Denton Diablos FC Defeat Fort Worth Vaqueros FC

By Denton Diablos FC

The Denton Diablos defeated the Fort Worth Vaqueros on Saturday night at Denton High School in Denton, Texas with a score line of 7-2. 

One week after securing leg one of the Chisholm Trail Clasico, the Denton Diablos found themselves again down 1-0 after the Vaqueros finished calmly in just the fourth minute of the game.

Undeterred, the Diablos immediately grabbed control of possession and went to work unlocking the packed-in defense of the Vaqueros.  It took until the 17th minute when James Doyle connected on the end of a Brandon Cerda corner kick, nodding home the well-struck corner, banging his header off the far post, and knotting things up at 1-1.  Invigorated by the goal, the Diablos immediately applied more of their trademark high pressure, and it didn’t take long for the Diablos pressure to yield results.  Antonio Perez caught the Vaqueros goalkeeper with the ball at his feet and deflected his pass into the net, giving the Diablos the lead for good on the evening in just the 23rd minute of the first half. 

The Diablos were far from finished scoring on the evening, again dominating possession for long stretches.  Seven minutes later, in the 30th minute, Brock Pope found himself on the end of an Anthony Powell pass, tucking the ball into the far post and giving the Diablos a 3-1 lead. 

But the Vaqueros would not go quietly into the night, mounting an attack in the 33rd minute that led to a cross, which Michael Diaz punched out in an attempt to clear it.  Unfortunately, it was directed into the head of Eoin Wearen and then into the back of the Diablos net for an own goal, leaving the score at 3-2 in the 35th minute of play.

Not finished with the scoring in the first half, James Doyle found a wide-open Julian Barajas in the 41st minute whose shot was saved by the Vaqueros goalkeeper.  Anthony Powell collected the ball and clinically finished the goal, pushing the Diablos’ lead to 4-2 as halftime closed in.

Halftime brought about the only break in the action, as both sides made changes to their respective starting lineups coming out of the stoppage.  But just like the first half of action, the scoring would come early and often in the second half. 

The relentless pressure of the Diablos’ attacking players caused a poor pass back from a Vaqueros defender, whose goalkeeper was already coming forward, leaving him scrambling into the back netting but ultimately unable to prevent the own goal.  The Diablos advantage was now 5-2 in the 55th minute of play.

In the 68th minute, Carlos Manriquez took a simple pass from Brandon Cerda, and drove through the Vaqueros defenders, driving into the box before being fouled and pulled down, earning the Diablos a penalty.  Carlos Flores calmly stepped to the spot and clinically finished his penalty shot, sending the Vaqueros goalkeeper diving the wrong way and pushing their lead to 6-2. 

And the final goal of the evening came from a poor distribution by the Vaqueros goalkeeper, which William Hitchcock intercepted, drove to the end line of the penalty box, and slipped a pass into the waiting pathway of Trevor Amann, who wasted no time in first time finishing the pass.  The score line was now 7-2, which is how the game would finish. 

The win, on the back of the 12-5 aggregate score in both legs of the rivalry, was enough to clinch the Chisholm Trail Clasico and earn the Diablos the right to retain the coveted Chisholm Trail Clasico Belt for another year.

The Diablos’ record now stands at 3-0-0 on the season, good enough for first place in the Lone Star Conference.  The Vaqueros find themselves winless on the season with four losses, pushing the team to the bottom of the Lone Star Conference standings.

The Diablos will head on the road for their next two games, this Thursday June 3rd vs. Laredo Heat SC in Laredo, Texas, and then onto Brownsville, Texas to face FC Brownsville on Saturday, June 5th.

The Diablos’ next home game is Thursday June 10th at Denton High School as the Diablos will host the Midland-Odessa Sockers FC at 7:30 pm. Tickets are on sale now as dentondiablos.com/tickets.

Photo Credit: Denton Diablos FC