David Tracey
NCFC head coach Dave Sarachan yells to a referee after a no-call during the game against Charleston Battery on Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2020 at WakeMed Soccer Park. NCFC lost 3-0.
North Carolina FC fell to the Charleston Battery 3-0 on Wednesday evening, handing the South Carolina club the 2020 edition of the Southern Derby. Due to the short season, this game was a winner-take-all for the Souther Derby Cup.
The first half was an end to end affair but neither team was able to find the back of the net before the break. After it, however, the game shifted in Charleston’s favor.
“First half I thought we started actually pretty well, created a lot, had good energy,” NCFC head coach Dave Sarachan said. “We had moments to capitalize in the final third and once again, this has been an Achilles’ heel for my group, nothing to show for it… There were moments in the second half where we didn’t do well defensibly. They caught us on the break. I thought [NCFC goalkeeper Alex Tambakis] made some great saves for us tonight but our quality in front of goal is not good enough.”
Despite a few brilliant saves from Tambakis early in the second half, the Battery began a barrage of goals, scoring three from nearly identical positions, all three Charleston goals coming from very close range on the left side of Tambakis’ net.
North Carolina managed to muster some late chances, including a possible penalty for a handball in the box which the ref did not agree with, despite a hail of protests from NCFC’s bench, but the hosts couldn’t find the back of the net.
After beginning the restart strong with seven points of a possible nine, NCFC has dropped back to back games, previously losing on Saturday 3-0 to the Birmingham Legion.
“We just have not done a good enough job when we have had the ball in the final third to be creative,” Sarachan said about the difference between the first three games and the last two. “We have let ourselves down a little bit in moments where we have to make a play… It is just a matter of getting the little detail better, getting the little details right. We play these teams that are good teams that scout us so we have to improve in all areas to get results.”
NCFC’s next game will be on Wednesday, Aug. 26th against the Charlotte Independence at Sportsplex at Matthews in Matthes, North Carolina.