FURY Men record first victory in Storm-delayed Match

A succession of thunderstorms accompanied by lightning was the real winner in a game that was called by the match officials in the 48th minute after two interruptions due to lightning. The FURY (now 1-2-0) were leading New Hampshire (now 3-2-3) 1-0 at the time the game was called by virtue of a headed goal from Paul Kihara scored in the 3rd minute.

The FURY got off to a flying start when in the third minute Matt Pecheone crossed from the right wing to the far post for Paul Kihara to score with a header. New Hampshire had barely touched the ball much less gotten into the game and found themselves down 1-0. Soon after the opening goal, the match officials sent the players back into the safety of the dressing room as lightning repeatedly struck in the vicinity of the stadium.

Both teams returned to the field after a lengthy delay with the FURY continuing to prove threatening. The match developed into a physical tussle between two evenly matched teams. In a first half full of stoppages, the Fury conceded 10 fouls and the Phantoms 20. The score at half was FURY 1 New Hampshire 0.

They only managed a mere 3 minutes of play into the second half at which point officials sent players to the dressings rooms for a second and final time due to lightning in the vicinity of the stadium. After a further prolonged delay and a subsequent attempt to restart the game had to be aborted, the officials made the difficult decision to call the game with the Fury leading by a goal to nil. An unsatisfactory end to the game for both sides and for the fans watching the game.

The FURY continue their home stand Wednesday night against the Vermont Voltage at 6pm as part of another double-header with the W-League FURY playing at 8:30pm.