Battery defeat Wilmington with late goal

The Charleston Battery defeated the Wilmington Hammerheads is a vital American Division match and a Southern Derby Cup match 2-1.

Both teams started off fairly pensive with Wilmington have the better of possession in the first half but neither team had a serious strike on target.

In the second half things started off similarly to the first, and it was Wilmington that scored first from a corner kick.  The Ball sailed in to the box and was flicked on to Manny Guzman who headed home the ball in the 77 min.

The Battery then began to press and thee minutes later, found the back of the net to even up the score.  Brandon Massie scored his first goal of the season when a ball shot by Stephen Armstrong was deflected by Hammerhead's keeper, Kyle Polak.  Unfortuately for Polak it was deflected to Massie who was did a good job following up the shot and slotted it past the keeper.

The Game livened up from their and both teams seemed like they did not want to settle for the draw, but it was the Battery who was rewarded with the goal.  Colin Falvey sent a beautifully weighted ball into the box where Dane Kelly beat the keeper to flick into the net in the 90 minute of play to make it 2-1.

And the excitement didn't end there.  in time added on, Hammerhead defender Garth Evans was sent off for what we can only imagine was two straight yellows for dissent.  After Levi Coleman looked to beat his man and was one on one with the keeper,  he appeared to have been brought down in the box.  But the referee waved play on and Evans seemed to take grievance with Coleman who was still laying on the pitch after the foul.  As play continued Evans, seemed to argue with Coleman and out came yellows for both players.  Evans not seemingly happy continued to press the subject and began shoving and the referee quickly showed him a second yellow.  Still unhappy, Evans continued to argue and had to be escorted off the field to the locker room by his teammates. 

The final whistle came shortly after and with the win the Battery moved to Second place in the American Division and are first place in the Southern Derby Cup Standings, a three way, round-robin tournament by the fans of Wilmington, Charleston and Charlotte. 

Watch highlights from and all three goals at the link below
Highlights of Battery's win over Wilmington

Next up for the Battery is an away match against the Dayton Dutch Lions on July 23 followed by the International exhibition against Portsmouth FC on July 27 at Blackbaud Stadium

Up the Battery!!!