Showing posts tagged “Martin Rennie”
Neil Morris ·
17 Mar 2010, 9:36 AM ·
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A joint press conference featuring coaches and players for the Carolina RailHawks and Major League Soccer’s New England Revolution was designed to promote the teams’ preseason friendly this Saturday evening, March 20, at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary.
However, another continuing revolution again took center stage thanks to one attendee, RailHawks’ President Brian Wellman.
Joining Wellman for Tuesday’s press conference at the Hilton Garden Inn in Durham, N.C. were RailHawks’ coach Martin Rennie and captain Mark Schulte, together with longtime Revolution head coach Steve Nicol and two of their young players, Raleigh natives Darrius Barnes (a Duke University grad) and Zack Schilawski (a former Wake Forest standout). All appeared before members of the local media and a smattering of diehard RailHawks supporters.
Barnes enters his second season with New England as the only field player in MLS to play every minute of every game during his last year’s rookie outing. Meanwhile, Schilawski is embarking on his rookie season with the Revolution after the team drafted him in the first round of this year’s MLS SuperDraft. Although Schilawski will play in Saturday’s game, Nicol confirmed that Barnes will not due to a minor injury.
Last year, the RailHawks won the Community Shield match against New England, 1-0. This year’s game marks the end of the Revolution’s 10-day training visit to WakeMed Park. Last weekend, the Revs traveled to Charlotte, where they defeated the USL-2’s Charlotte Eagles 2-0. The match against Carolina will be their final tune-up before the scheduled MLS season opener against the L.A. Galaxy on March 27—a event that could be delayed or canceled if the ongoing MLS labor dispute isn’t resolved by then.
I will defer to the RailHawks’s revamped Web site for much of the arduous work of transcribing the comments that came from the dais. It is safe to say that the Railhawks enter the season a hungry and confident kettle. Coming off last year’s regular season runner-up finish in USL-1, which included winning the most matches in the league, Rennie returns the core of his squad along with several new, key pieces.
“For players and for coach, a second-place finish isn’t what we’re after,” said team captain Schulte. “We want to be first. It was a commendable season, considering no one really knew each other the first month or so. This year, I think is going to be something special.”
But, it was Wellman who sounded the most insurgent chord, using his opening prepared comments to expound on the mindset of both his team and its fledgling, as-yet-unsanctioned league, the North American Soccer League (NASL).
“Every roster spot is a meaningful spot, and Martin has a plan for every guy on the roster to get us deeper in the playoffs and contend for championships in both the U.S. Open Cup as well as the NASL league cup.”
The latter reference is eyebrow-raising, seeing how such a cup does not currently exist. The USSF has mandated that the member squads of both the USL-1 and NASL play in a combined USSF-sanctioned Division 2 league for 2010. Neither the USL-1 or NASL are individually sanctioned as D2 leagues by USSF this year. Continue reading »
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Brian Wellman, Community Shield, Darrius Barnes, Mark Schulte, Martin Rennie, MLS, NASL, New England Revolution, Nic Platter, Ramak Safi, Steve Nicol, striker from The Gambia, Zack Schilawski
David Fellerath ·
11 Mar 2010, 10:47 AM ·
2 Comments
WAKEMED SOCCER PARK/CARY—The first thing we saw last night was a red-clad team that looked like the N.C. State Wolfpack. Then we saw a team that was neither the Wolfpack nor the Carolina RailHawks. Closer observation revealed that the New England Revolution were in town, finishing up a light workout on their first day of training in Cary in advance of next week’s friendly versus the RailHawks.
The Revolution left the field and soon RailHawks began showing up in twos and threes. Warmups began. It was good to see Matt Watson on his feet again after that broken leg from last September. We overheard team captain Mark Schulte introducing himself to an unfamiliar teammate who would turn out to be Thomas Stewart, late of Derry City in the Irish First Division. Amir Lowery strolled up midway through warmups, howdying the onlookers like the celebrity he should be someday. Brian Plotkin, still recuperating from a groin injury, jogged on the adjacent field until he was informed by a RailHawks staff member that the field was closed (and perhaps toxic).
Off in the distance, someone who looked like goalkeeper Caleb Patterson-Sewell—who we thought was training with the New York Red Bulls—watched the proceedings for a few minutes before disappearing.
A light drizzle and overcast skies portended an unpleasant viewing experience, but the water went away and we were left with wind and a gloomy, unlit and pocky field. The RailHawks eventually played a game, spanking the fiesty Wolfpack by a score of 4-1. Although the Wolfpack—a solid, above-average team in the nation’s best college soccer conference—fought for every ball and enjoyed a fair amount of possession, they never seriously challenged the RailHawks defense.
“If it hadn’t been for the penalty, we defended well tonight and probably should have had a clean sheet,” RailHawks coach Martin Rennie said after the game. “We were working on a couple of set plays, defensively, which I felt we did quite well on. Generally speaking, there were guys getting 90 minutes for the first time. They got tired but that’s part of this process. We’re training twice every day and then playing games.”
The first two RailHawks goals were scored in the first half by an unnamed “Trialist No. 16″ playing up top, who turned in balls delivered from the Gregory Richardson side of the field. The third goal also came in the first half, on a Daniel Paladini free kick from 20 yards that he casually dinked into the lower left corner—completely ignoring the “wall” that was in front of him. The fourth came in the second half, when Stewart, fresh off a transatlantic flight, tapped in a cross from the left. Continue reading »
ACC, Carolina RailHawks, N.C. State, Soccer Caleb Patterson Sewell, Daniel Paladini, Derry City FC, friendly, Gregory Richardson, Joseph Kabwe, Jun Marques Davidson, Martin Rennie, NC State Wolfpack, New England Revolution, New York Red Bulls, Nic Platter, Ramak Niakan Safi, Thomas Stewart, Trialist No. 16, Zane Tharakan
David Fellerath ·
25 Feb 2010, 12:30 PM ·
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The man from Malta (Photo by Stew Jones)
Fans of Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon know that, in the end, the prized statuette turns out to be a forgery. After a couple of weeks of hints that a major Maltese international striker was on the way (how many MMISs can there be?), the RailHawks finally have produced a parcel containing said prize.
Meet Etienne Barbara, a 6-foot-1, 27-year-old striker from Pietà, Malta. There are high hopes for him indeed: Martin Rennie, having been tipped to Barbara’s availability, traveled to the Mediterranean island specifically to scout him. In a team press release, Rennie says:
‘I saw his videos and I was real impressed, and I spoke to some people who also told me, This guy is really, really good. I made the decision to go watch him play, and I was blown away by what he did. I’m hoping that will translate to our league, and I believe it will. He’s got pace, power and he can finish and he’s just an all-around player. He’ll add a lot to our squad.’
Barbara will bring a solid record of accomplishment to Cary, with 70 goals since 1999, a period he mostly spent in the Maltese Premier League. Barbara has 30 caps with Malta’s national team, although he is not currently listed on the roster. He also had a short stint with the German fourth-tier semipro side SC Verl, a tenure that apparently ended with his dismissal for disciplinary reasons (the source cited on Barbara’s Wiki page is a German news site, where it appears that further browsing in Deutsch is necessary).
Following the Internet trail of Barbara’s career is fascinating. We realize just how ubiquitous soccer is elsewhere on the planet—where a country as tiny as Malta can have a multi-tiered league system, and, correspondingly, where there can be excellent prospects toiling away that require diligence, pavement-pounding and international connections to locate.
It appears, too, that last summer Barbara merited a close look by English Championship side Sheffield Wednesday when that club was in preseason training in Malta. According to this report, then-coach Brian Laws (now the coach of Burnley) ultimately determined that Barbara, though “definitely a talented player who has trained very hard with us this week,” wasn’t quite good enough to aid in Sheffield Wednesday’s push for the upper echelon of the Championship. (Wednesday is currently in 21st place, one point above the relegation zone.)
This isn’t to suggest that Barbara won’t be a key ingredient for the RailHawks—it’s unlikely that Rennie would have gone to such lengths merely to add a little squad depth—but that this information gives us an idea of where the RailHawks and American D2 soccer fit into the global soccer matrix (somewhere around England’s League One, perhaps).
It’s an encouraging signing for the RailHawks, who needed another striker option. Last year’s team scored 43 goals, third-best in the league, but 21 percent of those goals came in a single game. Returning forwards Sallieu Bundu and Andriy Budnyy had their moments last season, and Matthew Delicâte, on a late-season loan from USL-2 Richmond, provided spark and creativity, but RailHawk attack has lacked a consistently ruthless presence inside the box. Clearly, Rennie hopes Barbara can bring that finishing touch.
Barbara is currently playing for the Maltese side Hibernians, where he will remain until late March.
Press release below.
Continue reading »
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Andriy Budnyy, Brian Laws, Dashiell Hammett, Etienne Barbara, Hibernians, Malta, Martin Rennie, Sallieu Bundu, Sheffield Wednesday
Neil Morris ·
20 Feb 2010, 8:44 PM ·
1 Comment
MIDDLE CREEK PARK/ CARY—The outcome of the Carolina RailHawks’ first scrimmage of the 2010 USSF Division 2 soccer season was as incidental as its venue. For the record, the RailHawks defeated Duke University 3-2 in a match held at Middle Creek Park in Cary, an above-average parks & rec facility devoid of seating or a scoreboard. A modest number of die-hard fans—representing both sides—watched from along the touchline, close enough to hear the bawdy on-field clamor that normally evaporates in the more spacious confines of WakeMed Park.
Still, the match was sporty and well-contested, as evidenced by the urgent tenor of the players on the pitch. For the RailHawks, this debut preseason match was more an opportunity to observe a number of players vying to earn a spot on the team’s roster, prospects referred to generically as “trialists.” For various reasons, even the identities of these trialists are shrouded in mystery—inquiries to head coach Martin Rennie about the names of several went unanswered.
The RailHawks’ first half side was comprised almost entirely of trialists, joined only by returning midfielder Kupono Low, forward Sallieu Bundu and goalkeeper Eric Reed. Not coincidentally, Duke controlled the half and jumped out to a 2-0 lead, which was cut to 2-1 near halftime when one prospect punched a Bundu cross past the goalkeeper.
The RailHawks’ second half featured more familiar and formidable faces. Joining Reed and trialist Shintaro Harada from the opening stanza were Daniel Paladini, Andriy Budnyy, Mark Schulte, Joseph Kabwe, John Gilkerson, Devon McKenney, Josh Gardner, newcomer Floyd Franks and forward prospect Joseph Ngwenya, a 28-year-old Zimbabwean striker whose resume includes productive stints with the L.A. Galaxy, Columbus Crew and Houston Dynamo. Ngwenya hammered through the equalizer midway through the second half (see the goal here). Then Low, subbing for an injured Franks, chipped in the game-winner just before the referee blew the full-time whistle.
“Duke was really strong, so I was impressed with them, especially in the first half,” said Rennie. “Then, in the second half we took our chances and played quite well. It’s just the first week of training and it’s more important to get our fitness going and things like that, but it’s always nice to win.”
The daunting tryout process is best encapsulated by the case of Harada, a venerable Japanese defender/midfielder who last year starred with Crystal Palace Baltimore in USL-2. Besides Reed, only Harada played the entire match against Duke, displaying skill and passing efficiency. But, when asked after the game about Harada’s chances of making the club, Rennie stated, “We’re probably not going to sign him. He was trying out and played well during the course of the week, but probably not quite well enough.” Indeed, Ngwenaya is the only prospect from the Duke match that Rennie said was still being seriously considered for a roster spot.
Other news and notes:
- Leading up to training camp, the RailHawks have been stockpiling new defensive help, including Franks, 2009 USL-1 First-Team All-Leaguer Matt Bobo, and others. When asked when help was arriving for the front third, Rennie responded, “Well, Gregory Richardson will be back in a week, and we’ve signed someone we think is a big-time player from Malta who will be here pretty soon. We’ve also got Matt Watson coming back from injury, who is an attacking player. We’ll probably add another guy, but with all of those [Rennie mentioned], along with the three or four guys we’ve already got, we think we’re pretty close.”
- Josh Gardner’s presence at the Duke scrimmage was a bit unexpected, as it was commonly believed he had departed for opportunities in MLS. According to Rennie, Gardner’s status is still uncertain. “He’s got a potential offer from Seattle [Sounders], so he’ll have to decide what he would like to do. But, he likes being here and we like having him, so we’ll just have to wait and see.”
- In addition to those who played in the Duke scrimmage, other confirmed (officially and unofficially) returnees from last year’s RailHawks squad due to arrive by the end of the month include: Richardson, Watson, Greg Shields, Brian Plotkin, Caleb Norkus, Gavin Glinton and Amir Lowery. Rennie hopes to have his full plate of players by the March 5 preseason match against Elon University.
The RailHawks next preseason scrimmage is Saturday, Feb. 27 against Wake Forest on Field 6 at WakeMed Soccer Park.
Carolina RailHawks, Duke, Soccer Floyd Franks, Joseph Ngwenya, Josh Gardner, Martin Rennie, Shintaro Harada
David Fellerath ·
11 Feb 2010, 12:45 PM ·
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Item No. 1.: No new news from the RailHawks front office on signings, but there is, nonetheless, a fresh tidbit about RailHawk winger Josh Gardner, who is trialling with the Seattle Sounders. In a piece published today in The Seattle Times, we learn that Gardner, by his own assessment and others, has matured since he played with the USL Sounders in 2007 and 2008.
Currently training with the team in Arizona, Gardner has been reunited with Sounders gaffer Sigi Schmid, who coached him with the Los Angeles Galaxy from 2004-06. We also learn that Gardner’s trial with the Sounders is partly a result of a close relationship between Schmid and RailHawks coach Martin Rennie, and that Schmid “respects” the Scotsman’s opinion of players.
According to the dispatch by José Miguel Romero, Gardner is on a two-year contract with the RailHawks and expects to return to North Carolina should he not win a place with the Sounders. With his left foot and pace, he should enjoy a good hard look by the Sounders. For the RailHawks in 2009, Gardner saw action in 20 games and notched three assists.
Item No. 2: A few days ago we noted the retirement of defender Jeremy Tolleson, who decided to pursue Christian mission work in Honduras. This morning, we learned a bit more about his new calling: He will be working with an outfit called The Micah Project to assist boys off the street in Tegucigalpa, the country’s capital and one of the more impoverished cities in the Western hemisphere (readers of soccer writer Grant Wahl will recall that he was mugged in that city at gunpoint in broad daylight last October). In this post on The Micah Project’s blog, Tolleson gets a mention.
UPDATE 1:27 p.m. Make it three items of tidbittery: Ex-RailHawk Santiago Fusilier, who failed to secure a place on Martin Rennie’s team last year, has landed a job with Crystal Palace Baltimore.
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Crystal Palace Baltimore, Jeremy Tolleson, Josh Gardner, Martin Rennie, Santiago Fusilier, Seattle Sounders, Sigi Schmid
David Fellerath ·
8 Feb 2010, 10:34 PM ·
3 Comments
The roster updates from the Cary offices of the Carolina RailHawks have been trickling in. There have been heartening re-signings, most notably that of quicksilver Guyanese winger Gregory Richardson. Also back for another season: stalwart defensive midfielder Amir Lowery, goalkeeper Eric Reed, the aggressive midfielders Brian Plotkin and Joseph Kabwe, and defenders Caleb Norkus and Mark Schulte. Right back Greg Shields—currently on loan to Partick Thistle of the Scottish second division (according to the gratifyingly transparent Web site of the Glaswegian club, we know that his loan expires March 31)—seems to be slated for a return, as well.
Today brought two pieces of news. First was the surprising retirement of 2009 team defender of the year Jeremy Tolleson. Only 27 years old, the Atlanta native has elected to hang up his boots and become a missionary in Honduras. Tolleson began last season on the sidelines, recuperating from a foot injury. His return came at a fortuitous time, however, when central defender Jack Stewart was lost for the season with a broken leg. Tolleson subsequently partnered with Schulte to anchor the league’s best defense; despite being only 5-foot-9, he effectively positioned himself to snuff out attack after attack, and also proved to be a dangerous attacking weapon with his long balls forward (3:18).
It’s disappointing to lose a player of his caliber, but one can’t help but be impressed by his willingness to walk away from a sport that has surely dominated his life for 20 years. Although it’s true that Division 2 soccer players in America are paid little more than missionaries (and perhaps D2 soccer players are secular missionaries, spreading love for a game that pays them less than they could make doing almost anything else), it still comes as a start to fans that an athlete could have a calling above playing sports for a living. Our hat is off to you, Mr. Tolleson, and Godspeed.
Tolleson’s departure will intensify interest in whether Stewart will return to the club. Continue reading »
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer AC St. Louis, Amir Lowery, Brian Plotkin, Caleb Norkus, Caleb Patterson Sewell, Claude Anelka, Daniel Paladini, Jeremy Tolleson, Joseph Kabwe, Josh Gardner, Mark Schulte, Martin Rennie, NSC Minnesota Stars, schedule, Steve Ralston
David Fellerath ·
29 Sep 2009, 8:36 PM ·
1 Comment
The RailHawks' bruising captain Mark Schulte played 2,500 minutes in 28 league games, leading one of the the league's two best defenses. (photo by Rich Bostwick)
Mark Schulte, the RailHawks’ workhorse of a center back and team captain, was named to the all-USL-1 second team today.
Schulte, who was a two-time defender of the year in the USL-2 while playing under coach Martin Rennie at Cleveland—before both decamped for Cary—led a defense that conceded only 19 goals, good for best in the league along with first-place Portland.
Here’s the USL-1 First Division Second Team:
- GK: Bill Gaudette (Puerto Rico Islanders)
- D: Stephen deRoux (Montreal Impact)
- D: Cameron Knowles (Portland Timbers)
- D: John Krause (Puerto Rico Islanders)
- D: Mark Schulte (Carolina RailHawks)
- M: Martin Nash (Vancouver Whitecaps)
- M: Lawrence Olum (Minnesota Thunder)
- M: Jonathan Steele (Puerto Rico Islanders)
- M: David Testo (Montreal Impact)
- F: Marlon James (Vancouver Whitecaps)
- F: Eddie Johnson (Austin Aztex)
Tomorrow, the first-teamers will be named. Will any RailHawks make it? Let’s look at the field:
- Goalkeeper: We meekly pointed out a couple weeks ago that the RailHawks’ tandem of Eric Reed and Caleb Patterson-Sewell combined for a league-leading 17 shutouts. Meanwhile, a USL tip sheet of sorts didn’t even include them, favoring Gaudette, Charleston’s Dusty Hudock and Portland’s Steve Cronin. However, we’re going to predict an upset here: Caleb Patterson-Sewell is ranked third in the league with 10 clean sheets despite playing only 15 games, and he’s second in the league with a .533 goals-against average. It’s true that Hudock has 12 shutouts and a staggering .279 GAA in only 18 games of an injury-shortened season, but Patterson-Sewell might get a boost as a new, young face—he’s 22, while Hudock is a 37-year-old veteran and the holder of many prior awards.
- Defender: The locks are Puerto Rico’s Cristian Arrieta, but for his offense—10 goals—and Portland’s David Hayes, for leading the league’s other top defense. Who gets the third spot? It’s got to be someone from Charleston, the third side that decisively out-defended the rest of the league along with Portland and Carolina. It should be Frankie Sanfilippo or Matt Bobo. What about the fourth spot? We think it should be Carolina’s Jeremy Tolleson, voted defensive player of the year on the league’s co-best defensive side.
- Midfielder: The locks are Ricardo Sanchez (Minnesota) and Ryan Pore (Portland). Given that there are three shoo-ins at forward, and assuming that this All-League team will be restricted to 11 players, we’re going to guess that they’ll settle on a 4-3-3 formation. So, one more midfielder in a league full of good ones. We think it’s going to be Carolina’s Gregory Richardson. Why? He’s ranked 12th in the league in points, despite playing only 12 games; furthermore, the only two true midfielders ahead of him in points are Sanchez and Pore. Is Richardson really a midfielder? Well, in Martin Rennie’s 4-5-1 he is.
- Forward: There are three that have a strong claim, and none are RailHawks: Eleven-goal scorers Mandjou Keita (Portland) and Johnny Menyongar (Rochester), and 12-goal scorer Charles Gbeke (Vancouver).
Player of the Year: Keita. With 29 points from 11 goals and seven assists, he led the league, and the league’s best team.
Coach of the Year: Portland’s Gavin Wilkinson. After finishing in last place last year, he presided over an overhaul and led the Timbers to a dominating run to first place. Carolina’s Rennie is the other obvious candidate, rebuilding the RailHawks and finishing second in his first season in the league, but this is Wilkinson’s year.
Tune in tomorrow for the announcement of the real USL First Division First Team and other awards.
And congratulations to Mark Schulte, a real warrior.
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer all-league team, Caleb Patterson Sewell, Charles Gbeke, Christian Arrieta, David Hayes, Frankie Sanfilippo, Gavin Wilkinson, Gregory Richardson, Jeremy Tolleson, Johnny Menyongar, Mandjou Keita, Mark Schulte, Martin Rennie, Matt Bobo, Ricardo Sanchez, Ryan Pore, USL-1 awards
David Fellerath ·
28 Sep 2009, 8:10 AM ·
2 Comments
RailHawks midfielder Joseph Kabwe plays the ball as Ansu Toure defends. (photo by Rich Bostwick)
WAKEMED SOCCER PARK/ CARY—Bummer. It was a lovely evening for soccer, sunny and mild in early fall. Just as it’s a little early for the leaves to change color and drop from the trees, it was a little early for the RailHawks’ remarkable season to end.
But end it did, as an exhausted and increasingly desperate squad failed to put the ball in the net against the seventh-seeded Vancouver Whitecaps, finishing with a nil-nil draw. The RailHawks needed a 1-0 victory just to get to penalty kicks, but the Cary XI closed their season by failing to score in 180 minutes and two home-and-home legs against a bigger and more experienced, playoff-hardened Vancouver side.
By the end, the RailHawks were in a 4-4-2 and throwing everyone forward. “We had chances in the first half and didn’t take them,” coach Martin Rennie said. “It made it a little more difficult. We started to go more direct.
“When you go more direct, you need the ball to bounce your way and it didn’t—which usually isn’t the way we play,” Rennie said. “We’re usually much more thought-through, much more precise. But once we weren’t getting the goal, I think maybe we began to panic a little bit, which made it more difficult to break them down.”
“You’ve got to credit Vancouver,” center back and captain Mark Schulte said. “They knew what they had to do: They had to shut us down—they sat in [on us].”
In truth, the RailHawks showed little of the squad that scored 43 goals in USL-1 league play. They launched 12 shots, but Whitecaps keeper Jay Nolly only needed to make four saves.
It was one save in particular that would prove to put the kibosh on the season. Continue reading »
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Amir Lowery, Andriy Budnyy, Brad Rusin, Brian Plotkin, Caleb Norkus, Daniel Paladini, Greg Shields, Gregory Richardson, Jay Nolly, Jeremy Tolleson, John Cunliffe, Joseph Kabwe, Josh Gardner, Lyle Martin, Mark Schulte, Martin Rennie, Matt Watson, Matthew Delicate, playoffs
David Fellerath ·
24 Sep 2009, 2:22 PM ·
1 Comment
Gregory Richardson made his RailHawks debut against the Whitecaps in July, scoring a goal that was later ruled to be an own goal. (photo by Rich Bostwick)
It’s Thursday, Sept. 24, and the RailHawks playoff run begins tonight in Vancouver. Tune in at 10:30 p.m. to www.usllive.com for the Webcast, and/or follow the tweets from the RailHawks’ Tim Candon @RailHawksFC. I published a short print preview in the Indy this week (with a great picture of Gregory Richardson during his dominating first-half performance against Puerto Rico).
We also heard coach Martin Rennie on 850 the Buzz yesterday. While it was great to hear the RailHawks featured on a local AM sports chat show, the quality of the interview was a little discouraging.
The host, David Glenn, averred that he’d been attending games and even mentioned that he himself is a coach of his kid’s U-7 team. Unfortunately, he didn’t ask Rennie a single tactical question, nor were any RailHawks players’ names mentioned in the interview.
There was, however, a question about how Rennie’s American wife, Amy, liked living in Scotland, but no question about the experience and quality Scottish Premier League veteran Greg Shields has brought to the back line. (Shields, by the way, was named to the 24th and final USL-1 team of the week and, remarkably, he’s the 18th RailHawk so honored this season.)
After a discussion of soccer’s potential for growth in America and an amusing recounting of Rennie’s encounter with a water bottle in Montreal, Glenn inquired about the family friendliness of WakeMed Soccer Park. Rennie dutifully enumerated all of the children’s activities available, along with the half-time shows and the promotional games. It was as if he was being asked to justify a night out to something intrinsically uninteresting—a soccer game.
Questions about Matthew Delicâte’s subbing (or Matthew Watson’s broken leg)? Nope. Questions about Rennie’s strategy in a two-leg playoff? Nope. Questions about matching up with Vancouver’s Charles Gbeke and Marlon James? Nope. Questions about the difficulty the RailHawks have in scoring on the road (more on that below)? Nada.
The whole interview was quite pleasant, and Glenn was genuinely enthusiastic and not condescending. I’m sure the RailHawks are happy to have the radio exposure, but we await more mature, sophisticated soccer coverage from the area’s broadcast sports media. Rennie himself said on the program that increased media interest is key to soccer’s growth in America–and he told the Indy’s Chris Gaffney as much back in March: “To tell the truth, I hope that the press becomes critical here, because that means they’re interested.”
In our continuing effort to, ahem, do just that, we recently took a closer look at the RailHawks’ road record against the six other teams in the playoffs. Although the RailHawks’ overall road record is a strong 5-5-5, for 20 points in 15 games, the team has had more difficulty against the playoff teams. This is to be expected, of course, but we thought we’d look at the numbers. Continue reading »
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer 850 the Buzz, Charles Gbeke, Greg Shields, Gregory Richardson, Marlon James, Martin Rennie, Matt Watson, Matthew Delicate, team of the week, Vancouver Whitecaps
David Fellerath ·
19 Sep 2009, 11:40 AM ·
Comment
Matt Watson during practice earlier this season. Watson broke his fibula in the early minutes of last night's game. (Photo by D.L. Anderson)
WAKEMED SOCCER PARK/ CARY—We began the evening with an early dinner at the home of friends in the countryside outside Chapel Hill. We lingered a little long and then arrived at Wake Med just in time to witness the unsettling image of RailHawks midfielder Matt Watson writhing in pain on the visitor sideline, attended by four or five trainers and staff.
Watson looked utterly stricken—he had the collar of his shirt in his teeth—but he may have been reacting also to the dread of a second debilitating injury to his wheels this season. While John Cunliffe took his place in the 17th minute, the stretcher was sent away and Watson went off the field on crutches and, apparently, to an ambulance. Word came later that his fibula was broken and his season, which was also disrupted by a knee injury, is apparently over.
It was an unfortunately sour note to an otherwise workmanlike, convincing 2-0 victory over the Montreal Impact. [Stat box here.] This result, combined with a near-simultaneous draw by the Charleston Battery, means that the RailHawks finish in second place and have the home advantage through the first two rounds of the playoffs. Their first-round opponent will be the Vancouver Whitecaps, and the first of two legs will be played Thursday, Sept. 24 at Swangard Stadium in Vancouver.
Andriy Budnyy started again at striker in Martin Rennie’s 4-5-1 formation, and it was evident that the game plan was to play long balls over the top to him. Delivery after air-mail delivery soared his way. In the 36th, for example, Mark Schulte launched a ball from a position in the back, which Budnyy met with his head at the far post.
That ball went straight to Montreal keeper Matt Jordan, but the crowd was roused—including Cary soccer parents sitting near us who valiantly kept redirecting their kids’ attention to the game for teachable moments. And there were teachable moments: In the 27th, for example, the parent-coaches thrilled to the one-two-one-two combo between Daniel Paladini and Greg Shields down the right flank, although it only resulted in a cross just out of Budnyy’s reach.
On the evidence of the night, the RailHawks are fully in the second stage of their Gregory Richardson tactical evolution. The word is out around the league that the ball should be kept away from the dazzling Guyanese left winger, so we saw the RailHawks effectively exploit the rest of the pitch—especially in the middle where the hard-working Budnyy trolled for a ball he could put in the back of the net. The Ukrainian was caught offside several times, mistimed a few runs and had two goals disallowed. For the game, the RailHawks were caught offsides six times, to none for the Impact.
But it only takes one converted opportunity, and that moment came in the 57th minute when Budnyy took yet another long ball, from John Gilkerson, and was hacked in the area by defender Stefano Pesoli. Up came the red card and off went Pesoli.
After some disagreement between Paladini and Richardson about which up-and-comer would do the honors, Paladini ended up over the spot. Jordan went to his left, Paladini went to his left and the RailHawks had the only goal they needed. 1-0. Continue reading »
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Andriy Budnyy, Brian Plotkin, Daniel Paladini, Greg Shields, Gregory Richardson, Mark Schulte, Martin Rennie, Matt Watson, Matthew Delicate, Montreal Impact, playoffs
