Grand Prairie, TX – After a short break, Texas United resumed action in a clash for first against the AHFC Royals in Houston, Texas on Friday. While the match was a battle for the top spot in the Mid-South Division, Texas United ultimately fell short in a 2-5 defeat on the road.
The Texas United team started its attack strong as always, forcing the AHFC Royals goalkeeper into two quick and early saves in the opening few minutes. Despite the early pressure from the traveling team, the AHFC Royals struck first with defender Tom Haney finding the back of the net thanks to an assist from a long throw in.
The goal was followed by a good spell of possession and pressure from Texas United, but the AHFC Royals found the back of the net again in the 25th minute from a volley by Killian Colombié.
The AHFC continued their pressure by grabbing the third goal of the match just one minute later. A well-placed shot by Johannes Øeksnevad saw the visitors fall to 0-3 after at the conclusion of the first half.
The second half of the match started slower than the first half, but it didn’t take long for the action to pick back up. In the 57th minute, Texas United was awarded a penalty kick. Julio Vargas stepped up to the penalty spot and smashed it home to bring Texas United within two goals of a comeback.
However, a challenge from Texas United goalkeeper Ben Hale resulted in a penalty kick just moments later for the opposing team. The AHFC Royals player stepped up and slotted the ball past Hale to restore their three goal lead.
Not long after the two penalty kicks, Vargas struck again for Texas United, bringing the visitors within two. With the score reading 2-4 with 25 minutes left in the match, Texas United starting sending men forward in hopes of completing the comeback, but the AHFC Royals were prepared for the attack.
The scoring concluded after a sprint down the right hand side of the pitch from Brandon Martinez in the 69th minute. After his long run, he was able to find the back of the net, making the final score of the match Texas United 2 and the AHFC Royals 5.
Texas United’s next match sees them at home again in the AirHogs Stadium on Saturday, June 23rd against close rivals FC Cleburne. In their first meeting of the season, Texas United emerged victorious 5-0 dominate win that was the first of a three match unbeaten run.
