Wilmington Hammerheads News Release -- www.wilmingtonhammerheads.com
Saturday, July 2, 2011
WILMINGTON, N.C. - The Wilmington Hammerheads took a 4-2 win against the Los Angeles Blues at Legion Stadium in their first match-up of the 2011 USL PRO season on Saturday night as the Hammerheads earned victory through three second-half goals.
The game took immediate direction when the Hammerheads found the back of the net within the first 30 seconds. The Blues’ defensive line was caught on its heels when Hammerheads forward Andryi Budnyy received a ball from midfielder Jack Avesyan and buried a long shot from outside the corner of the penalty area past Los Angeles goalkeeper Oscar Dautt.
Just five minutes later, the Hammerheads had another very close attempt by forward Chris Banks, who beat the ‘keeper to a bouncing ball in the box. Rather than finding the back of the net, the ball took a bounce off the turf onto the crossbar and was cleared away by a Blues defender.
Soon after, an attack from L.A. ended in a yellow card issued to Hammerhead defender Gareth Evans after making a physical play to Chukwudi Chijindu while protecting his goalkeeper Kyle Polak. This set the stage for a physical play on both sides for the remainder of the game.
The first shot on goal from L.A. came in the eighth minute by Leonard Griffin at top of the penalty area, but the shot was struck low and straight to Polak for an easy pick up. The Blues were able to equalize in the 23rd minute when Cesar Rivera slipped a shot past Polak’s grasp.
The Hammerheads continue to push hard for the lead before the half and in the 33rd minute a shot off of a corner kick ricocheted off the post by Hammerheads defender Ivan Becerra and fell out of bounds.
The 37th minute brought a fast break from the Hammerheads attack. The attempt was eventually broken up by Blues midfielder Gerardo Bravo, who tripped Andryi Budnyy while in pursuit of a through-ball by Luke Mulholland to Andres Cuero. The Hammerheads free kick was denied by a diving save from Dautt, sending the teams into halftime tied 1-1.
Both teams had chances on goal throughout the second half, but it was not until the 65th minute when Hammerheads defender Tom Parratt sent a long, low cross from the right side to connect with an unmarked Banks that the deadlock was broken as the forward finished for his fifth goal of the season, putting the Hammerheads up 2-1.
The Hammerheads added a third goal when Banks connected with Becerra for a diving header from close range in the 77th minute. Soon after, Chris Murray entered the game from the bench and scored the fourth and final goal for the Hammerheads with Banks recording another assist.
The Blues answered with a goal in the 88th minute by Akeem Priestly, making the score 4-2, but they never threatened to get back into the contest. The Hammerheads defense remained strong through the five minutes of stoppage time and gave Los Angeles their first loss on the road this season.