Bethlehem Steel fall to Harrisburg City Islanders 2-3

Starting out slow plagued Bethlehem Steel FC, with Harrisburg City Islanders only needing the opening 20 or so minutes to take a 2-0 lead on Saturday night. Apparently the theme this year, at least early on, is having former Union players score goals. Not to be outdone by Darius Madison two weeks ago, Aaron Wheeler nodded home a cross to put Harrisburg up 1-0 inside of 10 minutes. Paul Wilson wanted his and 21 minutes into the half he hit a ball with pace right into the top corner and HCI was up 2-0.

Steel FC woke up shortly after that. Aaron Jones floated in a few free kicks that troubled Brandon Miller, culminating in Miller spilling a ball that was rifled in by Santi Moar right before the half time whistle. Steel would get plenty of chances in the second half though and eventually made them count. After coming in for Adam Najem in the 59th minute, Chris Nanco showed what he brings to the table. Latching onto a Seku Conneh cross, Nanco displayed his lightning pace and good shot, beating Miller low and to the right to get Steel on level terms. Unfortunately for Bethlehem the draw was not to be as Cardel Benbow got in behind Auston Trusty and beat McGuire to rescue the win for the City Islanders.

Quick notes:

• Moar and Nanco both get their first professional goals. Both guys played very well all preseason, so seeing them get involved sooner than later was a great sign.
• We saw him in a cameo last week but Hugh Roberts made his debut this week, playing at center mid. The pairing of him and Derrick Jones looks amazing on paper, but Hugh was brought in for center back stability so I’m a bit cautious on that.
• Seku Conneh continued his hot streak, recording an assist on a Nanco goal. His flicked on ball was perfect for Nanco and it happens to be Conneh’s first assist as a member of BSFC.