Brett Butz’s header gave Grafton a 2-1 lead for good early in the second half and Grafton held on during a wild final 30 minutes of regulation to beat Jamestown in the 4A Conference 19 championship Saturday night at Cooley Field.
As expected, the match between the two Bay Rivers District rivals was played evenly with both teams creating equal scoring chances and became increasingly intense throughout.
With Grafton clinging to a 2-1 lead after Butz headed in a cross from Nick Dey eight minutes into the second half, Jamestown, which defeated the Clippers by the same 2-1 score during the regular season, attacked relentlessly the rest of the way but was unable to capitalize.
The style of play was aggressive throughout but turned physical in the second half, which was understandable given the magnitude of the game.
The intensity heightened at the midway point of the second half when a Jamestown’s Noah Pescara was sent off the field with a red card. Play would be stopped for roughly five minutes before Eagles’ head coach Bobby O’Brien and one of his assistants were also given red cards.
In addition to being crowned the inaugural Conference 19 champions, Grafton also earned a first-round home game in next week’s region tournament with the win. Jamestown, which will be without one its top standouts for its next two games, will open region play on the road.
Grafton coach Paul Sidhu called his team’s conference semifinal win over Tabb, in which the Clippers rallied from a goal down in the second half to win 2-1, as a learning experience that paid dividends on Saturday.
“Against Tabb we got away from possessing the ball in the middle and tried to play too quickly over the top,” Sidhu said. “When we got up 2-1 (on Saturday) and they started pressuring, we didn’t just play kick ball and get it out of our end. We did a much better job possessing tonight. You could see our improvement in pressure situations in this one.”
The two teams played an even first 40 minutes before entering the half tied at 1-1.
With Jeff Wolons working the ball through the midfield and Noah Pescara making some nice runs down the left side, Jamestown controlled the pace of the game early and created several scoring chances in the game’s opening minutes.
After struggling to connect their passes in the final third during the first 20 minutes of the first half, Nick Dey, Aaron Kaye, Jose Cortes and Dylan Lorio-MacNamara helped the Clippers attack find its footing.
With 7:45 to play before intermission, Grafton scored first after countering a Jamestown free kick almost perfectly. After the ball was cleared away, Dey was off and running before sending a pass out wide to MacNamara. MacNamara then slotted back into the box to Kaye, who punched a shot across goal from the right side to give Grafton a 1-0 lead.
Jamestown answered right back with the equalizer less than two minutes later, though, after Pescara sent a low free kick from roughly 20 yards out that deflected off Grafton keeper Jay Fox’s leg and into goal.
As balanced as the first half was that ended in a 1-1 tie, the final 40 minutes were as intense and physical as either team has played all season.
Butz’s game-winning header came in the first 10 minutes of the final half, but there were plenty more opportunities to be had by both teams during the final 30 minutes.
Jamestown was in full out attack mode with Wolons, Cap League and Pescara pushing relentlessly downfield, but Grafton’s back line, particularly, Nishan Moomjian and Mikyle Valentine, did a solid job collapsing on the ball inside the box and limiting the Eagles’ looks at goal.
Fox, who made several impressive saves in goal, saved one of his best efforts for the closing minutes after hauling in a hard shot by Jamestown’s Kyle Wade.
As the game turned chippy during the final 10 or so minutes, Sidhu said he pulled his players aside and told them to play their game and stay relaxed.
“I think it worked,” Sidhu said. “We didn’t get caught up in the moment and do something careless that would allow Jamestown back in the game.”
