CARY, N.C. – It took longer than coach Martin Rennie, his RailHawks or the 3,015 on hand at WakeMed Soccer Park would have preferred, but in the end, the goals came and the RailHawks picked up a club record fifth straight win Saturday night.

Pablo Campos scored in the 81st minute and Allan Russell added one in stoppage time to give the RailHawks a 2-0 win over Atlanta, extending their unbeaten streak to eight matches.

“It was a difficult night,” Rennie said. “We weren’t quite at our best for a while, but in the end, we did play well at the last, most important part. It was a bit frustrating in terms of some of our play and we were a bit flat in the first half, but ultimately that’s a record five wins in a row and we’ve got to be pleased with that. It also shows us every team is going to be hard for us to play against and we’ve got to be at our best every week.”

Etienne Barbara’s goal scoring streak came to an end, though he put his stamp on the match nonetheless. He assisted on both RailHawks’ goals. He took five shots by night’s end, including a golden opportunity in stoppage time, but Atlanta goalkeeper Felipe Quintero made the final of his six saves on the night to keep Barbara out of the net.

“Today I couldn’t’ score,” said Barbara, who leads the NASL in goals (11), assists (five) and points (27). “I was hitting every guy. The last one, I should have scored. I thought the keeper would go down, but it just wasn’t my day to score.” 

For much of the night, it didn’t seem like it was anyone’s day to score. All the RailHawks’ chances in the first half were just off the mark. When they finally seemed to have broken through – Campos redirected a Barbara cross into the goal in the 44th minute– the score was taken off the board. The ball struck Campos on the arm  as he brought it down to his feet.

“The first half we didn’t work hard enough for it, and the second half we did and we got rewarded for it,” Rennie said. “We’ve got to be working for it every minute of every game if we want to be the best team.”

After a couple decent chances went awry – Barbara’s 65th-minute shot that went wide and Jonny Steele’s 76th-minute curler that glanced off the crossbar – the RailHawks finally broke through in the 81st minute.

Cory Elenio played Barbara down the right flank. Barbara flung the ball into the area, and Campos, unmarked on the back post, laid out to head it into the goal for his fifth strike of the season.

In stoppage time, Brian Farber sprung Barbara free down the right side, and he spotted a streaking Russell charging in from the left. Barbara laid it across the area, and Russell buried the chance to put the game away.

“I don’t know if we took it for granted because they are last in the table. The whole first half was a disappointment,” Barbara said. “The second half, we stepped up our tempo and we scored two.”

As the RailHawks attack struggled to find its rhythm early, the defense and goalkeeper Brad Knighton were called upon to keep the Silverbacks (0-2-6) off the board.

Knighton turned away a Mattias Schnorf header in the fifth minute, and then made two quick saves in the 16th. Knighton sprawled out to punch away Matthew Horth’s try from 18 yards. then Raphael Cox pounced on the rebound near the six-yard box, but Knighton recovered quickly and smothered that try, too.

“The guy hit a pretty good shot far post,” said Knighton, who finished the night with four saves and picked up his third shutout of the season. “I managed to get a hand on it pretty quickly. I don’t think John [Krause] knew the guy was there and he happened to hit it right at me. We worked in training on reaction saves and getting up quickly, so it’s nice when you train for something like that all week and then are able to perform it in a game.”

Saturday’s win put the finishing touches on a superb month for the RailHawks. They won all five games in the month of May and outscored the opposition 14-4. They’ll look to continue their outstanding form on the road over the next month, with three of their four June matches away from WakeMed Soccer Park.

“The away games coming up are tough. We need to take a break tonight and for a couple days, and then get ourselves focused and ready to go,” Rennie said. “The mood of the players will probably be they could have done a little better tonight, and that’s what I like about these guys. They’re never satisfied, and they look forward to every game.”

CAROLINA 2, ATLANTA 0

Lineups
ATL: GK Felipe Quintero, D Mario Perez, D Tyler Ruthven, D Willie Hunt, D Patrick Robertson (Ciaran O'Brien, 83rd), M Jordan Davis (Jon Cox, 89th), M Lucas Paulini, M Shane Moroney, M Mattias Schnorf, M Raphael Cox, F Matt Horth (Emsad Zahirovic, 75th)
CAR: GK Brad Knighton, D Kupono Low, D John Krause, M Floyd Franks, M Matt Watson (Cory Elenio, 69th), M Chris Nurse (Brian Farber, 77th), M Jonny Steele, F Pablo Campos (Allan Russell, 89th), F Etienne Barbara, F Nick Zimmerman

Scoring Summary
CAR: Pablo Campos (Etienne Barbara), 81st
CAR: Allan Russell (Etienne Barbara), 90+

Cautions
ATL: Patrick Robertson, 30th, Mattias Schnorf, 47th, Jordan Davis, 54th,
CAR: John Krause, 19th, Chris Nurse, 62nd, Floyd Franks, 70th,

Shots
ATL: 10
CAR: 17

Fouls
ATL: 15
CAR: 15

ATTENDANCE: 3,015