Quakes fall to Fire, 1-0

Gavin Glinton battles for a ball during the first half against the Fire. Photo by John Todd—centerlinesoccer.com/isiphotos.com

As one walked into the Quakes’ locker room following Saturday’s match with the Chicago Fire, the reactions of the coaches and players made it difficult to tell what had transpired. Manager Frank Yallop was encouraged. Ronnie O’Brien looked slightly annoyed. And then there was Shea Salinas, who looked like he’d just been dumped by his girlfriend.

Coming as it did following a 1-0 loss to the Fire, all three emotions were understandable. The Quakes played light years better than they did in their opener against Los Angeles. The midfield looked more fluid and the defending more solid, which explains Yallop’s reaction.

“I was real pleased with the way we made it difficult for them to play,” said Yallop. “On top of that, we played well and created some great chances. We just couldn’t finish them.”

And that in turn explains the reactions of O’Brien and Salinas. The Irishman was much more active, and delivered more of his trademark crosses into the box, yet none were converted. The frontline pairing of Kei Kamara and Gavin Glinton combined well to create some opportunities from in close. But it was left to Salinas to have the most gilt-edged chance of them all. Kamara’s header in second half stoppage time had just caromed off the post, but with the goal begging, the Quakes’ rookie could only sky his rebound attempt over the goal.

“I’m definitely not going to be logging on to any blogs anytime soon, so please be nice — I’m sorry I missed,” said Salinas half-joking. “I really do feel bad. I feel like I cost the team a point, and I won’t miss again.”

Salinas was far from the only guilty party, however. Glinton and Kamara were just as culpable, although this was due in part to some sharp goalkeeping from Chicago netminder Jon Busch. Of particular note was Busch’s fingertip save of a Glinton blast in the 18^th minute. And it can be argued that were not for the mazy runs of Salinas, the Quakes’ attack would have stayed stuck in the same rut it had operated in for most of the second half.

Yet despite some bright moments, the Quakes came out on the losing end courtesy of Chad Barrett’s 19^th minute goal, one whose origins were reminiscent of last week’s debacle against the Galaxy. Kamara’s attempted drop-off to Ramiro Corrales in midfield was off the mark, and suddenly, the one scenario the Quakes had hoped to avoid all week, that of Cuauhtémoc Blanco running free with the ball at his feet, was staring San Jose right in the face.

Blanco made no mistake with the gift, slipping a through ball into the feet of Tomasz Frankowski, and while the Pole’s shot forced a sharp save from San Jose goalkeeper Joe Cannon, Barrett was quickest to pounce on the rebound, slotting the ball under Cannon for the game’s only goal.Chicago might very well have wrapped up the match even earlier, with Cannon’s save of another Frankowski breakaway in the 33rd minute keeping the match close.

But the day for the most part belonged to the Earthquakes. The distribution of Corrales and O’Brien kept San Jose’s offense ticking in the first half, while the introductions of Salinas and Ryan Johnson kicked their attack up a notch in the second.In the end it wasn’t enough, although Yallop refused to pin the result on his frontline.

“I thought we did all the things right in the game that you have to do to win matches,” said Yallop. “We created a number of chances that we didn’t finish. I’m not going to blame the forwards… there were a number of good situations that on another day go in.”

But until they do start to go in, questions about the potency of the Quakes’ frontline will persist. And with no reinforcements on the horizon, San Jose will have to make do with what it has, and hope that that the improved performance will carry over into next week’s road match against the Colorado Rapids. Glinton, for one, is a player who took away some hope from the match.

“I don’t think it’s going to hurt anybody’s [confidence], nobody’s going to feel the pressure,” said Glinton. “We going to come out and play well. If we concentrate on playing our game, the goals will come, and once they come, they’ll start to fall.”

The result served to spoil what was an otherwise successful home opener. The announced crowd of 20,038 was treated to a picture-perfect day that the return of the franchise deserved. In a stirring pre-game ceremony, the team’s two MLS Cup trophies were presented by members of Soccer Silicon Valley to team owner Lew Wolff, a fitting tribute to the organization that had helped keep the MLS fires burning in San Jose. And Yallop went so far as to say that watching his team walk out on the field put “a lump in your throat.”

As for putting some cheers in those throats, that will have to wait for another day.