A Compelling Match Between Two Division Rivals Cut Short by Weather

Delaware soccer fans came out in spite of bad weather to support their First State Midnight Riders hosting FC Monmouth and were entertained by 60 minutes of competitive soccer before being asked to wait as lightning could be seen in the night sky. 

The home team was on the attack in the first half, creating chances but failing to score.  The first half ended scoreless. The second half opened more brightly for the Midnight Rider faithful.  They endured a drenching rain earlier in the evening and were rewarded with the First home goal scored in team history by Guillaume Pereira.  The goal, coming two minutes into the second half gave the Midnight Riders the lead, which was not to last for long.  A costly turnover, deep in their own half provided FC Monmouth striker Walter Calderon with the opportunity to level the score.  A few minutes later FC Monmouth substitute Colin Lankau showed a fine bit of skill in lofting a ball punched out just under the bar to score their second goal. 

In a matter of 10 minutes a scoreless game had turned into a compelling game which promised an exciting finish.  The weather, unfortunately, had other ideas, and everyone was asked to wait to see if the game could be finished.  Lightning continued to appear which increased the wait until the decision to not finish the game was taken at 10:30pm.

“I’m truly grateful for the fans that came out knowing that rain was in the forecast,” said First State FC President and General Manager Dave Holloway.  “They got to see our first home goal and see the kind of soccer that we want to play.  The decision to call the game based on weather is not ours to make however. The referee makes the decision over whether the conditions permit the game to be played or not. ”

“The team is showing the hard work and style that we want to play with,” said Head Coach Abdul Faisal Chibsah, “We are holding our shape, finding space and attacking well, but we need to learn to eliminate errors from our game.” Looking ahead to upcoming away matchups, Chibsah noted, “We are going to continue to develop as a team and play our brand of football.”