FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Coming into leg two of Saturday’s Eastern Conference Championship against New York, Jay Heaps had to make a decision on where to focus his defensive efforts, given the Red Bulls’ plethora of attacking options.
They knew that simply shutting Thierry Henry down was not a likely option, and that Tim Cahill was going to get his looks. But in sliding Chris Tierney up from left back to left midfield and putting Kevin Alston at fullback, the idea was to try and shut down the speedy and talented Lloyd Sam.
After some early wobbles, the move eventually paid dividends for New England, with both Alston and Tierney doing solid work along the left side, forcing New York to try things from other areas of the pitch.
“We wanted to be mindful of Lloyd Sam’s speed,” said Heaps postgame. “It’s a defensive move, but it allows us to be a little bit more offensive where Chris can [move] up – and he’s still a winger and he can do certain things.”
Heaps reluctantly benched Kelyn Rowe for Sunday's match after he saw what the Alston-Tierney combination could do to Lloyd in the first leg at Red Bull Arena, where Alston subbed on in place of Rowe after the crafty midfielder picked up a knock.
Making his second start of the postseason – after playing in just 11 matches during the regular season – Alston provided the Revs with a lockdown option on that side of the field, pairing with Tierney’s defensive instinct while also allowing him to roam up the wing to get involved in the attack.
“You bring him in to match up against Lloyd Sam, who's a nightmare one-on-one defensively, and Kevin, there’s just no one getting by him,” said Tierney. “I think Lloyd Sam didn’t have a sniff today. Credit to Jay for making the move. I’m just glad it worked out for us.”
On the offensive end, it was Tierney who set the table for both Revolution goals.
The left-footer worked a short corner with Lee Nguyen that he served into the box for Charlie Davies to finish for the home side's opener. Then, as he is apt to do, Tierney delivered another beautiful, curling service into the box, again finding Davies for the goal that sent New England on to the title bout.
“Chris and Kevin, on our team being the two most senior guys – I played with those guys,” said Heaps. “Having them both out there was really important.”
