FURY LOOK TO BUILD ON SOLID START WITH SECOND HALF DRIVE TO PLAYOFFS
Approaching the midway point of their season, after 13 games, the 2017 edition of the Ottawa Fury has already established a franchise record for most points.
The 5-4-4 mark, good for 19 points, obliterates last year’s total of nine points after 13 matches, the 10 points in 13 turned in 2014 and tops the 18 points the 2015 squad posted, the previous marks while members of the North American Soccer League.
Just the same, Fury head coach Paul Dalglish isn’t spending all his time pouring over the United Soccer League standings, trying to predict just where the team might finish come Oct. 14, when they wrap things up in Pittsburgh.
“You’ve got to monitor the standings, but the only time the standings matter is after the final game of the season, when you see that you have achieved what you deserve,” Dalglish said Friday while prepping for Saturday’s visit by the New York City Red Bulls II (2 p.m. kickoff ).
“That’s some of the beauty of sports in North America. You don’t have to be hot all season. You can just peak before the playoffs.”
“You want to get enough points to get in the playoffs. But you don’t want to peak early ... or even at mid-season.”
And the Fury do consider themselves playoff bound, certainly at this juncture.
After hosting the Red Bulls II, the Fury will close out the first half of their USL season with road games in Louisville and Toronto before a full month of home games to open the second half.
Playoff seeding is everything, with the top eight squads qualifying for post-season and the top four hosting quarter-finals.
On paper, the Fury’s win last Tuesday at home moved them from a non-playoff spot at ninth into a solid position in a tie for sixth. It’s just that, with nine teams (from fourth to 12th) separated by just seven points, any loss is costly.
To date, only Charleston, Louisville and Rochester would appear about to run from the pack, Charleston with just two losses and Louisville and Rochester with just one loss each.
On the positive side, the Fury are one of just six teams in the conference with a positive goal differential (plus-2) and one of six with a record above .500 at 5-4-4.
The match versus the Red Bulls begins a stretch where three of their next five games are against sub-.500 teams.
So now might be the time for the Fury to make a move if they’re going to challenge for a top-four spot.
“We’re pleased where we’re at,” said Dalglish. “We talk about goals, but you can only worry about what you can control.
“We don’t want to get too complacent. We want to keep working hard to get good results.
“But if you put some amount of expectations on the players, all you’re doing in filling their minds with unnecessary stuff.”
The Fury won’t return to TD Place until July 15 when they begin their longest homestand of the season, a four-game run that won’t have them on any planes or busses for an entire month.