay to proceedings.
Those 30 minutes soon turned into an hour, then an hour and a half with no signs of improvement. Finally, the game was announced to be kicking off at 8:56, and then delayed further to 9:20 before finally being called off at 9 p.m. During that entire time, players had been waiting in the locker room, trying to keep themselves ready to go out and play.
Instead, they suddenly needed to readjust to a new kick-off time the following day.
“It [impacts preparation] a lot,” Heaps said. “You get a full warm-up in, and … the guys were ready to go and wanted to play last night. So when you get that pulled back, you just have to reset. Guys responded well, got in here a little bit earlier today to make sure we were prepping the right way and the focus was there.”
“It was hard,” Damus added. “Because yesterday, we all were waiting for the game. But it is what it is. Even though the game was cancelled, we still stayed locked in because we think we should be ready for anytime.”
Once the game finally got underway this evening, both teams took a little bit of time to get into it.
Birmingham had a few dangerous forward excursions but were never able to pull the trigger. The first real chance fell to former Legion man JJ Williams, who’s back post attempt was just turned out for a corner by Jassem Koleilat.
As has often been the case this season, Koleilat was the standout performer for the Three Sparks in that first half. After an 11-save performance in the midweek loss to Louisville, the Czech shotstopper was once again crucial between the sticks. He made a big save with an outstretched leg in the 28th minute and parried a shot from the edge of the box onto the crossbar just four minutes later.
Up the other end, Legion threatened but could not get a shot off.
Damus finally got his team’s first attempt on goal in the 53rd minute, but it was straightforward for Koke Vegas to claim. But 10 minutes later, the Haitian’s persistant in running paid off.
After Phanuel Kavita attempted a long ball over the top, RIFC’s Grant Stoneman beat Damus to the ball. However, his header back missed his goalkeeper, who had come out to claim. Damus, having sense the opportunity, had kept running and got an easy tap-in as a result.
“As a striker, I have to be always ready for anything,” Damus said. “Anything can happen. That’s why, when I play, I always stay locked in for every opportunity I get, to finish it.”
The Three Sparks nearly doubled the advantage six minutes later when Samuel Shashoua smashed a left-footed attempt off the crossbar from the corner of the box.
Legion retreated to a defensive mindset soon after, looking to keep their clean sheet to ensure the win. Bryce Washington and Seth Antwi both had important clearances off of crosses, but the visitors looked unlikely to score for the remainder of the game.
Given Legion’s defensive struggled recently, notably off of set pieces, Heaps and Sebastian Tregarthen both lauded the defensive effort put out by the backline.
“I’m very happy for the whole team, because it was a great performance especially defensively,” Tregarthen said. “We’ve been struggling a little bit, especially with set pieces, but I think today we were 100% focused on defending our goal.”
As the whistle blew for full-time, players, coaches and fans celebrated only the team’s third league win of the season.
Despite their struggles to get three points, the team’s eight draws (second-most in the league) means they’re still in with an outside chance of making the playoffs. The Black and Gold currently sit in 11th, four points off Indy Eleven in that final playoff spot.
With an in-conference game against the team right below them in the standings, expansion side Brooklyn FC, next week, Legion’s trip to New York feels like a must win to get momentum going and keep postseason hopes alive.
“It’s critical,” Heaps said. “It’s a place we haven’t played yet, so it’ll be a new trip. We’ve got to get healthy — we lose a day of preparation because of yesterday — but the reality is, tonight was a good step forward but now we have to build on it. It’s like we talk about, putting multiple games together. That’s the only way you can rise in the table is to put together back-to-back wins, so that’s important for us.”
Birmingham Legion take on Brooklyn FC at 6 p.m. August 8 at Maimonides Park. The game will be streamed live on My68 WABM and ESPN+.
Follow Timothy Belin on Twitter/X, Instagram, Facebook or Bluesky to stay up to date on all things Legion this season.
Leave a Reply