The Ottawa Fury FC dropped another three points this weekend, as they failed to take advantage of an early Carl Haworth goal to lose 1-2 at home against the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. The Strikers had come into the match in 9th place in the Spring Season, while Ottawa came in one place behind the Strikers at the bottom of the 10-team standings. The home loss left Ottawa with only 1 point in 5 games in the NASL Fall Season, and 4 points adrift of FC Edmonton, albeit with 1 game in hand.



The Opening 45



GK Romuald Peiser started his second match in a row, while LB Maykon was a late addition to the starting XI in place of Ramon Soria, who picked up a knock in training during the week. DM and captain Richie Ryan came back into the starting XI after recovering from his warmup injury last week at the expense of Canadian youth international Mauro Eustaquio, while ST Vini Dantas and winger Oliver were also drafted into the starting lineup.



Ottawa started off strong, putting lots of pressure on the Strikers’ defense in the early minutes and creating several chances, with CM Nicki Paterson curling a 25-yard free kick just wide. It only took 10 minutes before Ottawa scored the go-ahead goal, as the Strikers’ defence failed to clear a Richie Ryan pass properly, and the ball fell to the feet of winger Carl Haworth, who neatly put the ball into the top far corner of the net from the edge of the 18 yard box. The goal represented Haworth’s first professional goal, as well as the Fury FC’s first goal at TD Place.



It only took six minutes for Fort Lauderdale to find an equalizer, however, as striker Fafa Picault was able to latch onto the end of a sloppy back pass by Paterson and held off CB Drew Beckie before converting the ball past Peiser. Ottawa pushed on for the rest of the first half, looking for another go-ahead goal. The Fury FC controlled the play and created chances through the majority of the period; however, the closest they got to another goal was when Dantas’ shot off of a low right-wing cross was cleared off the line by an alert Fort Lauderdale defender.



The Second Half



The second half started off with a fantastic Haworth shot from an Oliver long ball that was saved by Strikers GK David Meves. The Fury created more chances, particularly down their left flank, with Oliver and Maykon particularly active, but the team was wasteful in their finishing. Ubiparipovic had a great moment, settling down a loose ball in the air, and taking it on the volley, but shooting straight at the keeper. As the game progressed, the match looked more and more likely as if it was heading for a draw. However, soon after an attacking substitution for Fort Lauderdale, right-back Darnell King made a fantastic off-the-ball run through the heart of Ottawa’s defense, and was able to latch onto a precise through-ball from CAM Mark Anderson and lift the ball past Peiser in the 76th minute.



Much like the game versus Minnesota, Ottawa was left chasing the game in the late stages and put on a significant amount of pressure near the end, creating several opportunities. Haworth had the best attempt to tie the game, with a side-footed volley from a curled Ubiparipovic cross in injury time. However, they were unable to convert any of the chances and ended up leaving the pitch with a disappointing 1-2 home loss. Their positive start to the match, and the chances created that were left unconverted, left manager Marc Dos Santos and the squad questioning how they did not come away with at least a point from the game.



RNO Ottawa Fury FC Man of the Match: LW Carl Haworth



Starting XI’s



Ottawa (4-3-3) – Peiser; Maykon, Trafford, Beckie, Richter (Donatelli 81’); Ubiparipovic, Ryan, Paterson; Haworth, Dantas (Heinemann 58’), Oliver (Davies 78’)



Fort Lauderdale (4-2-3-1) – Meves; Guerrero, Vieira, Rafael Alves, King; Chin, Gonzalez; Ramirez, Anderson, Nunez; Picault