As nice a facility as it is, Gatineau’s Complexe Branchaud-Briere isn’t a great spot to gauge the play of a soccer team.

As Ottawa Fury FC was reminded once again during their pre-season friendly against the visiting Rochester Rhinos on Friday, the possession-oriented game the NASL club is built around gets tricky on the indoor pitch, which is both narrower and slightly shorter than a regular soccer field.

Fury showed flashes Friday of what it’s building toward in a physical and somewhat sloppy 1-1 draw against the USL’s Rochester Rhinos. Carl Haworth’s 30th minute goal allowed Fury to remain undefeated through two pre-season games.

The forward picked up a lose ball at the top of the Rochester box, made a couple quick moves and had the Rhinos keeper moving the wrong way when Haworth’s shot deflected off a defender and into the net.

“I was just looking for anything bouncing around the box and luckily it came right to me,” Haworth said of the goal.

As for playing on the smaller pitch, Haworth said it changes the dynamic of a game as both teams resorted to the long ball that mostly cut out the midfield — that is, when those long balls weren’t bouncing off the roof.

“We still want to try and play as much as we can but you sort of have to change it to the conditions and you just have to fight for the balls,” Haworth said. “We want to try to play (our game and) keep the ball, but in the end you just have to go a bit more direct.”

With Ottawa’s two keepers expected to split the duties in Friday’s friendly, Romuald Peiser was pressed into service early when starter Marcel DeBellis was sent off for a 25th-minute tackle that took down the charging Rhinos player who was in all alone. Fury coach Marc Dos Santos was happy to see his team fight for the tying goal, even in an exhibition game, though he said it was tough to fairly evaluate his team’s play on the smaller pitch.

“It becomes a little bit unrealistic at times (with) the ball hitting the ceiling,” he said. “We try to look at the little things (like) how fast can we get out of pressure in 1 vs. 1 situations, because they happen a lot.

Defender Mason Trafford said the team was happy to remain undefeated in the pre-season as Fury returns to training next week before travelling to Montreal for another friendly Friday.

“It’s different playing on this pitch, it’s smaller, you can see it’s a bit scrappy and you get what you can out of it,” he said. “It’s good that we got the tie in the end, that was important.”

Those who made the trip to Gatineau got to see Dos Santos experiment with a new formation, straying from his usual 4-3-3 (defenders-midfielders-forwards) to a 4-4-2 that saw Tommy Heinemann and newcomer Andrew Wiedeman playing together up top. Don’t expect to see too much of that though, as Dos Santos said it had more to do with the pitch size, which took a lot of space away from the wingers.

There was a scary moment very early in this one when midfielder Nicki Paterson collided with a Rochester player, resulting in a gash on the Fury player’s head. He was tended to, had his head wrapped in gauze and was back in the game immediately.

“End of my modelling career,” the Scotsman quipped.

The match also featured an appearance by Fury Academy player Mohamed Dagnogo, a Gatineau native who spent last year with the Montreal Impact’s U18 squad.

JARUN AWAY

Fury FC has bid farewell to defender Omar Jarun.

The club confirmed Friday it had released the 6-foot-5 centre back shortly, a move freeing up a roster spot and eases some of the log jam on the team's crowded back line.

Just as the announcement came from Fury, it was announced Jarun had signed a deal with Indian Super League club Bharat FC.

Jarun signed a two-year deal with Ottawa before Fury's inaugural season but the club agreed to give the Kuwait native a chance to play elsewhere.

"Omar is part of the history of the club," said Fury head coach Marc Dos Santos. "This decision provides the club with roster flexibility while allowing Omar to find a new challenge abroad. I wish Omar the very best in the next chapter of his career."

Jarun scored twice in 16 appearances with Fury last season and also helped the Palestine national team win the AFC Challenge Cup.

"I want to thank Ottawa Fury FC for having me be part of the club's foundation," Jarun said in a statement. "My wife and I enjoyed living in Ottawa and being part of the community. I will continue to remain in touch with my teammates, the front office and the coaching staff and wish everyone well for the upcoming season and beyond."

Fury currently has 20 players under contract for the upcoming season.

chris.hofley@sunmedia.ca

Twitter: @chrishofley