Sunday 8 May 2011

Rowdies vs. Carolina Railhawks

Rowdies 1 vs. Carolina Railhawks 3
The Rowdies lost 3-1 to Carolina on Saturday night at Al Lang Stadium after allowing two second-half goals to the RailHawks.
"Defensively we have been quite sound but tonight for whatever reason in moments when it mattered, we lacked concentration and we lacked a bit of cohesion with the group," said head coach Ricky Hill. "If a defender has a lapse and makes a mistake, generally he gets punished for it."
Carolina struck first as forward Etienne Barbara, the NASL Player of the Month for April, scored his league-leading fifth goal of the season off an assist from midfielder Stephen Glass in the 20th minute. But the Rowdies quickly responded as midfielder Pascal Millien put the ball in the bottom left corner of the net in the 23rd minute to tie the match at 1-1. The goal was Millien's first of the 2011 season.
"It felt great after five games to finally put one in the back of the net," said Millien. "But on Wednesday we need to come right back and do everything we can to get three points. The way we started the first half is how we are supposed to finish it."
The Rowdies had several chances in the opening minutes of the second half. The first opportunity came as defender David Hayes served a free kick into the box and Warren Ukah's header was saved by Knighton. Just moments later, Hayes took another free kick, which deflected off Knighton but was cleared from the box.
Carolina regained the lead in the 52nd minute on a goal by forward Brian Farber, with Barbara getting the assist.
The Rowdies were inches from tying the game in the 74th minute as Ukah just missed wide after a pass from Mike Ambersley in the box.
The RailHawks extended their lead shortly after as Barbara scored his second of the game in the 76th minute following a pass from Chris Nurse. The ball was deflected off a Rowdies' defender and into the goal.
"I cannot fault the players for their application and their effort, but I think we can be a lot smarter and demand a lot more from each other when they are on the field to ensure that we don't have these lapses," said Hill.
Rowdies rookie goalkeeper Jeff Attinella made his first professional start and had five saves in the match. Rowdies' goalkeeper Daryl Sattler suffered a torn ACL last Saturday against Atlanta and will be sidelined for the remainder of the 2011 season. The Rowdies was also without the services of starting defender Andres Arango, who missed the game because of an ankle injury.
"I have been playing this game a long time and games go that way sometimes," said Attinella. "Obviously it was not how I wanted my first start to go. It was frustrating but hopefully we can come out on Wednesday and get a victory."

Lineups:
Rowdies lineup: Attinella, Sanfilippo (Captain), Rodrigues, Hayes, Jarun, McManus, Millien, Gyorio (Yamada 73'), Burt (Yoshitake 79'), Ukah (King 79'), Ambersley
Railhawks lineup: Knighton, Rusin (Captain), Low, McKenney, Krause, Franks, Glass (Nurse 64'), Watson (Elenio 85'), Farber (Steele 60'), Barbara, Zimmerman

Scoring Summary: Railhawks: Etienne Barbara - 20th minute (assisted by Stephen Glass)
 Rowdies: Pascal Millien - 23rd minute
 Railhawks: Brian Farber - 52nd minute (assisted by Etienne Barbara)
 Railhawks: Etienne Barbara - 76th minute (assisted by Chris Nurse)

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