September 24, 2017.
To the best of our knowledge that was the last time the United German Hungarians beat Vereinigung Erzgebirge in a competitive match. That was also the last win of a five plus year stretch of our own where U.G.H. didn’t lose a game to VE.
Over the last five years and 15+ games VE was becoming one of the best teams in the region while we were going thru a long overdue rebuild. Sunday’s 1:0 win was due for U.G.H., and it was deserved. The previous two games were both ties that we probably edged a bit and possibly deserved all 3 points, so the team came into the game Sunday with confidence that it was their day.
It was the last group match of the new format of the EPSA Robert O’Neil Amateur Cup. U.G.H. needed a win to advance, while VE could get thru with a win or tie. Colonial had already qualified from their group and was waiting in the semifinals.
We got off to a quick start with Sixtus Akinlosotu breaking free within the first minute and was clear on goal and should have done better. The field and conditions weren’t great so joga bonita was out of the question. It was an old school U.G.H. vs VE battle and we implemented a high press and tried to play as much in the VE half as possible. Around the 20th minute Mike Liska let go with a long-range effort that the VE keeper tipped onto the bar and out. The goal would finally come a few minutes later. Some great Gegenpressing by Dan Grindrod to win the ball back to Adam Nork. A quick ball to Sixtus who slipped in Jason Pixley to one time it into the corner. As a team, we put a big focus on winning the ball back in the attacking third and transitioning quickly to offense. This was a great example of that. Pixley has been struggling to find the back of the net but has been impacting games in other ways. He deserved to finally get one on the board and hopefully he can now go on a roll. After the goal, we didn’t press on as they hoped with VE having a great response and having the better of the play for the remaining 15-20 minutes.
The 2nd half was an even affair with both teams competing at a very high level. Neither team forced either keeper into much activity. As VE pushed, we had some chances towards the end of the half to put the game away but couldn’t make the chances count. It almost came back to haunt us as the man in the middle surprisingly added five extra minutes. VE had a flurry of corners and throw-ins deep in U.G.H. territory. VE is tremendous on set plays and corners, so it was a real concern, but we hung on. James Brett showed a strong performance in net to get the shutout.
It’s not supposed to be easy to get a cup win at the Erzgebirge and it wasn’t. The celebrations moved into the Ratskeller where VE (as usual) were great hosts. The two teams will face each other for the third time this fall on Sunday December 11 in the Open Cup Semi-Final.
Jason Karasow
Head Coach
Below you will find downloadable copies of the EPSA Amateur and Open Cup “brackets” as well as a copy of the state cup policies.
- Amateur Cup Brackets – UPDATED 11/14
- EPSACupPolicies 2022-2023 final 0802
* The EPSA portion of the National Amateur Cup is named for Robert M. O’Neill. While the national competition is not named after an individual, the trophy presented to the national champion is a silver cup named the “Fritz Marth Trophy.”
