CRAWFORD | Cruz comfortable in LouCity head coaching debut, disappointed with result | Sports

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Danny Cruz's first game as Louisville City FC's interim head coach began with a goal by Pat McMahon just 2:38 into the contest against Birmingham Legion FC. What’s so hard about all this?

Well, it turns out, the rest of the game. LouCity held nearly 60% of possession and got off 12 shots to Birmingham’s nine, but a second-chance penalty kick score by Neco Brett in the 60th minute gained what wound up as a 1-1 tie for the visitors before a COVID-restricted sellout crowd of 7,652 — the team's second of the season at Lynn Family Stadium.

The penalty came off a disputed foul call in the box, which set up a rash of yellow cards for the home team, including one for goalkeeper Chad Hubbard for arguing a call of coming off his line early on Brett’s initial penalty try, which Hubbard blocked before blocking a rebound shot.

Brett buried his do-over, as protesting LouCity players tried to collect themselves. By the time the cards stopped flying, LouCity had collected five, along with 12 second-half fouls. Birmingham was not given a yellow in the game.

But Cruz, in his first postgame news conference, wasn’t about to go there.

"Sorry," he said. "I can’t speak about the refs. I’m told not to. I think you heard the crowd. We had a lot of people here that were nice and loud, and I think they let you know how they felt about it. For me, we had to be better in the box. It’s certainly something we can improve upon. And we will improve on it. But I was really proud of the group. I was. I felt they gave me everything they could from a physical standpoint and a mentality standpoint, something we preach every, single day."

Cruz said he felt comfortable on the sideline in his new role. His team grabbed the initiative from the opening touch and, apart from some shaky moments after conceding the penalty kick goal, played with composure and created good opportunities.

"It felt natural, you know," Cruz said of coaching his first game. "But ultimately to not get the three points was disappointing. There’s going to be a lot of things to learn from. We’re going to look at the tape and see where we can improve. But I can tell you right now the locker room right now is silent. Nobody’s happy about tying here at Lynn Family Stadium. ... It’s just that finishing touch, that final ball. But we still played some good football. We had a lot of the ball. I felt there was really good buildup play, but we can improve."

Corben Bone, who assisted with a corner kick on LouCity’s first goal, said the team, "leaves the game unhappy with the result but the effort was good. We tried but it just didn’t work out. Execution in the final third is always something we need in games like this when they put a lot of guys in the box and block shots and make it a bit chaotic. I thought they did a good job of that. They blocked shots, blocked crosses. I think in certain instances if we executed better, if it’s a better first touch or a better angle it might be a different case. But credit to them, they made it difficult for us."

Purple Points:

— Saturday’s game marked the first of four regular-season meetings between Louisville and Birmingham.

— Birmingham, coming off back-to-back postseason appearances, was playing without 2020 USL Golden Boot winner Junior Flemmings, who missed the game as part of a suspension carried over from the end of last season. It also was without forward J.J. Williams, who went out of Birmingham’s loss to Indy Eleven with a red card.

— LouCity returns to play at Lynn Family Stadium on Saturday, May 22, against San Diego Loyal.