It was a night on which Ottawa Fury FC probably deserved to take all three points off of their visitors from Edmonton. However, Ottawa’s chronic inability to put away quality chances limited it to a nil-nil draw against the Eddies.
“We had that spell of a week where we conceded nine goals,” said Fury boss Marc Dos Santos, “but we’ve learned and we are more confident now – at the end of the day, this is a league with points accumulation leading to playoffs, and we got a point today, so it’s okay.”
Ottawa were made to rue multiple missed chances in a match it dominated. Sinisa Ubiparipovic, Nicki Paterson, and Carl Haworth all squandered excellent opportunities from inside the Edmonton penalty area, while Ubiparipovic also saw a shot from distance apparently handled inside the Eddies box by Cristian Raudales. For seemingly the umpteenth time this season, Ottawa were denied of what should have been a clear handball. Incredibly, none of the officials saw Raudales’ outstretched arm deflect the ball wide of the Eddies net.
The draw meant FC Edmonton’s unbeaten record at TD Place Stadium remained intact. Ottawa has struggled with Edmonton’s pace in the western club’s three trips, picking up just one point – Friday night’s – in three matches at home against the Eddies.
Goals remain hard to come by for Marc Dos Santos’s side, though the Fury boss was unwilling to take the bait when asked for a comment on the team’s need for a new striker.
“Yes,” was Dos Santos’s only reply for a journalist who repeatedly asked if another striker would perhaps make his team more competitive.
Friday night’s draw was Ottawa’s final home match of the 2015 NASL Spring Season, as the club will spend the final two weeks of the spring campaign on the road with the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup set to take over its facilities.
