Match Report:

By Simon Fudge/whitecapsfc.com

Vancouver Whitecaps men recorded their first-ever win over Carolina RailHawks after a 1-0 home result on Saturday evening.

Eduardo Sebrango's sixth goal of the season ended Vancouver's five-game winless streak, as his early strike moved the Whitecaps into second place in the USL First Division standings.

Despite claiming three valuable points in the final game of a three-match home stand at Swangard Stadium, the Whitecaps rode their luck at times against a dangerous-looking RailHawks side, but poor finishing from the visitors meant Carolina came away with nothing from their second meeting of the month with Vancouver.

Whitecaps head coach Teitur Thordarson made three changes to the side that started last Wednesday's 1-1 home draw with USL-1 leaders Charleston Battery. Omar Jarun partnered Wesley Charles in the centre of the Whitecaps defence, with captain Jeff Clarke and Alfredo Valente replacing Vicente Arze and Steve Kindel in Vancouver's midfield. Wednesday's goalscoring hero Charles Gbeke, meanwhile, replaced Nicholas Addlery to partner Sebrango in the Whitecaps attack.

RailHawks head coach Scott Schweitzer, meanwhile, made three changes to the side that claimed a goalless draw at Portland Timbers on Thursday evening. Chad Dombrowski made his second appearance of the season at Swangard, while Caleb Norkus also came into the Carolina back four, as centre back David Stokes was not available after being sent off for two bookable offences in Portland. In midfield, Steven Curfman replaced Santiago Fusilier for the visitors.

On a cloudy but pleasant evening for soccer, a Swangard crowd of 4,991 saw an open half of play for both sides, who were each looking to end a winless run of five consecutive matches.

Action came as early as the third minute, with Gbeke adjudged offside after receiving a through ball from Justin Moose, who did well to dispossess Norkus in the Carolina half.

Seven minutes later, Gbeke was unlucky not to direct a far-post header on goal after Moose struck an in-swinging free kick into the Carolina box, while at the other end, Whitecaps goalkeeper Jay Nolly did well to punch away Curfman's dangerous free kick into the Vancouver area a minute later.

Having struggled to start well in previous home matches, the Whitecaps gave their home fans some early delight for a change by scoring the game's opening goal on 12 minutes. Valente's cross from the left saw RailHawks goalkeeper Chris McClellan and Gbeke collide, as the pair went for the ball. It fell to the welcoming Sebrango, who struck home to make it 1-0.

Carolina looked to respond with chances of their own, and on 20 minutes, Ryan Solle hammered a fierce shot just wide of Nolly's goal before Sebrango was unlucky not to score a second goal of the game when his shot from the edge of the RailHawks box deflected off of Dombrowski and struck McClellan's post before bouncing away.

The Cuban hit-man was causing all sorts of problems for the visitors, and on 22 minutes, he should have done better to hit the target with a low shot that rolled wide of the Carolina near post. Sebrango admitted that more goals should have come Vancouver's bright start. "The way we started the game, you always want to score as many goals as you can, so we should have done a better job in the first half," he said to reporters after the game. "Nonetheless, we will take this result. It may not have been pretty, but we needed the three points, as we've got the next four games on the road, which is going to be hard."

Where Vancouver started brightly, it was the RailHawks that finished the half strongly. On 28 minutes, Martin Nunez struck a shot high over Nolly's crossbar after Kupono Low had played in a Carolina corner from the right.

Three minutes later, the RailHawks earned the first of two free kicks, with Jarun receiving a yellow card for his challenge on Hamed Diallo near the edge of the Vancouver box. Low took the ensuing set-piece, but his effort deflected wide for a corner.

Nunez then earned the second Carolina free kick on 36 minutes after Clarke fouled him on the edge of the Whitecaps area, but the Carolina midfielder wasted the opportunity by curling his set-piece over Nolly's crossbar.

Four minutes later, Nolly was forced to save Nunez's flicked header from Curfman's free kick before both sides headed to their respective dressing rooms, with the Whitecaps in a one-goal lead at the break.

The flow of play that was seen in the first half was not as evident after the restart, with Carolina coming close to equalizing when Daniel Antoniuk beat Nolly to Low's free kick in the Whitecaps box, but the former Atlanta Silverbacks striker's header went wide of the near post on 52 minutes.

Then after Kindel replaced Justin Moose, Valente was unable to make the most of Sebrango's cutback pass in the Carolina box on 64 minutes, as his mis-hit shot deflected away for a corner. From Valente's ensuing corner, Jarun's far-post header was cleared off the RailHawks line by Low.

Another Whitecaps substitution saw Addlery replace Gbeke in attack, but it was Carolina that looked the more likely to score. On 68 minutes, Diallo drove a close-range shot just wide of the target after substitute Fusilier made a fine forward run into the Whitecaps box. Two minutes later, Nunez curled a free kick at Nolly after Jarun had brought down Antoniuk near the Vancouver area.

It was a half where resolute defending was needed from the home side, with youngster Luca Bellisomo contributing to the cause in just his second USL-1 start for the club. "Obviously, the more I play, the more comfortable I feel with things," he told whitecapsfc.com. "I've still got a lot to work on, but every game I play is important for me."

There were chances at both ends on 79 minutes. Martin Nash's corner fell out to substitute Kindel on the edge of the Carolina box, and the midfielder's low strike hit Addlery right in front of goal, but bounced into McClellan's hands. From the ensuing clearance, Diallo broke the other way down the field and into the Whitecaps box before striking a wayward shot wide of the Vancouver goal.

Chances were traded again in the final ten minutes, with Valente unable to really test McClellan with a low shot after Kindel picked out his teammate with a fine cross-field pass on 81 minutes. A minute later, Low caused the home side a scare when his well-hit free kick flew just wide of the Whitecaps goal.

Keen to keep the scoreline intact, the home side retreated and defended well in the dying stages, as Carolina failed to find the necessary breakthrough that would have brought them another away point. The three minutes of stoppage time were short-term agony for the home fans, but they headed home happy after the final whistle confirmed an important Whitecaps win.


Having come away with nothing from Saturday's game, RailHawks coach Schweitzer expressed his displeasure at the performance of referee Geoff Gamble and his fellow officials. "In the first half, Vancouver may have been a little bit better, but in the second half, we carried more of the play," he said. "Yet, it's hard to come from a goal down in our league, even though I felt we were the better team. The big thing tonight was that we had horrible refereeing, as he missed calls on both sides. I felt there was a handball on Gbeke for Sebrango's goal, so I'm disappointed that we had to chase the game because of a goal that I felt should not have been allowed."

For Thordarson, however, Saturday's win was crucial for the morale of his side before their road trip begins next week. "Psychologically, this result was a very good thing, as it will give us the boost that we need. I thought there were too many yellow cards in the game today, as I thought it was not that physical of a game. Yet, we got the three points, which I felt were so important before we head out on the road. Though it was not our plan to back off as much as we did, we were dedicated to claiming that result, even though we achieved it in a different manner than we wanted to."

Thordarson's side will now head out on the road for a challenging four-game road trip to the southeastern US, with the first match set for Tuesday in south Florida, as the Whitecaps play Miami FC Blues for the final time this regular season. Carolina will have a close eye on that contest, as Schweitzer's side head home to prepare for the visit of the Whitecaps to WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina, on Friday night.

Vancouver Whitecaps FC have announced that they will pursue one of two Major League Soccer (MLS) expansion franchises set to be added to the league by 2011. Fans are encouraged to visit whitecapsfc.com/mls to register their support for a Whitecaps MLS franchise and help show the rest of North America what Vancouver and British Columbia have to offer.

Scoring Summary:
VAN - Eduardo Sebrango (Charles Gbeke) 12'
Valente's cross from the left saw RailHawks goalkeeper Chris McClellan and Gbeke collide, as the pair went for the ball. It fell to the welcoming Sebrango, who struck home to make it 1-0.

Cautions:
Vancouver: Alfredo Valente 25', Omar Jarun 31', Justin Moose 42', Steve Kindel 72', Wesley Charles 81'
Carolina: Steven Curfman 13'

Match Stats:
Shots: Vancouver 10 - Carolina 15
Saves: Vancouver 4 - Carolina 4
Fouls: Vancouver 20 - Carolina 7
Offsides: Vancouver 6 - Carolina 6
Corners: Vancouver 5 - Carolina 6

Vancouver Whitecaps FC
1.Jay Nolly; 4.Wesley Charles, 6.Luca Bellisomo, 15.Omar Jarun, 22.Takashi Hirano; 2.Jeff Clarke, 7.Martin Nash, 9.Alfredo Valente, 25.Justin Moose (8.Steve Kindel 63'); 16.Eduardo Sebrango, 98.Charles Gbeke (11.Nicholas Addlery 67')

Subs not used: 77.Srdjan Djekanovic, 18.Mason Trafford, 23.Vicente Arze, 26.Jason Jordan, 29.Admir Salihovic

Carolina RailHawks
0.Chris McClellan; 3.Kupono Low, 14.Caleb Norkus, 15.Frankie Sanfilippo, 23.Chad Dombrowski (10.Connally Edozien 77'); 7.Martin Nunez, 12.Ryan Solle, 16.Steven Curfman (21.Santiago Fusilier 63'), 17.Matt Watson; 19.Hamed Diallo, 22.Daniel Antoniuk (20.Jacob Coggins 71')

Subs not used: 1.Brian Levey, 5.David Lilly, 18.Chris Lemons