(Photo by Victor Tan / New Day Review)

Match Recap

ORLANDO, Fla. – “Here we go again.”

Those were the first words that came to the minds of Orlando City B head coach Anthony Pulis and team captain Lewis Neal after a late equalizer by the visiting Charleston Battery. But it was the United Soccer League Lions who would have the last laugh, as OCB (9-8-12, 39 points) defeated Charleston (13-8-8, 47 points) 2-1 at Orlando City Stadium in front of an announced attendance of 1,011.

“I think we’re close to the record number of draws, aren’t we, in USL, somebody was telling me a week or so ago,” Pulis said after the victory. “Yeah, obviously a disappointment is your first reaction, and then, straight away, then it’s my job to try and be positive and get the guys going again and get them believing that there is a second goal there, and we still had, what, 10, 12 minutes left. And thankfully they reacted really well to conceding the goal, and we go on and nick the winner.”

That second goal came in the form of a rare score by Neal, who has scored just three times prior in almost two seasons with OCB, in the 87th minute. A corner-kick delivery by rookie midfielder Danny Deakin fell to first-half substitute Fernando Timbó inside the box, who unloaded a shot that was deflected. The deflected ball landed at the feet of Neal, who struck it just well enough to bounce past Charleston goalkeeper Odisnel Cooper.

“What? My unbelievable strike?” Neal jokingly said after the match. “I thought someone would at least ask me the question, ‘Who had the better goal tonight?’ Obviously it was me. It was much better than yours, wasn’t it Pierre [da Silva]?

“Just delighted to be in the right place at the right time. You know, managed to get something on it, and, to be honest, I thought the keeper saved it. It was pretty comfortable for him, and somehow he managed to make a little bit of a mess of it and put it in the goal for us. But, in the end, I thought it’s what we deserved tonight. Tonight, I thought we worked really hard as a team. We didn’t make it easy for ourselves, at times, but I thought we created enough chances and played [had] a decent amount of possession to win the game, in my opinion.”

Just six minutes before his game-winner, Charleston’s Heviel Cordovés scored a late equalizer off an assist by Quinton Griffith.

“I mean, it’s one of them type of moments where you’re like, ‘Really, guys? Are we going to put ourselves through this again?’” Neal said. “But, no, to be fair, you know, in all fairness to us, we kept grinding, we kept going, we didn’t let our heads get down too much. And we just kept probing to try and get that winning goal, and, thankfully, it came in a bit of a scramble around the goal mouth, and thankfully we were able to get it and get the three points because that, tonight, was a huge three points, for us, in terms of our chance of making the playoffs.”

da Silva opened the scoring in the first half with a 31st-minute strike distance. The OCB midfielder received the ball from assister Neal and took two touches before sending a left-footed shot past the outstretched arms of Cooper for an early 1-0 lead.

“I mean, when I got the ball from Lew, that was the only option I had,” da Silva said after the win. “So, I took a touch forward, and I saw the goal right in front of me, so I took a chance, and it went in.”

Said Pulis on da Silva’s fourth goal of the season: “I think Charleston are very, very good defensively. They don’t let in many goals. They’re very, very difficult to break down. They sit in a low block, and [Charleston head coach Michael Anhaeuser’s] done a good job ‘cause he gets them organized, and it’s very difficult to break them down.

“Pierre scores a fantastic goal—probably a goal-of-the-season candidate, in my opinion, first half. And we knew it was gonna take something special to score tonight because of how good they are defensively.”

Man of the Match: MF Lewis Neal

Neal assisted on OCB’s first goal by da Silva and scored the game-winner in the 87th minute after an equalizer mere minutes beforehand. He finished the game with one shot (one on goal), created a team-high two chances, drew two fouls and completed 91.8 percent of his game-high 73 passes.

What’s next?

OCB will travel to face the Richmond Kickers on Oct. 1. Each team has a win on the season, as Richmond won the most recent matchup 2-0 on Sept. 7.

Zachary Ellis-Hayden Leaves Game with Mild Concussion

Right-back Zachary Ellis-Hayden left the victory in the first half after taking a cross directly to the head. He was soon after escorted off the pitch and was diagnosed with a mild concussion, according to Pulis.

“Zach has a mild concussion, which is disappointing,” the second-year OCB boss said. “So we’ll kind of—the medics will assess that early in the week, I’d imagine, and give us more of a detailed analysis on how long he’s gonna be out for.”

35' – Zach Ellis-Hayden stops a cross with his face and the trainer is quick to sprint onto the field. — The Mane Land (@TheManeLand) September 24, 2017

Highlights

45′ | Danny Deakin misses by inches from putting OCB up 2-0! 1-0 | #ORLvCHS pic.twitter.com/bYkTKrA4IZ — Orlando City B (@OrlandoCityB) September 24, 2017

47′ | Stand tall Jake! Huge save from the OCB keeper. 1-0 | #ORLvCHS pic.twitter.com/ikLlRYwKXq — Orlando City B (@OrlandoCityB) September 24, 2017

59′ | Rafa getting robbed! What a shot off the free kick. 1-0 | #ORLvCHS pic.twitter.com/FtL17gZjUC — Orlando City B (@OrlandoCityB) September 24, 2017

87′ | GET IN LEWIS! The skipper squeaks one in to put #OCB back up! 2-1 | #ORLvCHS pic.twitter.com/6Te7VGvHr3 — Orlando City B (@OrlandoCityB) September 24, 2017

NDR Notes

Neal scored his second goal of the season, his fourth with OCB in two seasons.

da Silva scored his fourth of the season, his sixth with OCB in two seasons.

Scoring

Time Team Goal-scorer Assisted by 31’ Orlando City B Pierre da Silva Lewis Neal 81’ Charleston Battery Heviel Cordovés Quinton Griffith 87’ Orlando City B Lewis Neal n/a

Statistics and Starting Lineups

Goals Assists Shots Shots on Goal Possession % Orlando City B 2 1 8 4 51.3% Charleston Battery 1 1 10 5 48.7%

Orlando City B starting XI (4-4-2): Jake Fenlason (GK); Zachary Ellis-Hayden, Zach Carroll, Conor Donovan, Rafael Ramos; Pierre da Silva, Paul Clowes, Jordan Schweitzer, Lewis Neal (C); Hadji Barry, Danny Deakin

Charleston Battery starting XI (4-2-3-1): Odisnel Cooper (GK); O’Brian Woodbine, Skylar Thomas, Taylor Mueller, Quinton Griffith; Tah Anunga, Justin Portillo; Nicholas Rittmeyer, Ataulla Guerra, Maikel Chang; Romario Williams

For more on OCB, as they look to solidify a playoff spot for the second season in a row, follow Victor Tan on Twitter at @NDR_VictorTan.