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No matter how hard coach Dominic Kinnear and Kei Kamara tried to get
around the subject after the match, the fact was the Dynamo were
determined to pummel the San Jose Earthquakes no matter what Saturday
night.

And the Quakes have no one to blame but one of their own for adding fuel to the Dynamo’s ire.

Rallying around Kamara after San Jose defender Nick Garcia
called the young forward a “mental midget” in the media in the days
leading up to the match to rekindle a longstanding feud between the
former teammates, the Dynamo took it to the Quakes early and often.

Brian Ching and Kamara scored eight minutes apart in the first
half – both goals off assists by Brad Davis – and the Dynamo cruised to
a 3-1 victory over the worst team in the league before 12,619 at
Robertson Stadium.

Coming off last week’s 1-1 tie at New York, the Dynamo (4-2-3,
15 points) won for the fourth time in five tries and extended their
unbeaten streak to six matches. They also avenged a 3-2 loss at San
Jose suffered earlier this season.

The result, coupled with other scores around the league,
propelled the Dynamo to sole possession of third place in the Western
standings, one point behind second-place Seattle and nine points behind
conference leader Chivas USA.

The victory tasted even sweeter given the circumstances.

To be clear, little love exists between the former and present
Earthquakes. Since last season, when San Jose rejoined the league,
meetings between these teams have been characterized by physical play
and heated exchanges. Saturday was no different. Except Garcia’s
cheap-shot comments seemed to take the brewing rivalry to a new level.

“It’s always chippy; we hate those guys,” said Ching, who
finished the match with a cut below the right eye after taking a knee
to the face. “They got a dummy in the center of their defense, and that
just gives us motivation to score goals on them.”

So again, why the bad blood?

“Because they have an idiot on their team,” Ching said,
referring to Garcia. “The guy is probably one of the dirtiest players
in the league.”

To be certain, the Dynamo were keen on winning this one.

“For me, I wanted to blow them out,” Ching said.

Ching made his intentions clear rather quickly, opening the
scoring just four minutes into the match with a clinical header off a
free kick by Davis for his fourth goal of the season and the 1-0 lead.

It didn’t take long for Kamara to get into the action. Just
eight minutes later, Kamara, who had been warned to keep his cool after
recent episodes in games involving Garcia had landed him multiple-game
suspensions, headed home another Davis delivery for the 2-0 and his
second goal of the season.

“I was just scoring a goal for my team,” said Kamara. “That
was my focus coming in. Forget about everything else that may have
happened in the past and just focus, play and stay out of trouble.”

That he did, despite plenty of abuse – including a blatant
elbow to the face by Eric Denton – to earn the praise of Kinnear, who
also declined to dwell on the players’ feud.

“I told him to concentrate on the game and help us win; if you
can score, then good for you. That’s your job: to help us win,” Kinnear
said. “He played very well in the 90 minutes. As you saw, some things
were going on that tried to bring him into some complications, and he
kept himself away from it. He was very professional.”

Up by two less than 15 minutes into the match, the Dynamo
weren’t done punishing the Quakes, although they lacked the finishing
touch to add to the tally until early in the second half..

Starting for the first time this season in place of the
injured Richard Mulrooney, veteran right back Craig Waibel made it 3-0
in the 51st minute, scoring from 4 yards off a header assist by Geoff
Cameron for his first MLS goal since he netted two in the 2006 season
finale.

San Jose forward Ryan Johnson scored two minutes later,
beating Cameron to a header to make it 3-1 and deny goalkeeper Pat
Onstad (three saves) and the Dynamo their fifth shutout of the season.

The result sank the Quakes (1-6-2) into deeper despair as
their winless streak reached seven, including five losses during the
span, a misfortune that was not lost on Kamara’s teammates.

“The dummy (Garcia) wants to talk, and I don’t think he has any room to talk if you look at their record,” Ching said.

Indeed, Garcia was a man of few words after the match. Asked if
he thought his comments had any impact in getting the Dynamo fired up,
Garcia had only “I don’t know; I don’t care” to say.