O'Dwyer's heroic stoppage time winner lifts Richmond Kickers to Henny Derby victory (2024)

The breakthrough came at the death — in the 10th minute of stoppage time.

In front of 5,574 screaming Richmonders on Wednesday night at City Stadium, in the Kickers‘ first nationally televised game in six years, in their fiercest USL League One rivalry fixture, an impassioned series dubbed “The Henny Derby,” Chandler O’Dwyer came to the rescue at the 11th hour against previously unbeaten Forward Madison FC (5-4-1, 19 points).

In a 1-1 match, Richmond (3-3-5, 12 points) earned a free kick far outside the box toward the left wing with barely any time left to play.

Attacking midfielder Nil Vinyals stepped up to take. His pristine delivery looped its way into the box, where O’Dwyer, a 75th-minute substitute, leapt up amid a sea of bodies jockeying for position.

His picture-perfect header soared over a diving Madison keeper and into the bottom right-hand corner of the net.

Unbridled bedlam ensued as the final whistle blew to signal the end of a 2-1 Kickers victory that will surely live long in City Stadium lore.

“Some buzz, eeh?” said the Englishman of his heroic game-winning goal.

“I can’t really describe it. One of the best feelings you can have ... We’ve been needing something to inject life into our locker room. That win today, we came into the locker room, and the vibes were great.”

Life and vibes percolated throughout City Stadium as celebrations reached a fever pitch. The Henny Derby trophy, a bottle of Hennessey adorned with gold paint, was raised amid joyous fanfare in Section O, where drums beat and red smoke rose from the Red Army cheering section.

“It means everything, it’s been three long years since we had (the trophy), this season has not been good for the Kickers, it felt like a momentum change tonight,” said Elliot Barr of Richmond’s River City 93 soccer podcast, drenched in sweat and wearing a shirt reading “Mr. Henny. Derby.”

“That’s the best 90 minutes I’ve seen the Kickers play this season. It gives all the testament in the world to the grit and grind of Richmond, the culture, it was amazing.”

Amid the celebrations, Kickers coach and sporting director Darren Sawatzky was pulled into Section O by Red Army supporters.

“I’m happy for the guys because they needed a moment like this,” Sawatzky said. “And they got it tonight ... We needed something like that to get going. To nick it at the end like that was great for the crowd, it’s great for everybody.”

Madison finished with 15 shots, four on target. Richmond had six shots, five on target. Vinyals leads USL League One with three assists on the season.

Richmond won 14 of its 22 tackles and totaled nine interceptions. In an always chippy rivalry match, the teams combined for eight yellow cards.

Richmond’s initial breakthrough came in poetic fashion in the 22nd minute.

Star striker Emiliano Terzaghi, the club’s leading active goal scorer (55 coming into the game, third all-time in Kickers history), made his first start since August of last season after missing months of action due to a knee injury.

And Terzaghi didn’t waste much time in returning to the score sheet. As Madison attempted to play out from the back, Richmond winger Toni Pineda intercepted a pass to force a turnover on the right wing.

The deflection fell to Terzaghi, who found Vinyals at the top of the box. Vinyals laid off a pass to onrushing winger Adrian Billhardt, who teed up Terzaghi at the top of the box.

The Argentinian took one touch to create a shooting lane through a group of bodies in the box and ripped a line-drive effort with his weaker left foot past a diving keeper and into the right-hand corner of the net.

Terzaghi kissed the Kickers logo on his shirt while running over to Section O to celebrate with the Red Army. It was Terzaghi’s first goal since August 10, 2023, in a home game against North Carolina FC.

“It’s something that I’ve working really hard to achieve,” Terzaghi said through an interpreter of his return to the starting lineup.

“The goal was really special for me, it’s a reflection of all the hard work that we’ve been putting in over the last few months. It’s something that symbolizes the importance of the impact I can be.”

Madison equalized in the 90th minute off its seventh corner of the game. Forward Juan Galindrez made a near-post run to attack the in-swinging corner, and deftly redirected a glancing header to the far post, giving Kickers keeper Pablo Jara no chance at a save.

That late equalizer momentarily took the life out of City Stadium.

O’Dwyer made sure the lull was short-lived.

He said he has a special connection with Vinyals on free kicks. The two shared a knowing glance and nod before the Catalonian’s fateful delivery wound its way toward the Englishman’s head.

“Our fans helped us a lot today. We came out and it felt like vintage City Stadium,” O’Dwyer said.

“We looked around, we see red everywhere. The fans went crazy. That’s felt. Our support is always great. But it felt special tonight.”