K-W United FC News Release - www.kwunitedfc.com
Thursday, June 12, 2014
WATERLOO, Ont. - Despite being down two goals, K-W United scored four unanswered goals in 18 minutes to defeat FC London 4-2 Wednesday night.
After a dreadful 6-0 loss to Michigan earlier in the week, United needed a bounce-back night at home. United fell behind in the first half off two goals from James Pucci, but an inspirational halftime from head coach Stuart Neely and a regroup from the squad pushed it to a dominant second half.
"At half, Stu had a go at us," assistant captain Sergio Camargo said. "He wasn't happy and none of us were happy. We felt like we could have taken over that game early, but we let them get into it.
"We knew all knew that we could win this game, and we played well [after]."
The first half started off rough for United, as it struggled to find its shape and put pressure on London. Fourteen minutes in, Pucci beat goalkeeper Nathan Ingham for his first of the night.
London and K-W battled for the next half hour before Pucci beat Ingham for his second of the night on a head ball to put FC London up 2-0 going into the half.
"We were too scared at the beginning. We kept going backwards when we should have gone forwards when we had the chance and off the ball we [needed to] defend better," Camargo said.
But the game was far from over. Stefan Vukovic, who was playing in his first game with K-W United, was subbed in and became a dominating presence up front.
Like United's other two wins, a quick goal happened at the beginning of the half when Camargo finished off some pretty passing initiated by Vukovic to split the lead.
Ten minutes later, Jay Chapman finished another great set up by Vukovic to tie London. But United wasn't done there, as three minutes later, Chapman would send defender Jordan Murrell in on net, and he made no mistake to put the home team up 3-2.
Vukovic finished off the night putting one of his own behind FC London keeper Mark Haynes to seal London's fate and United's victory.
"Needless to say, there was a lot of frustration in the dressing room, but that's good because it shows you that they care. That was an important aspect to take note of ... There was good discussion back and forth, but the psychology of half time needs to be used wisely," Neely explained . "We were coming off an ugly defeat down in Michigan, so there were still remnants of that in there. But the big part was to get the players listening in stride and put their best foot forward."
Neely chose Chapman, Murrell and Vukovic as his men of the match for their performances.
"The biggest part is the players coming out and executing the game plan," Neely said. "And they did that, so the credit is on them. They listened and did their job, and I'm very happy for them."
United's next game is Sunday afternoon against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds U23. This is the first match against Pittsburgh in K-W's history, and United will look to extend its win streak and claim some much-needed points in the hunt for a strong spot in the division.