The Chattanooga Football Club needed a win Saturday.
After all, 309 days is quite a while to wait between victories for a proud organization.
The club got off its skid, scoring a pair of second-half goals to defeat the Chivas U-23 squad 2-0 in front of 4,109 fans at Finley Stadium. It was Chattanooga FC's first win since a shootout victory over Miami United FC last July 23 in the NPSL South regional championship match.
Since then, the club has three losses - two to professional clubs - and two ties, as well as a match against Birmingham that was rained out with CFC leading 1-0. That match has been rescheduled for June 20.
The long stretch is now over for CFC, which returns to divisional play June 3 against the Georgia Revolution.
"Home Sweet Finley," CFC coach Bill Elliott said. "That's all I can say. We're happy to be back in front of our crowd, our fans, and not being on a bus."
Former Calhoun standout Darwin Lom and Charlie Clarke from England by way of Bryan College gave the team some much-needed energy off the bench Saturday, and they scored the team's two goals against Chivas. Lom, who plays at Shorter, was able to get a foot on a Clarke pass and slide the ball into an empty net in the 75th minute to give CFC the lead, and Clarke added a goal six minutes later.
"It happened quick," Lom said of his goal. "Coach told me to stay up top and make my runs, because it's what he said I was best at. We're in front of this home crowd and I had to give it my all; I knew Charlie was going to play the ball, so I had to hope it got past the goalkeeper, and when it did I got a foot on it."
CFC (1-2-2) thought it had a lead in the first half, when forward Daniel Whitehall ripped a shot from about 30 yards out over backpedaling Chivas goalkeeper Carlos Orozco's head. Orozco got a hand on the ball, which ricocheted off the bottom of the crossbar and appeared to angle into the goal. It was not awarded and play resumed.
"We all wanted it to be called a goal, but I couldn't see it well enough to really tell," Elliott said.
Elliott and his assistant coaches made some adjustments at halftime, but the biggest one they made was the insertion of Lom and Clarke into the lineup. The pair's attacking eventually led to the two goals the club needed for its first win in a longwhile.
"It feels great," Lom said. "It's been tough. We're a new team and we're just now getting used to the teammates we have. We got a win against a pro team, and a clean sheet, and that means everything now.
"The guys worked hard for it."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.