Lawrenceville, NJ - June 14th

Spartans made to pay by Brooklyn Knights

The Central Jersey Spartans were beaten 4-1 on Sunday evening as the Brooklyn Knights ended their poor run of form with a fine away win. In truth, the 4-1 scoreline was very harsh on the home side as the visitors added two late goals after the Spartans were reduced to 10 men.

The first half began with Central Jersey on the front foot pushing forward to try and open the scoring. In the 15th minute the Spartans broke the deadlock when Evans Asiamah escaped his marker down the left side of the field. His well placed cross into the Knights penalty box was met by Claude Tahi who finished from close range. The goal was no more than the home side deserved after a very bright opening period.

The goal seemed to spur the visitors into life and they began to come into the game. An equalizer was scored by Bryant Knibbs just before the interval and this gave all of the momentum to Brooklyn. They came out and enjoyed more possession at the beginning of the second half and took the lead through Gregory Davis. In truth after dominating the first 25 minutes of the game the Spartans seemed content to sit back once they opened the scoring, a tactic that would cost them.

Any hopes of a comeback by the Spartans were dashed when in the 81st minute they were reduced to 10 men after Spartans substitute Precious Iloka was given a red card for an ugly looking challenge. The Spartans tried to push for an equalizer but with a man down were hit with two goals by Brooklyns Raphael Abreu in the 86th and 94th minute. This gave the Knights a flattering 4-1 victory, which was very harsh on reflection.

After the game Head Coach John Newman said "I have no complaints with the boys effort but we are finding it a very steep learning curve at the moment. Every momentary lapse is being punished and we have shown ill discipline at crucual times."

Central Jersey Spartans - Blackburn (GK), Christiansen, Wiltse, Whalen, Tessler, Ockford, McCormick (Iloka), B.Wysocki (C.Wysocki), Tychowski, Tahi, Asiamah (Butcher) Subs Not Used - Hand (GK), Louisignau, Makowski

Brooklyn Knights - Manz (GK), McTurk (Schlesinger), Brown, Fedler, Gosse, Knibbs (Adair), Valencia, Batista (McCann), Davis (Berenzon), Jecewicz (Abreu 2), Reid (Qoku) Subs Not Used - Shone (GK)