Ballard FC

Great atmosphere and a good win. We really let some opportunities slip through our fingers in the first half - could easily have been 3-0 if Stas had gotten that header on the floated cross by Kingston on target, or someone had been crashing the box to poke that ground cross in. I thought we might have gone a bit too defensive in the second half, in the 5-4-1 - invited a lot more pressure - but in the end they were able to see out the game pretty professionally.

Other thoughts:

• hard to find fault with the man who had a brace. There were a few times where Stas was dominating in hold up play, though, and might have been able to get his head up to lay the ball off to PK, Danny, or Declan making a run, instead losing possession. Still, their CBs had no chance.
• Peter Kingston continues to be unplayable on the wing. Another great match.
• Danny Robles looked great in the midfield - great vision, defensive tenacity, really facilitating the high press by immediately harassing any attempts to play through the middle.
• I thought Declan had a bit of an off game by his high standards, in contrast - some good moments early and a good free kick that was saved, but dispossessed a few times in positions that led to brief counters, and didn't have as much of an impact on the match. Wasn't surprised to see the sub, but hopefully it was just a bit of an off night. With his quality expecting a turnaround on Sunday!
• The back line was outstanding as usual. Burney and Alvarez were a wall and always in the right position to cover for any balls played to runners in the channels. This allowed Thetsane and Brisco to take turns providing aggressive width in attack, overloading with Gaffney and Kingston, and New Mexico United had no answer.

Looking forward to Sunday. Yet another match against Oly Town, the only team that has beaten Ballard this year... Here's hoping for something more along the lines of the 4-0 result in the first match against them this year.