June 12, 2016: vs Lansing United (NPSL Regular Season)

June 12, 2016
Keyworth Stadium, Hamtramck, MI
NPSL Regular Season
Detroit City FC 2, Lansing United 2
DCFC Tommy Catalano (Cyrus Saydee) 33′
Lansing James DeCosemo 47′
DCFC Jeff Adkins 79′
Lansing Alec Greene 83′
Attendance: 4,344

This was only our second regular season home match, Le Rouge came into it with a record of a win, two draws, and a pair of losses; the most recent match the flat performance in Grand Rapids less than forty-eight hours earlier. A spark was needed.

Yet things felt off.

I didn’t go to Fowling Warehouse for the march. After brunch at the Polish Cafe, I wandered over to Detroit Donuts to satisfy my chocolate addiction. As I sat there, an older gentleman named John, struck up a conversation after noticing my wardrobe. A long-time Hamtramck resident, he had been a football coach at the high school years ago, and was both sharing stories and asking questions about Keyworth. The conversation was engaging, causing me to arrive inside the gates just before the supporters marching from Fowling Warehouse.

Upon entering the grounds, I noticed that the banners and flags in the Supporters’ Section were hanging upside down. A message that the ship needed righting was being sent. Furthermore, it seemed that the supporters were late to the pre-game chants. There was no “Lansing…Come Out and Play,” and as the players took to the field, the “Come and Get It” chant kicked off late.

City took the lead twice, and surrendered it twice. There could have been a handball called on a Lansing defender in the box that wasn’t. It was an intense game, and when Billy Stevens was issued a yellow card on a tackle right in front of the DCFC bench, Assistant Coach Josh Rogers earned an ejection for exchanging some choice words with the referee about issuing the yellow card after ignoring Lansing’s Jake Prud’Homme who, minutes earlier, stomped down on a City player’s leg.

The sun set behind the general admission bleachers with City still looking for its first regular season victory on our new home pitch.