Article content continued

For most of the game, it looked as if a blunder by Fury fullback Ryan Richter would be the deciding moment.

With 29 minutes gone, Richter tried to flick a back pass with the outside of his boot to goalkeeper Romuald Peiser. It was a legitimate idea badly executed. The pass was too weak, the Fury goalkeeper was unable to reach it and Brazilian Jhulliam nipped in, rounded Peiser and slipped the ball into the empty net. Richter held his head in his hands.

This and a bad miss by Indy’s Charlie Rugg, who put the ball over an empty net from five yards in the 43rd minute, were the only exciting incidents in the opening half.

The Fury came out flat and stayed that way for the entire 45 minutes. They had a majority of the possession but never looked capable of breaking through the Indy defence. And, at the other end, they had too many shaky moments for comfort.

So, no wonder Dos Santos made a change at halftime, bringing on Tony Donatelli in place of Sinisa Ubiparipovic. But the hoped-for revitalization still refused to come. The Fury struggled to find openings in the Indy defence and failed to look slightly dangerous when they tried the aerial route.

In addition, the defence continued to struggle to hold quick Indy counter attacks.

The game looked all over in the 90th minute when Don Smart pumped over a cross on another Indy breakaway for Victor Pineda to head home unimpeded.

It had come against the run of play as the Fury pushed for an equalizer. But there was only a moment of head-hanging. This club refuses to lie down, and this time a goal came a minute later. Vini Dantas made the chance, beating a man and racing toward the penalty area. His cross was accurate, and there was Oliver to head home.