TFC are winless in 6 MLS games (and in over a calendar year at BMO) but in a game many had predicted would be a heavy defeat, the bare-bones squad clung on for a point at BMO Field against a New York side that looked lacklustre and devoid of ideas.

The resulting snorefest allowed referee Jorge Gonzalez to keep his cards firmly in his pocket. This is not a regular occurence for almost any ref at BMO field, but Gonzales also managed the same feat at BMO earlier in the season, also against NY, so well done Mr Gonzalez for a decent performance,  no cards, not being whistle happy, and not having too many moments of controversy.

[singlepic id=12032 w=320 h=240 float=right]Apart from a couple of early disallowed efforts, one for each side, there was little to write home about in this game. It was dull, and with a blunted offense due to the absence of Danny Koevermans and Robert Earnshaw, some decent TFC build-ups from midfield had no outlet in the final third and just fizzled out.

Although Osorio and Laba looked industrious, and Bobby Convey would be eligible for the old cliche that “he covered every blade of grass”, it was Richard Eckersley that came closest, forcing an excellent save from Robles in the 73rd minute (pics 42/43 in the gallery). Even self-confessed* cheat Thierry Henry looked disinterested in the afternoon heat.  

I posted late last week that the average career lifespan of a TFC player was 367 days, and that it would also be 367 days since we last won at BMO when we took the field against the Red Bulls. I was hoping that this crude bit of numerology might bring us a bit of luck, but I guess not. Those convergent numbers have now dissipated and while the average has climbed to 368, the number of days since we won at BMO – now at 369 – will only get a chance to be reset next week against Columbus when it will be 374 days since a win in our home stadium. Lets do it next week TFC !!! Lets get the number back down to 0, and in the process beat Columbus which makes it taste even better ! 

There were no real milestones this week so here are a few other stats ….

[singlepic id=12014 w=320 h=240 float=left]Richard Eckersley is now 4th in all-time overall TFC appearances table with 84. Ahead of him are Julian DeGuzman and Jim Brennan on 93, and Stefan Frei on 98. Will Ecks reach 100 before Frei who has been stuck on 98 for almost two seasons?

Ashtone Morgan jumped ahead of DeRo and Marvell Wynne in overall appearances for TFC and is now 7th in the list with 76 appearances. Of our current squad, Doneil Henry is the next ‘most experienced’ on 56 with Reggie Lambe on 55 and Jeremy Hall on 50 appearances.

This was our 17th game against New York in MLS play. Our overall record is not good. We have won 4, drawn 4 and lost 9. Goals scored are 16 with goals conceded being 34 !!

At BMO, it is slightly better. Prior to this game we had a 3-3-3 record with 12 goals scored and 13 against, now its 3-4-3 with the same goals. The last time we beat NY at BMO was in 2009.

Our next game against the Red Bulls will be away to them in September but we have only ever won there once in 7 attempts, the other six games were defeats ! The win came back in 2008 when we beat them 3-1 with a double from Chad Barrett and a goal from Fuad Ibrahim. Since then they have inflicted defeats on us every year … winning 5-0, 1-0, 5-0 and 4-1  ….

Gallery for this game: HERE