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Herron's big first half helps Columbus gain tie

May 27, 2007 - 6:04 AM COLUMBUS, Ohio (Ticker) -- Andy Herron did not make it through the first half. However, what he could not give the Columbus Crew in time, he gave them in quality.

Herron scored two goals as the Crew as they posted a 2-2 draw with Toronto FC in the teams' first-ever meeting.

Before being replaced by forward Ricardo Virtuoso in the 38th minute due to a quadriceps strain, the Crew forward put Columbus ahead early with a goal in the game's second minute.

Herron's left-footed shot from just inside the box found the net, going in high left over Toronto goalkeeper Greg Sutton.

"It was a nice pass from (Alejandro) Moreno and I was able to get behind the defender and get a good shot on goal that was fortunate to go in," Herron said.

With the contest tied, 1-1, in the 37th minute, Herron capitalized on a solid possession for the Crew. Teammate Ned Grabavoy made a solid attack in the middle of the goal and fired a low shot that was played nicely by Sutton but trickled over to the left side of the goalkeeper box, allowing Herron to score easily with a short-range follow shot.

"It is hard to be excited about the two goals when you (don't win)," Herron said. "Obviously, it was exciting to get my first two goals with Columbus. I have been waiting for a while for that to happen."

After serving a five-game suspension for sending an elbow to the head of New England's Jay Heaps, Herron's goals were his first two of the season and his first points with the Crew in just his second game with Columbus.

"It was great having him back," Columbus coach Sigi Schmid said. "He got hit a little bit and felt his quad tighten up. Fitness-wise, we felt Andy would be fine but we had only planned to play him about 45 minutes anyway, so when the quad tightened up, we decided to make a change."

Toronto tied the game at 2-2 in the 49th minute as Jim Brennan fired a free kick from about 40 yards in the center of the field.

"We came out a little bit flat," Toronto FC coach Mo Johnston said. "We gave up an early goal. You cannot allow a good player to have a free run on the goal (and) it was an easy goal by a good player. Then we started to play our game and we got a couple of good goals and were able to come away with the tie."

Brennan made a left-footed strike of the ball that went over the wall and beat Crew goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum to the upper left corner of the goal.

"We came back nice after trailing twice," Brennan said. "We hung in there and didn't give up and we got a couple of goals and we were able to come back and get a point."

"Every time we score a couple of goals, we give up a couple," Schmid said. "We had the lead twice and we have to hang on to the lead when we have it."