NASL FC Edmonton

FC Edmonton Surrenders 1-0 Loss to RailHawks Despite Strong Second Half

Published on September 24, 2016 under North American Soccer League (NASL)
FC Edmonton News Release


FC Edmonton (12W-7D-6L) travelled to Wakemed Soccer Park, September 24 to take on Carolina RailHawks (9W-6D-10L), falling 1-0 to open up their two-game, southern road trip.

Austin Da Luz opened scoring just past the half-hour mark for the home team in the matches' lone goal of the night, with teammate Bryan Sylvestre earning the clean sheet in net. Midfielders Sainey Nyassi and Daryl Fordyce looked dangerous for the visiting Eddies, but were unable to register a goal through 90 minutes.

Carolina looked sharp to open the match, receiving their first chance near goal on ten minutes. Fonda was fed a long ball in the box but was unable to corral the long ball before going to ground in front of VanOekel. Teammate Matt Watson carried the ball back into the attacking third moments later, sending an attempted cross to teammate Omar Bravo in the box that was cleared by Eddies defender Shawn Nicklaw.

The visitors began to find their legs as the half hit midway mark, with Cristian Raudales sending his sides' first shot on target from the corner of the area that was swallowed up by an alert Sylvester, who did well to prevent a rebound opportunity.

Midfielder Sainey Nyassi was sharp in opening half, creating several chances after sending a pair of crosses into the box before taking matters into his own hands on the half hour mark. The 27-year-old winger worked around former teammate Kareem Moses before sending a left footed strike just wide right of target on 31 minutes. Nyassi continued to cause problems in the minutes that followed, forcing Da Luz to put a shoulder into the Gambian international and draw a foul for a dangerous Eddies opportunity.

After a positive spell of play from the Eddies, it was the RailHawks who went up a goal on 35 minutes. A well-worked ball around the edge of the box ended up on the foot of Da Luz just outside of six yards. Da Luz made no mistake and sent a hard strike to the bottom left corner for the lead.

The 'Hawks would carry the 1-0 advantage into the break.

FC Edmonton head coach Colin Miller made one change as the second half got underway, bringing in 19-year-old midfielder Shamit Shome to inject some pace into the lineup. The Eddies were on the front foot to open the half, with Fordyce getting an attempt inside the area that the Belfast native was unable to get power behind to test Sylvestre. A second attempt moments later from Nyassi saw the winger going down with an injury, making way for teammate Dustin Corea to enter the match.

The Eddies best chance of the half came off the foot of Fordyce, who patiently worked the ball to his left foot at the top of the box before firing just wide of goal on the 75-minute-mark. For the most part, Carolina was able to stifle any Eddies attempts towards goal, including a four-minute period of stoppage time after going down to 10-men following Steve Miller's second caution of the match. Carolina would hold on to the 1-0 lead for their first win against the Eddies this season.

"In the second half we make a change and the youngster [Shamit Shome] came on and gave us a bit of life and played very well I thought," Miller stated post-match. "We were better in the second half. We were much more like ourselves and with some luck, could have scored a couple goals. I can't take anything away from the RailHawks, I thought they played very well, this is a difficult venue to play...I take nothing away from our guys, they fought right to the end, particularly in the second half."

FC Edmonton faces a quick turnaround, as the team heads to face Jacksonville Armada FC, Wednesday, September 28 at Community First Park at 5:30 p.m. The match will be broadcast on CBS Sports.

For FC Edmonton tickets and more information, please click HERE, call 780.700.2600 or visit www.fcedmonton.com.

Scoring

Carolina RailHawks FC: Austin Da Luz (31')

FC Edmonton: None

Cautions

Carolina RailHawks: Miller (53', 91')

FC Edmonton: Nik Ledgerwood (24'), Watson (49')

Ejections

Carolina RailHawks: Miller (91')

FC Edmonton: None

Carolina RailHawks FC

Sylvestre; Miller, Daly, Tobin, Moses; Shipalane (Shriver, 87'), Albadawi, Watson, Da Luz (Marcelin, 66'); Bravo (Schuler, 72'), Fondy

FC Edmonton

VanOekel; Nicklaw, Watson, K.Smith, Eckersley; Raudales (Shome, 45'), Nyassi (Corea, 56'), Ledgerwood, Fordyce (Keegan, 77'), Fisk; Ameobi

Check out the FC Edmonton Statistics

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North American Soccer League Stories from September 24, 2016


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