Late goal by Shaka Bangura seals victory

Richmond, VA – After missing the first 3 weeks of the season with a quad injury, Bangura makes his presence felt by scoring a dramatic goal that lifted the Kickers past Charleston.  Sent into the game as a substitute in the 87th minutes, Bangura scored roughly 3 minutes into his play to lift the undefeated Kickers to a 2-1 victory over the Charleston Battery in Saturday’s USL PRO soccer match at City Stadium.

The 25 years-old native of Sierra Leone scored his first goal of the season on his first touch on his first appearance of the season.  He ran into a lovely pass from David Hertel, turned slightly and pulled a trigger on a 17-yard blast from the right side. The shot eluded Charleston goalkeeper clipped the back post and caromed into the net.

“I was a little scared at first,” Bangura said. “I thought, ‘I need to make the most of this (opportunity). I might not get another one in the game.’” Then the moment consumed him, he said, and “I just picked my spot and let it go.”

Bangura missed most of the first month of the season because of a quad injury suffered in practice. Kickers coach Leigh Cowlishaw arrived at Saturday’s game believing that he could ask Bangura for, at most, 10 minutes.

“I was thinking about (the injury)” while lining up the shot, Bangura said. “I said, ‘Well, this is it. You’ve got to give it a try.’ ”

Then he laughed.

“You know what? It didn’t hurt at all.” Bangura’s late goal completed a spirited Richmond comeback, the Kickers improved to 4-0 of the season.

By Abu Bangura, USA

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