Taiberson struck in second-half stoppage time to earn Rio Grande Valley FC a 1-1 draw against San Antonio FC in the South Texas Derby on Sunday night at H-E-B Park.
It didn’t take long for San Antonio to open the scoring as a long ball forward from the back was neatly flicked on by Luis Solignac into the path of an onrushing Cristian Parano in the third minute, and the 2019 Championship Young Player of the Year confidently controlled and finished into the left corner of the net for his first goal of the season.
The Toros almost found an answer in the 13th minute as an angled cross by Robert Coronado found James Murphy breaking into the penalty area, but the headed finish went wide of the right post. The hosts then went even closer just before the half-hour mark as Taiberson hit a beautiful curling shot from the top-right corner just outside the penalty area, but his effort came back off the left post and away to safety.
SAFC produced another chance a few minutes later when Mitchell Taintor’s header off a corner kick from the left was saved, and early in the second half Solignac put his own headed effort on target off a set piece. But then the Toros tried to get onto the front foot and almost found an equalizer when Taiberson’s strike from the top of the penalty area took a deflection and went just over the crossbar.
Isidro Martinez then went close again for RGVFC as he fired a free kick from 25 yards off the left post with a curling effort, but following that near-miss San Antonio began to regain control of the game. Both Solignac and Hunter Gorskie sent headers off target as the visitors looked to add to their lead before RGVFC’s Kyle Edwards curled an ambitious finish from the left side wide of the near post with 10 minutes to go.
But the Toros’ late pressure finally told in stoppage time. First Kyle Edwards had a close-range chance off a corner by Martinez cleared off the line, and the same happened to Juan Obregon Jr. on a header from the center of the penalty area. In the fourth minute of stoppage time, however, Taiberson produced an almost replica chance as his shot off the post in the first half, but this time as he cut onto his left foot at the top of the penalty area he found the top-left corner of the net to earn the Toros their first point of the season.
USLChampionship.com Man of the Match
Taiberson, Rio Grande Valley FC – After being denied by the post in the first half, Taiberson made no mistake on a second chance to fire home the equalizer for the Toros deep in stoppage time.
