Georgia 4-1 Nashville
May 21, 1982 — DeKalb Memorial Stadium (Atlanta, Ga.)
Scoring Summary
GA — Charlie Greene 13′
NASH — Juan Yepez 22′
GA — Sonny Askew
GA — Kevin Fouser
GA — Aidan McKenzie
Generals Cut Diamonds 4-1
(Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 05.22.82)
By Steve Figueroa
ATLANTA — After a first half that looked more like a wrestling match than a soccer game, the Georgia Generals settled down to fundamental soccer and scored three goals in the second half to break out of a 1-1 tie and down the Nashville Diamonds 4-1 Friday night at DeKalb Memorial Stadium before a crowd estimated at 4,500.
Georgia (3-0-1) got maximum points from the victory to open a big lead atop the standings of the American Soccer League. The Generals entered the game with 19 points, 10 more than second place Nashville, which came into the game with a 1-1 record.
“Nashville’s not a good side,” Generals’ coach David Chadwick said. “In the first half, we dragged down to their level and were just kicking the ball back and forth. We were trying to mix in too much physical play and that’s just not our style. We’ve got to play. We can’t just kick the ball back and forth. We talked things over a bit at the half and came out and played much better in the second half. We moved the ball better, and the goals came. It wasn’t a pretty game, but we’re very happy with the results. We got maximum points to give us a big stretch at the top of the division.”
Scoring goals for the Generals were Charlie Green, Sonny Askew, Kevin Fouser and Aidan McKenzie.
Nashville came into the game with a reputation for physical play, and the Diamonds did nothing to change that, getting 18 fouls and two yellow cards. The Generals had 14 fouls and four yellow cards, most out of frustration after being roughed up by Nashville players.
Greene, who had a goal and an assist and was named the game’s most valuable offensive player, actually came to blows with Nashville midfielder Dario Ochoa 16 minutes into the second half. Both players received yellows. “He (Ochoa) had elbowed me in the face on the wall a bit earlier, ” said Greene. “And then he went in one me with a high tackle. It’s just the tactics Nashville uses to throw you off your game. It’s hard playing a team like them because they pull you down to their level. But it’s a credit to the team that we were able to come out with a 4-1 win, especially with several of our best players out with injuries. It shows we’ve got some depth on the bench.”
Jose Neto, Mike Balson and Mark MacKain missed their second straight game with injuries, but the Generals still controlled play most of the night. Georgia had 14 shots to just four for Nashville, and the Generals’ goalkeeper Graham Tutt had to make just four saves to seven for Nashville’s Fred Armstrong.
Greene got the Generals’ first goal 12:50 into the first half, as Giulio Bernardi intercepted an ill-advised Nashville clearing pass right in front of the goal and Greene ran onto the loose ball and easily left-footed it into the open net.
Nashville then got its only score, as Juan Yepez took a breaking pass and executed a nice crossing kick to beat Tutt on the left post 21:30 into the first half.
The Generals put the game away early in the second half, however, with two goals within a span of 3:45.
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