Gregory Richardson scored three goals and helped set up another, as Trinidad's Joe Public FC defeated the New England Revolution, 4-0, in the second leg of a CONCACAF Champions League preliminary-round series on Tuesday night at Gillette Stadium. With the result, Joe Public won the two-game series, 6-1 on aggregate, and advanced to the tournament's group stage.
Joe Public will be part of Group C in the CONCACAF Champions League, joining Mexican side Atlante, Honduran club Olimpia, and the winner of the series between the Montreal Impact (Canada) and Real Esteli (Nicaragua), which Montreal led, 1-0, after the first leg. New England's participation in the tournament was ended with the loss.
Richardson scored his first in the 17th minute to give Joe Public a 1-0 lead in the match and a 3-1 advantage on aggregate. Wolry Wolfe's long pass from midfield split the Revolution backline and put Richardson one-on-one with Revs goalkeeper Matt Reis, and Richardson finished to the far post from the left side of the box.
New England's best chance of the first half - and ultimately, the match - fell to Shalrie Joseph in the 36th minute, but his close-range shot from a tight angle flew across the face of goal and past the far post.
Richardson extended the visitors' lead to 2-0 on the night and 4-1 on aggregate just before halftime, bursting past a defender and firing a shot into the roof of the net from a very tight angle.
Less than three minutes into the second half, the Eastern Lions scored again, this time with Richardson providing the pass for Roen Nelson's goal. Richardson played a low pass to the top of the area for Nelson, who side-footed a shot from 18 yards inside the left post.
The scoring was completed in the 81st minute when Richardson scored his third goal of the game and his fourth of the two-game series. Richardson took a short pass from Silas Spann outside the box before driving a shot inside the far post.
New England will return to MLS regular-season action on Saturday, Sept. 6, when the club travels to Ohio for a crucial Eastern Conference showdown with the Columbus Crew at 7:30 p.m. at Crew Stadium.
New England Revolution (USA) vs. Joe Public FC (TRI)
September 2, 2008 - Foxborough, Mass. (Gillette Stadium)
Scoring Summary:
JPF - Gregory Richardson (Wolry Wolfe) 17
JPF - Gregory Richardson (unassisted) 45
JPF - Roen Nelson (Gregory Richardson) 48
JPF - Gregory Richardson (Silas Spann) 81
New England Revolution: Matt Reis (GK), Chris Tierney, Amaechi Igwe, Gabriel Badilla, Jay Heaps, Mauricio Castro, Shalrie Joseph (Rob Valentino 68), Jeff Larentowicz (Pat Phelan 46), Wells Thompson, Khano Smith, Brandon Manzonelli (Joe Germanese 72)
Substitutes Not Used: Doug Warren (GK), Chris Albright, Brandon Tyler, Sainey Nyassi
STATS: Shots 10; Shots on Goal 4; Saves 3; Corner Kicks 2; Offside 1; Fouls Committed 14
Joe Public FC: Alejandro Figueroa (GK), Jason Springer (Lyndon Andrews 85), Keyeno Thomas, Christopher Harvey, Carlyle Mitchell (Silas Spann 72), Wolry Wolfe, Dale Saunders ©, Arnold Dwarika, Kerry Baptiste, Roen Nelson (Jamal Gay 76), Gregory Richardson
Substitutes Not Used: Andre Foster (GK), Gary Glasgow, Elusma Pierre, Kerry Noray
STATS: Shots 9; Shots on Goal 7; Saves 4; Corner Kicks 3; Offside 5; Fouls Committed 13
Misconduct Summary:
JPF - Dale Saunders (caution) 13
NE - Jay Heaps (caution) 78
NE - Gabriel Badilla (caution) 88
NE - Jay Heaps (second caution/ejection) 90
Referee: Steve DePiero
Referee's Assistants: Hector Vergara (SAR), Daniel Belleau (JAR)
Fourth Official: Mark Geiger
Time of Game: 1:53
Weather: 67 and cloudy
Attendance: 3,523
NOTES
• All four of the Revs' first-choice forwards missed the match with injuries ... Taylor Twellman (facial lacerations), Adam Cristman (right toe sprain), Kheli Dube (right adductor strain) and Kenny Mansally (right ankle sprain) were all unavailable ... Khano Smith and Brandon Manzonelli started as the Revs' forwards.
• Joe Public began the match with the same starting lineup that the club used in the first leg on Aug. 26 in Trinidad.
• New England played from the 75th minute to the 90th minute with 10 men, as Khano Smith left the match with an injury after the Revs had used their three allotted substitutions. New England played the final moments of stoppage time with nine men, after Jay Heaps was issued a second yellow card and subsequent red card.
• After playing the full 90 minutes as both a center back and a defensive midfielder in tonight's match, Gabriel Badilla will depart tomorrow to join the Costa Rica National Team for a pair of 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers against Suriname (Sept. 6) and Haiti (Sept. 10) ... Badilla is expected to miss the Revolution's next two matches (at Columbus, Sept. 6; against Chivas USA, Sept. 11).
• Joe Public became the first Caribbean team to defeat a club from the United States in the history of CONCACAF club competitions ... the club from Trinidad also became the first Caribbean side to score as many as three goals in one match against a team from the United States.
