USL-1 North Carolina FC

What a week for Matt Watson

April 15, 2009 - USL First Division (USL-1)
North Carolina FC News Release


WILMINGTON, N.C. - Matt Watson's having himself a heck of a week - and it's only half over.

The Carolina midfielder joined the RailHawks on Tuesday - hours after the birth of his first child in Baltimore-- in time to make the trip to Wilmington for an intra-divisional friendly with the Wilmington Hammerheads. Fifteen minutes after checking into the contest, he belted a masterful strike from 18 yards to give the RailHawks a 1-0 lead. John Cunliffe added another goal three minutes later, and Carolina picked up a 2-0 win.

Tuesday's busy day for Watson came on the heels of leading his indoor team, the Baltimore Blast, to its second straight MISL championship on Saturday, where he also scored a goal in the Blast' 13-10 win.

"It's been crazy," Watson said on the field at Legion Stadium, his head still clearly swirling over the events of the previous 96 hours. "Everything's happening so quick, I'm not really ready. I'm just playing."

And Carolina coach Martin Rennie is glad for that.

"He's a really good player, and I'm so glad we've got him," Rennie said. "I'm looking forward to getting him into the mix. It'll take maybe a couple weeks for him to adjust."

Rennie's squad Tuesday featured just two players who saw time in the RailHawks' season-opening win over Minnesota on Saturday. And neither of those two, forwards Hamed Diallo and Gavin Glinton, played the full 90 minutes. Glinton, a halftime sub, made a major impact just like he did last weekend, when he also subbed in late. Glinton assisted on both goals Tuesday after scoring the game winner on Saturday.

Tuesday's group, however, cannot be considered a second team, as that would denigrate the performance and effort. Goalkeeper Caleb Patterson needed to make just two saves to keep his clean sheet. In the fifth minute, he turned away a 30-yard brace from Calem Angus, and in the 24th minute, he stopped a point-blank header from Jyler Noviello.

The fact that Patterson was largely untested was a testament to the defense in front him - Jeremy Tolleson, who showed no ill effects of the ankle injury that's recently dogged him, Paul Ritchie, Caleb Norkus and Brad Rusin, a trialist.

Brian Plotkin ran the midfield well, and Aaron King nearly scored twice.

While the Hammerheads threatened early, the RailHawks had several strong chances before finally breaking through.

In first half stoppage time, Cunliffe finished a well executed counterattack with a left-footed lash from 18 yards, but Wilmington goalkeeper Darryl Sattler got a finger on it and tipped it wide. On the ensuing corner, King was unmarked on the back post, but his header went just wide.

In the 55th minute, Rusin redirected a Plotkin corner kick on target, but it was cleared off the line by a Hammerheads defender. King followed up the rebound, but goalkeeper Kyle Polak lunged across the frame to keep the match scoreless.

The rest of the second half was mostly quiet until Watson and Cunliffe opened the game up.

In the 79th minute, after a nice combination of passes, Glinton played a clever back pass to Watson, who rushed on to the ball and clinically smashed it into the goal.

"[Glinton] left it and I just hit it. Luckily for me, it went in," Watson said. "I thought I hit it pretty good. I'm used to an indoor goal, so that seems huge. I think that might have helped me a little bit."

In the 82nd minute, Cunliffe, who joined the team late in training camp, got a goal in his first appearance for the RailHawks. He cracked a left-footed shot from inside of 12 yards that split Wilmington goalkeeper Polak's legs.

"I was open on the far side, the ball was on the right, and I was looking for him to switch it. Gavin put his head up and played a good ball out. I was one on one with the defender, so I was just trying to move the defender so I could shift to my left and shoot. Because I was that close, the keeper didn't have time to react," Cunliffe said. "My first game and I managed to score, but the main thing is we played well and got the result."

And with the result, Rennie and the RailHawks got exactly what they were hoping for on Tuesday.

"We got no injuries, we played well and the guys got 90 minutes," Rennie said. "That was a good win."

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USL First Division Stories from April 15, 2009


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