A report by the Independent Weekly's David Fellerath goes hand-in-hand with something RailHawks coach Martin Rennie and I talked about last week.
After getting up with the coach after a disappointing 2-0 loss to Charleston in the U.S. Open Cup, we briefly touched on his team's need to finish scoring chances.
Rennie said his team was close to adding another striker, but could not say who it was. Fellerath's report and others suggest it's Allan Russell from Scotland. His expected signing date is July 14.
"We haven't had enough goals from open play yet," Rennie said. "We are looking to add one more striker who we think could be the final piece of the puzzle here. He would be with us for the final half of the season — which would be an important time of the season because that would be a lot of home games and a lot more chances."
The RailHawks' top scoring threats rarely seem to link up with one another and too many times the team has scored off penalties or free kicks and not in the run of play.
Tiyi Shipalane was brought in from South Africa to give the team another quick striker from the right side. Shipalane, like Richardson and others, seems capable of creating chances but has yet to help finish them.
Russell has scored 23 goals in his last 57 matches, but only four in his last 25 since joining his current club. A BBC Sport report said he had injury problems since joining his most recent team in 2008.
The RailHawks sit eighth in the USSF D2 standings — just above the cutoff for the playoff race — with 15 points. Carolina has played the fewest games (11) of any league team, including five fewer than NASL division rival Minnesota.
