Southport gives Kickers an early boot with a three-goal lead-The Daily Graphic

Southport gives Kickers an early boot with a three-goal lead


By Paul Grigaitis
For The Daily Graphic
Thursday August 10, 2006

Portage la Prairie — Southport United head coach Albert Philippot was expecting an evenly matched game last night against Carman Kickers. So was Kickers coach William Hoogerdijk.
Both Carman and Southport, which are in Manitoba Major Soccer League’s Fourth Division black group, squared off at Southport Recreation Centre’s pitch last night.
“I’m expecting a hard match,” said Philippot before the game. “This team (Kickers) is a very talented team even though it’s not reflected in their stats. We’re fairly even and we play the same style.”
From the start, it seemed as if Philippot was going to be proved wrong -- in a good way. Chris Assenmacher missed an early opportunity to score with a shot going high over the net, but Ken Buhr opened the scoring for Southport moments later. Then a few minutes later, another goal by Buhr. A few minutes after that, another goal by Buhr. With an early 3-0 lead, it looked like United was going to dominate the entire game.
“They had nothing coming at us,” said Philippot.
United started the second half with a healthy lead, but the Kickers scored 10 minutes in. Then 10 minutes after that, the Kickers scored again bringing the game to within one goal.
“We weren’t marking our players properly,” said Philippot.
Carman played like the strong team Philippot anticipated, forcing Southport to play defensively.
“Late in the second half, we started playing like we were in the first,” said Philippot.
United (6-4-3) held on to win 3-2, but the close match has Philippot concerned about the near future.
“We have to learn to play 90 minutes because the team we play next is not an easy team,” he said.
On Sunday, Southport United will host St. James Hurricanes (6-3-3), “the only team that has beaten us in our pool,” said Philippot. “We have something to prove in our next game.”
Philippot said the key to a win against the Hurricanes is to start strong and keep playing that way the whole game.
“We’ve got to come out strong like we did tonight,” he said. “We can’t take them lightly, because if we do we’ll be on the bottom end of the scoring, that’s for sure.”
Assenmacher suffered an injury in the first half, but Philippot is expecting an injured Darrin Reichert to return. “He’s a strong midfielder.”
All three of Southport final games will be played at home. After the Hurricanes, Southport faces Fusion FC (4-7-2) on Aug. 20 and on Aug. 28, another top team in Lusitania Revolution (6-3-3).