It’s two day’s later, but my anger has not entirely cooled. I still am angry with the referee and Roger Levesque.  I no longer have sympathy for biting victime Billy Sleeth.  Despite a dominating effort and outshooting Seattle 14-5, the Thunder were defeated 3-1. 

The first half was a totally dominant display. The Sounders failed to even manage a shot on goal.

In the first minute, Godfrey Tenoff, and Mike Wilson combined for a good chance, but Tenoff’s shot was wild. In the 8^th minute, Aaron Paye was released behind the defense, but the ball was tackled out for a corner just before he shot.

In the 17^th minute, Kiki Lara toyed with Ben Somoza and then passed the ball square to Tenoff whose rocket was only inches above the bar.

The Thunder would take the lead in the 25^th minute. Jeff Matteo sent in what appeared to be a poor low corner, but it was flicked up with a heel by Chris Brunt and then heel flicked again by Johnny Menyongar into the net.

In the 31^st minute Paye, and Menyongar would beat the defense again, but with Kiki Lara trailing the play unmarked on the left, Menyongar’s volley on goal was the wrong option.

A minute later, Paye was behind the defense yet again, and only a desperate and risky tackle from Ryan Edwards saved Seattle from being 2-0 down.

In stoppage time, Paye was whistled for offsides despite coming from his own half of the field when he would have been free alone in on Preston Burpo.

After the half, things fell apart. The Thunder came out flat and in the first minute, Brent Whitfield raced down the Thunder’s left receiving the ball from Gabe Sturm beating Wilson and Branan for speed before centering for Welton to fire home on a helpless Joe Warren.

In the 50^th minute, Seattle should have taken the lead as a similar play saw Ben Somoza fire hopelessly wide under no pressure whatsoever. Somoza was a clear weakness for Seattle and was withdrawn in the 70^th minute.

In the 52^nd minute, Johnny Menyongar played with the ball on the 6 yard box with Burpo helpless in front of him. Menyongar held the ball for a good 30 seconds with Burpo constantly reaching from the ground, but the Liberian could not find a teammate with an angle on goal.

In the 57^th minute, Roger Levesque would hack Jeff Matteo badly. Rushing up to the Stormville, New York native, the Seattle forward took a huge swing at the midfielder’s shin, coming no where near the ball. He was duly booked for his efforts, but it wouldn’t be the last we heard from Earthquakes reject.

A few minutes later, Edwards absolutely killed Matt Schmidt, but the referee chose to give a questionable advantage, which wouldn’t have been so bad had he then booked Edwards, but the hack got away cleanly.

In the 61^st minute, Seattle took the lead. The ball deflected high after a throw in and Brent Whitfield fired a stunning flying volley past a static Joe Warren in goal. A contender for goal of the week, if not the goal of the year. Totally out of the blue, and a lovely strike that the Thunder could do nothing about.

Feeling the urgency of going behind, the Thunder tried to come back. Jeff Matteo took the ball in the right corner, dribbled across the top of the box and took a shot which was just wide, though Burpo appeared to have it covered.

Soon thereafter came the event that destroyed what remaining credibility the referee had. A long ball was played into the box for Roger Levesque, but Joe Warren was first to it. However Levesque kicked Warren in the head and the ball popped loose. On the rebound Billy Sleeth scored on the open net.

The entire Thunder team was incensed, surrounding Levesque and the referee, Jeff Matteo was booked for dissent and then so was Joe Warren for kicking the ball away in disgust. After the match, Warren and Menyongar (as captain) asked for an explanation from the referee but Yonan refused to even talk to them.

The incident seemed to sap the Thunder of their confidence. From then on their play became less thought out and more frenzied.

The Thunder started hoying long balls into the box, but the strategy wasn’t too effective. Much more effective was working the ball around, which resulted in several good shots, but most were well saved by Burpo.

The Sounders should have drove in a fourth in stoppage time, but Brett Weisner shot wide on an open net from four yards out.

At full time the referee was booed from the field, and will hopefully not be seen again. We can only hope that the referee assessor will have included a suitable report for his dreadful display.

What the Thunder are lacking is a leader on the field. The captain’s armband has been given to Johnny Menyongar and to Joe Warren in recent games, but neither is the vocal leader that we need. Warren is vocal, but as a goalkeeper, he is not in the middle of the field leading his men. Menyongar’s style is to lead by example. We really miss Marco Ferruzzi and Amos Magee. Matteo, Tenoff and Juarez are a strong midfield trio, and are arguably a better unit than if one were to be replaced by such a veteran, but none of them is the leader that we need. The leader that would rally the team after that third goal. Amos played against Milwaukee and set up the equalizer. Perhaps he hung up his boots too soon because it is in games like this where he could have been a good substitute. Besides, it’s just not the Thunder without Magee wearing the number 7.

The team is very young. Apart from Joe Warren (31,) the oldest member of the team is Tenoff at 27. That youth is useful in the number of games that a USL club has to play, but the leadership and calm of a veteran is currently sorely missed in this team.

Ratings:

Warren – 6.5 – Good display; nothing he could do about any of the goals, and actually saved the third.

Branan – 5 – Beaten for first goal in the same way as several in recent games. Out of position and beaten for speed. Needs to learn this part of the game to be up to his brother’s standard.

Brunt – 6 – Crosses came in from the other side this game, and got forward to good effect.

Wilson – 5.5 – Beaten for the first goal, but got forward reasonably well.

Juarez – 8 – Man of the match, tough in the center around all of the hacks.

Tenoff – 6.5 – Slightly off game for Godfrey. His touches seemed a bit off.

Matteo – 6.5 – Kept his cool despite being hacked more than a few times. Got off a few good shots.

Schmidt – 6 – Not a winger, but still did well on wide right.

Lara – 5.5 – Did well on the left attacking. Defending was shakier and was found out quickly in the second half.

Menyongar – 6.5 – Dilly-dallied with the ball in front of Burpo, 10/10 for style, negative three for good play. Did a lot of running to open space for Paye. Nice touch for the goal.

Paye – 6.5 – Needed to have shot sooner on a couple of occasions, but his speed created a number of good chances and he’s learning the runs well. Definitely developing into a potent attacking threat.

Subs:

Alberts – 6 – Gave some spark down the right, but not enough to make a case to start over Schmidt’s defensive output.

Hargis – 6 – Showed some great speed in his first minutes for the team. Moved the ball forward when we needed someone to do that, but caught out for third goal. Looks to be a good prospect.

Tarley – 5.5 – Looked a lot more confident than in previous games, but first touch seemed a little rusty. Not more effective than Paye despite fresh legs.

Knox – 4 – Some wondered why Knox only came on with 4 minutes left—it is because he is unable to win any high balls despite his 6’2” stature. Friedland at 5’8” wins almost everything, but Knox can’t seem to jump at all. Needs to step up his game significantly if he wants to contribute at this level.