Colorado fell behind early off of another set-piece goal. Columbus midfielder Danny Szetela sent his 10th minute free-kick into the Rapids penalty area where defender Chad Marshall got a well placed foot on it for the 1-0 lead.

The Crew continued to cause Colorado problems with right side midfielder Jacob Thomas, in just his second MLS game after 8 seasons in Germany, forcing the Rapids defense to scramble on many occasions. It was Thomas’ pace that allowed him time to send a dangerous ball into the 6 yard box only to see Szetela’s point blank shot saved by Rapids keeper Joe Cannon.

However, Rapids man-of-the-match midfielder Terry Cooke began to make his own mark on the game in the 34th minute. The hustling Englisman struck one of his trademark bulls-eye crosses directly in front of the Crew goal. Midfielder Jovan Kirovski hit a perfectly placed header to equalize. “I really enjoyed myself,” said a smiling Cooke. “This week we finished our chances. Last week we created more chances, but we finished our chances that’s a big difference.”

Rapids midfielder Kyle Beckerman was the first to admit that things weren’t going all that well early on for Colorado. “Jovan’s goal really gave us a boost. We knew they were going to come in, sit back, and try to counter attack us. It was kind of difficult when we’re winning it on our 18 (yd box) instead of winning it their half and being able to one-pass, two-pass. The whole team battled well today. I was really proud of them.”

The second half was all Colorado as midfielders Cooke, Kirovski, and Beckerman took control of the match shutting down any movement through the middle of the field. In the 50th minute, Beckerman scored his second goal in as many games as his blast went off the head of defender Brandon Moss past a helpless Jon Busch in goal.

Rapids Head Coach Fernando Clavijo was proud of his young midfielder and his new found scoring touch. “He’s comfortable. His confidence is up. He’s doing tremendous for us. Somebody who works as hard as he does deserves to have success.”

On his recent offensive success, Beckerman explains it’s not any one special thing but just trying different approaches and not being afraid to let loose. “It’s about time. I’m sure some games I’m going to have to play more defense, but I’m looking forward to taking what’s given. If there’s a chance to go forward and take a shot I’m going to do it.”

“We’ve got a good team, and when we pass the ball we can play some good soccer. When the ball goes into Pedro, I’m just coming off a little bit, later run, get the ball in a little space and have one-just different stuff.”

Columbus’ Thomas, the most dangerous man on the field in the first 45 minutes, admitted he started to run out of gas in the second frame and his play wasn’t up to standards. “For me it’s important that I get back in shape. In 6 weeks I haven’t played a full game. The first half was ok, but the second half the muscles got a little bit tight.”

“We were trying focus on keeping the ball. We played too hectic. We played too many long balls instead of just trying to keep possession,” said Thomas. “Second half, defensively-wise I was committing too much. I was letting them make one move then go by.”

Ex-Rapid Ritchie Kotschau almost pulled Columbus even in the 61st minute. From well beyond the 18 yd box, Kotschau fired a bullet towards the far upper corner. The unlucky Crew saw the ball bounce off the crossbar, then off the far post and away from danger.

Cooke continued his command of the right side in the 67th minute creating space on the dribble before sending another pinpoint cross directly in front of goal. Another perfectly timed header, this time by forward Fabrice Noel, put the game out of reach 3-1.

“I don’t complicate my game,” explained Cooke. “It’s a simple game soccer. That’s what I’ve been taught from my youth as a young lad at Old Trafford. All you need is one or two touch. As soon as I get that ball they know it’s going in the box. I don’t look for certain people.”

Cooke also gave credit where credit was due on the night-Colorado had players looking to score. “It depends where I am on the pitch to put it in certain areas. Then if the ball beats the first man I’ve done my job and people need to do their job and get on the end of it. Fair credit to the lads up front today, they did well getting on the end of things. That was the big difference was we showed commitment tonight.”

Colorado Head Coach Fernando Clavijo was visibly proud of his team’s 90 minute effort, especially after falling handily to Houston last week. “I say all along we have a good team with players capable of playing the game on the same page. We have good soccer players. If we can match the efforts of the other team we can get away with everything.”

Afterwards, Columbus Head Coach Sigi Schmid held a closed-door meeting with his squad for over 45 minutes after pulling several players already on the bus to the locker room for a little wake-up meeting. Schmid summed up the night continuing the Tale of Two Halves theme, saying, “In the first half, Jacob (Thomas) was receiving passes from our midfielders but in the second half everytime he got a ball it was from Frankie. So then the angle is now a little bit wrong and he wasn’t able to get forward in the same manner.”

“We did good things in the first half. In the first half, we gave up a goal we shouldn’t have given up and we should’ve had three. I just thought in the second half that Jovan and Beckerman won the midfield duel against Szetela and Moss. In the second half that’s what tipped the game,” admitted the disappointed Crew Coach.

“We knew that they were going to come up with a little more pressure, so we wanted to try and get the ball a little more to Martino but it was ineffective. Certainly Colorado played their part and stepped up their play, but we gave Terry Cooke too much space. At the end of the day we paid the price.”

By Brian Jennings

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