The Fairmont Firebirds Men's Soccer Team visited cross-town rival Alter High School in this year's annual installment of the Kettering Derby. Fairmont’s Will Herman scored in the first minute, but the goal was disallowed after Freddy Irakoze was called for a foul on the keeper. Fairmont continued to dominate the first ten minutes of play and had three early corner kicks that unfortunately were unable to produce an opening goal. The Knights’ best chance of the half came with twenty-seven minutes to play, but Gavin Fourman produced a critical save at his near post.

Fairmont finally broke the deadlock with ten minutes left in the half when Bien Niyonkuru clipped in a cross from the far-side channel of the penalty box that was met by Mu’adh Ali with an expertly placed header into the top right corner. The Birds had two more scoring opportunities in the dying minutes of the half, but Luke Davidson’s header from a corner whistled just over the bar and Bien had his shot on goal saved. The teams went into halftime with Birds up 1-0.

In the second half, the Birds’ defense yielded very few chances to the hosts and Fourman controlled his box well, snatching two crosses in a crowd of players. The Knights’ keeper also kept the score close,
saving a shot from Freddy Irakoze in the forty-first minute, at the near post from Nassim Hennaoui in the forty-second minute, and a shot from Bien in the sixty-first minute. The game seemed headed toward a third consecutive win for the Birds against their cross-town rival, but a foul by Nate Bittner in the box resulted in a penalty kick that the Knights put into the back of the net with 2:02 left to play. That was the final bit of action in the match, with the score knotted at one apiece.

Fairmont looks to add another match to the win column next Tuesday, August 26th when it visits GWOC rival Wayne High School with JV kickoff at 5:30 p.m. and Varsity kickoff at 7:15 p.m.