FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – When New England advance into the opposing half and win a throw-in, they set into motion a familiar scene to try to consolidate the advantage gained.
Either Kevin Alston or Darrius Barnes – Alston most frequently this season, Barnes more often a year ago – trudges up from his usual spot in the Revolution back four and fires the ball toward the penalty area in an attempt create a goal through brute force.
“I'm just trying to find [Shalrie Joseph] or Ilija [Stolica] and try to play it towards their heads so they can flick it on,” Alston explained to MLSsoccer.com after New England's 3-1 victory over Seattle on Saturday night.
Despite conjuring up a fairly reasonable facsimile of the approach Stoke City midfielder Rory Delap uses to torment teams in the English Premier League, the Revolution rarely find a way to break through from those long hurls into the danger area.
But the inefficiency hasn't stopped the Revs from using the mechanism as a way of serving balls into the box and trapping the opposition inside their own half.
While the conversion rate remains low, it now boasts at least one direct hit after a handful of tangential successes: Chris Tierney's equalizer in Saturday night's come-from-behind victory over Sounders FC.
WATCH: Tierney's game-tying goal
The sequence played out as if composed on a white board before the match. Alston's long throw traveled on a path more like a line than an arc, Joseph rose highest and flicked the ball toward the back post and Tierney nodded home for his first career goal.
“Against every team, we try to utilize Kevin and Darrius with their throw-ins,” Joseph said. “They definitely put it in great areas. Sometimes we don't win those flick-ons, and sometimes we do.
"[On Saturday], it worked for us because we got that flick-on and Chris was there at the right time and at the right spot.”
In practice, the equation actually worked twice on the evening. Moments before he headed home, Tierney scuffed a carbon-copy chance at the far post from another Alston long throw. While the first effort somehow did not end in satisfaction, it provided a template for the subsequent success.
“On the first one, I kind of realized they weren't tracking the back post run,” Tierney said. “I knew Shalrie will always mix things up in there, so things happen when he's throwing his body around. I was hoping another chance would come and luckily it did.”
Tierney's goal offered the initial salvo in the comeback and finally vindicated the Revolution's direct tactics from the sidelines.
“We do it a few times a game, and [it's great] to finally get the gratification of finally finishing it and finally getting something out of it,” said Alston.
