Sunday August 12, 2007
          The Atlanta Silverbacks beat Miami FC 3-1 today in the hot Florida heat; the win takes the Silverbacks’ record to 10-7-5 and puts them in fourth place in the USL First Division. With only six regular season home games remaining, the ‘Backs offense found an impressive rhythm over the weekend. Atlanta racked up six goals between today’s win and the 3-0 home shutout over the Puerto Rico Islanders on Friday night.

“We had to come down here after a tough game on Friday night at home and the heat was very difficult,” commented Head Coach Jason Smith. “We sat back, played smart and finished our chances. It was our first time winning down here in Miami and I couldn’t be happier with the team.”

    The Silverbacks started the scoring in Miami when David Hayes put away his seventh goal of the year, tying Daniel Antoniuk as the Silverbacks’ leading scorer. Hayes sent a free kick sailing past Miami’s goalkeeper, Patrick Hannigan. The ‘Backs’ one-goal lead did not hold however and Miami evened the score after an interesting turn of events late in the half. The referee awarded Atlanta a free kick deep in their own defensive end, Rafique Hassim gave the ball to Ryan McIntosh to take the kick. McIntosh handled the ball with his hands outside the box to place the ball before taking the free kick. The referee called a handball on McIntosh, stating that he felt Hassim had actually taken the kick. Miami’s ensuing free kick ricocheted around the box before striking the arm of Scott Buete – the referee awarded Miami a penalty kick. Eric Vasquez stepped to the spot and evened the score for Miami just minutes before halftime. 
    The heat played a major role and the Silverbacks’ line-up grew thin as the game continued into the second half. Atlanta relied heavily on their substitutes and showed Miami that depth would not be a factor in the match. Just a few minutes into the half, the Atlanta offense roared up the field and split the Miami defense with numerous one-two’s. The final wall-pass put the ball at the feet of Macoumba Kandji who scored his second goal in as many matches – Kandji debuted in the USL First Division last Saturday against the Charleston Battery. After going down a goal, Miami sent numbers forward and the Silverbacks did all they could to hang on in the heat. Warren Ukah entered the match for Kandji, and his fresh legs proved powerful in the final minutes of the game. Luis Liendo drew in the Miami defense and slotted the ball inside to Ukah. The ball wasn’t quite wide enough and Miami’s goalkeeper Hannigan got to it first. Ukah caught Hannigan off guard when he stole the ball off his feet in a slide tackle outside the box. Ukah jumped to his feet with the ball and easily finished the ‘Backs final goal of the night. Miami had several corner kick chances in the final minutes, but the Atlanta defense cleared all their attempts to get a late goal.
    Atlanta’s next match is on Friday, August 17th against the Carolina RailHawks in Cary, NC in the Silverbacks’ final Southern Derby Cup match of the 2007 season.

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