Weekend Recap: Not all Doom and Gloom in Fury-land

Kristy Moore (23) and Arin Gilliland celebrate Moore’s 66th minute game-winning marker for the women’s side yesterday afternoon. (c) Steve Kingsman.

 

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My recap of the men’s game on NASL.com

Women’s recap on ottawafuryfc.com

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Despite a heart-breaking loss at the death in the nightcap of yesterday’s Fury FC doubleheader, both the men’s and women’s sides had many positives to take from their respective matches.

The men’s team popped two goals past one of the NASL’s best defensive units, while the women’s team shredded the Quebec Dynamo in the second half of their match enroute to a 2-0 victory.

Both the men’s and women’s sides played attractive football at points, and both without a doubt merited points from their respective games- the women managed to take all three from Quebec, whilst the men were robbed of a point on the final play of the game against San Antonio.

I’ve already recapped both matches at length in the links above, so I’ll just get right into it with the men’s match ratings and recap, plus general thoughts from the women’s match.

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TacticsTalk – Dos Santos’ “New Look”

Fury FC boss Marc Dos Santos showcased an interesting 4-1-4-1, which featured a midfield that lined up higher up the pitch and Richie Ryan in an exclusive defensive mid role.  While it did allow for better exchanges in the midfield, it often left Vini Dantas alone up front as he waited for reinforcements to arrive.

‘New player’ obviously being Devala Gorrick in goal.

What I Liked

• Soria’s game on the left flank- smart and aggressive, but never overly committed up the pitch.  He fits perfectly into that wingback role, in that he can be the aggressor even into the attacking third, yet tracks back and has a defense-first mentality.
• Ryan truly lying back, almost playing as a glorified, ball-distributing centreback.  Fits his game very well, seeing as he did not have the pace to keep up with some of San Antonio’s quick little midfielders.
• Tony Donatelli’s creativity in the midfield- he jumped up into the attack when appropriate, but was intelligent enough to maintain his position and tracked back well defensively multiple times.

What I Didn’t Like

• Dantas was left alone, with a lack of true attacking wingers at his side, to confront the San Antonio back four.  There were numerous times when he would find himself running onto a through ball, only to look up and find himself in a 1-v-4 situation.  Needs support to be successful, because his pace isn’t quite there to beat NASL-level defenders.
• Haworth on the wing.  I know that’s where he fits best in the squad, but I still feel as though his pace and style of play are better-suited to a lone-striker role than that of a winger.  On the wing he has to muck and grind for a glimpse of the ball, whereas were he to be serviced inside the opposition 18, I feel like he could be very effective with his agility and sheer pace.

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Fury FC Match Ratings vs. San Antonio (05/24/14)

(Average match rating = 6.0)

Gorrick, GK – 6.5 – Not called into action very often outside of San Antonio’s three goals, Gorrick was not at fault for any of the Scorpions markers- no chance on the Janicki opening goal, the Hassli penalty, or the Zahorski deflection deep in injury time.

Soria, LB – 7.5 – Another superlative effort at left back by the Spaniard- he roamed up and down the left wing all evening, but always managed to track back and cover his defensive duties.  Also showcased some surprisingly-strong aerial play.

Trafford, CB – 7.0 – Trafford was quite good in the heart of MDS’s defence- nothing too flashy, just solid man marking and leadership at the back.

Beckie, CB – 6.5 – Beckie was again dependable at centreback in the absence of internationally-obligated Omar Jarun.  While he’s still naturally a right back, Beckie provided some decent tackling- including a vicious bodycheck in the 84th which resulted in him receiving a yellow card.

Fresenga, RB – 6.0 – While he does bring a high work rate to the Fury backline, Fresenga didn’t bring a new dimension to the Ottawa line-up by any means.  Really wasn’t very noticeable, and will be pushed out of the S-XI once Jarun returns.

Ryan, CDM – 6.5 – The captain was very good in his anchoring role, distributing well as per usual while never doing anything overly-flashy.

Oliver, LM – 6.0 – Perhaps I’m secretly expecting a performance like he put in against Carolina (2 goals, 1 assist to lead OFFC to their first-ever win back on Apr. 26th), but Oliver just wasn’t very dynamic.  Usually creative and exciting on the ball, his touches were lacking and the ball did not gravitate to his flank as it usually does.

Ubiparipovic, CM – 7.5 – ‘Ubi’ had one of his best performances of the Spring Season thus far, finishing beautifully on OFFC’s second goal while creating plenty in the midfield.  Need more performances like that from the former MLS man.

Donatelli, CM – 8.0 – Potentially a third Team-of-the-Week nomination in a row was earned by the Philadelphia native, as he calmly slotted home a penalty and set up Ubiparipovic’s goal.  His intelligence and awareness on the pitch is really beginning to show as the season continues.

Haworth, RM – 5.5 – Matched up against speedy Stephen De Roux of San Antonio, Haworth was effectively shut down on the evening, creating little space between him and his Jamaican marker.  Substituted.

Dantas, ST – 6.5 – You can’t fault the big Brazilian for not finding the scoresheet on Saturday night, as he had little to no support for the vast majority of his runs.  Still brought an impressive work rate, and showcased some nice touches at times.

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Women Blank Quebec Two-Nil

The women’s side took care of business against an inferior Quebec Dynamo side in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader, thanks to standout performances from Kristy Moore, Arin Gilliland, and Shelina Zadorsky.  Moore’s 66th minute was a thing of beauty, as she brought down a great over-the-top ball from the midfield mid-stride before taking a shot which deflected off of a Quebec defender and past the Quebec ‘keeper Vandal to put OFFC-W up one-nil.  Substitute Lauren Hughes slotted home into a virtually-empty net late to seal the victory or the Fury women, who will be looking to reclaim the W-League’s Central Conference title after losing to Laval on penalties in the 2013 final.

McVicker, GK – Had a very solid game, making a key save early in the second half when she rushed out to deny Roy-Petitclerc on a break.  Should establish herself as the #1.

Hubka, D – Put some nice touches on the ball, roamed up the pitch a bit on the right flank.  All in all, a steady game for her.

Steinlage, D – Commanded well in the heart of Oliveri’s defense, and defends well aerially.

Zadorsky, D – Brings veteran leadership from last year, and worked well in tandem with Steinlage.  Likes to run with the ball more than your average CB.

McCarthy, D – Roamed up and down the left flank all afternoon, showing good pace while being strong on the ball.

Hastings, M – Great passer of the ball, did not stand out but didn’t commit any egregious errors either.

Rynier, M – Very strong in possession, Rynier was a physical presence in the midfield.

Woods, M – An excellent performance from Woods, who sprayed balls all over the pitch while setting up OFFC-W’s second goal.

Oduro, F – Wasn’t the greatest of debuts for Oduro, who failed to make an impact before being substituted at halftime.

Moore, F – It took Moore a little over a half to hit her stride, but once she did she began to dominate in the final third- she scored one beautiful goal on sixty-six minutes, and could’ve had two or three had it not been for the dreaded offside flag.

Gilliland, F – Gilliland was excellent before being substituted on seventy-six minutes, distributing very well while enjoying three or four quality chances of her own.  Sparked the offense early in the second half, and received our Player-of-the-Match award for pushing the tempo and creating plenty off the flank.

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All things considered, it wasn’t a disastrous weekend for the club- the women kicked off their campaign with an important three points, while the men played attractive football and left the 2400 in attendance brimming with commentary and enthusiasm for the game.  While it would’ve been nice to see more fans out for the women’s game, it’s understandable that the bleachers were relatively empty seeing as their W-League match coincided with the Champions League final!

As for the men’s game, well, that’s the exciting brand of footy/soccer the club needs to play if they want to get more supporters out.  Yes, they lost- and the loss hurt them massively in the NASL league table.  But the fact is, it was an excellent match, arguably the most entertaining all Spring Season.  Fans will return to watch another game after being treated to such an exciting, offensive, and heated spectacle.

In my personal opinion, this weekend should be seen as a positive one- the club gained supporters, and the women’s side came away with three points, simple as that.

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Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t award my #MostFurious award for the weekend.  Since both the men and women were in action yesterday, I’ll award two:

Tony Donatelli was the #MostFurious member of the men’s side yesterday, scoring a penalty and assisting on Sinisa Ubiparipovic’s go-ahead goal.  Should receive a third consecutive NASL Team-of-the-Week nomination after pulling into a tie for the NASL lead in goals.  His intelligence and awareness makes up for a potential lack of pace, and his touches have improved steadily since opening day.  Has really stepped up the past few weeks as he’s acclimated to being a full-time starter in the absence of Nicki Paterson.

While I did award Arin Gilliland with the Player-of-the-Match award in yesterday’s 2-0 win for the women’s side, captain Lisa-Marie Woods was excellent in the midfield and takes home the #MostFurious title for the women’s squad.  Woods distributed very well, and set up Lauren Hughes in the 87th to put the game to bed.  She exudes confidence and is very patient on the ball, playing a similar game to Richie Ryan of the men’s team.

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We’ll do it all again next weekend, as the women’s side host K-W United in W-League play at 3PM on Saturday before the men entertain new rivals FC Edmonton at 7PM.

As always, follow me on twitter @GripTheSeams96, the team @OttawaFuryFC, and the leagues @NASLOfficial and @USLWLeague.