Richardson scores in 1st game to lift RailHawks over Vancouver

Jul 21, 2009 Sports

Gregory Richardson

The RailHawks’ 2-1 win over Vancouver at WakeMed Soccer Park on Saturday gave Carolina their second straight win and ninth of the season, matching the team’s win total for the entire 2008 campaign.
Gregory Richardson, who joined the RailHawks on July 8 after a brief trial, scored on his debut for the club, and Sallieu Bundu scored for the second straight match after going more than two months without finding the back of the net.
It was the RailHawks’ first win over Vancouver in three tries at WakeMed Soccer Park, and Carolina attacked with the vigor and flourish it displayed over the first month of the season.
The win also gave the RailHawks more wins (nine) than any other team in the league (three others have eight).

“It’s a great result, I’m just frustrated because it could be so much more,” said Carolina coach Martin Rennie. “I’m happy we won, but we missed about seven really clear chances. I mean literally seven chances. So I don’t know. Ultimately, we’ve played well and we’ve got a good result, we’ve got to be happy. But it’s a good sign that we’re frustrated that we didn’t win by more against the champions. To be honest, I thought we completely dominated the game after the first 10 minutes. I thought we were all over them, passed the ball really well and I’m really happy with the result.”

The RailHawks (9-4-3) outshot the Whitecaps 13-11 and drew six corner kicks to Vancouver’s three.
In the 44th minute, Richardson showed flashes of why Rennie brought the Guyanese forward into the team. Richardson took a ball from John Cunliffe on the left side. He went one-v-one with and beat defender Wes Knight to the end line, then flung a ball toward the goal. It took a deflection off Vancouver defender Marco Reda and then snuck past Nolly for the game’s first goal.
“I’m real happy to score a goal. It’s nice playing again,” said Richardson, who was waived by the Colorado Rapids on June 26 after spending most of the season toiling on the bench.
With that goal just before the intermission, the RailHawks came out for the second half sharp. After controlling possession and seeing a handful of near misses, Bundu got what proved to be the game-winning goal in the 65th minute.

Just over the midfield line, Plotkin played Bundu into space. Bundu raced by defender Wes Charles, and Nolly came off his line. Bundu and the Vancouver goalkeeper met at the top of the penalty area, and the ball popped up in the air. Bundu and Nolly both continued to pursue it. As the ball came back toward the field, Bundu beat Nolly to it and knocked the ball into the open goal.
The RailHawks will try to set a new club record for wins in a season this weekend, when they return to Charleston – site of their 1-0 win on July 11 – on Friday to meet the Battery, then its back to WakeMed Soccer Park for a showdown with Miami on July 26.