The Ocean City Nor’easters took the storm back up to New York for the third time
in as many games and came back with the same result, a big tick in the win
column. This takes the Nor'easters win streak to 5 games.
The Nor’easters were slow to get going in the game after being stuck in
traffic on the way to the game which messed with Coach Oswald’s meticulous
struck first for the home side on the 39th minute. However, the Nor’easters
showed great resolve and it took something special from Ocean City’s Emmanual
Kollie to break the Long Island defense. A 30 yard screamer after some nice
build up play bought the scores level on the 44th minute just before the half
time break.
After half time the Nor’easters came out firing, theconfidence gained from Kollie’s goal and the introduction of club captain Terry Gibbs helped them begin to control the game. Gibbs picked the ball up inside his own half beat a player and slid an inch perfect pass into top scorer Zoncher Dennis to round the keeper and score in the empty net. Attempts from Max Hamilton and Kollie could have finished it off but the Nor’easters had to sweat it out as Long Island continued to make chances of their own. The final whistle blew but not before incident as Nor’easters ever present defender Nick Bibbs was taken off injured (the extent of which is unknown) and in the last minute Rough Riders substitute Sean Sepe got himself sent off.
Coach Oswald reflected on the game, "Huge win tonight for us in Long Island.
After a 4 hour bus trip stuck in traffic, we didn’t arrive until 6:50pm at the
field for a 7:30pm start. It took us some time to get our legs in the match and
Long Island were all over us throughout the first half of the match. I wouldn’t
say that we were flat, but I do feel Long Island threw the kitchen sink at us as
they needed a W to catch the top 3 teams in the division. They scored 1st off a
service to the back post for a header and we quickly countered in transition
Kollie hit a missile off the post and in from 35 yards out to knot the game 1-1
at halftime".
"The way we intended to play wasn’t effective and we made some personnel and
in game adjustments to start the 2nd half" recalled Coach Oswald, "That quickly
paid off for us, we scored 2 minutes into the second half as Terry Gibbs slipped
the ball in behind Long Island’s defense and Zoncher Dennis dribbled round the
keeper and scored on an empty net. With the scoreline being 2-1, Long Island
changed some players and their shape and we delayed a bit more but countered
effectively. We could have converted several chances but the insurance goal
never came. After 5 minutes of injury time the whistle finally came and we hit
the road with 3 points for our 5th straight win. On the bus trip back, we found
out Jersey Express had lostand we moved into first place. Although the players
are excited, we need to stay grounded in our pursuit of a playoff berth. Any
team can beat any team in this league".
The Nor’easters are next in action on Sunday July 1 as they host Bermuda
Hogges at Carey Stadium, 7pm kick off - $4 for kids, $8 for adults. Come and
cheer on the best soccer team in New Jersey!!! To be closer to the Nor’easters
action follow us on twitter (www.twitter.com/oceancityfc) or
like us on facebook (www.facebook.com/oceancityfc)
