Hartford Athletic completed a stunning comeback to defeat Birmingham Legion FC 3–2 at home on Saturday night in USL Championship action. Romario Williams struck twice for the visitors in the first half, but goals from Barry Coffey (42'), Michee Ngalina (45+3'), and Jordan Scarlett (74') turned the match on its head.
Birmingham looked in full control early. Williams opened the scoring in the 21st minute, finishing off a Dawson McCartney delivery, then doubled the lead in the 39th when he converted from a Peter-Lee Vassell pass. At 2–0, the Legion appeared comfortable.
Hartford had other ideas. Just three minutes after falling two behind, Coffey pulled one back, latching onto a Sebastian Anderson feed to cut the deficit in half. The momentum swung decisively before the break when Ngalina equalized deep in first-half stoppage time, guided by a pass from Junior Moreira. Hartford went into the interval level after looking dead and buried.
The second half was a tense, scrappy affair. Six yellow cards were shown across the match, including one to Anderson in the 26th minute — though the booking did nothing to dull his influence. He set up the winner in the 74th minute, picking out Jordan Scarlett to complete the turnaround. Coffey, who had sparked the comeback, was himself cautioned four minutes earlier but stayed disciplined enough to see the result through.
Birmingham pushed late but could not find an equalizer, with the match stretching into six minutes of added time before the final whistle.
The victory gives Hartford valuable points in a tightly packed midtable picture as the regular season enters its final stretch.
USL Championship