By Tyler Follett
The Ottawa Fury FC were eliminated from their first ever Voyageurs Cup by FC Edmonton, dropping the second-leg 3-1 at Clarke Stadium Wednesday night.
Fury FC headed into the game confident following a 4-0 weekend dismantling of the Carolina Railhawks, one of the stronger NASL sides. A 0-0 draw in the first-leg at Keith Harris Stadium meant a scoring draw would be enough to secure Fury FC a semi-final meeting with the Montreal Impact.
Oliver sprints full speed to chase down a streaking Hanson Boakai and dispossess him in the first leg of their Voyageurs Cup matchup. Tyler Follett photo
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The Eddies had scored one goal in four games heading into the game, with head coach Colin Miller saying midweek he predicted more offense in the game than his team had shown so far.
Unfortunately for anyone not in attendance, myself, the first half was not aired due to an issue with the streaming of the game. Everyone experienced the same issue, until half-time when the feed began.
It has been a difficult start to the season for the NASL in terms of streaming games, as issues with their Spring NASL Live free trial has them offering free streaming for the rest of the Spring season.
Even more unfortunate for attempted viewers, Fury FC came out strong and were the better side in the first half.
Much like the first-leg, it was a rough game with Eddie Edward getting a yellow for the second time in this draw against his hometown club. FC Edmonton midfielder Richie
Jones joined him in earning a yellow in the first half.
Fury FC had five corners in the first 30 minutes, coming close several times on set pieces.
Two free kicks by Sinisa Ubiparipovic also threatened, with one long range effort nailing the cross bar, inches away from giving the team the lead and the crucial away goal.
It would be the Eddies who would open the scoring. Following 30 minutes of almost complete pressure by the Fury, 17-year-old Hanson Boakai found himself with some space on the left side. His cross found an open Daryl Fordyce who made no mistake.
Heading into the break, Dos Santos spoke of the positives in the half, which included 30 minutes of almost continuous, sustained pressure that the team was going to try to build off in the second half.
“We give away goals, you’re not gonna go through,” said skip Richie Ryan after the game.
“At the end of the day we don’t take chances.”
The second half began with some trouble for Fury FC as a Richie Ryan back pass had an ill-prepared Omar Jarun scrambling. It led to a footrace between the towering Jarun and speedy Boakai, as the young winger won the ball and went in alone on Devala Gorrick.
After Gorrick made a great save on the initial shot, Boakai corralled his own rebound to net the Eddies second goal.
The young Boakai is full of pace and troubled the Fury FC backline all night, especially in the second half.
Just after the hour mark, Daryl Fordyce would add a second to his tally with a perfectly placed shot after a pass from the man of the match Boakai.
It was a difficult score line for Fury FC after carrying so much of the play in the first half with nothing to show for.
Near the end of the game, Fury FC continued to press with Haworth missing a close-range chance just before extra time. Substitutes Pierre-Rudolph Mayard and Vini Dantas pressured, getting close on a couple chances.
Dantas finally broke through in the 90th minute, after getting behind two Eddies defenders and getting clear on net, slotting a low effort home in the corner.
At the very least, it was a deserved goal for the score line, which at 3-0 was maybe not representative of the game.
With the goal, Dantas is now the first every Fury FC player to score an NASL goal, as well as Voyageurs Cup goal.
“The fact we were the better team in the first half doesn’t count for anything,” said Ryan.
The strong play from the team in the opening 30 may have made the result an even tougher pill to swallow. So far this season, Fury FC are yet to be outplayed for an entire 90 minute stretch, and they’ve shown glimpses of what they’re capable of even in the losses.
“Obviously disappointing to lose tonight and not go through to the semi-finals. But that’s gone now, luckily for us, we’ve got another game in three days where we can go out and hope to get a win and forget about what’s happened tonight,” said Ryan.
Up next for Fury FC is an away meeting with the Atlanta Silverbacks on Saturday evening at 7:30p.m.
“Once we get there tomorrow we’ll have a meeting and stuff about what we need to do on Saturday to beat Atlanta,” Ryan said
Nicki Paterson continues to recover from a knee injury, nearing a return while Maykon has been ruled out of at least the next game.
“Hopefully in the next weeks, it’ll good to have a full squad and everybody fighting and ready to go.”