Friendly League

Khachatryan Center
Spectators: 50 (Terracing: 38, Seating: 11, VIP seats: 1) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Edgardo Silva started the match with the kick off. In the 3rd minute, Edgardo Silva hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. In the 7th match minute, New England Minas was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Glen Conklin to maneuver through the defense. Thanks to New England Minas's goalie finding himself so far out he could grab the ball Merlin Castro tried to make a shot after getting passed the defense. Jeremy Nicholas seemed to really have strength and confidence after that save. With a couple of smart ball manuevers Edgardo Silva in the 16th managed to get into a good position. With a left leg Jermaine Richmond saved Khachatryan from getting behind. After 17 minutes Khachatryan's defender was forced to head the ball over the line for a corner. It was Glen Conklin who took care of the corner kick. Jermaine Richmond showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Alperen Öksüz in the 19th minute of the match. The audience thought a goal was coming when Albert Paulíny got free with Jeremy Nicholas in the 21st minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. After some careless play in the Khachatryan defense, Alperen Öksüz kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Jermaine Richmond. The Khachatryan fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Jermaine Richmond should have stopped the shot. After 27 played minutes New England Minas got a freekick which was hit by Jörgen Frohm. Jeremy Nicholas made a fantastic save in the 29th minute, when Merlin Castro sent off a good shot on target. Merlin Castros short, quick shot in the 30thth minute got Jeremy Nicholas to make great effort and bar the ball away from getting in. Jeremy Nicholas made an important save on a dangerous shot by Tigran Kirakosyan in the 32nd minute. Tigran Kirakosyan could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 34th minute of the match, but Jeremy Nicholas made a huge save. 43 minutes into the match, New England Minas's goalkeeper Jeremy Nicholas had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Merlin Castro.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Merlin Castro to make the kick off. Jeremy Nicholas made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Sung McKinley in the 53rd minute of play. New England Minas's Jeremy Nicholas played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Sung McKinley in the 60th minute of play. In the 61st minute of the match, Tony Pacheco got a very nice opportunity to score, but Jermaine Richmond was well-placed and pushed the ball away from the goal at the left post. New England Minas's Tio Lio was substituted for Edgardo Silva. New England Minas's Emmitt Benson was substituted for Alperen Öksüz. In the 66th minute of the match Khachatryan got a corner. New England Minas's goalie ran out to the linesman to protest the call, but the linesman resolutely pointed his flag at the cornerflag. Merlin Castro ran over to the corner to take the kick. Merlin Castro made a great header on Khachatryan's corner, it was just that New England Minas's Jeremy Nicholas managed to reach the ball for a save. The audience was convinced that Bernardo Caballero's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Jeremy Nicholas was relentless in the 66th minute of the game. Jermaine Richmond took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Tony Pacheco, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. New England Minas's attacker deliberately struck the ball against an opponent to win a corner for his team. The corner was taken by Glen Conklin in the 77th minute. A nice corner shot did that Ye Gang Cheng got away a dangerous shot. Despite this Jermaine Richmond quite easily got ahold of the ball to make the save. The audience thought a goal was coming when Emmitt Benson got free with Jermaine Richmond in the 79th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. In the 80th minute Jon Yost shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Jeremy Nicholas saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Jermaine Richmond made a fantastic save in the 84th minute, when Tony Pacheco sent off a good shot on target. The audience was convinced that Tio Lio's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Jermaine Richmond was relentless in the 91st minute of the game. The Khachatryan supporters were disappointed that their team didn't take anything from the match, despite matching New England Minas's performance. The match ended with a win for New England Minas.