My first taste of live top level soccer was when I was just eight years old in London. I was taken to see Tottenham Hotspur play West Ham United in what was then the old first division in England (which went on to become the English Premiership). Tottenham won that game 5 - 2 and I got to see one of Britain's all time great goal scorers in Jimmy Greaves who scored two that day. I've been a Tottenham fan ever since and an all round lover of the game.
My daughter Ellie is now eight too and when I told her that Austin was getting it's own soccer team and that I was going to their first home game she said she wanted to come too. The U-23 PDL is a long way from the dizzy heights of the top level of the English game, but it's still the top U-23 amateur league in the US and the highest level of soccer that we have available in Austin.
We arrived at the Dragon stadium about 20 minutes before kick off. We would have got there even earlier, but painting Ellie's face took a bit longer than I expected. We quickly bought some snacks for the game and found somewhere to sit high up in the bleachers. The view was great. As we tucked into our snacks we enjoyed the live music and watched the steady stream of fans arriving. I was surprised, but happy to see such a great turn out. I heard the attendance was between 1500 and 2000. What a fantastic welcome for the Aztex.
It was a very warm evening, but up at the top of the bleachers we did manage to benefit from an occasional breeze that cooled us somewhat. I certainly didn't envy the players down there playing in the heat, but as soon as the game kicked off it was evident that both teams were not going to be bothered by the warm humid conditions, because the game started at a brisk pace. The Aztex began strongly with some very nice passing and it looked as though it would only be a matter of time before they breached the Houston Leones defense, and sure enough, after just 16 minutes, a well taken goal by AJ Godbolt gave us our first ever Aztex goal.
The one goal lead was well deserved, but although the Aztex attacking play was looking good, the player for me that was standing out with some very good defensive play was our number 15 Wes Allen, who was my man of the match, based mainly on his first half performance. The first half ended Aztex 1 - Leones 0, with the Aztex good value for their lead.
I thought the second half was a much closer affair, but when Leones did manage a rare breach of the Aztex defense, our PDL goalkeeper of the week Miguel Gallardo was there to save the day. The game was looking pretty even when I heard a loud "Ow" next to me. Ellie had her hair stuck in her small hand held fan that we had brought along. As I struggled to free her tangled hair (without smudging her face paint) the Aztex launched another attack from which Robin Martinez did well to steer the ball into the Leones goal. The crowd roared at the goal that would make the game safe. All I could do was punch the air with my free hand, but Ellie made enough noise for both of us as she clapped her hands and stamped her feet loudly, along with the rest of the crowd. As Martinez ran to the Aztex fans, followed by the rest of the Aztex team and punched the air in front of us, the fans responded by raising the noise level even higher.
The Aztex were then more than comfortable seeing out the 90 minutes for a well deserved home debut win. If you're reading this and you were thinking about going along to the game, make the effort and go along for a fun night out. As the announcer kept reminding us "It's 'your' Austin Aztex", so go along and show your support. As we left the Dragon stadium, I looked down at Ellie's tired and paint smeared face and wondered if like me all those years ago, this was going to be the start of a lifelong love affair with the beautiful game, so I asked her "So what did you think? Is it something that you'd like to go to again?".
"Yeah!" she cried, "I loved it. I want to come back again next week. I'm their biggest fan".
Jim Crooks
May 12, 2008
