— There’s an irresistible urge to over-examine the driving forces behind the record-setting, sellout attendance of 10,125 that filed into the sylvan setting of WakeMed Soccer Park Tuesday night to witness West Ham United draw the hometown Carolina RailHawks 2-2 in an international friendly.

But it’s the essence of Occam’s razor to decode that big money equals a big attraction, which equals a big crowd. It’s the same general formula that inspired the acquisition of former Mexican international Omar Bravo, who was introduced at halftime of tonight’s friendly, already decked out in a RailHawks uniform.

I'm forever blowing bubbles / Pretty bubbles in the air / They fly so high / Nearly reach the sky / Then like my dreams / They fade and die / I'm forever blowing bubbles.

First, the game. In the 13th minute, a failed clearance by West Ham’s Winston Reid off a Drew Beckie cross resulted in a West Ham own goal and 1-0 Carolina lead, to the shocked delight of all supporters.

Five minutes later, Reid redeemed himself by gathering a loose ball and rocketing a sure shot past RailHawks goalkeeper Akira Fitzgerald to even the score at 1-1. The Irons grabbed the 2-1 advantage in the 21st minute, when Andy Carroll easily tapped in a Sofiane Feghouli bounder.

The RailHawks’ brand of Southern Hospitality is a weather delay, which Mother Nature obliged in the 63rd minute. Once play resumed, Carolina equalized after Lewis Page was whistled for a handball in the area. Marvin Ceballos converted the PK to account for the 2-2 final score.

Oh, by the way, Omar Bravo made a cameo in the 80th minute.

The pre-match mantra that tonight’s result “doesn’t matter” was more than just a shield in case the proverbial Hammer dropped. Indeed, the RailHawks themselves rolled out an assortment of bench players and academy kids once the first-teamers had gotten their taste of EPL opposition. The scoreline was truly incidental to the event, and more broadly a gala designed for the marketplace and an assortment of acronyms: NASL, USSF, NWSL … MLS?

Toluca … West Ham … Omar Bravo. They’re all pieces of a marketing puzzle being assembled by still-new RailHawks Steve Malik, who introduced Bravo to the assembled masses during intermission. It’s a far cry from the days of Traffic Sports, the erstwhile and sullied overseer that would front funds only after staffers could guarantee the precise seats it would fill.

“Tonight is the culmination of a lot of work and energy, and the marketplace responding in an incredible way for a great event,” said RailHawks president and general manager Curt Johnson. “It raises the bar. It sets a higher standard for what we are as an organization, and it gets people really fixated on what the potential can be, and that we’re making progress toward that potential.”

Tonight’s boffo attendance was roughly divisible into three categories. First was the show-me crowd, who flock to this corner of Cary maybe once or twice a year to bask in the collective pomp and pageantry of these soccer spectacles, the same way they might pull up a lawn chair in the Great Smokies to marvel at the seasonal bioluminescence of synchronous fireflies.

Next, and most boisterous, were the West Ham supporters, many who migrated to Carolina for this occasion from along the Eastern seaboard and beyond. It’s a crowd comprising everyone from claret and blue-clad English expatriates who inherited their diehard fanaticism honest, to hipsters sporting a Carlos Tevez jersey that’s today two sizes too small, or even a John Terry Chelsea kit.

But it was the RailHawks faithful exuding the most authentic excitement, like hosts throwing a house party for neighbors who finally showed up for. The velleities of the past are giving way to present dividends and future promise. The true challenge is translating, say, three-quarters of tonight’s fans to regular season RailHawks matches not involving clubs founded in the 19th century.

Johnson has his own formula for that equation.

“The games have to be entertaining, we have to play an attractive brand of soccer, and sprinkle in some magic dust, some superstars,” Johnson said. “We have our first superstar [Bravo] with the RailHawks, so we’re very optimistic based on the early response, not only based on his abilities but equally important, the interested level people have in him.”

Still, when it comes to club-building, hope has a price far above rubies, or Steve Malik’s million pounds.

I'm dreaming dreams / I'm scheming schemes / I'm building castles high / They're born anew / Their days are few / Just like a sweet butterfly / And as the daylight is dawning / They come again in the morning.

BOX SCORE

LINEUPS

CAR: Fitzgerald (Sylvestre, 46’; Robinson, 87’), Mensing, Moses, Beckie (Mason, 62’), Marcelin, Watson (Albert, 63’), Albadawi (Hassan, 63’), Shipalane (Morales, 63’; Del Rosario, 90’), da Luz (Orlando, 62’), Shriver (Ceballos, 38’; Perez, 80’), Fondy (Schuler, 46’; Bravo, 80’)

WHU: Adrian (Spielgel, 46’), Burke, Cresswell (Page, 46’), Reid, Bryam, Samuelsen, Lanzini, Fegouhli, Obiang, Noble, Carroll (Martinez, 46’)

GOALS

CAR: Reid [OG]; Ceballos, 68’

WHU: Reid, 18’; Carroll, 21’

CAUTIONS

CAR: Miller, 51’

WHU: Page, 67’; Quina, 90 + 3’

EJECTIONS

CAR: ---

WHU: ---

ATTENDANCE: 10,125