By Jon Johnson
On a night school supplies were gathered for area students, Dothan United was taught a valuable lesson during a 4-1 win over East Atlanta FC on Saturday night at Rip Hewes Stadium.
The Dragons got off to a slow start in falling behind 1-0, quickly learning no team can be taken lightly.
“They’re a tricky opponent,” Dothan United coach Ricky Davey said. “I think they probably went a little bit longer than what we expected, so I think some of the balls were behind and guys jumping in with players when they didn’t need to. There were some tactical things there.”
The game began an hour and 25 minutes later than the scheduled start time due to lightning in the area.
“I think when you kick off an hour later than what you’re meant to and you go through the process during the day, that can mess with it a little bit,” Davey said of the team’s normal routine. “A slow start, but credit to the guys.
“I think in the second half we cleaned a lot of those little pieces up and really controlled the game.”
The Dragons improved to 6-0-1 in the USL2 South Central Division of the Southern Conference and hold a firm lead on first place with 19 points, well ahead of second place team Swarm FC (2-0-4).
East Atlanta dropped to 0-3-3 on the season and suffered its second loss to the Dragons. Earlier in the season, Dothan United won at East Atlanta, also by a 4-1 score. East Atlanta is now in sixth place in the seven-team division.
A promotion sponsored by All In Credit Union for fans to donate school supplies in exchange for free tickets to the game drew a large crowd of 3,845 and it made a difference.
“For them to stay through an hour of lightning delays, we really have to thank and credit them tonight,” Davey said. “It would have been easy for them to go home, have dinner and watch some TV, but they really spurred us on.
“This crowd gives us that little extra percentage point and we needed it again tonight.”
East Atlanta took the fight to Dothan United early and got on the scoreboard first when Ibrahima Keita took a pass away from Sean Keane deep in Dragons’ territory and went in to score against goalkeeper Yago Darub at the 16:40 mark of the opening half.
It marked the first goal Dothan United has given up over the last four games.
“Disappointed to concede the goal, but mistakes happen,” Davey said. “Sean bounced back after that mistake with an unbelievable performance. Credit to him; that’s not easy.”
The Dragons’ dodged another bullet a few minutes later when an East Atlanta shot on a breakaway went off the goal post and the rebound was kicked over the goal.
But Dothan United finally got cranking offensively with just less than 24 minutes expired in the match when Dakota Henry received a nice pass on the right side from Rodrigo Lopes and blistered a shot past goalkeeper Michael Roth.
Less than four minutes before halftime, Dothan United took its first lead when Henry aggressively won a ball around midfield and got it ahead to Oskar Kaufmann, who beat Roth with a strong shot from the right side for the 2-1 halftime lead.
In the second half, Dyson Clapier came off the bench and scored two late goals to seal the victory.
The first came at the 77:35 mark on a beautiful display of teamwork started by Josh Salas around midfield. Salas got the ball ahead to Tito Porter coming down the right side of the field, and Porter sent a nice crossing pass in front of the goal in which Clapier connected for the goal.
Clapier’s final tally came with under seven minutes left when he got a rebound and deposited it into the back of the net.
Henry was named the Man of the Match by Davey.
“Dakota was fantastic … a guy who’s been working for it,” Davey said of his solid play. “Dyson, who has had a few injuries here and there, coming in and scoring two goals. So a real team performance.”
In the final minute of regulation, Darub was given a red card after a minor scuffle in front of the net and will have to sit out the next match.
“We’ll look at the video, see what he did and kind of address it from there,” Davey said. “But ultimately you can’t let your teammates down like that. It’s a situation where you’re winning and in control … keep those emotions in check.”
The Dragons return to action next Saturday night on the road at Columbus (Ga.) United. The game is slated to start at 6:30 p.m. at AJM Memorial Stadium. Dothan United defeated Columbus 2-0 in a game played at Rip Hewes Stadium on May 30.
