July 3, 2016: at AFC Ann Arbor

July 3, 2016
NPSL Regular Season
Hollway Field, Ann Arbor, MI

AFC Ann Arbor 1, Detroit City FC 3
AFC AA  Willie Bayemi 56′
DCFC  Cyrus Saydee 74′
DCFC  Tyler Moorman (Cyrus Saydee) 80′
DCFC  Cyrus Saydee  83′

Attendance: ?

This will go down as another of our fabulous road trip matches. like the June 20, 2015 and May 30, 2014 road trips to Cincinnati.  It was an important match, as AFC Ann Arbor was one of the two teams ahead of us in the standings.

We occupied a good portion of the visiting bleachers.  A decent crowd showed up for Ann Arbor, but their supporters group, the Main Street Hooligans, numbered twenty-four.  Someone counted them.

After an uneventful first half, the intensity picked up in the second.  Willie Bayemi capitalized on a City defensive lapse, and put the ball past keeper Cody Lang to give Ann Arbor the lead in the 56th minute.  The longer they held the lead, the murmur of a chant from the Main Street Hooligans crossed the field.

“If you’re in first place and you know it, clap your hands.”

But Cyrus Saydee silenced them.  First, he put the ball past Ann Arbor keeper, Fabian Veit in the 74th minute.

Then, on a corner kick, he crossed the ball toward the back post where Tyler Moorman tapped it home in the 80th minute.

 

And finally, three minutes later, with Ann Arbor feeling the pressure, Veit gave up the ball to Cyrus, who chipped it over and beyond the helpless keeper.

At the conclusion of the match, City closed the gap on first place.

Grand Rapids FC:  5 wins, 4 draws, 1 loss, 19 points.
AFC Ann Arbor:     5 wins, 3 draws, 2 losses, 18 points.
Detroit City FC:     4 wins,  4 draws, 2 losses, 16 points.

There’s the old, ‘woulda, shoulda, coulda’ speculation of what-might-have-been had Le Rouge won two days prior against Grand Rapids, instead of the draw.  For if they had, all three teams would have 18 points with 2 matches remaining.