Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

PROCTORVILLE — This time the second half treated the South Point Pointers much better.
After watching teams get the upper hand in the second half of their three previous games, the Pointers snapped a scoreless halftime game with two goals to beat the Fairland Dragons 2-0 in an Ohio Valley Conference soccer game on Thursday.
“I tried to encourage our guys to have a chip on their shoulder to play with an urgency like a team in need of a win,” said Pointers’ coach Zach Jenkins.
“The boys responded. We played sloppy in the first half trying to adjust to the smaller field. At the half, we made some adjustments both personnel in terms of positioning and in our point of attack to counter how Fairland played.”
South Point took a 1-0 lead on a penalty kick by Tyler Lilly with 43:00 on the clock.
Lilly used an assist from Braylon Balandra to score 20 minutes later and give the Pointers a little breathing room.
Goalie Brody Blackwell had eight saves while Fairland’s Jacob Polcyn got nine saves.
“I was very pleased in the second half how we attacked, how our defense held strong and overall our heart and urgency to win. We had a lot of unsung heroes tonight,” said Jenkins of Isaiah Nease, Mason Kazee, Ryan Goodson and Balandra.
South Point (1-3, 1-1) visits Chesapeake in a league game on Tuesday.
South Point 0 2 = 2
Fairland 0 0 = 0
Second Half
SP — Tyler Lilly goal (penalty kick) 43:00
SP — Tyler Lilly goal (Braylon Balandra assist) 63:00
Saves—South Point: Brody Blackwell 8; Fairland: Jacob Polcyn 9
Corner kicks—South Point 8, Fairland 3