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Tobacco Road FC Returns Home, Tops Lionsbridge FC 

DURHAM, NC- Tobacco Road FC returned home to break their losing streak and earn revenge against Lionsbridge FC as the hosts came out on top 3-2. The match on a warm Wednesday night at Durham County Memorial Stadium featured three different Tobacco Road scorers: Mustapha Wadda, Ben Fisher and Oscar Moreno.

WHAT HAPPENED:

Coming off a 6-0 defeat at Lionsbridge FC last week, Tobacco Road FC was fired up. Although head coach Cedric Burke and forward Eli Garner were serving suspensions after receiving red cards last week at Lionsbridge, the boys were ready. From the moment they stepped onto the field, fans could tell something was different this week compared to last. 

One minute and thirteen seconds in, Wadda put Tobacco Road on the board. Wadda received the ball, redistributed it wide to Brad Ruhaak who found him in the box and Wadda puts a right-footed shot into the far post to beat the keeper. 

Tobacco Road’s first half dominance continued as they kept their foot on the gas. In the first half Los Toros rattled off eight shots and earned two corners compared to Lionsbridge’s two shots and no corners. 

In the second half, Tobacco Road doubled their tally thanks to Fisher. In the 54th minute, Wadda danced around two defenders at the top of the 18-yd box and found Fisher on a quick through-ball. Fisher did the rest, placing a cool finish past the keeper.

With 15 minutes remaining in the match Oscar Moreno put the hosts up 3-0. Tommasso D’Agostino makes a perfectly weighted pass with his first touch of the ball in the match to lead Moreno in on goal. Moreno touches by the keeper and squeezes the ball into the open net. 

Lionsbridge FC staged a comeback late in the match. In the 80th minute the visitors pulled one back. Lionsbridge was awarded a penalty and Fortir Munts finished it to make it a 3-1 match.

The comeback continued in the 88th minute. Tobacco Road FC goalkeeper Ryan Cretens came out and caught the ball but the linesman believed that he came out of the box and gave Lionsbridge a free kick right on the edge. Munts stepped up and hit a beautiful free kick to bring the visitors within one. 

Tobacco Road held on to earn the three points with a 3-2 win. 

HEAD COACH CEDRIC BURKE:

“I thought we played well. As always, it’s good to get a win. Especially after coming off a rough spell. So most importantly we got the win, and we reiterate that with all the guys. I’m proud of all of them. I really challenge them to play 90 minutes, but most importantly to not worry about how the other team plays but play our style. I thought we did that for most of the game, obviously unraveled a little bit towards the end with a couple of our guys cramping and some guys in unfamiliar positions. At the end of the day it’s a W.”

“I do want to commend coach Wellman and Small. It was a consistent message, no drop off and a great win for our organization.”

“Joaquin Del Rosario is a guy that I’ve known since his high school days. He went to my high school, I know his family. He’s a guy that we’ve had in our system for three or four years now. He’s really taken a leadership role this year even if he wasn’t playing. He’s consistently been a leader, very vocal. He plays for this club but most importantly he plays for Durham. A lot of pride in the way he plays and tonight it all came together. And I couldn’t be happier because I love him as a player and a person.”

PLAYER QUOTES:

“The last 10 minutes were a little scary. Coming back home to get a win after a losing streak, it feels good… Today the focus was being prideful. We talked about winning our individual battle so I just wanted to do that. I’ve been in a little bit of a draught but it’s good to help the team and score, that’s my job.” -Taff Wadda

“We went out there, got the result we wanted. We fought hard towards the end. Our focus tonight was to get back to our winning ways and that’s what we did… We were coming off four losses, we were talking about how it’s a new season after that.  We have to win our games coming up. Going forward we are thinking positive, everything is in the past. It starts with the W today.” -Joaquin Del Rosario

POST-MATCH NOTES:

  • Tobacco Road improves to 3-4 while Lionsbridge FC falls to 2-3-3.
  • Oscar Moreno scored his second goal of the 2018 season. 
  • Mustapha Wadda leads all Tobacco Road FC players with four goals in six matches.
  • Ben Fisher scored his first goal of the 2018 season. 
  • This win snapped a four-match losing streak. 
  • Tobacco Road FC achieved revenge as they had lost to Lionsbridge less than a week ago. The win evens the series history to 1-1.
  • Tobacco Road improves to fourth in the South Atlantic Division in the PDL with nine points, sitting behind Myrtle Beach Mutiny (14 points), NCFC U-23 (12 points) and Charlotte Eagles (10 points).

UP NEXT:

Tobacco Road FC hosts North Carolina FC U-23 next Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at Durham County Memorial Stadium in Durham, NC. The third round of the triangle derby will be available to watch online through tobaccoroadfc.com. Wednesday night’s match will be the first ever Tobacco Road FC Kids Night! We are excited to invite kids and their parents to the match, kids get in free.