SCOTTDALE, AZ (October 19, 2003).
Sometimes, it takes guts�that�s what the Predators used to rally from a goal deficit to go up 2-1. Sometimes, it takes guile�that �s what Dale Rogers used to deliver the cross that led to the equalizer. And sometimes, it takes very little�to read hostile intent into perceived indignation, and to use this misreading to justify violent a response.
What was supposed to be an easy victory became anything but that. Facing last placed Babylon, a team conceding an average of eight goals per match, the Predators, for all their statistical superiority, struggled to find their way though Babylon�s back line and were frequently flat-footed as Babylon threatened with counters.
This pressure was exerted despite Babylon fielding less than eleven players most of the first period.
Babylon relentlessness soon paid dividend.
Off a breakaway, a Babylon midfielder whipped in a fine cross from the left that dropped behind the Predators� back line and five yards in front of goal. A failed clearance resulted in an open-net goal by Babylon thirty-three minutes in, a lead they refused to relinquish until the late stages of the second period.
With Babylon now possessing its full compliment of players, their early dominance quickly faded as they were provided with few scoring chances.
Dale Rogers was the Predators biggest threat the second period and he feign and dribbled through the Babylon defense in the 55th minute to deliver an unselfish pass beyond the grasp of the Babylon keeper to an awaiting Bo Damas, who easily found the lower left corner of the net.
The match seemed to have changed for the better for the Predators as most of the action took place in Babylon�s half of the field.
The mood of the match also changed dramatically as tension mounted from both sides. The referee offered numerous verbal cautions to ease the increased feuding between the two teams, a somber foreshadowing of the chaos soon to come.
The Predators claimed the lead in the 63rd minute when Brian Aguilar hammered a right-foot shot into the left side of the Babylon net just inches beyond the outstretched hands of the diving keeper.
No more than five minutes after the Predators took the lead, violence broke out on the pitch and the match was halted prematurely in the 75th minute.
Thoughts of righteous indignation fuel an unnerving physical assault by a Predators� player on a Babylon player.
If what the Babylon player allegedly did was in poor taste or improper futbol etiquette or decorum, that�s certainly something someone could question. Whether it merited a violent attack that had him knocked to the ground nearly unconscious is certainly another story.
That said, the thud emanating from the hit on the pitch that Sunday afternoon could well echo for a while, especially if it goes unpunished by both the league and the Predators Futbol Club.
AD