J’can Daley off mark with double, countryman Kelly nets fourth
NEW YORK, New York (CMC) — Jamaican Nicque Daley got on the scoresheet for the first time in the new United Soccer League (USL) campaign when he scored twice last weekend to fire Charleston Battery to a dominant 3-0 victory over Loudoun United FC.
Playing at Patriots Point in the suburbs of Charleston, the 20-year-old Daley scored in each half, as the hosts led 2-0 at the break before controlling the contest in the second half.
The victory was their third in four outings following a slow start to the season, leaving them sixth on 11 points in the Atlantic Division currently topped by Tampa Bay Rowdies on 21 points.
Loudoun, meanwhile, remained rooted to the bottom of the standings with their seventh defeat in eight outings.
Stavros Zarokostas put Charleston ahead in the 16th minute when he pivoted just outside the top of the 18-yard box and sent a low right-footed drive in off the near post.
Daley, a former Jamaica Under-17, Under-20 and Under-23 player, added the second in 35th minute when his first shot was blocked by a defender, but then weaved his way out of a maze of markers in the box to beat the ’keeper to his right.
Both Zarokostas and Daley came close to doubling their tally in the 57th, but it was Daley who eventually did in the 60th when the Loudoun defense failed to clear a loose ball and he smashed home from close range.
At FIU Soccer Stadium in Miami, Reggae Boy Dane Kelly netted his fourth in six appearances but missed a second-half penalty in a losing cause, as Charlotte Independence slumped to a 2-1 defeat away to Miami FC.
Englishman Callum Chapman-page opened the scoring for the hosts in the 18th when he tapped in a brilliant free kick from Pierre Da Silva which rebounded off the crossbar with goalkeeper Brandon Miller beaten.
Kelly then forced an acrobatic save out of goalkeeper Connor Sparrow three minutes later before scoring from close range in the 32nd minute, following excellent work from Blake Pope on the right.
However, the 30-year-old Kelly squandered a golden chance to give the visitors the lead in the 54th minute after he was pulled down in the box, smashing the resulting penalty over the bar.
Charlotte were made to pay for that miss as Ariel Martinez came off the bench in the 70th minute to net the winner for Miami six minutes later.
The defeat was Charlotte’s second in three games leaving them third in the Atlantic Division on 15 points while Miami broke a four-game winless run to be fifth on 13 points.
Another Jamaican, 24-yearold Rojay Smith, was also on target for Sporting Kansas II who beat Memphis 901 3-2 at Autozone Park in downtown Memphis.
His eighth-minute strike handed the visitors a 1-0 lead at the break before Enoch Mushagalusa doubled Sporting’s advantage ten minutes following the resumption.
Kyle Murphy and Kadeem Dacres set up a tense finish when they netted for the hosts in the space of seven minutes to leave the game tied 2-2 in the 64th, but Daniel Barbir found the winner in the 72nd minute.
Sporting’s win, however, was only their second in 12 matches, and they remained one from bottom of the Central Division on ten points, two clear of Memphis who have played four games less