ORLANDO. Fla. -- The dog days of summer are aptly named for their energy-sapping potential, and the Houston Dynamo’s interim head coach Wade Barrett was firmly of the opinion his team’s 0-0 draw at Orlando City SC came at least in part because of the season.
The tie extended the team’s non-winning road streak to 18 games, but that was not uppermost in Barrett’s thoughts as the Dynamo chalked up a second successive clean sheet and moved above Seattle in the Western Conference basement.
“This is life for MLS in the summer time,” he insisted. “Neither team could find a goal tonight, and part of that is down to the [energy-sapping] conditions. You are just fighting for that one chance to make a difference and that one in the 88th minute could easily have gone in.”
‘That one’ was a Giles Barnes effort that bounced away off a post with home 'keeper Joe Bendik, for once beaten. It was the closest either side came to breaking the deadlock on a sultry, humid night in Central Florida.
Barrett was still insistent, though, that Houston are making progress since parting company with Owen Coyle on May 25, with just one defeat in six league matches since then.
“Our season only really started after the Vancouver game [on May 28],” he said. “Since then, my team has been one of the most disciplined groups on the road. We kept it to another zero tonight and the players are responding to what I am asking them to do.
“We have shown we have become difficult to play against and that we can pull out games that are close. Everything is still there to play for but you can’t look down the road. You just have to prepare for the next game and, for us, that’s at Los Angeles next Friday.”
While the Dynamo kept their defensive shape well, and allowed Orlando just six attempts on goal despite the home side enjoying 62.8 percent possession, the visitors were still indebted to another faultless display from goalkeeper Tyler Deric, including a magnificent reflex save when one-on-one against the marauding Kevin Molino in the 50th minute to ensure the clean sheet.
“That’s what it takes, the full commitment of every player on the field,” Barrett insisted. “I asked them to work really hard to shut down the inside channels and, for the most part, Orlando didn’t have many chances.
“When it does break down, you need your keeper to make saves and I give credit to both Tyler and [Orlando’s] Joe Bendik tonight. When they were called on, they stepped up. A lot of times in games like this it comes down to just one play, and Tyler kept us in it tonight.”
