Lilley bemoans Riverhounds' showing, but that's three Ws in a row

The Riverhounds continued their recent resurgence, albeit in far from ideal form, as they recorded their third straight win, 1-0, over Miami FC Saturday night at Highmark Stadium Saturday. 

Kazaiah Sterling’s second goal of the season was the key in taking their unbeaten streak to five. 

Coming off the back of three consecutive wins, it was clear that the Riverhounds were not in any mood to let that form slip. They started off comfortably and on the front foot against the Floridian side, and whilst they weren’t able to get many clear-cut chances as the game unfolded, there was a sense that it wasn’t going to take long for the dam to break. 

When it did break, there was very little surprise where it was going to come from. Junior Etou, who had been seeing plenty of success down the left flank against pretty much anyone who dared to try and stop him, sent the ball first through the legs of Rocco Genzano and then across the box for Sterling, who couldn’t have asked for an easier job as he tapped it home from inside the six-yard box to give the home side the advantage:

The goal seemed to finally spark some life into the visiting team, and in something of a role reversal, they were finally managing to get deep into Riverhounds territory. But, just like the home side, they just couldn’t get that final, telling touch to draw level.

The Riverhounds managed to get one final chance -- actually, it was more than one, if we’re being pedantic -- before the half came to a close. Dani Rovira’s shot from the edge of the penalty area was parried away by Daniel Gagliardi in the Miami FC goal. That rebound fell to Robbie Mertz, who fired across the box, and a further scramble for the ball ensued. Etou had one last chance, but his shot was blocked by a defender before the visitors finally cleared the ball away.

The second half began with the home side receiving something of a scare. Eric Dick, who had very little to do in the second half, was perhaps a little bit rusty as came to collect a long ball over the top, but dropped it right to the feet of Jordan Ayimbila. He had an open goal to work with but steered his shot wide to the right in the first real warning that the visitors weren’t going away easily. 

That moment really sparked the game into life as chances began to fall for both sides. First a last-ditch clearance prevented Danny Griffin from sliding home after Edward Kizza's back-heel flick was blocked by a Miami defender:

From the resulting corner, Pat Hogan's header looked to be heading for the back of the net, only for Gagliardi in the Miami net to pull off a great save to keep his side in it.

Not to be outdone by his opposite number, Dick also showed that he could pull off the spectacular as he was able to tip Nicolas Cardona's header from a free kick over the bar with some excellent reflexes. 

The match didn't have that many chances after that, but given the conditions, and perhaps with an eye on preserving energy ahead of their U.S Open Cup match against FC Tulsa (the first of two games against the Oklahoma side in the coming week), the Hounds were able to comfortably see out the game.

Whilst the fans might have been happy with how the match went, one person who was far from happy was Bob Lilley. Unhappy with some of the mistakes from the team, Lilley cut a very frustrated figure in his post-match press conference:

"I don't think it was good enough as a team defensively, I don't think we attacked particularly well," Lilley said. "We had very little possession in the game. The choices weren't great, and I don't think we worked hard enough. It's good that we won when we didn't have our best stuff. I don't think we're going to win many games if we play like that. I think we let ourselves down tonight ... if we're being honest with ourselves and what our bar is."

Perhaps even more astonishingly, Dick was called out specifically for his play so far this season. Despite bringing his shutout total up to five for the season, Lilley has not been impressed with what he's seen, both tonight for his error that nearly led to a Miami goal, and his general play in some of the previous games.

"It has not been a strength," Lilley remarked of Dick's work.

Certainly then, at least when it comes to the head coach, plenty to work on, and with a quick turnaround before their U.S. Open Cup game against FC Tulsa this Tuesday, it's going to have to be a pretty packed training schedule to get everything in before kickoff.