(NASL 2014 Fall) Carolina Railhawks 5v4 New York Cosmos

Saturday 20th September 2014
WakeMed Soccer Park, North Carolina   Attendance -  5,593

Cosmos slumped to a 3rd successive loss to Carolina after a crazy 9 goal 2nd half, which saw the Cosmos eventually edged out by 1 goal, despite a late rally from the visitors.

Amazingly it came after a scoreless 1st half in which Cosmos dominated possession, without creating a chance of note on the home goal. Carolina struggled, although did manage to fashion the best chance of the half which fell early on to Sandoval. The striker on loan from Real Salt Lake slipped the ball past Maurer, only for Mendes to clear the ball off the line.

No-one could have foreseen what was about to happen in the 2nd half as the Railhawks blitzed the Cosmos with 5 goals in just over 30mins. Sandoval broke the deadlock after finishing from the edge of the area after good work from Shipalane, and the goal seemed to unsettle the Cosmos as seconds later Albadawi played a brilliant defence splitting pass which put Martinez in, only for Maurer to prevent a second Carolina goal.

The game had come alive now and Cosmos tried to respond with an effort from Dane Murphy that was deflected narrowly wide.

But with Carolina going through at will, it was only a temporary reprieve as Osaki made it 2v0 with an inch perfect free kick for the home side. The blunders continued from the visitors as Nane was caught in possession soon after, but again Maurer came to the rescue with a save from Sandoval.

Cosmos were gifted a goal as Siriboe inadvertently headed into his own goal from  Freeman cross, but any momentum was tossed away seconds later as Shipalane was allowed far too much space down the Cosmos left and although Maurer saved from Sandoval, getting on the end of the cross, Martinez was following up to make it 3v1.

The Railhawks were rampant and in no mood to let up and Martinez played a great ball to Sandoval who took the ball round Maurer to make it 4v1.  Cosmos still had some life left in them and Ockford made it 4v2 as he pounced a loose ball after a Stokkelien header had been saved from a corner.

Cosmos pushed forward in search of a 3rd, but Schilawski put the game out of reach for New York with a stunning effort to make it 5v2. Still the Cosmos came forward and ensured  nervous end to the game for Carolina as the Cosmos pulled back  2 goals from goalmouth scrambles, with Stokkelien and Dimitrov adding their names to the ever growing list of goalscorers. Railhawks sub Novo almost produced the goal of the game with an audacious effort from the halfway line that had Maurer scrambling, but the goalscoring had ended for the evening as Carolina boosted their hopes of an end of season spot in the playoffs.