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| Complex |
Yep, another unsavory result.
Only this time, unlike some other recent outings, Bill Becher’s club was unable to salvage anything Saturday night as the Wilmington Hammerheads claimed a 2-1 victory that put the City Islanders in a precarious spot with just three USL PRO games to go. No victory. No draw.
No points.
“It was disappointing,” said veteran winger David Schofield, who made his second straight appearance after missing five games with a groin strain. “Obviously, they played their game plan, sat in and made it difficult for us — and we didn’t have an answer for it.
“We’ve gotta be better.”
With the USL PRO playoffs just three weeks away and the City Islanders (9-6-6, 33 points) four points out of first yet trying to fend off a dangerous Los Angeles club that’s a half-dozen points back with six games left, Harrisburg must be better.
The City Islanders certainly weren’t good enough to solve a weary Wilmington outfit — the Hammerheads won 3-1 Friday at New York — content to clog the middle of the field defensively and wait until an opportunity to get forward materialized.
Most of the time, David Irving’s club had at least nine players behind the ball. And most of the time, those nine players and keeper Brock Duckworth (4 saves) were clustered across the field in the final third in a space no wider than penalty area. Still, the City Islanders continued to attack inside.
While it worked early, when some nice one-touch combination play from Sainey Touray and Jose Angulo led to an Angulo rebound and 1-0 lead, it never worked again.
“Paid off for them in the end, I guess,” Becher said.
“Over and over, we were trying to force it through the middle,” Schofield added. “It wasn’t working, because they were playing for that.”
After conceding Andriy Budnyy’s finish in the 29th minute and a Chris Banks penalty kick in the 60th, the City Islanders were in trouble. Again. This time, they could not rally.
“[Wednesday] we weren’t at our best away, but still we pulled it out,” Schofield said of a 3-2 win at Dayton. “[Tonight], we weren’t able to come up with [another goal] later on. If we put ourselves in these situations, sometimes we will, sometimes we won’t. We’ve gotta be better right from the start.
