Lower Alabama Report - April 23

Birmingham Legion FC

Legion traveled to Hartford Athletic for a game that looked tailor-made for a team that needs momentum. Last week's win, the first of the season, was an enormous relief for fans and players. The relief following that win, coupled with the emotions from the coach being fired, set this up as a classic trap game. In hindsight, Birmingham set themselves up for failure. Legion players and staff were quoted as saying that this was a hard game to prepare for because they didn't know what to expect from a Hartford team that hadn't won a game, and would be missing key players. It sounds harsh, but we should have listened.

This was a game where Legion should have hit the pitch and played “their game”. They kept Mamadou Dieng bottled up, which is not an easy thing to do, but beyond that Birmingham started very flat and were far too passive. Without a clear feeling for what Hartford would do, the Legion failed to show the vision for what they wanted to do. In simplest terms, Hartford was allowed too much time and space to figure things out. Legion managed to get just one shot on target, foiled by a great save by the Harford keeper. On the other side, Hartford managed five shots on target, and Van Oekel made some good saves. Unfortunately, a lapse in focus by our youngest player was contagious, and MVO spilled a ball across the line that he should have handled. Legion lost 0-1.

Image credit: USL

Birmingham Legion's first Jagermeister Cup match will be Sunday April 27 at 4:00 at home against Chattanooga Red Wolves. Despite playing in different leagues, these two teams are fairly familiar with each other due to Open Cup (‘23 and ‘24) and preseason friendlies. This year, the Red Wolves beat Legion 2-1 in preseason. This will not be a game where Birmingham takes the opponent lightly. The Red Wolves are always very physical and aggressive, and Birmingham has been missing those two traits this season. They need to be ready to brawl between the goals.

Huntsville City FC

Huntsville loves Chicago Fire 2, who they faced for the second time this season. Huntsville scored first in the 19th minute, and then the Fire burned down whatever chance they had when they picked up a red card just a few minutes after that goal. City got three more goals before halftime and never looked back. The final score was 5-0, making Huntsville a combined 9 goals to 1 in two games against the Fire.

Image credit: Inter Miami 2

Inter Miami 2 will be in town Sunday April 27 at 7:00. Inter has beaten Huntsville in the previous three meetings, but this team has been performing at a higher level in 2025. On the other hand, the two wins for HCFC both came against Chicago Fire 2. Their 0-1 loss to league-leading Chattanooga FC are also be a source of confidence, but they will need to be careful here. Inter Miami 2 is a team that will be dangerous and should be expected to score some goals. This could easily be a high-scoring game that ends in a shootout.

FC Birmingham

FC Birmingham faced Albion Atlanta on Saturday, trying to turn things around and get another win. Albion were very organized from the start, pressuring FCB up and down the field. Birmingham was repeatedly caught waiting for passes to arrive, giving Atlanta chances to intercept. Sloppy play by Birmingham saw Albion take a 2-0 lead into halftime.

Whatever they talked about during the break made a difference, with FCB organized and sharp to start the second half. In the 67th minute, Birmingham put one into the net, and there was a scrum in the box, resulting in a red card for Albion. A few minutes later, FCB evened the score with a shot from long range. Both teams kicked things into a higher gear looking to get a game-winner. In stoppage time, an Albion player got behind the FCB line and chipped the ball in. FC Birmingham loses 2-3.

This week FCB travels to Georgia Revolution Saturday April 26 at 6:00. The Revs are definitely in better form right now, handing Kalonji Pro-Profile thier only loss, and sitting in the middle of the table. FCB will always put up a fight, but the Revs are undefeated at home. I don't look for that to change now.

FCB2 will host Columbus Knight Eagles Saturday April 26 at 3:00. These two teams met once in the Fall, with CKE winning 2-1. It's still very early in this Spring season, but these two teams are on different trajectories. FCB2 has steadily improved after a game 1 loss, while CKE has been winning by smaller margins before their first loss in their most recent game. Two weeks ago I would have predicted this to be a comfortable win for the Eagles, but this looks like it will be a tight match.

UMA FC

Potros took a 2-0 lead into halftime from a brace by forward Nazario Mbomio, on his way to a hat trick, giving UMA a 0-3 loss. The three goals give Mbomio six goals for the season. I wish there more details to give, but the game wasn't streamed, and the only information available was the score.

UMA goes on the road Saturday April 26 to face Dalton United at 5:00. Nobody ever wants to face Dalton on the road, but the team has been less dominant this Spring than previous seasons. That might open the door for UMA to steal a win if they can keep the score close.

After a week off, UMA2 will travel to face Georgia Revolution 2 on Sun April 27 at 5:00. The Rev U23 squad sit at the top of table, having lost just one game so far. UMA2 will be looking for their first win, and have a chance to pull an upset here. Look for this to be very tight, and possibly a draw.

The Adjacency

I posted a full recap for the Columbus Derby after the game on the weekend. In a nutshell, Fountain City struggled to get things going, despite FC Columbus Elite going down to ten men early. Colgaelite put together a dominating 3-0 victory.

Image credit: Albion Atlanta SC

This weekend Fountain City will be on the road at Albion Atlanta SC Sunday April 27 at 6:00. Fountain has been competitive throughout the season, but find themselves at the bottom of the table with no wins. Albion has built some momentum with two wins and a draw from their last three games. Expect Albion to take all three points.

Colgaelite hosts Soccer Saves Lives Saturday April 26 at 6:00. This game comes at a good time for Elite, who have two wins in a row after a tough start to the season. SSL does have three draws, but no wins yet. Colgaelite should build on their momentum and get the win here.

As recapped above, CKE will be in Birmingham to face FCB2