Flames midfielder Yamikani Chester on Wednesday came off the bench to score his first goal for North Carolina Football Club (NCFC).
The Malawian was on target in NCFC’s 4-1 victory over Richmond Kickers in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup at Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park in a match streamed live on ESPN+.
The former Be Forward Wanderers winger tapped in at the near post in the 70th minute in the second round fixture.
Dre Fortune scored first for NCFC, but Richmond equalised in the 34th minute through Wahab Ackwei.
In the 52nd minute, NCFC reclaimed their lead with a header from Robert Kristo from Caleb Duvernay cross.
Just minutes later, Kristo extended the lead to 3-1 after earning and converting a penalty kick.
Then in the 70th minute, Chester, just some minutes after coming in, ran on the end of a Manny Perez pass and blasted the shot into the far corner.
“I thank God for everything. With him everything is possible,” said the Flames international.
NCFC coach Dave Sarachan was all praises for Chester.
“I had some words with the boys at halftime and we made some adjustments. I thought our second half was much better than the first. We made it hard for them. We took care of business. In the Open Cup, you have to be ready for anything.
“I think Richmond is a good team and they made us make some decisions today. It was a good test for us and I was pleased with guys that got 90 minutes that haven’t gotten 90 minutes before,” the coach was quoted by NCFC website www.northcarolinafc.com.
The former Tigers and Be Forward Wanderers player signed a three-year contract with the Czech side MFK Vyškov in January, but was immediately loaned out to the US outfit.
He had his debut in February because of an injury.
