"I Thought We Played An Excellent First Half" - Tab Ramos on Hartford's 4-1 Loss to Sacramento

Despite letting up two unanswered second-half goals against Sacramento Republic on Friday, Tab Ramos was happy with the way Hartford 'dominated' large parts of the game.

Image courtesy of Hartford Athletic

Upon first glance, a 4-1 home loss at the hands of USL Championship leaders Sacramento Republic did not give Hartford Athletic fans much to cheer about on Friday.

However, a closer look at the in-game statistics shows that the Green and Blue put up a fight worthy of recognition, according to head coach Tab Ramos.

“I thought we played an excellent first half,” Ramos said. “Considering the team we’re playing against, I thought we contained them really well and we attacked really well…The game was a good game up until the last ten minutes.”

Hartford initially conceded in the 18th minute, but found the equalizer from the spot less than five minutes later. After a first 45 minutes that saw Hartford dominate the possession, outshoot Sacramento 6-4 and force one save, the only goal that separated the two sides at the break was a 38th-minute penalty from Juan Sebastian Herrera.

The penalty capped off what was an extremely physical first half half between the two teams — one that saw five yellow cards and two spot kicks awarded by experienced referee Jose Carlos Rivera. The build-up of the second penalty featured a tangle between Antoine Hoppenot and Jack Gurr on the end of a cross, one that eventually ended up with Gurr going to ground and drawing the penalty. Hoppenot was shown yellow for the offense, but Hartford head coach Tab Ramos was not convinced.

“We went down 2-1 on a call I still don’t understand,” Ramos said. “I personally thought the refereeing had a lot to do with the final score.”

Despite this, Hartford’s trend of attacking dominance continued through the second half, according to Ramos. After conceding a third goal four minutes in following a shaky start, the Green and Blue continued to fight, peppering the Sacramento goal as the half went on. The problem — Hartford just could not find the finishing touch. They finished the night with 14 shots to Sacramento’s seven, but only put four on target as compared to five for the visitors.

Up against one of the most efficient attacks in the USL, not finding the net with so many opportunities is eventually going to prove costly for Hartford, and that’s exactly what happened.

“We dominated the whole second half,” Ramos said. “The calls didn’t go with us at the right time, and the ball just didn’t go in at the right time, and this is a good team. Unfortunately when you forgive on one side, you’re gonna get punished on the other side…We got our forwards the ball a lot [at] the top of the box, and yet we couldn’t put shots on goal.”

A Hartford attack that showed promise in the first half was headlined by the return of Elvis Amoh to the starting XI for the first time since his injury in early April. After going out with a thigh injury in Hartford’s 3-2 loss to Charleston, Amoh was sidelined for over a month before eventually making his return to the field off the bench vs. Loudoun last week. He notched a goal from the spot to secure a 2-0 win less than 10 minutes before coming on, and continued to show the value of his presence vs. Sacramento.

The forward was active in the attack throughout the first 45, taking five shots and most notably drawing the penalty that led to Kyle Edwards’ equalizer in the 23rd minute. Unfortunately, the month-long absence began to take it’s toll as the game — and fatigue — wore on, according to Ramos.

“I think maybe for about 55-60 minutes, he just ran out of gas,” Ramos said. “I thought both he and Kyle [Edwards] were tired the last 30 minutes,” Ramos said. “We thought since we were gonna get balls in the box, we didn’t really have any solutions off the bench, Prince [Saydee] is not available, we didn’t have another forward to put in as a solution to that.”

With Prince Saydee out of the 18 after picking up an injury vs. Loudoun, Ramos was forced to work what he had on the bench, eventually bringing on Jeciel Cedeño and Andre Lewis with 78 minutes gone as Amoh went the full 90.

When it is all said and done, a 4-1 loss is a hefty one no matter how it played out.

“We have to lift the spirits of the group, because it’s not easy after a 4-1 loss,” Ramos said. “You can say you played well, but it doesn't really matter when it’s 4-1.”

Up next, Hartford will return home for the final of three straight home games on Saturday, looking to turn things around against another tough opponent in Louisville City.