Black, Yellow, and Blues, Charleston 1-0 Los Angeles

After several days off, the Charleston Battery returned to action with a 1-0 win over the LA Blues Saturday night at Blackbaud Stadium.  A crowd of 4,344 (one of the best this season) was on hand to cheer the boys to victory.  Captain Colin Falvey scored the game winner after a quarter hour of play as the Battery move into third place with a pair of games in hand in the USLPRO standings.

Navion Boyd had the first real chance of the game in the eighth minute, splitting the defense and driving a shot over the bar.  But the Charleston faithful would wait only six minutes for the deciding moment of the match.  Jose Cuevas cued up a free kick from around forty yards and sent a tremendous curling ball into the box.  Battery skipper Colin Falvey latched onto the service and headed his shot to the upper right corner of the net, past the reach of the Blues netminder.  On the half hour, Amadou Sanyang nearly doubled Charleston's lead, but he nodded a shot just over the crossbar.  At the break, Falvey's goal was enough to keep the hosts in front.

Donatelli giving the Blues 'what for'

The ball was up for grabs in the second half and possession was hotly contested between the two sides.  Resultantly, the attacking flair had somewhat diminished.  However, the miserly Charleston defense afforded their strikers a few good looks at goal, one of them coming in the sixty-eighth minute from Navion Boyd.  Ryan Ritcher came on for Boyd ten minutes later as Charleston tried to spark initiative late in the game.  The switch worked as Sallieu Bundu managed a deadly shot inside the eighteen as Charleston continued to mount pressure.  In stoppage time, Ritcher posted another close range effort that just missed the mark.  In the end, the one goal proved to be enough as Andrew Dykstra recorded yet another clean sheet in a game where Charleston's defense stole the show.

Here's a nice piece with a personal note on Falvey's goal from The Post & Courier.

Another good outing for the boys, notching a league win on the eve of their historic Open Cup fixture with the New York Red Bulls.  Charleston are in the thick of it now, with three games next week and two of them on the road.  Forgetting the Open Cup match for a moment, the Battery's upcoming three game road swing will be a critical test of their mettle in terms of league competition.  They are eight points behind league leaders Orlando City, but have played only seven to City's nine.  With wins in Pittsburgh and Dayton, Charleston could overtake the Lions by beating them when they visit Orlando the second week in June.

That being said, the we can no longer forget Charleston's appointment with Thierry Henry and the New York Red Bulls Tuesday night!!  It has all the makings of a classic cup tie and all I can say is:

 SEE YOU AT THE 'BAUD!!!!!