San Antonio FC (2-3-1, 9 points) came up with an improbable road point on Saturday night at Weidner Field in Colorado as SAFC played the Switchbacks (1-1-2, 4 points) to a 1-1 draw. Justin Dhillon, on his club debut as a second half sub and with the team down to 9 men due to a Red Card and a player injury, scored the game tying goal in the 88th minute to salvage the game for San Antonio. SAFC has never won away to Colorado in five total games (2 draws, 3 defeats) but it will likely feel like a win to the players, earning a point in such bleak circumstances.
Colorado scored in the 6th minute when Forward Hadji Barry tallied his team leading 4th goal of the season. It was an incredibly accurate strike from a very tight angle on the near side. Both teams would also have goals ruled out for Offside in an action-filled opening half.
San Antonio Keeper Matt Cardone, fresh off a week where he earned the USL Championship Save of the Week, might get a crack at the Award again this week. He came up with a huge save on Barry in the 16th minute stopping a 1 on 1 breakaway to keep it a one score game.
The first half ended on an ugly note as both teams recieved a Red Card for an incident that included a bad foul and punches being thrown. SAFC's leading scorer Santiago Patiño was sent off for his involvement as was Colorado Defender Michael Edwards.
In the second half SAFC Manager Alen Marcina tried out some new Offenisve pairings as Jose Gallegos, Jordan Perruzza and Justin Dhillon were all brought on as Second Half substitutions prior to the 60 minute mark. For Dhillon it was his debut appearance with the club and the move would pay off marvelously.
Colorado Captain Jimmy Ockford came up with the play of the half for Colorado as he cleared a ball off his line in the 61st minute that was on the way into the net for San Antonio. Colorado Keeper Sean Melvin went for the clearance at the top of the box and misfired leaving an open net on the play. Not to be out-done, SAFC's Joaquin Varela also came up with a massive defensive clearance late in the game to keep SAFC's hopes alive. Minutes later, in the 85th minute, Varela had to leave the match with an upper body injury leaving SAFC to finish the match with only 9 men.
Shortly after that Dhillon would get the unlikely equalizer and one gigantic point for San Antonio FC.
Next up for San Antonio FC is the second game of their current three-match road trip as they will travel to face Las Vegas Lights FC on Friday night. The two teams have not played since 2019. Kickoff is at 9:30pm.
IMAGES AND PHOTO: SAN ANTONIO FC TWITTER , COLORADO SWITCHBACKS FC TWITTER