The Ottawa Fury opened their Fall season on Sunday afternoon with a 2-0 victory over the Jacksonville Armada. It was the first time in 2015 that the Fury scored more than one goal in a game, and the victory vaulted the club into a tie for the final playoff spot in the combined standings. The clean sheet also meant Fury FC keeper Romuald Peiser extended his shutout streak to 616 minutes. To put that in context, that’s like one full Boston Red Sox-New York Yankees game.
The Fury came out looking a little sluggish as the Armada were all over them in the early going of the match. Jacksonville looked good in stringing together passes, carefully advancing up the field toward Romuald Peiser’s area. Once they got into the final third, Ottawa’s defence stepped in to make sure any danger was quickly snuffed out.
The Fury would break out of their slumber in the 12th minute, however. After Fury left back Mason Trafford’s delicious pass bypassed the Armada midfield, Carl Haworth collected it and missed a 1v1 opportunity against Jacksonville keeper Miguel Gallardo (this would be a recurring theme throughout the match). On the ensuing Richie Ryan corner the ball failed to make it past the first defender, but the clearance fell to Rafael Alves’ noggin, who sent it back into the blender. Andrew Wiedeman was the one who collected, turned and shot it off the right post and into Lucas Scaglia who was guarding the goal line, redirecting the ball to Trafford, who buried his chance. Ping pong soccer at its best!
Having found a weakness in the Armada’s defences, the Fury would continue to exploit the lack of pace in Jacksonville’s back line by having the three-headed monster of Haworth, Wiedeman and Paulo Junior make diagonal runs and slice through the defence with incisive passes. A few minutes after the first goal, such a pass put Haworth through 1 on 1 on Gallardo once more. While he was flagged for offside on the play, replays showed he was nowhere near being so. He would get another similar opportunity later in the match.
This strategy’s side effect was that the Fury looked like the road team, absorbing pressure with its stellar defence then launching quick counter attacks. Jacksonville, seemingly realizing this, tried to slow things down but that simply neutralized their offensive punch. Watching the match it came as no surprise that Jacksonville dominated possession 55-45. Despite this dominance in possession, Jacksonville never looked like it could beat Ottawa on this day.
Jacksonville’s best chance to score came in the second half when Jemal Johnson sent a wicked cross onto Jaime Castrillón’s head. Castrillón had Peiser beat, but Rafael Alves was there, as he has been all year, to bail his keeper out with a goal line clearance.
Not enough can be said about this Fury back four. Rafael Alves and Colin Falvey (recently re-signed through 2016 season) provide the iron in front of Peiser. Ryan Richter and Mason Trafford are the fullbacks that provide escape valves, but who also lock back into defence to effectively create a Roman tortoise formation. The next goal from open play to be scored against this foursome will come as a surprise to all Fury supporters. They’re just that good, and 6 consecutive clean sheets is the proof of this concept.
Ottawa’s second goal came in the 86th minute off a beautiful arced Tom Heinemann header. The goal was created by a galloping Mason Trafford run, who laid it off to Siniša Ubiparipović to his left. Ubiparipović then perfectly floated a cross to find the 6’4 forwards head, whose mop of hair gently placed the ball into the corner of the goal. Game over.
It was Heinemann’s eighth goal as member of the Fury, in 28 total appearances. He continues to be the Fury’s best option up front, pending the match fitness of Aly Hassan. It should be interesting to see this story develop.
Head coach Marc Dos Santos appears to have found the balance that was missing in the Spring season, if only for one match. Should this style of play become a trend for Ottawa, their push to make the playoffs steps out of the realm of fantasy and becomes a realistic aspiration.
Man of the Match: Have to go with the in-stadium pick and select Mason Trafford. Not only a goalscorer on this day, but a force in defence and the initiator of the second goal.
Next match: Ottawa Fury travel to Minneapolis on Saturday to take on Minnesota FC. The Loons are currently tied on points with Ottawa in the combined standings with 14 points.
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