Richmond Battles Knoxville to a 1-1 Draw
A heavily favored Knoxville side settles for a point on the road.
Image credit: Richmond Kickers Twitter / Jessica Hendricks
One Knoxville SC came into Richmond looking for a chance to move into second place in the table. Instead, they returned to Tennessee with a point after conceding a stoppage time goal for a draw and remain in fourth place.
The first half saw Knoxville dominate possession in Richmond’s side, and 30 minutes in, Kempes Tekiela drove in a pass from former Kicker Stuart Ritchie to take the lead. It was the first goal in league play from the 26-year-old German, who joined Knoxville in the off-season from Luxembourg.
Both sides made a pair of tactical halftime substitutions. Richmond brought on winger and lead goal-scorer Adrian Billhardt and striker Arthur Bosua, while Knoxville entered winger Kingsford Adjei and striker Innocent Nshuti. It was Adjei’s second appearance for Knoxville, having debuted in last week’s Jägermeister Cup action.
The subs turned up the intensity, as offensive chances became stronger for both sides. Richmond regained domination of possession in the second half but Knoxville managed four additional shots, all of which were saved by Ryan Shellow. The Richmond goalkeeper got the nod for a second straight match, after a strong performance against Greenville last weekend.
It was a save on a shot by Adjei to set up Richmond’s stoppage-time equalizer. Bosua cleared the rebound, setting up a sequence of well-timed passes, ending up with João Gomiero. The midfielder chipped a brilliant pass over Knoxville’s Charlie Machell, finding the head of a poorly-guarded Billhardt.
Announced attendance for the match was 4,730, making this the highest attended USL League One match of the week.
Image credit: Alex Ashton
Roster Report
Defensive midfielder Zaca Morán made his 100th league appearance, all with Richmond. Morán joined Richmond ahead of the 2021 season from River Plate II.
Richmond was still missing a few key players and easing others into the roster after injury. Striker Emiliano Terzaghi missed another match and has yet to appear this season. Winger Adrian Billhardt and center back Nathan Aune started on the bench after returning from injury. Aune did not appear in the match.
Richmond center back Gui França made his regular season debut, entering the match in the 72nd minute. The Brazilian joined Richmond on his first professional contract in the off-season. Winger Toni Pineda was held off the roster again after suffering a knee injury in early US Open Cup action.
Knoxville’s Dani Fernández continues to miss action while recovering from a knee injury. Frank Ross and Sean O’Hearn also missed the match with injury.
Next Up
Knoxville has a quick turnaround, hosting Forward Madison on Wednesday in league play, and then will host Northern Colorado on Saturday in the Jägermeister Cup.
Richmond will travel to Chattanooga on Saturday to face the Red Wolves in Jägermeister Cup action.
As the second half went on I felt it was a matter of when Richmond would equalize. That said, One Knoxville threw two points away.
Thanks for a great writeup, Alex. It looks like you attended the game in person and took that great picture of the fans? That 5000 fans in attendance is amazing, especially for for looks like a converted baseball stadium. That figure would have sold out many current USL Championship venues! It underscores the massive appetite for soccer in the capital of Virginia.