Birmingham Legion FC grabbed a dramatic 1-0 victory against Sacramento Republic FC on Wednesday night as Sebastian Tregarthen scored in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time at Protective Stadium to give the hosts a much-needed win after consecutive defeats previously.

The result saw recently-appointed Legion Head Coach Mark Briggs claim victory against former club Republic FC to move within a point of the playoff positions in the USL Championship’s Eastern Conference.

Here are three things we took away from the contest.

1. Mark Briggs is starting to put his imprint on Legion’s structure

Over the first month of Mark Briggs’ tenure at Birmingham Legion, he’d remained consistent with the four-player back line the side had typically used previously this season. In the past two games, however, we’ve seen a switch to a three-center back lineup that we became accustomed to during his tenure at Sacramento Republic FC.

While the early returns away against Louisville City on Saturday weren’t great – and arguably not the environment to make such as shift, given Louisville’s home record – on Wednesday the system came together in a more cohesive manner that limited Republic FC’s clear looks on goal and offered the opportunity for Sebastian Tregarthen’s late winner.

While Sacramento proved a threat later in the contest after the introduction of Cristian Parano and Trevor Amann, the hosts still restricted Republic FC to only 10 touches in the penalty area and five shots, season-lows in both categories for the visitors.

“It’s a process and we’re currently seeing it take place,” said Briggs. “It’s moving in the direction that we want it to move.”

2. Sebastian Tregarthen made his moment count

To hear Sebastian Tregarthen tell it, he hadn’t had the desired impact after coming on as a halftime substitute for Moses Mensah on the right side of the line.

“I didn’t have a good game up to that point, and I just told myself to not think about it,” Tregarthen said. “We’re human beings, we all make mistakes. My teammates kept telling me ‘next one, Seba, next one,’ I knew I had to control my emotions because they believed in me.”

The numbers back that up. While the 24-year-old recorded three interceptions defensively, he had also completed 6 of 8 passes and won only 1 of 7 ground duels while failing to engage in a tackle.

But when the moment came to decide the match, Tregarthen was in the right place to make his mark. As Legion counterattacked down the left side with Tabor Etaka Preston and and Tyler Pasher, he kept his spacing on the right side and put home a crisp first-time finish to steal all three points with his first goal in the USL Championship.

“That was awesome,” he said. “Honestly, these are the moments I dream about, and I wanted to score so badly at Protective in front of all our fans.”

3. Sacramento’s attacking struggles are stalling the side’s momentum

Republic FC had its chances to find the net – the best coming on a good run and cross by Cristian Parano with just over 20 minutes to play set up Jack Gurr for a shot that was cleared out of the six-yard area by Birmingham’s Phanuel Kavita – but the opportunities were too few and far between for the visitors to maintain a level of consistent pressure on Legion’s back line.

That’s started to become a trend for Republic FC, which was held scoreless for a third consecutive game, the first time that’s happened since the 2022 Championship season. The most obvious reason for this is the side’s drop in shots, with Sacramento having averaged only six shots per contest in its past three games, well below its season-average of 11.7 shots per contest.

The cameo by Parano, who recorded two chances created after coming on, offered some hope of an attacking spark, but there’s plenty to be figured out for Republic FC in the attacking third as it attempts to regain momentum.

“We just didn't take advantage of our chances, and at the end the other team did and that’s why we've come away with nothing,” said Republic FC Head Coach Neill Collins. “No one really cares about feeling sorry for yourself. It's a professional sport, you can think about tonight, but the minute we get up tomorrow, it’s onto Rhode Island and who’s going stand up and be counted come seven o'clock when it’s time to kick off on Saturday evening, and you go again. That’s what you need to do.”