By Brian Jennings - Thursday’s match between Colorado and Real Salt Lake was quite frankly a stinker in the first 45 minutes.  Neither side kept the ball cleanly or threatened from the run of play with the only decent chances off corners from both teams.  Missed passes, giveaways, and poor possession marked the night early on.  However, something happened on the way to a draw: Colorado used their speed and attacked early in the second half to gain the advantage in a 2-0 win.

Both sides came out fairly flat, but it was Real Salt Lake that never really woke up and got their game going, as opposed to Colorado in the second frame.  “I think there was a bit of sharpness lacking tonight,” admitted RSL Head Coach Jason Kreis.  “Play was a little bit loose all over the place with possession which probably both teams could say the same.  Maybe it’s fatigue a little bit.  We’ve had a lot of games in a couple of weeks and may have played a part in our mishaps.”

Rapids forward Herculez Gomez, playing his first full 90 minutes this season shouldered his share of the blame along with his strike partners early on.  “Omar (Cummings) and I were having a tough time working off each other-we didn’t do a very good job.”

“To tell you the truth, I think 80 percent of the play was on us.  I thought they were looking to counter, maybe get a set piece, but I didn’t think they were being pretty dangerous at all.  I thought we were being a little naïve in the way we were playing.  Omar and I needed to be there for the team a little bit more-bring the other players into the game, showing for the ball.”

The second half was a definite turnaround for the home side, something that wasn’t lost on the Salt Lake players.  “Our final passes in the final third weren’t clicking.  We kind of limited their chances in the first half and I think we kind of came out a little asleep in the second half,” said Real midfielder Andy Williams.  “We knew it was going to come, but we didn’t take good care of the ball in the first 10-15 minutes.  They kept us pinned down and it kind of wore on us.”

Ex-Rapid Nat Borchers’ welcome back to Denver wasn’t quite what he had planned out as Cummings scored just in front of the Salt Lake defender.  “Obviously, the second half we let it get away from us and I don’t think we were dangerous enough.” 

“We knew they have a lot of speed so we wanted to make sure we were in good positions to cover. I don’t think they got behind us more than a couple times.  On the goal they scored, he just got behind us and it was a good finish.”

Kreis, who spent the first half of the match in the stands, returned to the bench in the second half but wasn’t happy with his squad’s reaction.  “I was a little bit disappointed that we didn’t come out with a better mentality in the second half.  We see a team in Salt Lake that responds well in the second half and picks up the play but tonight that wasn’t the case for us at all.”

Borchers agreed in his assessment, saying, “I don’t think we were ready for their pressure and usually we’re the ones putting pressure on.  Honestly, we were trying to get forward but they just did the opposite to us.  I think we lost a lot of energy defending.”

Gomez explained the first goal by Cummings as exactly what happens when the Rapids front four comes together as an attacking unit.  “It’s one of those things when the second half I felt super comfortable on the ball, I just knew we were knocking on the door, and I felt good going at guys.  You just have this feeling.”

“Like you saw on the first goal, Omar shows for it, gives me the ball, I engage the runner but forced him to take Colin (Clarke) or me.  I played Colin, he whips it in and (Omar) makes a good hard run and it’s a goal-that’s soccer.”

Cummings, who scored his second goal in as many games, took Head Coach Fernando Clavijo’s halftime message to heart as he, Gomez, Clarke, and Jacob Peterson picked up the pace.  “I think we were a little bit stretched and having to do too much defensive work by going wide to pressure balls (in the first half).  When it came to attacking we didn’t have the legs to do that as much.  Second half, we kept the ball a little more allowing us to get in the box and get in position.  Coach said we had to come out with more energy and we did that.”

Gomez agreed after the first goal it was much easier to work together and it paid off in the win. “Once that goal hit it was all us.  They would come at us and we would break them down and know exactly what to do at the right moments.”

“That comes overall throughout the game just breaking a team down  It’s all about being smart, being savvy, just knowing what to do and when to do it, and I think we were a better team on the night.”

“We all worked hard and that’s what you deserve when you work hard.  You look at me and Omar’s defensive work we’re running all over defensively, and when you play with this 3-5-2 you have to help out these defenders.  We all worked hard for each other and that was the difference to be honest.”