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USL FC Tulsa

Roughnecks Draw 1-1 in OKC

July 18, 2015 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
FC Tulsa News Release


Tulsa Roughnecks FC gained a valuable away point Saturday night with a 1-1 draw against the Oklahoma City Energy at Oklahoma City's Taft Stadium. The draw upped the Roughnecks' point total to 22 on the season with a 6-8-4 record and moved them up to the eighth spot in the Western Conference table. The Energy's winless streak moved to six games with the result but, their points increased to 27 with a 7-5-6 mark.

The crowd of 4,541 at Taft Stadium included a large contingent of Roughnecks fans outfitted in orange.

Both sides began the third edition of the Black Gold Derby cautiously, with limited scoring chances during the first 45 minutes. The best opportunity came from the Energy in the 32nd minute when Sebastian Dalgaard got behind the Tulsa defense, but keeper Jake Feener rushed out of his goal to deny the forward.

The game came to life after the halftime break, and it took the Roughnecks only four minutes to open the scoring. Defender Brady Ballew, who was named to the USL Team of the Week for the second time this season last week, found space down the right wing. Inside the box from a tough angle, Ballew's right-footed shot beat Energy keeper Evan Newton to give Tulsa a 1-0 lead.

It took the Energy 11 minutes to find an equalizer. It came when Tulsa defender Ben Brewster was judged to have fouled Danni Konig inside the box. Konig took the resulting penalty kick and made no mistake with a blast into the upper portion of Feener's net to level the score at 1-1. It was Konig's USL-leading 14th goal of the year.

Tulsa head coach David Irving used four of his five substitutes in the final 25 minutes in hopes of finding a winner. Kyrian Kidd was the first sub in the 65th minute and his speed and work rate kept pressure on the Energy backline.

It was Gibson Bardsley, who came on in the 80th minute, who found himself in on Newton shortly after entering, but his shot was just out of reach of an on-rushing Kidd before scooting wide of the far post.

It was another substitute, Henri Manhebo, who nearly provided the winner for the Roughnecks. The Ivory Coast midfielder signed his first professional contract on Friday, and his left-footed shot from the edge of the box sailed just over the crossbar and onto the top of the net in the 90th minute.

Over the final two minutes, it was the Energy applying the pressure, but the Roughnecks protected Feener's net to keep the score level.

The Roughnecks totaled 11 shots in the match, compared to 14 for the Energy. Newton was credited with 3 saves, while Feener had 2.

It was the third meeting of the regular season between the state rivals. Oklahoma City has claimed one win with two matches being drawn. The fourth and final meeting will be played on September 6 at ONEOK Field.

The clubs two supporter's groups, The Roustabouts and The Grid, awarded the Black Gold Derby trophy to the Energy after the match based on their win in the U.S. Open Cup.

The Roughnecks will now travel to Canada for their next match. Tulsa will play Vancouver Whitecaps 2 on Friday north of the border with kickoff scheduled for 9:00pm CDT.

The next home match for the Roughnecks at ONEOK Field is slated for Friday, July 31 against the same Whitecaps.

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