Photo: Paul Rudderow

After 20 minutes on Saturday, it seemed the storybook had been written, and there would be only one man we could call the Player of the Week: Sebastien Le Toux. The Not-So-Prodigal Son had returned, scored, and all was right with the world.

But then, he missed a very presentable chance to double the Union’s lead (maybe he was a bit more prodigal than we thought), and in the back of all of our heads, a seed of doubt began to germinate, for, while much about this season’s Union feels new and fresh and hopeful, we fans knew what could come. The soccer gods are cruel, and teams that fail to be ruthless are so often punished for their profligacy.

And so it was. After dominating for large portions of the game, the Union lost the lead and lost the game.

As such, selecting a Union player for the POTW honors felt like a migraine waiting to happen. Lucky for us, this award isn’t simply for Philadelphia-team players, but for Philadelphia-related players, so this season’s inaugural Player of the Week is Penn Charter alum Bobby Convey.

Convey, looking to build on his resurgence in MLS last season, put in a very strong shift for Kansas City. Playing on the left wing, opposite Graham Zusi, whose performance grabbed more headlines, it was Convey’s accurately flighted ball into the Union box that led to SKC’s equalizer. Convey’s play in the second half also restricted Sheanon Williams’s offensive involvement, which helped stem any hope of a Union fightback.

So, congratulations, Bobby. You are the Philly Soccer Page’s first Philadelphia Player of the Week for 2013. We wish you all the best. That said, the next time Sporting meets the Union, we’ll be rooting for a different outcome.