York United catching steam, take down FC Edmonton 3-1 

By Robert Belardi 

Molham Babouli's brace and Osaze De Rosario's early second half goal proved to be the difference as York United blew FC Edmonton away with a stellar 3-1 victory. 

In back-to-back 3-1 victories, York United now remain seven points away from the final playoff spot with four matches left in league play. 

In a stunning turn of events this year, everything had been favoured against The Nine Stripes as results were hard to come by and goals were few and far in between. 

But, Martin Nash's men have risen up to the occasion and have left hope in the hearts of this club and its fans. 

“There's a change in culture within the group. I can see a winning mentality especially since the second half of the season. The first half, yeah, defensively we were probably a bit better actually conceding less. But, something about the group now, we're reacting really well going down the goal or conceding. We're bouncing back,” said central defender Tass Mourdoukoutas, a native of Sydney, Australia.

“We know we can beat any team in this league. It goes without saying. We've defeated Cavalry not long ago at their grounds. Last time we got a clean sheet, a few more would be nice as a defender I'm not happy about that, but at the same time, we've beaten Forge at their grounds. We've beat the top sides. We have two more home games in the next two weeks.” 

In just the 13th minute of the match, York got off the ground running. A lovely cross from Chrisnovic N'Sa found the head of Babouli, who thundered the ball in for his third goal in just his fourth start for the club. 

In the second half, it was Babouli who sprung free Noah Verhoeven in the 48th minute towards goal. Verhoeven teed up Osaze De Rosario who ripped-it bottom corner to give York a two-goal advantage. 

After conceding just six minutes later to Courtney Smith, Babouli stepped up to the penalty spot in the 71st minute to put the game out of reach. 

“I thought we were quite comfortable first half. We had a good half, could have scored a couple. We had a couple of half-chances that you'd like to see one of them go in. I thought we started the second half really well, got the goal and then I felt kind of relaxed, a little bit. That was frustrating a bit, they scored and it woke us back up,” said head coach Martin Nash in the post-match press conference. 

When asked about the acquisition of Babouli, Nash said the transaction was completed in a day. 

“Once we found out he was available (Babouli), we did it in a day. We knew we wanted him that bad. He was the type of player we needed. He has the type of personality we needed in this group. I think he's been fantastic from Day One. Shown up here and he's been a big difference in the team.” 

The next four games will not be a walk in the park for the Nine Stripes. The daunting task will begin as United take on the HFX Wanderers at home tomorrow night. Kick-off is at 7.30 p.m.