— Not since General William Tecumseh Sherman pivoted his March to the Sea into a blitz through the Carolinas has a force emanating from the state of Georgia wreaked such havoc on their northern neighbors as the Atlanta Silverbacks’ recent history at WakeMed Soccer Park.

Saturday evening, the Silverbacks earned a 2-1 victory over the Carolina RailHawks. It is Atlanta’s second win on the bounce in Cary, following their 2-0 result last August, one of several home losses that cost the RailHawks a playoff berth last season.

Playing on sandy surface more befitting a top-dressed golf green, the RailHawks and Silverbacks spent the better part of the match discovering the irregular bounces of the patchy pitch, the result of slowly germinating Bermuda grass incubating under a tarpaulin over the past month or so.

With storm clouds also swirling, the RailHawks enjoyed more and better scoring opportunities in the first half but left their chances wanting. The biggest revelation was the reemergence of Mark Anderson, who redeemed his subpar RailHawks’ debut with a lively half.

In the 20th minute, Anderson found himself centered from 20 yards out with the ball and space. However, his snap shot chipped paint off the left woodwork before deflecting wide of goal.

Starting striker Nacho Novo, Carolina’s early leading scorer this season, left the game in the 29th minute with a groin injury. He was replaced by Simone Bracalello, but the RailHawks’ offensive flow never seemed to recover.

“I think Nacho is somebody who works hard up front and makes very good runs,” said RailHawks manager Colin Clarke. “Once we lost that, it certainly didn’t help us. It was a big loss.”

Nevertheless, in the 31st minute Anderson added some flair to his performance with a header attempt from nearly 18 yards out that almost snuck under the crossbar before it was snared by Silverbacks goalkeeper C.J. Cochran.

But as so often happens, the team leaving chances on the table was made to eventually pay, as a pair of different teams seemed to exit their locker rooms for the second half. In just the 49th minute, a fluke deflection in the box fell to Silverbacks forward Shaka Bangura, who calmly blasted the ball past helpless RailHawks goalkeeper Hunter Gilstrap for a 1-0 advantage.

Clarke claimed he sensed the score coming.

“For all our good work, we have to come out for the second half and set the tempo,” Clarke said. “But we gave it away two or three times needlessly before they scored the goal. It might sound picky, but that set the wrong tempo. Instead of getting the ball down and passing it, it’s ‘here we go again.’”

Atlanta doubled their lead in the 68th minute when a sublime low cross from midfielder Kyle Miller off the right wing found an unobstructed Jonathan Okafor charging behind the RailHawks’ back line and into the goalmouth. Okafor deposited the ball off the volley for the easy score.

Carolina made a late charge in the 82nd minute when a punchout by Cochran bounded out to Blake Wagner at an acute angle on left flank. His low return skimmed through a forest of footballers and into the far net to account for the final 2-1 tally.

Silverbacks manager Gary Smith noted the tale of two halves.

“For whatever reason in that first half we were edgy, there were too many mistakes technically,” Smith said. “Subsequently, I felt there was trust and confidence in the group to keep the ball and to break those lines in the midfield. Looking at that second period, I felt there were many more occasions where we were able to break those lines in midfield and show more sharpness in the final third.”

On the other side, Clarke felt hard done to let three valuable home points slip away during a 10-game NASL spring season. It was also Clarke’s first exposure to seeing how his mature but new club performed while trailing during game, and the result wasn’t what he hoped.

“I didn’t think the response was great,” Clarke said. “I didn’t think the quality in the final third was good enough from some of our players who you’re looking to produce that final ball or pass. Their goalkeeper wasn’t busy enough.”

The RailHawks (1-1-1, 4 pts.) travel to face Indy Eleven next Saturday before returning home to host the Tampa Bay Rowdies on Saturday, May 2.

Other notes

● New signee Mamadee Nyepon, a graduate of High Point University, made his RailHawks debut, coming on in the 78th minute.

● Chris Nurse made his second appearance off the bench in as many games for Carolina … and earned his second yellow card of the season.

● The only RailHawks who have yet to see action over the opening three games are Kupono Low, Wells Thompson and backup goalkeeper Brian Sylvestre. Low and Thompson have been battling injuries throughout the early season.