SPORTING RICHMOND SUMMER

ROSTER:

returners from last years championship side:

CASEY SMITH

CHRISTOPHER GREEN

CHRIS THOMPSON

BRAD KNISLEY

BRIAN ROBERTSON

DAVE KNAUSE

NATE HANGER

new additions:

SCOTT ROBERTSON - NAVAL ACADEMY

JORGE - BRAZILLIAN FLAVA

HUNTER CHEATHAM - VIRGINIA TECH

JORDAN CLARK - LYNCHBURG COLLEGE

CECIL LEWIS - REAL MARYLAND, CRYSTAL PALACE BALTIMORE

JAKE HARMATZ - GODWIN

MATT GOLOB - JMU

BOB GOLDNUTZ - RANDOLPH COLLEGE

Sporting is looking to take the trophy home for a 3rd consecutive time this summer.

2007 Summer Champs

2008 Summer Champs

2009 TBD

Not such a Happy Mothers Day + transfer rumors

A 10-man Sporting lose to Lions FC 5-1. Cecil Lewis was the only one who could find the back of the net for SRFC.

Transfer Rumors:

Gago Nunez's agent has fuelled rumours that Sporting have been in touch with Gago about his future with the club after the Metro Sting star confirmed that a number of clubs had made enquiries. We were able to get a statement from Gago outside a Richmond nightclub where he was seen smoking and drinking with a number of girls. "ai boceta yeah i wanna play with you guys"

A special thanks to the UK supporters.

With the return of Stu Bertsch comes a victory!

Word got out to the XRams that Stu Bertsch was returning from a two week loan with a Mexican club, they decided his return was just too much for them and did not even show up . XRams coming off a victory on Saturday vs Lions 80, you would think they would be hungry as they started to move up the standings. Sporting earns the 3 points and is currently sitting in 3rd place.

Up next SRFC will face Lions FC Sunday 5/10/09. 9am kick-off at Bryan Park.

Six pts dropped

With 2 games in 16 hrs and 90 degree heat, it was not a good weekend for Sporting. Saturday Sporting played Metro Sting for the second time this season, the first meeting ended 1-1. With only one sub and some key players missing, Metro Sting DID show up to play and took care of business defeating Sporting 3-1.

Kick-off to Sunday's match vs Partizan Richmond was set for 9am. Sporting had the numbers but did not have the finishers. It was 1-0 Partizan at the half but with Sporting having more of the chances, they could not find the back of the net. Second half Partizan put a few more in and before we knew it, the scoreline was 3-0. Chris Green finally stepped up and tucked away a great through ball to the far post to make it 3-1. Sporting with a glimpse of hope but strikers Casey Smith and Cecil could not find the back of the net to save their lives. The final whistle came and it was 5-1 Partizan. Sporting suffering the worst loss of the season.

Next week Sporting will take on XRams for the first time. Rams are 1-3-1 on the season, Sporting 2-4-1.

Drawn

Sporting Richmond came from behind on Sunday to draw 1-1 with Metro Sting. In the end the result was a good one for Sporting due to the circumstances. With only 11 players, many of which were injured, Sporting was able grab a point, and at times looked like it would maybe nip all the points in the end. The first half was a midfield battle and ended 0-0 after both teams had a few half chances. Metro Sting's keeper kept out a Green effort after Casey Smith had slotted him in at the near post. At the other end Tommy did well all half to keep the score knotted at 0.

After the break, Sporting came out flat. Metro sensed that lag in tempo and pushed for the opening goal. The breakthrough came in the 55th minute when a cross field ball found a questionably onside Metro attacker at the back post to make it 1-0.

As the second half wore on, Sporting started to increase the pressure on Sting and it would pay dividends in the 78th minute. A back pass to the Metro Sting keeper was pressured by Green, his pass was picked off my Cecil Lewis who then found Casey Smith wide open at the back post to slot in from 6 yards.

1-1 was the final and with the points shared was a good result giving the circumstances. Sporting will now look to Saturday when they take on Metro Sting again, this time hopefully with a full squad.

Kittens...

Sporting Richmond dispatched Lions FC 6-2 this past Thursday. It was a game where Sporting never looked to be in any sort of trouble. Man of the Match Chris Kull opened his account in the 15th minute with low right footed arrow to the far post after he shrugged off his defender. From that point on it was all Sporting. There were some missed opportunities to stretch the lead in the first half. Both Stu and Cecil failed to find the back of the net when played through on goal.

It looked like the half was going to end at 1-0, but Casey Smith was first to pounce on a deflected Justin Williams shot. The Lions keeper got down well to save the slow shot but Smith was first to react and tucked the ball away neatly.

2-0 at the break, Sporting cruising towards 3 points with Lions only seeing half chances.

The second half started with more of the same. Lewis came flying down the right flank on a counter attack. With options wide open for the easy finish, Lewis showed his class and finished the ball in the far post side netting. 3-0 and Lions were dead and buried. With Sporting now controlling the game, the passing and movement started to flow. The ball went from right to left out of the back and found its way back to Lewis wide left. Making space for himself, he sent in a low telling ball across the face of goal. Kull had made the perfect run into space and with the finish of the night, placed the ball with the outside of the right foot in the upper far corner, 4-0 and no looking back for Sporting. 5-0 came off of another rebound finish for Smith while the 6th came from some scrappy play from Williams.

Green and Smith could have extended the score even more but failed to find the back of the net when played clear through. All in all Sporting looked at ease. The 2 late consolation goals for Lions where a bit of a blemish but the game had long been decided by that point.

Up next for Sporting is Metro Sting FC...

1-0

The first meeting of Sporting Richmond and Partizan Richmond was a real chess match. Both teams looked up for it from the beginning. Dorey Park was in shambles which caused the game to start off at a wild pace. There might have been 5 square feet of even ground on the entire pitch and neither team was able to find it to settle the ball.

Partizan started off strong carving out a few chances and Tommy did well to save from a point blank Andy Macintosh shot in the 5th minute. Sporting started to gain a bit more possession as the half wore on from great midfield play of Stu B, Casey Smith, and Jonny Rios. In the 35th minute, Cecil Lewis broke free of the Partizan defense but could not find the finishing touch to put the ball past the keeper. The score stayed knotted at 0's until the half.

The second half started with more of the same. Each team with spells of possession but Sporting looking the more likely to score. It wasn't until the 67th minute that the ball ended up in the back of the net. Against the run of play Partizan won a corner, with the ensuing dead ball situation, Macca placed a ball into the box. Some how the ball slipped through to the 6 yard box, rebounded off of Vaughns shin and landed in the back of the net. Disaster had struck, an undeserved own goal to put Partizan up 1-0.

Sporting continued to pour the pressure on by switching up the 4-5-1 to a 3-4-3 formation seeking the equalizer. Lewis did well to make some space for himself but before he could get a proper shot off or pass the ball the door was closed by two Partizan defenders. Sporting had corner after corner, but none could find the back of the net.

With nearly the last kick of the game Sporting was awarded a free kick from 20 yards out. Up stepped Lewis again testing the keeper with a well placed shot but it did not have the power to cross the line. The whistle blew and it was defeat again for SRFC. A tough result for a match that had draw written all over it.

Sporting with try and buck the trend of the last two defeats this Thursday versus Lions.