Fury FC Earn Big Road Point in Bethlehem
Published on June 4, 2017 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Ottawa Fury FC News Release
Fury FC Earn Big Road Point in Bethlehem
(Ottawa Fury FC)
OTTAWA,ON - Callum Irving was sensational Sunday evening in Bethlehem and his clutch performance helped Fury FC earn a vital point in a 1-1 draw against Bethlehem Steel FC. Michael Salazar scored his second goal since joining Fury FC on a perfect cross from Ryan Williams in the 70th minute to tie the game.
Irving set the tone for his team, stopping a penalty kick in the third minute of the game. Despite being beaten by a perfect strike from distance by Seku Conneh in the 28th minute, the Canadian goalkeeper made four crucial saves during the game allowing his club to get the equalizer 20 minutes before the final whistle.
The match started on a wrong note for Ottawa, as Andrae Campbell saw the ball hit his hand inside the 18-yard box after a misfortunate bounce in the 3rd minute, giving the home side a penalty kick. Cory Burke thought he was going to give his team a 1-0 lead, but Irving had other plans. The 24-year-old goalkeeper read Burke's shot perfectly. Diving to his left, Irving parried away the shot to keep the game scoreless.
After owning most of the possession in the first half, without really hurting Ottawa, Bethlehem took their chance in the 28th minute when their leading goal scorer Seku Conneh fired a shot from distance to make it 1-0 for the home side. That score line prevailed through the opening 45 minutes.
The second half started slowly for Ottawa, which forced Paul Dalglish to make a double substitution at the hour mark, bringing on Ryan Williams and Jimmy-Shammar Sanon. The impact was immediate. Williams and Sanon brought tons of speed and creativity down the wings and caused a lot of trouble to Bethlehem which paid off in the 70th minute.
After a great run on the right side, Williams curled a perfect cross into the six-yard box to a completely unmarked Salazar who headed the ball down past John McCarthy to pull Ottawa level at 1-1. Seconds later, Williams sent another brilliant cross for Tucker Hume this time, but the big man's header was stopped by McCarthy.
Ottawa had another great chance before the end of the game when Sanon made a close-range cross inside the 18-yard box across the goal line looking for Hume, but Ottawa's big striker was unable to get to it in time. The game ended in a 1-1 draw.
Captain Lance Rozeboom missed the match due to injury bringing his ironman streak of 43-straight starts to an end just one-match shy of tying the record held by Romuald Peiser. Kyle Venter wore the captain's armband in Rozeboom's absence.
Ottawa will return home to face the Harrisburg City Islanders on June 10th at TD Place at 7:00 p.m. Tickets for all Fury FC home matches are available at OttawaFuryFC.com, by calling 613.232.6767 X1 or in person at The Box Office at TD Place.
Post-game comments:
Fury FC GM and Head Coach Paul Dalglish:
"I'm absolutely delighted by the way our guys played tonight. They had seven players from their MLS affiliate team on their squad and our guys really stepped up tonight. So, I'm really pleased with our performance tonight, it's a big point on the road for us."
"We're never going to win possession battles, we're not interested in it. We're interested in shots inside the 18 and action inside the 18, and stopping the other team from getting inside our 18 and I thought we that fantastically well tonight."
Match Report
Starting XI:
Ottawa Fury FC (3-4-3): Irving; Obasi, Venter, McEleney; Campbell, Manesio, Bruna (Williams 56'), Barden; Sito (Sanon 57'), Hume, Salazar (Dixon 78')
Bethlehem Steel FC (4-2-3-1): McCarthy; Wijnaldum (Mahoney 80'), McKenzie, Yaro (Roberts 82'), Jones; Chambers, Tribbett; Burke (Moar 79'), Najem, Epps; Conneh
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Scoring Summary:
28' BST - Conneh (Tribbett)
70' OTT - Salazar (Williams)
Caution Summary:
2' OTT - Obasi
4' BST - Jones
34' OTT - Barden
87' BST - Tribbett
Ejection Summary:
None
Attendance:
2988
Next Match: June 10 vs Harrisburg City Islanders - 7 p.m. - TD Place
Next Home Match: June 10 vs Harrisburg City Islanders - 7 p.m. - TD Place
Images from this story
 Fury FC Earn Big Road Point in Bethlehem |
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