Richmond’s tough season continued Saturday night with a 1-0 loss at home to St. Louis FC. Four games in ten days seemed to have taken their toll on the Kickers. The starting lineup for all four matches were similar, and the Reds looked fatigued.
They were still able to create few chances. Their first came in the 6th minute when a free kick midfield led to defender Mallan Roberts dribbling past keeper Adam Grinwis and taking a shot at point blank range. Midfielder Tony Walls came sliding in to block the shot out for a corner.
St. Louis came charging back. Ryan Howe found space down the left side and sent in a dangerous ball across the face of goal. Octavio Guzman was there at the far post with an open net in front, but he couldn’t connect and wasted an excellent chance. He redeemed himself later in the match.
In the 43rd minute, Guzman lobbed a pass to Milan Petosevic who made a turn and created space at the top of the box. His shot forced a diving save from Matt Turner.
After a neutral first half, St. Louis would score immediately after the break. Richmond’s Oscar Umar lost his man on a Guzman corner, and Emmanuel Appiah found the net near post. In yet another match, the Kickers were down 1-0.
Richmond tried to answer in the 55th minute. Samuel Asante sent a bending cross in behind the St. Louis defense. Luiz Fernando was there and struck the ball as he slipped on the wet pitch and fell to the ground. Still, it was a good strike, but Grinwis was there to block the shot out for a corner.
Later in the 2nd half Richmond nearly equalized when a Raul Gonzalez cross came off a St. Louis defender and fell to Braeden Troyer outside the box. Troyer had space and took a shot that beat the keeper but struck the crossbar. Unable to equalize, the match ended 1-0 and Richmond is now 3-11-7 on the season.
The Kickers are grateful to have a few days off before hitting the road next week to face the Pittsburgh Riverhounds. They return to City Stadium for a three-game home stand starting Saturday, August 12th against Orlando City B. Their next few opponents linger in the bottom-half of the USL Eastern Conference table, so hopefully the Kickers will get their attack back on track and score goals.