Detroit City FC secured its fourth consecutive Rust Belt Derby championship, playing FC Buffalo to a scoreless draw Sunday afternoon.
City hoisted its fourth RBD trophy on a 2-1 aggregate win. The Boys in Rouge defeated Buffalo, 2-1, at Keyworth Stadium on Friday, June 3.
Omar Sinclair (Saginaw Valley State) kept Buffalo’s forwards in check on Sunday, making plays all over the field and being quick to stop impending attacks. Sinclair’s performance earned him M1 Imaging Man of the Match honors.
Buffalo enjoyed a majority of the possession, forcing City to defend and counter-attack. Jordan Kalk (Saginaw Valley State), appearing in his first match for City, teamed up with Danny Deakin (South Carolina) and Javi Bautista (Ashford) to force the issue at times.
Joe Smith (Southern Illinois Edwardsville) checked in at halftime and made every save required of him, including a few in the late stages to keep a clean sheet.
Buffalo’s Sam Byles was shown a straight red in the 89th minute for kicking Le Rouge’s goalkeeper in the head while he made a diving save. Buffalo played with 10 men for the five minutes of added stoppage time.
Colby Cunningham, still filling in for newlywed Ben Pirmann, was pleased with his team’s performances on the weekend.
“(The goal) this weekend was to get two positive results,” he said. “Obviously we would’ve liked to get a win, but we did that (on Friday) and then got a tie (today).”
“Now we’re focused on having a good week of practice leading into two league games on Friday and Sunday.”
Next, Le Rouge hits the road to face Grand Rapids FC on Friday, June 10. Friday night’s return to league play is scheduled for a 7:45 kick-off at Houseman Field in Grand Rapids.
On Sunday, June 12, City hosts Lansing United at Keyworth Stadium. Get your tickets for the match here.
– Mitch Gatzke / DCFC Staff Writer
