GAME RECAP: Asheville City 1-3 One Knoxville
In hostile territory, Mark McKeever's men avenged their first loss, leapfrogging Asheville into first place in the South Central and claiming the Smoky Mountain Series trophy.
It was like walking into a boiling cauldron.
For 90 minutes, off the field, Asheville City supporters at Memorial Park stirred a pot of vitriol, ceaselessly blasting sirens, sounding trumpets, and shouting through megaphones at One Knoxville’s players and coaching staff.
On the field, it was no friendlier. Within 30 seconds, Finn McRobb put in a bruising tackle on Asheville City’s Kemy Amiche, an elastic playmaker, top 10 prospect in the USL League Two, and, more importantly, the man who scored the Ashevillians first that May 14 night they spoiled One Knoxville’s home opener at Austin-East High School. That foul was a message from the Big Red Wall. It was also, remarkably, one of the few that failed to produce a yellow from a referee who, by the middle of the second half, was as quick to his pocket as a Wild West gunslinger. By the final whistle, 8 visiting players had been yellow carded, with captain James Thomas earning a second yellow from the bench in added time (Asheville had two booked).
It was a chippy first half, with few opportunities for either side. One Knoxville head coach Mark McKeever made nine changes to the starting 11 from Saturday’s 3-nil win at home to Peachtree City, opting for size and power. The Bash Brothers Max McNulty and Sebastian Andreassen were reunited up top and combined twice: on a 29th-minute shot from Andreassen off a Brummy cross, and again in the 45th, Andreassen hitting a cross from the left that McNulty brought down and hit low to the near post, where Asheville keeper Ryan Bilichuk comfortably saved.
Only Alberto Suarez, at right center back, and Yannick Kranz, a German midfielder who plays for nearby Carson-Newman University, retained their places. In the first half, Kranz, who was moved up from a holding position, struggled. With the night’s defensive midfield duo, Amferny Arias Sinclair and Seth Fletcher, both yellow-carded inside 20 minutes, perhaps Kranz could’ve been pushed back. Perhaps he should’ve been substituted at the half when, surprisingly, McKeever made no changes despite having three players on yellows and little control over the game.
Then, in the 51st minute, the long-throw opportunity presented itself. Moses Mensah, doing his best Rory Delap impression, chucked the ball 25 yards toward Andreassen. An Asheville defender cleared the ball to the 18. In a moment we’ve seen roughly 10,000 times every Premier League season, Kranz, with only a second to react at the edge of the box, smashed it. Except the ball did not deflect off a defender. It did not soar over the bar. On his first touch, the Big German Schweinsteiger-ed the ball hard and low, sending a bullet past Bilichuk into the bottom corner.
Kranz ran toward the crowd, which had been hurling abuse through a megaphone, with his finger to his lips. Andreassen, who had received some of the worst abuse, joined him, cupping his ear. “I can’t hear you,” he repeated.
Asheville were smooth on the ball, trying to pass around the visitors, Amiche ever the threat. In the 58th minute, McKeever brought on the versatile Dutchman Diego Konincks for Fletcher to sure up the midfield, and Stephen “Wonder Boy” Afrifa for McNulty up top.
In the 61st, another dead ball opportunity. Captain James Thomas took a right-footed corner on the side of the field closest to a dozen or so members of The Scruffs who had traveled across the mountains to support their side. The ball swung in high, meeting the forehead of the Viking Buster Sjoberg, who cooly struck it low past Bilichuk. Instantaneously, Thomas and the One Knox substitutes warming up beside him jumped into the arms of their supporters in delirious celebration.
The game descended into pandemonium afterward, as the South Slope Blues switched between pressing their boys forward and taunting Knoxville’s players. In the 88th minute, Andreassen, the rare player to not pick up a yellow for the visitors, was judged to foul an Asheville player outside the box. On the free kick, the kicker ran up, then paused; from the opposite side, Quentin Huerman took it, sending an unsaveable curler over the wall and past Peter Swinkels in goal.
In a moment like that, who do you turn to? The tie was won. At worst, Asheville could pull back the draw. But, the Smoky Mountain Series trophy—a golden hiking boot created by blacksmith artist and Knoxville-bred footballer Alex Magnuson—would likely be lost. Asheville were level 3-3 on aggregate, but had the the better goal differential across the season.
Five minutes into second-half stoppage time, as the ball ping-ponged back and forth, Konincks saw Afrifa wide to the right. The Canadian-Ghanaian took the ball and slowly dribbled to the corner. It looked like a bit of game management: hold the ball and waste the clock. But then something snapped in the forward. Afrifa went for it. With the ball super-glued to his boot, he slithered past one defender toward the endline, then into the box, past another defender, and unleashed a venomous shot to the near post. The keeper stood frozen. The poison had entered the bloodstream, and in that moment the Wonder Boy had become something more. Afrifa was a Black mamba, sinking his teeth into the tie.
Two minutes later, the referee blew the final whistle. 3-1 to One Knoxville. The players and the squad members who traveled but did not dress erupted like Mount Vesuvius, dancing and singing together as they were handed the Golden Hiking Boot. Arias Sinclair took it and raced toward the fans on the sideline. Then the players called in The Scruffs. Together, they chanted. They embraced. It was a nothing-trophy, some will tell you. A fiction. It was one match in a season with four left to play. But, in a Smoky Mountain súper clásico for the ages, I can tell you, it meant something almost unspeakable. In that moment, it meant everything.
So was this the coming out party? Was this the proclamation of a run at the division title? The conference? The national championship?
All that is certain is this: if One Knoxville manages to win each of its next games, now two points ahead of Asheville, the team will be crowned South Central champions. The next hurdle to overcome will be Tennessee Soccer Club, who Le Boys in Crème bested 1-0 in Franklin earlier in the season, this Saturday, 7:30 p.m. at Maryville College.
We’ll see you there.
Patty and I will release a podcast episode with our CAR TAKE from the drive back over the mountains to complement this recap.
Gaffer’s Take
On how he felt the team responded to his challenge to improve their level after Peachtree City
“Going away from home is different from playing at home. At home, we want to be a little bit more intricate. We want to have the ball and entertain the crowd. But when you go away from home, sometimes you have to win dirty. It's all about getting the points. And tonight we do that. We put a shift in. We put our head in where it hurts. We won the physical battles all over the field, and we bullied our way to a victory.”
“[Against Peachtree], I think we struggled to get four players that were above par. Tonight, we had no players that were below par. Everybody played their role. Everybody was a warrior tonight. Buster [Sjoberg] and Seba [Andreassen] obviously set a great example. But, Max [McNulty] is back there making tackles. Big headers in the box for us. Clearing his lines. Covering the ground. Yannick [Kranz] has come up good after getting a little bit of grilling at halftime. He’s come out and scored a goal and took it in his stride…Everyone gets pass marks tonight. Everyone’s closer to their potential tonight. Asheville are a very good team. Very talented. But twice we’ve been the better team. We’ve outshot them, we’ve created more chances. Tonight was a different stamp. We allowed them to have the ball and come at us. But there was Big Red Wall in there, and I think a Viking as well.”
On the team’s character in a hostile environment
“Yeah, it was very hostile. The fans were talking about the players’ mothers—players’ families I think is a little bit much. But it is what it is. If that's their style, then so be it. We shut their mouth by what we were doing on the field. And that was the whole thing coming in: shut them up by the product on the field and between the lines, from the starting whistle to the final whistle. So we shut them up. And now yeah, they can go back and think about some of the things they said to these young men who are just working hard, trying to make their way into the professional game. And we're slating their families? Classless. We held a class on the field. We won the game. So shut up Asheville.”
On the team’s level of performance with four regular season games remaining
“The words we’ve been using is to be relentless and ruthless. And I think we did that tonight. I said to the boys at the end there, we added a third one tonight, and it was to be very resilient. We gave them nothing. It was a great performance. We'll take it all day long.”
On the more than dozen Knoxville supporters who traveled across the mountains to support the team
“When we look at the perspective from the players, it’s three points. It's no bigger than the three points last Saturday. But to give the fans a wee bit of pleasure with a wee trophy. I don't think that one's for the players. That one's for the fans. And obviously to drive here over the over the mountains and come and support us the way they did: I love the Scruffies. I love them.”
Stephen Afrifa
On the goalscoring play that put One Knox up 3-1 and claimed the Smoky Mountain Series trophy
“Honestly, my whole mindset behind that was taking it to the corner to waste time. I saw I was 1-v-1 with the defender and said, ‘might as well take it.’ Got around him. Came inside seeing the other defender flat-footed, and it was just keep driving to the side. Took the shot. It’s the best feeling I've had in a long time. So glad I scored that to get the three points and take the series.”
“I learned about the trophy this morning. And it’s something I wanted since this morning. Again, it’s one of the best feelings I've had in a long time. Amazing support from the guys that came down from Knoxville. It’s amazing to bring them this trophy.”
On his style of play
“Honestly, I have no idea. Every time people ask me about how I move like a snake. I don't have an explanation for it. I watch a lot of dribblers. A lot of tricky players. But I don't really have one that I model after.”
On building chemistry and finding a place in a team with a lot of forward options
“Started the season, and we looked decent through the first two weeks. But we didn't really have that chemistry yet. It took us a couple of games to get going. Once we did, everything was good from there. About not starting: we don't mind it. We don't care at all. We know we're coming on, and we know we have to be impactful. So it doesn't really matter who starts. We got to come on and do our job. We support each other and we fight for each other.”
Yannick Kranz
On his goal to break the deadlock
“I saw the ball coming to me, and I had to take it. I had to take the risk. And luckily it went in.”
Buster Sjoberg
On playing in a rotating backline and scoring his first goal of the season
I think the whole team was solid. I think it's very fun because all of us are very good players. So if I play with different players I've never played with before, I know they're good enough to have a good performance. And I know myself. So it's always fun, because I think we're six, seven guys who are very good at the back.”
And I'm lucky to get to score a goal like that. It's not the hardest goal I’ve scored. I’ve not scored many. But it's just fun to be the guy to put the signature on the on the painting there. The other guys did the work, and I got to score a goal.”
On maintaining his composure in a physical game
“For me, it’s about taking every situation as a new situation. Don't get caught up in what happened before. Because if I'm running around thinking about when I stepped on someone and committed a foul, the next time I step into a situation I'm probably gonna be very frustrated. And it'd be even harder the next time. So I always reset between situations. I always tell myself: ‘you're like a blank sheet of paper every time you go into a challenge.’”
Watch the full match on YouTube
Couldn’t hear the taunting on the live stream from the fans - or we might’ve loaded up a van and headed that way during the half. ;) Their stream color analyst was getting a little chirpy, too. All-in-all was a quality stream with some great banter. I’m guessing the fellas shut them all up by the final whistle. That last 15-20 minutes, tho! #TOOK