Charleston Battery News Release -- www.charlestonbattery.com
Saturday, June 4, 2011
HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Harrisburg City Islanders substitute Sainey Touray headed in an 89th-minute winner to deny the Charleston Battery a share of the points Saturday night at the Skyline Sports Complex as Harrisburg took a 1-0 victory.
Playing a second game in as many days after Friday night's 1-1 tie against F.C. New York, the Battery looked to have earned a second road point with a solid performance but Touray’s late goal settled the match. Despite the loss Charleston (5-5-3) remains in third position in USL PRO’s American Division.
Both sides had goals disallowed in the first 45 minutes for offsides. The City Islanders thought they had broken the deadlock in the 11th minute but Jose Angulo’s close range effort was flagged back by the assistant referee on the far side.
The situation was reversed in the 40th minute as Battery forward Dane Kelly slipped in behind the Harrisburg defense. Kelly flicked the ball past Harrisburg goalkeeper Phil Tuttle and into the goal but his celebrations were cut short as the official on the near side raised his flag for offside.
Kelly was involved again on the hour mark after an excellent through-ball from midfielder Evan Taylor. Kelly sprinted into the box then cut the ball back onto his left foot but his shot was blocked behind for a corner kick.
Harrisburg managed to clear the corner but the ball was whipped back in quickly from the far side. Defender Sean Flatley met the cross and snapped a powerful header at the goal forcing an excellent reaction save from Tuttle who just managed to tip the ball over the crossbar.
With time running out it appeared as if both sides would settle for the 0-0 tie but with less than a minute remaining Harrisburg worked the ball across from the right side. Touray judged the flight of the ball perfectly and his angled header evaded the outstretched hand of Charleston goalkeeper Andrew Dykstra.
The Battery’s next match is a home game on Tuesday, June 14 against Texan USASA side Regals FC in the first round of the U.S. Open Cup. Charleston returns to league action at Blackbaud Stadium on Friday, June 17 with a game against the Dayton Dutch Lions.