STATESBORO, GA – After a tough week on the road, the league-leading Greenville Triumph look to move back into the win column on the last leg of the club’s three-match road trip as they face off against South Georgia Tormenta FC.
The Triumph failed to find any points during the last week, taking a 1-0 loss to NEII and a 2-1 loss to second-place Richmond. Defensive shape and efficient final third attacking were points of struggle for the Triumph, who have just one away win under their belts so far this season. With a win on Friday, Greenville can even their away record at 2-2-1 and sweep their neighboring Georgia rivals for the 2020 season.
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Scouting Tormenta
The talented Tormenta side has struggled to find consistent footing so far, with a 2-3-3 record that still has them slotted as part of the top four teams with nine points. Since suffering the 1-0 loss to Greenville at the beginning of August, Tormenta has won only once through four games, losing two and playing to a 1-1 draw against OCB in their most recent match.
Both teams have played 8 games and boast about a 12% goal conversion along with sharing some other minor statistics. Yet while the two sides look very similar on paper, Greenville has been able to win games, something Tormenta is still trying to figure out with any consistency.
what to watch for
Winning the Midfield: The midfield battle will be a big determinant in Friday’s match. Most of Tormenta’s success coincides with the success of its midfield. With a struggling and somewhat inexperienced backline, and center back Josh Phelps being out on a red card, Tormenta’s midfielders become even more important in slowing down the Triumph attack. And on the other side, many of Greenville’s most successful attacking opportunities have started with winning a midfield battle and building into a pattern on the flanks. This is a match our central three — typically Pilato, Walker and Gomez — can dictate heavily.
Staying Connected: Last week, Greenville struggled to stay connected defensively and that led to exploitable gaps in transition which NEII and Richmond both capitalized on. Keeping the game simple and keeping shape as a defensive unit was a major focus of Greenville’s training this week.
Attacking Efficiency: Another major focus of Greenville’s training through the last few weeks has been efficiency in the final third. There has been a disconnect within Greenville’s attack both in the runs being made and in the final delivery. Because of this inefficiency, the league-leaders have struggled to put teams away. In this league, when you allow scrappy teams like NEII to stay in the game late after missing early opportunities, it can come back to bite you like last Wednesday’s match. It won’t be surprising if we see laser focus from attackers like Jake Keegan, Alex Morrell and Lachlan McLean through the first 45 minutes of action to put Greenville on the board early. It feels much better going into the second half up 1-0, and the Triumph could use that to their advantage to put a team like Tormenta away.
MATCH WEEKEND DEALS
Southern Culture Hospitality Group: Head to Habitap to watch Triumph matches on their big screen get half off your first beer by wearing your Triumph gear! Getting take-out? LTO Burger Bar is offering a match day curbside pick-up discount…get 10% off with online code “Triumph”.
Item of the Week: Get $5 off all mystery boxes. Click here to shop!
Clean Sheet. Clean Car: If the Triumph earn a clean sheet (meaning no goals allowed), you can get $3 off a Top Wash the day after at Fins Car Wash, no promo code required.
Tailgate Package: Download the Chick-fil-A app to earn special rewards the Monday after each match. Simply order food from the Pelham Road location, and put Together We Triumph in the special instructions box.
