Strong first half leads Tigers to win

Fort Scott's Josh Buller (left) and Columbus' Nigel Norris battle for possession during the first half of action Thursday night at Ellis Park. Buller scored two goals for the Tigers in their 4-2 Southeast Kansas League victory over the Titans.
(Captured Images/Kenny Felt)

The second half was somewhat shakier as two quick Titan goals brought Columbus within one with about six minutes to go before Josh Buller scored an insurance tally in the 75th minute.

"The first half, we played well," Fort Scott head coach David Gray said. "Then, I think we just lost our intensity. We were controlling it the way we expected to. We had the ball at our end most of time. I don't know if we got lazy…but we'll work on it."

It didn't take long for the Tigers to get on the board as Max McAllister passed to his brother, Chris, whose shot beat the Columbus goalie less than a minute into the contest.

Fort Scott (2-1 SEK, 2-3 overall) allowed Columbus (0-1, 1-2) to advance past midfield only three times in the first half, although the Titans did get a good shot in the 19th minute that Tiger goalkeeper Grant Wells was able to punch over the crossbar.

Buller got a goal in the 27th minute to make it 2-0 for the Tigers, which was the halftime score. Columbus' Lucas Casana made a nice pass to Jordan Swadley in front of the net in the 38th minute, just before the half, but the shot missed to the left.

Jessie Brown scored in the 52nd minute to boost Fort Scott's lead to 3-0 before the momentum began turn.

Swadley scored in the 71st minute to get the Titans on the board. Then Jean-Pierre Stein scored in the 74th minute.

Buller scored his second goal -- fifth of the season -- on a left-footed blast to give the Tigers some comfort.

It was a good win for the Tigers coming after an 8-2 loss at Neosho, Mo., Tuesday in which they allowed seven straight goals after holding a 2-1 lead. But Gray also saw the need for improvement.

"I tried to play a few more guys who hadn't got much varsity time before and I was impressed with their hustle," Gray said. "I'm trying to find midfielders who want to run all day long. You need to beat their man down on the offensive end. And when they're on defense, they have to get behind them in front of the goal. That's a big key for us right now is to find the guys who want to put out that effort. I'm going to keep rotating them in and out until I find them.

We're trying to wear (the other team) out. If we wear them out, we should be dominating the second half and that didn't happen today."

The Tiger defense allowed the Titans to take just six shots in the game. Fort Scott's offense peppered the Columbus goal with 24 shots.

"There were one or two lapses with the defense," Gray said. "Both of their goals were from defensive mistakes. Grant was aggressive and in charge back there and that's what he has to do."

The Tigers have four matches next week beginning with a home game Monday against Spring Hill. Tuesday is a league game at Pittsburg. Defending State 4-3-2-1A champ Independence visits Thursday and the Tigers go to Paola Saturday.

JUNIOR VARSITY -- Columbus won the JV contest, 1-0. Kenny Withers made three saves in goal for the Tigers.

NOTES -- Chris McAlister and Luis Ramirez were the Tigers' goal scorers at Neosho on Tuesday....

Only one game official showed up and he had to work both games on his own.....

When looking at the clock that's been installed at Ellis Park, keep in mind that it's unofficial as, by rule, the referee keeps official time himself. The common procedure when there is a visible clock is to have it start at 38 minutes then have the last two minutes of each half untimed as, again, the referee has the official time....

Goalkeepers

C -- Nick Holman (12 saves), FS -- Grant Wells (3 saves).

Scoring

FS -- C.McAllister (2, M.McAllister), 1st min.

FS -- Buller (4, unassisted), 27th min.

FS -- Brown (1, unassisted), 52nd min.

C -- Swadley (unassisted), 71st min.

C -- Stein (unassisted), 74th min.

FS -- Buller, 2 (5, unassisted), 75th min.