Published: May 12, 2008 10:51 pm            

Late heroics: G-Men prevail

EAST RIVER — Landon Furry scored a pair of goals to key a second-half charge as the Graham G-Men beat the Tazewell Bulldogs 3-1 Monday night at a cold, damp Field 1 of the East River Soccer Complex.

After an even and scoreless first 40 minutes, Furry opened the scoring in the fourth minute of the second half. The goal was the result of an outstanding individual effort in which he dribbled through the defense in the final third of the field and fired a grounder into the lower left of the Tazewell goal.

Seven minutes later, Furry struck again with another solo strike. Furry dribbled past a pair of defenders up the right side of the field. After he turned to the middle he struck another low shot past the left upright and in.

Graham controlled the second half, outshooting the Bulldogs 18-8 and placing nine shots on goal to Tazewell’s five during the final 40 minutes.

But Tazewell did put together counter attacks and in the 70th minute they made one count. Quint Mitchner sent a long ball from the right midfield to Jarrod Angles just outside Graham’s penalty area. Angles then lofted the ball in the upper-left corner of the goal and the Bulldogs had life.

But Graham got the best of the remaining play and the final goal in the 78th minute. Sophomore Ryan Stanley got the glory as his shot from 20 yards away went in the left side of the net. Klint Kelley got the assist.

“I don’t think we were as focused as we needed to be,” said Graham head coach Hank Furry. “We played such a great tactical game againstCarroll County and our touches were really good against them. And we really struggled doing stuff tonight.”

“I couldn’t be more proud of my team,” said Tazewell head coach Jeremy Call. “They came out tonight. They were ready to play. They were well prepared. They had practiced hard last week.”

Call was not the only coach that was impressed by the Bulldogs.

“I give it to Tazewell,” Hank Furry said. “Tazewell came in here with a good game plan. They played extremely hard. First half, they clearly beat us to the ball and we were lucky to get a couple shots in and make a couple goals.”

Tazewell (5-6-1) ends their regular season at home Thursday against Carroll County.

“I don’t know what we could work on,” Call said. “There’s always room for improvement, obviously. But just keep doing what we’re doing. It’s going to come. I really feel like it’ll come.”

Graham (7-7, 5-4) concludes their regular season with a trip to Richlands on Thursday.

“We’re going to work on our first touch and ball distribution,” Hank Furry said. “We’ve just got to do a better job of distributing the ball. We don’t recognize open people quick enough and we’ve got to do a better job of trying to find our open people.”

— Contact Jed Lockett at jlockett@bdtonline.com

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At East River Soccer Complex Field 1

Goals — Tazewell: Jarrod Angles (70); Graham: Landon Furry (44, 51), Ryan Stanley (78). Assists — Tazewell: Quint Michner (70); Graham Klint Kelley (78). Halftime — 0-0. Shots (On Goal) — Tazewell 22 (10); Graham 25 (12). Saves — Tazewell 9 (Zach Poskas 8); Graham 8 (Jordan Bryan 8). Corner Kicks — Tazewell 5; Graham 2. Offsides — Tazewell 0; Graham 1. Fouls — Tazewell 7; Graham 7. Cards — Tazewell: (Y 13).

        

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