Richmond Kickers 0, Forward Madison 1
| RICHMOND KICKERS | 0 | |
| FORWARD MADISON FC | 1 | 78′ Payne (Bartman) |
RICHMOND, Va. — The Richmond Kickers (5-4-5, 20 pts) fell 1-0 to Henny Derby rivals Forward Madison FC (5-3-4, 19 pts), Saturday night after the visitors scored a late go-ahead goal in the second half.
The loss marked the first at City Stadium since the home opener on April 1.
The Kickers were on the front foot throughout the first half as they pushed for an early go-ahead. Richmond fired off eight shots with three on target, made 34 final-third entries, and earned over 55 percent of the possession.
The Kickers’ best chance of the first half came in the only minute of stoppage. Nil Vinyals pressed Aiden Mesias near the corner flag and forced an errant pass that Justin Sukow scooped up. The midfielder carried the ball into the box toward the backline and played a cross in front of the goal mouth to Kharlton Belmar near the back post. The forward one-timed his shot but it caught the far post squarely and deflected out of the box.
Out of the break, Madison had a couple of key chances that were snuffed out by Akira Fitzgerald.
In the 48th minute, Christian Chaney was through on goal and tried to chip Fitzgerald as the keeper raced off his line. Fitzgerald maintained his balance and made a palming save with his left hand to deny the chance. Thirty seconds later, Nazeem Bartman hit a low-driven shot from the right side of the box and Fitzgerald dove to deflect the shot away.
Two minutes later, Bartman would try a long-range effort from outside of the box, but Fitzgerald was patient and dove to his right to punch the ball away.
Madison found its go-ahead in the 78th minute when former Kicker, Stephen Payne, found space in the box as Bartman threaded a cross into the danger area. The fullback one-timed his shot on target to break the stalemate.
The Kickers would push to equalize and nearly found it in the 85th minute from fullback Simon Fitch. João Gomiero picked out Emiliano Terzaghi with a lofted through ball as Terzaghi timed his run perfectly and ran past his marker. He quickly crossed the ball to Fitch who made an inside run into the box. As Fitch aimed to thread a shot inside of the near post, Timmy Mehl made a last-second diving tackle and knocked the shot out for a corner kick.
Richmond continues its three-match homestand next Saturday, June 24th when the Kickers host One Knoxville during First Match of the Summer Night. The first 1,000 fans will receive a free pair of Up The Roos sunglasses. The doors at City Stadium are set to open at 5:45 p.m. ahead of the 7 p.m. kickoff. Tickets are available at richmondkickers.com/tickets.
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