Undermanned Electric City Football Club Squeezes 1-0 Win To Continue Playoff Push

Despite not having their top striker or head coach, Electric City Football Club (ECFC) Men’s team's lone goal was enough to defeat Darby FC on the road to keep themselves in the League1 Ontario playoff hunt on Friday.

Connor Brown (right) shakes off a Simcoe County Rovers FC midfielder. Brown had the team’s lone goal scorer in Friday’s contest. Photo courtesy of ECFC.

They earned the win despite not having suspended head coach Randy Riberio (excessive yellow cards) and top striker Jordan Brown (undisclosed incident) in the team’s lineup.

The first half was quiet as both teams had a 0-0 draw into the half.

ECFC midfielder quickly broke the tie in the 50th minute as midfielder Connor Brown scored with a header off a fortunate rebound.

Electric City forced a turnover in the midfield and advanced into opposing territory through the sideline on a give and go. A centring pass went in front of Darby’s net and ECFC had a shot on net with a header. The ball rebounded off the keeper’s hands and Brown gave his own header for to eventually get the 1-0 win.

The win earns another three points for ECFC as they stand at 28 points. They are in ninth place in the standings. The team is nine points behind Simcoe Country Rovers who are in sixth place and occupy the final playoff spot.

ECFC must earn points in their four remaining games including at least three wins to remain in the playoff hunt. Simcoe currently holds the tiebreaker over ECFC due to more overall goals scored throughout the regular season. The ECFC women’s team has been eliminated from playoff contention.

Riberio can return to coaching as this game was his second of the two-game suspension. Brown is not playing in the team’s next match against Alliance United at home this Wednesday since he is serving a three-game suspension. He can be reinstated for Sunday’s road game against Vaughan Azzurri.

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