Toronto FC II 3-Ottawa Fury 4

There is no such thing as an easy three points in the USL and Thursday night’s encounter between Toronto FC II and the Ottawa Fury was a perfect example of that. Despite the two sides being eight places apart in the Eastern Conference and TFC II’s playoff ambitions long since extinguished The Reds gave it everything they had against the Fury, falling just short via a 4-3 scoreline.

Ottawa got out to an early 2-0 lead with goals from forward Tony Taylor (7′) and midfielder Cristhian Portilla (37′). Although TFC II are at the bottom of the standings, they have shown some resolve in recent weeks. That was on display on Thursday evening as forward Jon Bakero and midfielder Tsubasah Endoh both scored in the 47th minute to make it 2-2. Ottawa took the lead again in the 69th minute with Thomas Meilleur-Giguere putting his side ahead.  TFC II managed to equalize again thanks to a Jordan Hamilton goal in the 74th minute. But Ottawa were not to be denied on the day as substitute Adonijah Reed came on to net the game-winning goal in the 78th minute.

With win the Fury (11-13-5, 38 points) improve their chances of holding on to the eighth and final playoff seed in the East. As it stands they are level on points with Nashville SC (10-8-8. 38 points) but holding the wins tiebreaker. It should be noted though that Nashville has three games in hand. They will travel to Richmond next Saturday to take on the Kickers with the hopes of snapping a five game winless run.

As for TFC II (3-20-3, 12 points) while they have been eliminated TFC’s coaching staff should be pleased with the resolve that the side has shown in recent weeks. They will travel to Montclair, New Jersey next Thursday to take on New York Red Bulls II.

You can read Luis Martinez’s full recap of the match below. Also On hand to cover the match was photographer Michael Fayehun. You can follow him on Instagram here and on Twitter here . Also, our full gallery of TFC photos can be found on SmugMug. In the meantime please enjoy of our photos from the match!