Greg Bechard put the Baltimore Kings on the board with a well-executed goal from a throw-in play near the penalty area. However, the Kings could not hold that lead to the final whistle as they drew 1-1 with Maryland United in Upper Marlboro, MD earlier today.
Before I go into the details of the game, I must make an administrative announcement: the Annandale game that I had marked down as a potential forfeit victory has been rescheduled to next Sunday, when the league championship game was to take place. The league will no longer have that game take place in favor of rewarding the best team in the regular season with the league title. The game Sunday will take place at Annandale High School in Annandale, VA, which is close to Springfield and Alexandria at 4PM.
The theme of the game was the somewhat disjointed effort from the players in the desert-like heat. It seemed the players were going out to do their own thing and not truly buying into the system EJ Jackson, the head coach, wants to play all the time. It seemed that the ugly bout of lack of conditioning plagued the Kings in the second half. Players were gassed more than usual, with one player getting overheated during his time on the pitch today.
The goalkeeping was excellent today. Neither keeper made any match-changing mistakes. The Annandale goal was a total team breakdown after a costly turnover in the midfield. Which brings me nicely to my next point. The midfield has to learn how to remain calm on the ball and retain possession, especially the defensive midfielders. All season long, they have turned the ball over numerous times, some of which led to opposition goals.
The forward play was as good as could be expected under the circumstances, but at the professional level, some half chances are the best chances in the game, there was one play in the second half where a Kings player had the ball at an acute angle very close to the net and shot it wide.
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