FC Montreal Fall to Ottawa Fury in Last Preseason Game

Ottawa Wins 3-1 in Quiet, Not for Public, Preseason Game at Olympic Stadium

SportsTristan D’Amours — Published March 19, 2016

Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé’s lone goal was not enough, as the Ottawa Fury scored three times, thanks to midfielder James Bailey and striker Carl Haworth.

Montreal, playing in the third division of North American soccer, had troubles against the Fury, who play in the second division of the soccer pyramid, but it did not seem to worry head coach Philippe Eullaffroy.

“It could seem like bad news, but it’s good because it confronts us to problems that we were not facing in the past months against a very good Ottawa Fury team,” said Eullaffroy. “We played them last year and they are superior to the team we played back then.”

The bleu-blanc-noir got flashbacks from that last preseason encounter with Ottawa a year ago, when former striker Andrew Weideman scored seconds into the game. At the third minute, James Bailey took a loose ball at the top of the box and his shot opened the score for Ottawa.

“There were some defensive mistakes that we fixed in the course of the game,” said FC Montreal defender Janouk Charbonneau. “But against an excellent team I think we did well, so it’s looking good for the first game next week.”

The pressure was very heavy for FC Montreal as the team dressed in all black were constantly on the upper hand, trying to find a way on goal.

That pressure was relieved at the 29th minute, when a play from the right flank by fullback Janouk Charbonneau set up midfielder and Impact first-team player Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé in the middle of the box to tie up the score. After this, Eullaffroy’s squad started to play more freely.

The Fury came back with a menace in the second half. Striker Carl Haworth found his way on two occasions at the 57th and 87th minute which gave Ottawa the road win.

End of Preseason

With this game under the belt, FC Montreal’s preseason is now done and dusted with the team looking at the upcoming USL season. The longevity of his team’s preparation setup was an issue for Eullaffroy.

“It’s not easy to manage 12 weeks of preparation but it allows us to work on certain thing more patiently,” said Eullaffroy. “What is interesting is that there is a rise in strength and we feel that we have much more of a hold on the game. It’s confirmed game after game.”

Having played teams from the Réseau de Sport Étudiant du Quebec, a team from the NCAA system, a USL team in the Rochester Rhinos and an NASL team in the Ottawa Fury, Eullaffroy thinks his team didn’t play enough high profile games.

“What we don’t like is the fact that we don’t have enough games against quality opposition,” said Eullaffroy. “We saw Ottawa and Rochester last Tuesday, but what we’re lacking is the quality of the opposition and that’s what makes us progress faster. So we would have liked more teams like Ottawa and Rochester.”

FC Montreal will start their season Friday March 25 against expansion team—and Major League Soccer side Philadelphia Union affiliate—Bethlehem Steel FC at Olympic Stadium.