Mattocks excels in first start of season as Caps tie Crew

Darren Mattocks finally got a chance to start a game for the Vancouver Whitecaps on Wednesday, and he did not disappoint.
Mattocks scored the tying goal in the 64th minute and added an assist as the Whitecaps rallied to earn a 2-2 draw with the Columbus Crew at B.C. Place Stadium. He was named the man of the match as the Whitecaps (4-1-1) extended their unbeaten streak to five games in the young MLS season.
“A fantastic game. We should have gotten the three points. I scored, but I think I should at least get one more. I’ve got to consider that that’s my first 90 minutes, so I’m going to take it as a positive.”
In his fourth season with the Whitecaps, Mattocks has appeared in three other games as a substitute while missing another game due to international duty with Jamaica. He helped the Whitecaps come back from a pair of deficits as Kai Kamara scored both Crew goals, in the 24th and 50th minutes.
Second-half substitute Kekuta Manneh enabled Mattocks to cash in for an easy first goal of the season. Manneh broke down left wing with the ball, cut towards the net and then, when he was within six yards, made a sublime pass back through two defenders to Mattocks in the middle of the Columbus area.
“He’s a great player and, every game he plays, we know what he’s capable of doing and what he’s expected to do. … Fortunately for me, I was in the right place at the right time,” said Mattocks.
Mattocks set up Vancouver’s first goal by making a long throw-in to Octavio Rivero in the 31st minute. After taking the ball in the Columbus box, Rivero sidestepped a defender and fired a shot just inside the near post.
Mattocks showed versatility by playing on both wings. He started on the left wing and then switched to the right after Manneh came on for Nicolas Mezquida. Late in the game, Mattocks put the would-be winning goal off the corner of the crossbar. He also played one of his better games defensively in a Caps jersey, hustling back to mark opponents and being strong on the ball.
“When I’m scoring, that’s expected of me, to score, but I never can see myself doing so much work defensively,” he said. “It’s something I’m not used to on a nightly basis, because I’m a striker. But I think I did really good defensively. I think that’s what I’m going to take out of this game. And if I can continue to do that on both sides of the ball, creating chances for the team but working extremely hard defensively, I think I’m going to be in pretty good shape going forward.”
The Whitecaps spent a fair amount of time going backward in the first half as Columbus pressed forward with regularity. Both of Kamara’s goals resulted from poor defensive play.
He scored the first by firing in a loose ball after it bounced off the feet of centre back Kendall Waston and a Columbus player. The second was a terrible goal, with the Whitecaps leaving Kamara alone in their box and free to take a slow cross along the turf from Justin Meram.
“I think we had enough chances to, probably, win the game,” said Whitecaps coach Carl Robinson. “We didn’t take enough of our chances, but we weren’t good enough defensively. We (allowed) two sloppy goals. We got countered and the second goal, obviously, was a bad goal for us to concede.”
But Robinson, who juggled his lineup to avoid his players getting fatigued in three games this week, was impressed with Mattocks.
“He was very good,” said Robinson. “He got his goal. He could have, maybe, had one or two more. But there was a lot of positive play. I can’t fault my players in there today, because we’re exciting to watch attacking-wise. We’ve just gotta to tidy up a few things on the defensive side of it.”
Mattocks has not always been the hardest working Whitecap or displayed the most vision on the pitch. But he showed that Robinson made a good choice in putting him for 92 minutes before he was replaced by Robert Earnshaw in stoppage time.
“I felt it was the right time to give (Mattocks) the opportunity,” said Robinson. “He’s been away with Jamaica, he scored two goals, he got very very lively in training. And the decision was correct, because he came on and put a very strong performance for 90- odd minutes. He ran out of gas in the end, which is why I tried to put Earnie on to see if we could nick a second ball off a Kendall header or something, but (Mattocks) should be very proud of his performance today.”
The Whitecaps pulled out the draw while dealing with injuries. They lost centre back Diego Rodriguez to a groin injury in the 15th minute as his return from a two-game league suspension was brief. Waston, who was dominant in the air, also hurt his neck late in the game as he was upended by Kamara and landed head-first. But, surprisingly, Waston remained in the game.
“Maybe he got a little bit undercut and fell awkwardly, which made me angry, as you could see,” said Robinson.
The Whitecaps visit the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday, hoping to keep their unbeaten streak alive while Mattocks looks forward to another start in the near future.