Heaps ‘Proud’ of Revs’ Effort
- Updated: March 26, 2016
Photo credit: William Hauser-USA TODAY Sports
It wasn’t the result Revolution coach Jay Heaps was looking for, but after watching his squad go down to 10 men for the second straight game, it’s fair to say he was pleased with what he saw during Saturday’s 1-1 draw against New York City FC.
After Gershon Koffie was issued a straight red card in the 51st minute for a reckless challenge on Tommy McNamara, the Revolution not only held City back, but created a few short-handed opportunities of their own.
“I was proud of our guys,” Heaps told the media after the match. “We came here with the mindset to create chances. I am a little disappointed in our final ball and I thought the first half was a different game than the second.”
Aside from the personnel advantage City held for much of the second half, Saturday’s match was indeed divided into distinct sequences for the guests.
The first half featured scant opportunities for the Revolution. To their credit, they capitalized on one of them in the 38th minute when Chris Tierney fired a 19-yard free kick that deflected off of Steven Mendoza before settling into the back of the net.
Tierney’s fortuitous strike canceled out McNamara’s 10th minute goal, which arrived when the former Western Mass Pioneer nodded through the rebound of a David Villa rocket that smacked off the crossbar.
Despite fielding one fewer player following Koffie’s ejection, the Revolution fought back to find opportunities.
The best chance arrived in the 75th minute when Teal Bunbury lofted a ball ahead to Charlie Davies, who then went 1v1 with goalkeeper Josh Saunders. But after circling Saunders, Davies’ shot was denied by a last-ditch stop by Federico Bravo.
“I should have finished a couple of chances today,” Davies told the media after the match. “With that being said I think I put myself in a great position to finish chances and as we continue to move forward a striker has to have a short-term memory, which I do.”
While Heaps was impressed by the effort, it was no surprise to hear him wish for just a little more on Saturday.
“I wanted to convert more chances,” Heaps said. “I liked the way we fought at the end. When you lose a man you have guys like Pirlo and Villa with a lot more of the ball, and I was proud of the way we defended in that last 20-30 minutes.”
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