It was a heartbreaker for both Bryan Reynolds and Griffin Yow when their Westerlo side traveled to Mechelen and took a two goal lead in the first half, only to see the game change completely after a very young referee sent team mate Romeo Vermant to the showers late in first half stoppage time.
With Sint Truiden dropping points to Standard, this gave Mechelen the perfect opportunity to close the gap and work their way up into the top spot in the European Play-Off Group. And the hosts started the game with that in mind, threatening the Canaries’ back line early on and winning two corner kicks in the first couple of minutes.
Yow had an exceptional game putting in threatening crosses from the right flank on several occasions. in the seventh minute he did just that but Mechelen keeper Gaetan Coucke was alert and knocked it out of harm’s way.
A quarter hour in the Kakkers had their first chance when they attacked with Islam Slimani leading the charge. With a nice back heel pass to Geoffrey Hairemans, the Belgian midfielder should have done better with his effort but put it wide of the target.
Immediately down at the other end Tuur Rommens shot from distance, catching the Mechelen keeper off guard. Although he regained composure, the ball fell to Matija Frigan who placed it into the danger zone but no other Westerlo players were around to steal a goal.
When the clock struck 27 minutes, Josimar Alcocer struck the ball into the back of the Kakkers goal. This was the Costa Rican’s first start for Westerlo and he proved his worth when Yow sent in another perfect cross and the 19-year-old striker hit it with gusto, denying Coucke any chance of making a save.
Before the away fans could stop celebrating, they were celebrating again. With Munashe Garananga lollygagging with the ball at his feet, Tuur Rommens put pressure on the Zimbabwe forward, stole it and played Romeo Vermant through. The Belgian finished off the move by sliding it into the far corner to double the lead.
After the two goals, a pair of yellow cards were to be the downfall of Westerlo. Mr. Denil, a young referee who was calling only his second top flight game, and first since August, awarded a free kick to Mechelen. The goal scorer Vermant stood in front of the ball and took too long for the referee’s liking to move, so was shown a yellow card. Asking for an explanation, Denil walked away and Vermant touched his arm, asking again. The yellow card, still in Denil’s hand was shown again, four seconds after the first. The overly animated referee continued his theatrics as he brandished the red and stormed away, thus reducing the visitors to 10 men.
Vermand receives two quick yellow cards
After the intermission it only took 10 minutes for the Kakkers to get a goal back and get themselves back into the game. It came from a corner kick but it didn’t come easy. A free kick ricochet between a few players and then the crossbar before Elias Cobbaut was able to tuck it into an empty net amid the confusion.
Yow was one of three Westerlo players to come off in the 61st minute as head coach Bart Goor opted for a more defensive posture in order to preserve the slim lead. That didn’t go according to plan however because five minutes later it was 2-2 with Slimani finding the back of the net.
As time wound down, the Gamecocks absorbed a lot of pressure and thought they had held onto a point but in the 93rd minute of play, substitute Nikola Storm put a cross into a crowded box and saw it redirected past Sinan Bolat by Ravil Tagir. An own-goal was the undoing of the visitors.
Yanks Abroad spoke with Griffin Yow after the game.
“We had a very good start (to the game) and don’t want to blame anything on one player,” the Virginian said. “We could have done better as a team but the red card definitely hurt us. In the second half, down a man, we just changed the way we played. Even with nine men we can be better but we stopped attacking; we were sitting back in this block for the rest of the game so it was difficult. When they get this many crosses in, its hard to save all of them.”
Regarding the red card, he continued, “I disagree with it as well but I think its a learning moment in a time like that. Even if there’s a small chance that he will pull out a red, I think it’s best that we just calm down, especially with 2-0 up. That’s probably the worst thing that could happen in that moment.”
Registering an assist on the first goal with his cross into the box Yow said, “I’m just glad that Josimar (Alcocer) was there. Like you said, I felt that I put in a couple other dangerous balls but I’m just glad that one of them did pay off.”
Still winless in the play-offs, Westerlo will look to change their fortunes when they welcome Standard Liege to Het Kuipje.