By Corey Majors - Contributing Editor, The Bent Musket.
Coming into Saturday's match, the New York Red Bulls hadn't won at Gillette Stadium in 15 games. Darrius Barnes made that number 16 with his stoppage time goal, helping the New England Revolution salvage a 1-1 draw against their bitter Eastern Conference rivals.
Although nothing really changed after Saturday's draw, the Revs will cbe holding their heads high, especially after Joel Lindpere's 91st minute goal appeared to be the game winner.
It was a relatively eventful first half for both sides, with both keepers being tested on several occasions. Although having only 39 percent of possession, the Revs managed to tally seven attempts on goal, with three of them on target. New England also had a goal denied by the linesman in the 5th minute when Jerry Bengtson was whistled off-side, though replay showed him to be on.
"I don't want to comment further than to say that it was a goal, you know, what can you do," said head coach Jay Heaps after the game. "And that's tough because that changes the entire game... That's the second one this season, in that same goal, that's been disallowed that we've been told that's completely the wrong call."
Despite the unjust call, New England fought on. First half chances from Lee Nguyen from a free kick in the 18th minute as well as Bengtson once again in the 43rd all came close but were denied by Bill Gaudette. On the other side of the pitch, Bobby Shuttleworth (who started in favor of Matt Reis for the first time since July 15th) didn't really have much to worry about until the second half.
What the first half lacked in excitement, the second half more than made up for. Referee Sorin Stoica -- whose only cautions came vocally in the first half -- issued six yellow cards in the second half, including two to New York right-back Connor Lade, leading to his ejection in the 74th minute.
Benny Feilhaber and Juan Toja eventually made their way into the game as substitutes (Toja notably playing for 35+ minutes) to try to help get their squad on the board. However, it was Joel Lindpere who eventually broke the standstill in the 91st minute when a cross into the box was mis-handled by Shuttleworth and the Revolution defense, allowing the Estonian midfielder to head it in with ease.
Just as it seemed all but over, the Revolution found a way in the final moments of the game. Rookie Kelyn Rowe recycled a New England attempt on goal and managed to play a ball out to Ryan Guy on the right wing. The Guam international sent a cross into the box that met the head of an ensuing Darrius Barnes, leading to a 95th minute goal and the equalizer.
"It kind of felt like LeBron winning his first championship," joked Barnes, whose goal was his first of his 88-game professional career. "When they got that goal, we didn't let it deflate us, we kept pushing and we got numbers forward and [we were] putting balls into the box, and when you put balls into the box anything can happen. And I was fortunate to get on the end of Ryan Guy's perfect ball into the box."
The Revolution will now head out on the road for their next two games against the Houston Dynamo and the Philadelphia Union before returning to Gillette Stadium to close out their 2012 home account against the Chicago Fire on October 20th.
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