Florida Elite SA 0–1 The Villages SC
Top of the table against second, on their field, for the number one spot. It was as intense as everybody expected it to be.
Rafael Vacas settled it in the 61st minute — and it was his first match back from injury.
Jackson Lee had a busy night and an excellent one. His long ball up to Nicholas Butler in the first half put Butler clean through, and only a brave piece of goalkeeping from Wintermeyer — coming out and putting his body on the line — kept it out. It was a bad collision and the referee stopped play immediately for a head injury.
We finished the first half pressing hard, winning corners, looking for something to take into the break.
It came after it instead. Vacas, back in the side for the first time since his injury, got on the end of it and put us in front.
From there it was game management, and we managed it — Lee dealing with everything long, Cedric Tatu holding the ball up top, Pedro Santos and Gustavo Murtha working the ball into the corners as Florida Elite pushed more and more numbers forward.
The referee blew and we had it.
1–0. A win on Florida Elite's home field, a clean sheet, and back to first place — two points clear of Elite with a game in hand.
Man of the Match: Rafael Vacas. Persistence, and a mighty touch.
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Why this one mattered to him
Vacas was injured when Florida Elite came to our ground earlier in the season.
Unable to play, he volunteered to work as the away team liaison — the person who looks after the visiting side on match day.
He was not treated well by their staff.
He went into this one with extra motivation, and he scored the winning goal.
Karma.
