The A-League Championship was played tonight up in Franklin, WI. In a thrilling game, the game was decided in the second overtime. Final Milwaukee 2 Richmond 1 OT
Wolyneic scored for the Rampage on a nice solo effort right b4 the half. Ferruzi bagged a PK early in the second half for Richmond & soon after, Rivillo banged a PK off the bar for Milwaukee. Sinisa Angelovski scored the 106th minute golden goal. After Wolyneic knocked down a long ball from the right midfield, Angelovski ran onto the ball just outside the box and volleyed it low inside the near post.
What a fantastic game and a great night! This game had everything. It was a seesaw battle where the teams took turns capturing the run of play. Wolyniec makes a goal out of absolutely nothing, beating three defenders and the keeper from an unpromising angle. Richmond gets a PK gift. Both teams play well until the second OT period when the 'Page scored on a quick attack to become 2002 A-League Champs. The ref got into the act with a controversial non-call on what probably should have been a Rampage PK followed by a controversial PK call for Richmond for what was less than what happened at the other endof the pitch followed by Wolyniec finally drawing the PK the 'Page should have gotten the first time. Of course, the 'Page keep the drama going by clanging the PK shot off the crossbar. Finally, the wining goal that took everyone by surprise because the set up didn't look that dangerous until the ball was on its way to the back of the net. Both keepers played well. The Rampage had to deal with more scrambling in their penalty area and some of those scrambles were nerve-wracking. Wolyniec was a dagger into the Kickers defense with his runs at goal. Whereas Bob Bradley tried to use John as a Razov substitute, Boro has him playing like he should be playing, attacking the goal. It paid off during this game. While I thought the Rampage played too much long ball, Wolyniec was a good target and he caused the Kickers defense no end of hassles. John was a worthy A-League final MVP. It's a shame the Fire can't call him up today because we could really use his play right now with our offense gone injured or otherwise AWOL. The fans were great, too. Massive respect to the Richmond fans who made it up to the game. And mad props to some local kids who brought their band instruments with them. Two drummers and lots of horns made it sound like a college gridball game. Those guys kicked ass. And, of course, there's nothing like being there with friends when the team you're supporting wins the championship. And, of course, it was nice to be able to get on the field after the game to be right there for the trophy presentation and to congratulate the players personally. Now I know how the lucky Fire fans who went to MLS Cup '98 felt. By the way, John Wolyniec wished the Fire good luck today against the Revs when I talked to him.
Joe, I looked for you guys, but didn't think of looking on the east side. It probably wasn't a good idea for me to be standing, or sitting on the grass anyways. The pep band was a lot of fun too. I was on sucky ref Terry Vaughan all night, maybe you heard me. Josh Henderson (Richmond striker) is a whiny bitch. Nice turnout of Richmond supporters. Kickeroo was a blast. If you watch the tape there's a flash from the far light standard right after the golden goal. That was me taking a picture. Hope it turns out half decent. A big night for players with FIRE ties. He was the game MVP, and Woly had the dirtiest shirt on the pitch, too. Besides Woly, ex-FIRE Reserves Bobo & Lara went all the way at marking back & libero respectively. Both of them should get some nice raises wherever they play next season. Miguel Saavedra played the first 70 minutes and got smacked around a bit, drawing a couple of bookings. He also took most of the dead ball serves for the Rampage. Craig Capano came on in the first overtime & didn't factor too much.