By Will Martin
It took 71 minutes to get Team Schellas going but once the wheels were in motion there would be no stoppage of an 11 game winless streak and a road win for the first time since March 30th in New England.
What made this 3-1 victory even sweeter was the fact that it had been quite a while since FC Dallas was successful against the team of Rojiblanco’s.
A well-earned three points that will hopefully bode well for confidence when FC Dallas takes on the Earthquakes of San Jose this Saturday at 7 pm. Last meeting was on May 25th. A game FC Dallas won.
After falling behind 1-0 in Carson California to Chivas USA courtesy of a Bryan De La Fuerte goal in the 43rd minute on the heels of a Delgado assist. It looked as if FC Dallas was going to follow an all-too familiar script…until…
Blas Perez would knot the game up at a goal apiece in the 71st minute with two nice feeds from Fabian Castillo and David Ferreira. Okay, no deficit now. It had been darn near five months since a road win much less three points. Was there more Red to Raise this night or would there be another tie and point gained albeit a nice effort?
Yes and no, thankfully!
It was in the 86th minute that FC Dallas took the lead and kept it when David Ferreira would chip on past Kennedy following a nice pass from David Nunez. An insurance goal was added by Ramon Nunez himself in the 90th minute on a crisp chip-feed by Blas Perez for a 3-1 final for FC Dallas.
As one might surmise Schellas Hyndman was beyond pleased with the overall team performance.
“I think it just comes down to the character of the players and determination of the players,” Hyndman told MLSsoccer.com by phone from the StubHub Center in Carson, Calif. “They were determined to come away with three points. A lot of teams would have sat back and said, ‘We’re down a man, let’s get a point on the road and we’ll feel good about it.’
“I don’t think we’re in that position where we can get just a point. We have to fight for three points.”
Coach also had some positive vibes to pass along to Ramon Nunez.
“I think that was the most productive he’s looked,” Hyndman said of Nuñez. “There’s things that we’ve still got to get him to do, but the thing that he likes to do is he likes to get forward, he likes to penetrate and he likes to shoot the ball. In this game, we needed him to do those things and it paid off making that sub.”
Winning sure cures many ills, including overall locker room ambiance I am guessing?
“The mood in the locker room was, everybody was smiling, everybody was like it was back to the old days, everybody’s happy with themselves,” said Hyndman. “They are playing for their families and they’re playing for the FC Dallas fans and everybody who loves FC Dallas and that was a monkey on their backs as well as on the coach’s back.
“Getting this win, we’re hoping that more and more positive things will keep coming to us.”
Here here Schellas. FC Dallas (9-7-9) now prepares for a home game against the Earthquakes of San Jose. With 36 points and the 6th seed in the Western Conference FC Dallas will have to scratch, claw, and battle to stay within the top 5 for playoff consideration. If the season ended today despite the same number of points as Vancouver, the WhiteCaps get in on tie breakers.
