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Ottawa Fury FC, a team that scored just 31 times during the 2018 United Soccer League season, thought it had found a big chunk of the goal-scoring solution back in December.

The signing of elite scorer Dane Kelly seemed like a sure thing. But a cloud of uncertainty after a ruling by CONCACAF (soccer’s governing body on this side of the world) that it would not sanction Fury FC to play in the U.S.-dominated USL probably cost the Ottawa team Kelly and a couple of other star forwards they had targeted and were closing in on.

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Before CONCACAF decided to reverse its decision less than two weeks later, the damage had been done. Kelly had signed with the USL’s Indy Eleven and others had also gone in a different direction.

So Fury FC will head to training camp in Florida this week with plenty of hope, but a need to add some scoring punch before its regular season begins March 9 in Charleston.

“Dane Kelly is a guy we wanted, we were very close to signing,” said Fury FC GM Julian de Guzman during an informal gathering with media types Monday night at Crust and Crate, not far from the TD Place stadium. “He was ready to sign. We’re out of business for a week and Indy Eleven signs him.