Hounds keep playoff hopes alive with three crucial points on the road in Birmingham

“We need three points.”

That was the message from Bob Lilley after last week’s game, and it’s fair to say that the Riverhounds managed to tick that box with authority as two first-half goals from Edward Kizza and a late third from Emmanuel Johnson saw them come away with a 3-0 victory against Birmingham Legion at Protective Field to keep their playoff hopes alive. 

Babacar Diene had the first chance of the game and in a perfect demonstration of the form of not just him, but the rest of the Hounds team as a whole, he could only find the post despite being presented with the whole net to aim at, having been played through by Danny Griffin who had done a great job of working his way through the Birmingham back line and around Matt Van Oekel in goal. 

The Hounds would continue to pile on the pressure in the opening 15 minutes, with Robbie Mertz’s wide free kick taking multiple deflections and almost dropping for Sean Suber to take a shot, but Birmingham were able to clear the ball away before the chance became too dangerous, whilst Junior Etou also stung the gloves of Van Oekel from another free kick from about 25 yards out. 

Beyond creating chances, it was clear to see that the Hounds were really giving it their all to get the result they needed, with Griffin doing an excellent job as captain of leading the defensive side of play and making sure the home side weren’t given any comfort when they were on the ball for the most part.

I say most part, because Birmingham did give the Hounds quite the scare just past the half-hour mark, with Eric Dick forced to rush out and deny Enzo Martínez from point-blank range. 

That save would end up being crucial as 90 seconds later the Hounds were in front, Diene finding himself in acres of space down the left-hand side from Luke Biasi’s through ball and with plenty of time to play an inch-perfect pass into the box for the onrushing Kizza to fire into the roof of the net: 

Dick's impact on the goal cannot be ignored, and speaking to the Riverhounds' communication team after the game, Lilley wanted to make sure he got his credit:

“Eric made the biggest save, the first one to keep it 0-0. If they get that goal, it’s going to be hard for us to work back into it. He’s playing well right now, but what I said to him after the game was that was a proper shutout. He had some (shutouts) earlier in the year where he didn’t have much to do, but tonight, he had to work for it. We don’t want our goalie to make three or four big saves every night, but he was there when we needed him.”

It wasn’t long before one became two, although this one needed a little more luck than the first, as Griffin’s cross from the right wing was just inches away from being intercepted by A. J. Paterson, whilst even Kizza needed to stretch a bit behind him before being able to take it under control. As for the finish, it wasn’t the most authoritative and if he was being totally honest, was slightly scuffed, but it didn’t matter for him as it rolled off the post and over the line to double the lead:

Both goals, in their own unique way, demonstrate the perfect centre forward play that the Riverhounds have been crying out for all season. To have someone to both make the late runs into the box and act as a target man for crosses to go into is what they had in Albert Dikwa last season, but this year there just hasn’t been that one man to perform those roles. 

It’s just a shame that with the constant chopping and changes of men up top from Lilley, something like this didn’t show up until tonight. 

It wouldn’t be the 2024 Hounds though without another scary moment before the break, Suber looked to chest the ball back to Dick from the edge of the area, but he didn’t get enough power on it, allowing Martinez to sneak in and grab the loose ball, but once again Dick was quick off his line to keep the home side at bay and ensure Lilley’s men went into the break with their two goal lead intact. 

The halftime break seemed to provide Birmingham with a new level of energy, as they put the Hounds under the cosh almost instantly with two quick chances in a matter of minutes, including a deflected effort from Phanuel Kavita that crept inches past a scrambling Dick but drifted just wide of the post.

It took a while for the Hounds to get their legs back under them and start turning the pressure around the other way, with Jackson Walti making a run into the box and latching onto Diene’s cross, with his effort tipped past the post by Van Oekel, whilst Kizza was presented with a chance to complete his hattrick, but he could only scuff his effort high over the bar from Etou’s cutback. 

Dick was forced into a smart save from Tabort Etaka Preston’s shot that came through a pile of bodies with just under ten minutes to go, and much like earlier in the game, that save proved to be crucial, as it allowed the Riverhounds to play with that extra level of freedom and creativity rather than being worried about guarding a one-goal lead, which was demonstrated perfectly when substitute Johnson put the icing on the cake with a tidy finish from a very creative free kick from fellow substitute Kenardo Forbes:

Whilst the third goal was nice, in reality, the damage was done in the first half. ‘

Given that it hasn’t really been the defensive side of the ball that has been the problem for the Hounds this season, a two-nil lead was never going to be in any doubt, especially as from a Birmingham perspective, they never got that one chance in the second half that made you panic.  

Although Lilley seemed to think that the Hounds were under a bigger threat, as he believed that one goal from the hosts might have led to a more dangerous end to the game: 

“It was nice to keep playing and look for a second after we scored, and the second half came out well. But after about 60 minutes, we dropped back more than I would have liked ... because if they got a goal to go 2-1, it would’ve been difficult to hold on. EJ got a good third goal to seal it, but they’ll be difficult when we play them at home. It was never going to be easy, but we came up with a really good team performance”

With everything that was on the line, and knowing what a loss would mean to their chances towards the end of the season, the argument could be made that this was the team’s best performance of the campaign, but at the same time, it set the standard for what needs to happen moving forward. Nothing less than this will be acceptable. 

The challenge now will be making sure that they do indeed keep to that level.