by Chloe Notowich
June 1, 2024 (7:00pm) – After a long hard battle, One Knoxville FC loses to Richmond Kickers 2-1 at home. Both goals for Richmond scored early in the first half led to a game of keep up for One Knox.
Despite the score, One Knox dominated the whole game. The overall ball possession was 68% for One Knox and 32% for Richmond. They also had 514 total passes that were 85% accurate while Richmond had 245 total passes in which 72% were accurate.
In the first half, Richmond immediately started with good movement. In the sixth minute, Simon Fitch cut it back and played it to Chandler O’Dwyer who made a run in the box. He struck the ball at the near post, and One Knox goalie Sean Lewis saved it. Just two minutes later, Richmond capitalized on a cross made by Nil Vinyals where it was headed into the goal by O’Dwyer.
In the 17th minute, O’Dwyer did a give-n-go down the left side and crossed it back toward the top of the box on the ground. It was then shot at the near post and scored by Adrian Billhardt. One Knox made a few chances but their lack of pressure and movement in the final third prevented them from any goals in the first half. At the 40th minute, Frank Ross hit a through ball to Stuart Ritchie who crossed it toward the box but no one was there to finish it off.
The half finished at 2-0. Luckily, the second half brought out more intensity between both teams.
In the 55th minute, Tekiela passed it to One Knox player, Rodolfo Castro, who then one touch passed it back as a through ball in the box. Tekiela cut it back and then is tackled by James Vaughan after the ball was played, giving a penalty kick to One Knox.
Ross hit the PK mid-air toward the right side and Richmond’s goalie Pablo Jara dove and saved it. Tekiela ran on as the ball was initially hit and rebounded, passing it into the left side of the goal, scoring in the 56th minute.
From there, the momentum was on One Knox’s side as more chances were created. A great switch was made to James Thomas where he dribbled and crossed it but was saved by Jara in the 67th minute.
Fouls became an issue between both teams. In the second half, twelve fouls were committed by Richmond and 11 fouls were committed by One Knox.
In the 74th minute, the ref sprinted over almost running into One Knox player, Callum Johnson, to give him a yellow card after a bad foul. Both teams ran up in a huddle that quickly got split apart. Further controversy ensued when Vinyals earned his second yellow card and was kicked out of the game, leaving Richmond without a player.
Angelo Kelly began to up the tempo and created better movement in the midfield for One Knox. Toward the 90th minute, he passed it to Thomas who crossed it into the air where Tekiela headed it and nearly missed the goal to the right.
During stoppage time, there were boos from the audience as many people stood up after Castro gets called for a foul in the 91st minute. Though there was better movement and pressure in the second half, One Knox was unable to capitalize in the final third, ending the game at 2-1.
One Knox stays tied for third in the USL 1 regular seasn standings and Richmond stays at number eight.
One Knox’s next home game is Saturday, June 8th at 7:00 pm against Lexington SC at Regal Soccer Stadium. Come join us in celebrating Pride Night and continuing our rivalry against Lexington in the Battle for the Barrel!