Showing posts tagged “Matt Watson”
David Fellerath ·
28 Sep 2009, 8:10 AM ·
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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 ·
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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
David Fellerath ·
15 Aug 2009, 3:43 PM ·
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Luke Kreamalmeyer (in orange) battles Portland's David Hayes on June 11 at WakeMed. (photo by Rich Bostwick)
The USL-1 Carolina RailHawks are flying high on a league run of six victories in their last seven outings. The news only gets better as we see signs that midfielder Matt Watson—who hasn’t really gotten uncorked this season—may be ready to return to the field.
They have a tough eight-day stretch ahead, with a Tuesday home game against Vancouver sandwiched between away matches in Vancouver tonight and Rochester next weekend. Still, they’re keeping up with the blistering pace at the top of the table, matching Portland victory for victory.
(In a subject for another day, it’s worth noting that the bottom of the table is a dungeon of futility. Austin and Cleveland are out of contention for the playoffs with 14 and 13 points, respectively, while Minnesota just picked up three points with just their fourth victory of the season, to bring them to 18 points, seven behind Miami. Compare this ineptitude to the points totals for the bottom four of last year’s table: 37; 34; 34; 31. Carolina had 37 and missed the playoffs. Three guesses who had 31. Give up? Portland.)
Things are different in Portland this year, though. The first-place Timbers have only lost once at home in PGE Park, where attendance regularly approaches 10,000. Their opponent then was the MLS Seattle Sounders, in a US Open Cup third round game. Continue reading »
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Caleb Patterson Sewell, Matt Watson, Nate Norman, playoffs, Portland Timbers, Vancouver Whitecaps
Neil Morris ·
12 Jun 2009, 10:03 AM ·
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Portland's David Hayes, left, and Luke Kreamalmeyer battle for the ball. (photo by Rich Bostwick)
WAKEMED SOCCER PARK / CARY—It was a night of replacements for the Carolina RailHawks’ final match this season against the Portland Timbers: A substitute field, several mainstays in each teams’ lineups out due to injuries and/or fatigue, and a lifelong sports fan yet soccer novice making his debut with Triangle Offense’s local futbol coverage.
The patchwork Field 2 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, again being used in place of the main stadium field during its turf replacement process, was, as goalkeeper Caleb Patterson-Sewell succinctly put it, “terrible.” Still, with ominous lightning clouds encroaching, the RailHawks managed to stave off a game, aggressive Portland squad and eke out a 0-0 draw.
Against the backdrop of stately pines encircling the perimeter of Field 2, the Timbers stood as tall as sequoias throughout a first half during which they dominated time-of-possession and extended a counterattacking defense that constantly stymied the Railhawks’ offensive rhythm. The Timbers’ midfielders seemingly cut at will through Carolina’s defense like a chainsaw through lumber. So conspicuous was Portland’s ball control that in the latter stages of the half, a young boy not more than 12 years old turned around to inform me that, “They’re playing too much on this half of the field.” Continue reading »
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Caleb Patterson Sewell, Daniel Paladini, John Cunliffe, Kupono Low, Mamadou Danso, Mark Schulte, Martin Rennie, Matt Watson
Chris Gaffney ·
10 May 2009, 12:48 AM ·
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Amir Lowery, in the air sometime during the game's first 18 minutes, before he was shown a red card for a bad mid-air challenge. (Photo courtesy of the RailHawks)
WAKEMED SOCCER PARK/ CARY—On a night when thunder and lightning knocked out an hour of power and heavy rain unequivocally defined the term fair weather fan for several dozen families who sheepishly made their mini-vanning way home, the Charleston Battery and Carolina RailHawks huffed and banged their way through 90 minutes of football.
Carolina entered the game on top of the USL-1 table and had never lost to their Southern Derby rivals, posting a 7-0 record over the past two seasons. Keeper Caleb Patterson Sewell had not conceded a goal in his RailHawks tenure and Martin Rennie was able to field his strongest side with the exception of Josh Gardner who had picked up the flu in Portland. 4,500+ fans braved the game-time tempest and were rewarded with cool weather and eerie, ominous skies. It looked like a promising night for the home side.
Continue reading »
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Amir Lowery, Brian Plotkin, Caleb Patterson Sewell, Charleston Battery, Dan Antoniuk, Frankie Sanfilippo, Gavin Glinton, Matt Watson, Sallieu Bundu, Tsuyoshi Yoshitake
David Fellerath ·
15 Apr 2009, 10:21 AM ·
2 Comments
The biggest news out of last night’s RailHawks’ 2-0 victory over the USL-2 Wilmington Hammerheads was the return of Matt Watson, who scored 15 minutes after entering the game in the second half.
Watson, last year’s team MVP, joined the squad yesterday after helping his indoor side, the Baltimore Blast, to the MISL championship. Furthermore, his first child was born yesterday in Baltimore.
Although the team’s press release pointedly says last night’s squad shouldn’t be considered a second team, it notes that few of the players in the evening’s lineup saw action in last Saturday’s 2-1 victory over the Minnesota Thunder. Among them: Hamed Diallo, Gavin Glinton and Brian Plotkin (the Hawks’ release inadvertently omitted Plotkin).
Other players on last night’s lineup included the back four of Jeremy Tolleson, Caleb Norkus, Paul Ritchie and trialist Brad Rusin. Midfielders included Plotkin, Glinton and Watson. Players seeing minutes up top included Aaron King and John Cunliffe (who scored the game’s second goal in the 82nd minute). Caleb Patterson manned the goal.
The RailHawks’ Tim Candon has more.
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Aaron King, Brad Rusin, Brian Plotkin, Caleb Norkus, Caleb Patterson, friendly, Gavin Glinton, Hamed Diallo, Jeremy Tolleson, John Cunliffe, Matt Watson, Paul Ritchie
David Fellerath ·
13 Apr 2009, 12:25 AM ·
2 Comments
He plays defense, he plays offense: Mark Schulte (No. 13) brings his menace to a set play in front of the Thunder goal. (photo courtesy of the Carolina RailHawks)
WAKEMED SOCCER PARK/ CARY—It was a muted opening night, with up-and-down soccer and a light crowd of 2,927. The most noise came during the first half, from the visiting North Carolina A&T University marching band’s drumline, which also livened up the halftime break.
Happily, the pitch was dry this time, unlike the underwater conditions of the two preseason matches against the New Revolution Revolution and CD Olimpia.
Perhaps compounding the atmospheric challenges in the stadium was the fact that the starting lineup consisted of 11 newcomers to Cary. Those fans who are only now tuning in would have recognized only substitutes Caleb Norkus and Hamed Diallo in uniform. Surprisingly, considering his ubiquity in the preseason, RailHawk stalwart Kupono Low was left off the lineup. [Ed. Note: See comments.]
But whether they recognized the players or not, those who were there saw the 2009 RailHawks step to the top of the league table with a 2-1 victory over the Minnesota Thunder. “it wasn’t pretty,” was the widespread overheard assessment after the game, “but it counts.” Continue reading »
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Andriy Budnyy, Gavin Glinton, John Cunliffe, Mark Schulte, Martin Rennie, Matt Watson
David Fellerath ·
14 Mar 2009, 12:47 PM ·
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Gavin Glinton (San Jose Earthquakes)
Jarrett at Triangle Soccer Fanatics has done the work for us: He’s secured the match day roster and located some news therein:
First, there are now 25 players listed on the RailHawks roster (which doesn’t include confirmed signing Matt Watson, who is still playing for his indoor team in Baltimore). Officially, the team has 20 players, but three new names have slipped out in recent press releases, including backup keeper Brian Levey, evidently returning for another year; Devon McKenney, a defender who played last year for the Columbus Crew reserves; and Nate Norman, who played for Notre Dame before spending time with the Chicago Fire and the Charleston Battery and who, most recently, was coaching high schoolers in Michigan.
Then there are some names that haven’t emerged from official sources before now—and we’re not sure if they’re under contract. Most intriguingly, there’s a veteran striker named Gavin Glinton, a native of Turks and Caicos Island whose career has taken him to stints with the LA Galaxy, Dallas Burn, the USL’s Charleston Battery and, last season, the San Jose Earthquakes. His most productive stop was two seasons in Charleston, 2005-06, in which he scored 13 times in 26 appearances.
There’s also a third keeper, Caleb Patterson, a 21-year-old native of Australia who apparently spent last year training with Red Bull New York.
The final new name is defender and Wake Forest grad Amir Lowery, who caught Triangle Offense’s eye with his assured play when we visited training camp a month ago.
The weather will continue to be miserable, but we couldn’t be more excited about tonight’s game at WakeMed. Kickoff is 7 p.m.
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Amir Lowery, Brian Levey, Caleb Patterson, Devon McKenney, Gavin Glinton, Matt Watson, Nate Norman
David Fellerath ·
3 Feb 2009, 4:26 PM ·
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Returning soon
The mystery of Matt Watson’s San Jose training excursion appears to be solved. Yesterday’s very welcome news of the second team All-USL-1 midfielder’s return to Cary for the 2009 season was also puzzling in light of last week’s report that he was training with the MLS Earthquakes.
We reached Watson via email and he answered most of our questions:
“I went to San Jose at the end of last season around October and trained for one week…[I] met the team and coaches and had a really good time. I was interested in going to play with them. [...] The team and coaching staff all seemed great and it’s a beautiful city. I was a free agent as I was only signed to Carolina for one season so I didn’t need permission—although I had the blessing of Scotty [Schweitzer, the since-departed RailHawks coach] and Damon [Nahas, CEO of Cary's Next Level Academy] to go out there and try to play in the MLS.”
One factor in Watson’s return was the rapport he established with new coach Martin Rennie:
“I spoke to Martin Rennie—I felt like he had my best interests in mind. Obviously, I don’t know him that well, but from our conversations, I feel like he is a great coach as well as a great person. [...] I am very excited to work with Martin, as well as all the new players in Carolina. Hopefully, we can put together a great season.”
Watson says that personal factors weighed in his decision to return to Cary, as well.
“Me and my future wife are having a daughter in April. Her parents are based in Maryland, my family is in England and going over to the West Coast would have been very tough. Also, the cost of living in San Jose is astronomical.”
Watson says he hopes to have an opportunity to crack an MLS squad in the future:
“I would still like to play in the MLS very much at some point but it is one step at a time for me and my family.[...] It was a really tough decision for me but I took [my] time and thought through every aspect of playing for each team, as well as calling on the advice of everyone who I thought would have good insight for me—from family to coaches.
In the end I decided that, right now, Carolina is the best place for me.”
On the matter of when he’ll be back in Cary, Watson wasn’t certain.
“I am not 100 percent on this but I do not believe I will be available for [the March 14 Community Shield match] versus New England as the indoor regular season runs until March 28.”
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Damon Nahas, Matt Watson, Scott Schweitzer
