Fury hungry for points in Rayo OKC rematch

Carl Haworth acknowledges feelings may still be a little raw when Ottawa Fury FC plays Rayo OKC in a rematch of a heated contest a little more than four weeks ago, but he says that’s far from the priority for Sunday’s contest at TD Place stadium.

“There’s emotions there that will probably carry over a little bit,” the Fury FC forward said. “But we need to put that aside and just focus on actual football and not worry too much about what the other teams are saying or what the players are saying, coaching feuds ... .

“This has all got to be set aside and just worry about the game itself.”

The NASL’s online summary shows that Fury FC and Rayo OKC played to a 1-1 draw, with the visitors’ Ian Svantesson scoring in the second minute and Haworth replying on a 59th-minute free kick. It also indicates that two yellow cards were assessed, one to each side, in the 83rd and 88th minutes.

It doesn’t show that Fury FC head coach Paul Dalglish was redcarded by the fourth official and ejected in the 27th minute for comments he directed at the opponent’s bench following a tackle by a Rayo OKC defender near the top of the box, nor does it mention midfielder Jonny Steele’s shouts at a Rayo OKC coach at halftime.

Dalglish apologized immediately after the game, but the automatic one-game suspension kept him off the sidelines for Fury FC’s first match of the NASL fall season in New York on July 2. Assistant coach Martin Nash was at the controls — Dalglish was allowed in the dressing room before and after the game and at intermission — for a 2-1 defeat. He’s eligible to return to the sidelines Sunday — against Rayo OKC.

According to Alen Marcina, Rayo OKC’s head coach, “We are all, I think, professional footballers, coaches. We are all very passionate about our careers and about the game of soccer, and when you have that, that makes for a very entertaining and interesting match, and I see no difference, come Sunday.”

Last weekend’s game against the Cosmos was just the first of 22 in the fall season for Fury FC, but it left Haworth and his teammates with just nine points in 11 matches in the combined standings. Indy Eleven took the spring-season title and the playoff berth that went with it, leaving only post-season spots for the fall-season leader and the two best teams overall.

“Every week it’s another game, and there are only so many left,” Haworth said. “We were able last year to turn it around a little earlier. It’s probably a little bit more desperate now. There’s still time, but we need to start turning some of these ties into wins and some of these losses into ties, and just accumulating more points.”

Fury FC will have to play Sunday’s match without starting keeper Romuald Peiser, who was suspended for one game after receiving a red card for a foul against the Cosmos. It’s more likely than not that Marcel DeBellis, who finished that contest in net, will start against Rayo OKC.

There was one roster move announced Friday, with Fury FC acquiring forward Giuseppe Gentile from the Fort Lauderdale Strikers in return for Paulo Jr.

Gentile had no goals in nine games for Fort Lauderdale this season. The 23-year-old forward had NASL experience with the San Antonio Scorpions in 2014-15. Paulo Junior had one goal in 10 games for Fury FC.