Revs Tie Red Bulls

By Sean Donahue

The New York Red Bulls came into Foxboro on a very poor run, but dominated the New England Revolution in the first half and took the lead heading into half time. The Revs showed better in the second half and after an injury forced Nicol to push Steve Ralston up to forward, the Revs captain scored in his third consecutive match to give the Revs a 1-1 draw and preserve their 7 game unbeaten streak. The tie snapped an 8 game losing streak for the Red Bulls through all competitions in Foxboro against the Revs.

"We salvaged [a point]," said Coach Steve Nicol. "I'm not quite sure who was worse, us or the referee. Teams already have and will continue to come here and first and foremost defend and make it hard for us. Obviously we realize that. When we got away we like to do that as well, but the referee has to know that teams are going to be physical and he has to protect the players. His decisions tonight on what was a foul and what wasn't a foul were pretty poor."

Shalrie Joseph made a surprise appearance for the Revs after showing up unexpectedly at the Revolution practice on Tuesday morning. Joseph played for Grenada in their 2-2 draw on Saturday against Costa Rica and is expected to play in their second leg match in Costa Rica this weekend.

"Grenada wasn't doing anything worth staying," said Joseph. "There were just a lot of politics going on in Grenada soccer and I didn't want to be involved with it. I thought I could come back in and help my team and make a difference. I know it's a long flight, but I still wanted to come back and play and keep my sharpness. I didn't think I was as sharp on the ball tonight as I normally am, but tonight we got a point and we just have to move on from there. I'll fly out in the morning and meet up with the team in Costa Rica and then I'll try to win a game against Costa Rica on Saturday."

New York hit the back of the net in the 6th minute, but a well played offsides trap by the Revs kept the goal from counting. Sinisa Ubiparipovic put the ball in the back of the net off a cross from Seth Stammler, but was correctly ruled offsides after the Revolution defense stepped forward before the ball was played.

Jeff Larentowicz tested Red Bull 'keeper Jon Conway for the first time in the 17th minute. Steve Ralston got the ball in to Larentowicz about 25 yards from goal and the Brown University alum turned and sent a powerful blast towards the top of the net. Conway could only punch it over the net for a corner kick.

With Mauricio Castro down injured behind the play in the 37th minute the Red Bulls played on and scored the first goal of the match. Dave van den Bergh dribbled down the left flank and sent in a long cross into the box. Stammler, the man Castro had been defending on the right flank, was there at the far post to hammer it home. Castro was later replaced by Wells Thompson.

"Castro went down and they're not supposed to kick the ball out and I don't have a problem with that," said Jay Heaps. "There is an inconsistency in the rule that it's up to the referee. We have been burned by it both ways. We've have a chance to score and the referee's called it back because the guy's been down. They let this one play and it was where Castro would have been if he hadn't been injured."

Oscar Echeverry should have made it 2-0 in the 40th minute after a long run down the right flank by Dane Richards. Richards sent the ball to Echeverry, who was wide open at the top of the box, but only managed to send his shot wide of the net.

Cristman had the best chance of the match so far for the Revs in the 49th minute when a Jay Heaps throw in snuck through into the box. Cristman beat his defender, but couldn't get around a charging Conway and saw his shot blocked by the New York 'keeper.

Cristman became the second Rev to leave the match injured in the 72nd minute, when he was replaced by Pat Phelan after colliding with van den Bergh.

Steve Ralston, who moved up to forward after Cristman's injury, tied the game at 1-1 in the 79th minute. Heaps sent in a great ball towards the far post, where Kheli Dube sent it back to Ralston near the penalty spot. The Revs captain hammered it into the back of the net for his fourth goal of the season.

"I haven't played forward since my sophomore year in college probably," said Ralston. "In practice every once in a while I get up there. I was lucky the ball just kind of found my foot and I was lucky enough to get it in."

The Revs should have had the winner in the 89th minute after a long cross from Nyassi found Ralston in the box. Ralston got a header on frame, but Conway got a hand on it, only to deflect it to Dube at the near post. Dube, just inches from goal, redirected the ball on frame, but Conway managed to get a hand on it and tip it wide for a corner kick.

"I should have done better with it," said Ralston. "He made a decent save, but he made an unbelievable save on the rebound on Kheli. We could've stolen three points out of here tonight, but something I'll be thinking about tonight is that header."

"Sometimes the goalie makes good saves and that was one of them," said Dube. "I thought it was in. It was one of those days when you get chances and you can't score."

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