Impact End Winless Streak with 1-0 Win Over Railhawks
The Montreal Impact were in dire need of a win last night against the Carolina Railhawks after going winless in their last 5 games. Had they not won, they would have established the team’s worst winless record in team history.
But the good news for fans and players alike was that the goal by forward Peter Byers in the 73rd minute pushed the Impact through to a 1-0 victory in the first game of the Impact’s second half of the USSF Second division’s regular season and handed the RailHawks their first road loss of the season.
The Impact, despite missing players in key roles (they had Philippe Billy and Simon Gatti playing defense) played with emotions raised and intensity levels on high as they did not want to prolong their winless streak as well as lose another game in fornt of over 11,000 fans that showed up to cheer them on.
Hicham Aboubou, recently returned from a leave due to personal reasons shone on the D being involved in many defensive plays and was named player of the game. But two other players stood out in my mind: Striker Reda Agourram and Kevin Cossette.
Cossette, a 20-year-old midfielder, made his second career appearance with the Impact, but it was his first in Montreal, playing the final seven minutes of the match. He was ecstatic post game to have participated and was hoping to earn more playing time. “ I’m glad coach had confidence in me to put me in and it was really special to play here in front of my friends and family,” said Cossette. “I just hope that I get to prove I can help out and get to play some more if the team needs me”
Agourram, who according to coach Marc Dos Santos : “ a few years ago, Reda was in the stands cheering in the Ultras section as this team played against Santos Laguna during the CONCACAF” was a man possessed who could have either scored 2 goals or assisted on a few others had the ball bounced in his favour. He showed signs that he could, in fact be a great future striker for this team going forward. Dos Santos warned, however that “yes, he played a good game, but his youth and moving up so fast is something that we will all need to manage.
Byers, the games lone scorer must have been really relieved to score a goal, as he was recently back with the big team after a disciplinary stint with the academy. “I am really pleased that I was able to score tonight and contribute to the team’s victory,” said Byers. “We are very happy that we could win for our fans at home who are always there to support us. We now have to win as many games as possible to put ourselves in a good position in the standings.” Byers was sent down for being late to practice earlier last week.
The Impact face Baltimore on Sunday and will look to start a new streak as every point going forward, as the season winds down, could determine who is moving on to the playoffs, or who goes on early vacations.
Please read on for the Impact game recap.
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