Heading into the half Friday night, Louisville City FC trailed 1-0 to visiting Bethlehem Steel FC, and the boys in black had little going on their attack.
That changed out of the locker room as coach James O’Connor used two of his three allotted substitutions at the break, bringing on midfielders Brian Ownby and Richard Ballard for the final 45 minutes.
The duo created pressure that ultimately led to a comeback effort and 2-2 draw at Slugger Field.
“When you look at it, I think the two lads obviously have a lot of pace,” O’Connor said. “I just think we needed to just try to raise the level a little bit, and I thought we did that.”
Ownby tallied three shots, while Ballard’s movement in the center of the field set up teammate Oscar Jimenez’s game-tying free kick.
“We were pretty dominant (in the) second half,” O’Connor said. “I think we had a couple good chances to go and actually win the game.”
Here’s more from the match…
• LouCity hosted its first-ever Friday night home game, one deemed a success off the pitch with 8,303 on hand. O’Connor more than once pointed out the support in his postgame press conference, saying both players and fans “gave maximum effort.”
• O’Connor also explained the sequence that led to Kyle Smith’s 55th-minute penalty kick that opened scoring for LouCity. Forward Luke Spencer earned the penalty and appeared poised to take it. But O’Connor overruled, asking Smith to step up after Steel FC caused a lengthy delay.
“I think you have too much time to think and overanalyze,” the coach said of Spencer. “…I just wanted Kyle then to grab the ball and just take it and almost take the pressure off because I think when that happens, it felt like an eternity.”
• A draw marked LouCity’s first deadlock in 11 straight games dating back to July 8 when the club tied 1-1 away against the Charleston Battery. Coming off a draw, LouCity’s 2-1-1 this season with its next fixture Wednesday night against the Rochester Rhinos, also at Slugger Field.
