November 17, 2002
Memphis Shock at Inter United FC

Coming into this game, both Inter and us were fighting for the lead in D2. Inter had the slight advantage on us by a tune of 2 points after 7 games each. So needless to say this was the game that would all but decide who would be promoted to D1. Some guy from Inter was calling us Goliath and them David. By the record of goals for/against this season, I would beg to differ. We were looking for a good fight. Game day conditions were a mild mid 60’s, cooling off to the low 50’s by the end of the game, and good pitch conditions.

We started the game off with all but 2 players there, so we had plenty of subs. In the 8th minute of the game, Inter got the scoring started off. From a corner kick, an Inter player came through untouched and side footed the ball into the goal. Inter leading 1-0. 20 minutes later Inter got another goal which was totally classless. Bishop got knocked to the ground when he and an Inter were going for a loose ball. The ball got switched over to the left side, where another Inter player was trying to center the ball. We were yelling to kick the ball out since Bishop was on the ground. Our guy tried to clear it and didn’t get all of it. An Inter player saw his opportunity for goal when our team stopped playing and left footed the volley from 35 yards out into the left corner of the goal. It was a marvelous strike, but completely CLASSLESS. At the time of the goal, Bishop had been on the ground for nearly 30 seconds. Inter 2-0.

So since Inter had no class, we knew we had to really buckle down. John nearly got us back in striking range. Jeremy laid off a soft drop to John who took a couple of dribbles and fired a shot from 25 yards out. The ball bounced right in front of the diving keeper who was lucky to get a hand on it. The slight touch on the ball deflected it up just enough to go over the bar and land less than a foot behind the bar on the top of the net.

A few minutes before halftime, Todd kicked a ball away from an Inter player and was running to the middle of the field where the ball was going. The Inter player stuck his foot out to trip Todd. Todd got up and surprising kept his cool. The Inter player received a yellow. A few minutes later it was halftime.

Going into the half the score line was 2-0 Inter. In all honesty, it should’ve been 1-1. But it wasn’t. Inter wasn’t controlling the game like they thought they would. We were getting them out of their rhythm with our good play. It was crunch time, time for the 2nd half.

We started the second half off strong. In the 5th minute of the half, JJ was released from midfield and had a one-on-one with the keeper. JJ beat the keeper but couldn’t beat the right post. The ball hit the post and somehow bounced towards the middle of the box where it was cleared by a defender. Ohhh so close. A few minutes later, Kip got a yellow for coming in pretty hard on a tackle.

The following play had our guys going crazy. Bishop just back heeled a pass to John that split 2 Inter players. The Inter player who looked like Jesus, came in on John from behind with his studs up pretty hard. John went down and Jason came over to Jesus and got in his face. Jesus pushed Jason away putting his hands to his face, and a little brew-ha-ha occurred. After getting our guys away, the center ref only gave Jesus a yellow card. It was clearly a red card for Jesus, and could’ve also been one for Jason too. We were reminding the ref, whose wife in the head of DC, that Billy got 4 games for much less of an infraction than Jesus did. Like I said, shoulda been a red.

With 20 minutes left in the half, we had another great opportunity for a goal. JJ was sent a long ball from the back and he outran his defenders. His one-on-one with the goalie produced a shot that went straight at the keeper’s feet that was eventually cleared away. Minutes later the ref completely blew another call. Bishop was on the left side of the field and sent a ball in the middle of the box. Jesus hit the ball with his knee, next his hand, and then dropped to his foot which he kicked out of bounds. Everyone on our team were up in arms over this unbelievably missed call. The ref did his justice, I guess, by giving Matt a yellow card for getting all over the ref. NOTE TO REF: THIS IS NOT THE REAL JESUS. YOU CAN MAKE THE CORRECT CALLS AGAINST HIM.

So we had to throw caution to the wind with less than 12 minutes left. We only kept 2 guys back at defense. We got burned by this twice. One of a jumping header and the other on a one-on-one with Baxter. Inter 4-0. Baxter came out in the field for a few minutes and stuck Dennis back there. Dennis did stop a one-on-one with the forward, and then stopped the rebound shot also. A few minutes later, game was over.

Even though we did not win, we put a great effort into this game. The 4-0 score line is not indicative of the way the game was played. I thought that we had a very good chance to win the game today. If not for some bad calls and lack of class and fair play, the score would’ve been different. We could’ve won this game. But as soccer goes, you don’t win them all.

Congratulations to Inter United FC for winning D2 this season. The showed that on the field they are the best team in D2. I expected more from them as far as attitudes during the game. They complained about everything on and off the field. Even though they got the call, there was still complaining. Not to mention the play when they got their goal. After the final whistle they were much better sports. A true champion is the same way on and off the field. That’s just my opinion.

We’ve still got 2 games left the play which I think we can have favorable outcomes in. While all is not lost, we are playing to finish high up in the division. Considering the talent that we were up against today, I think we did a great job playing with them. A complete 180 from our game against the Spartans.

Dennis Thompson