Friday, September 23, 2011

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Khalid Benalla set up both of Dickinson's goals in the Rams' 2-0 win over Ferris on Thursday.

JERSEY CITY - Dickinson has developed a reputation in Hudson County in recent years for playing the game the way it is supposed to be played; playing solid defense, moving the ball around, and using the whole field in the offensive third to create scoring chances. But after a blowout loss to St. Peter's Prep on Tuesday and a game on the road at Ferris where the field conditions were less than ideal, the Rams knew that to getting back on the winning track would have the start with the most basic element of being a successful team: hustle.

It worked just as planned as sheer hustle by Dickinson's Khalid Benalla led to both of its goals. Amro Fawzy scored midway through the first half and Shareef Ali scored with 13 minutes to go to get Dickinson back above .500 mark with a 2-0 victory on Thursday at Ferris High School.

"It wasn't pretty, but we needed a win and we'll take it," said Benalla. "Against St. Peter's Prep, we just didn't work hard enough to win. Today was a different story. We went to every ball hard, we stayed positive the entire game, and because we did that things started to happen for us."

Mohamed Wally had one of Ferris' best chances before halftime.

The game was physical right from the opening whistle from these two crosstown rivals and the first 20 minutes was more of a feeling out process than anything else. Dickinson then struck first when Benalla, one of the more underrated players in North Jersey, ran down a long ball in the corner. He settled the ball and sent a left-footed cross towards the near post. Fawzy came on a diagonal fun and got enough of a foot on it to flick it past Ferris keeper Anthony Bonilla and watch it trickle over the goal line in the 21st minute to give the Rams a 1-0 lead.

"I knew where (Khalid) was going to put the ball, I just tried to get to the spot before the defender or the goalie did," said Fawzy. "Against a team like Ferris on this field, we knew we had to score first. More than anything else, we just needed to get our confidence back. Once we got that back and had a lead, we were able to relax a little and just play as we usually do."

Ferris had two chances to tie it late in the half, but both Mohamed Wally and Esa Ndoye's shots from in close went wide as Dickinson held the one-goal lead at the half.

Shareef Ali scored with 13 minutes to goto put the finishing touches on Dickinson's win.

"We needed to put at least one of those chances away, if not both," said Ferris head coach Roberto Escobar. "Against a good team, you aren't going to get that many chances and you have to put them in the back of the net. In the second half, we just lost our composure and they didn't. That was the difference in the game, the finished on their chances and we simply didn't give ourselves a chance to comeback in the second half."

The second half was even more chippy than the first as Dickinson quickly took control of the game by winning one 50-50 ball after another. Benalla tracked down another long ball in the corner and drew a foul to set up a free kick from just outside the corner of the box. Ali made then Bulldogs pay for it as he curved a shot from a tough angle into the upper right-hand corner of the net with 13 minutes to go, which iced the game.

Dickinson goalie Ahmed Hamed made four saves to earn his first shutout of the year as the Rams improved to 3-2 on the season.

Ferris' Bonilla had five saves in a losing effort for Ferris, who fell to 2-3-1.

Dickinson has now flipped-flopped wins and losses in all five of their games this season. The Rams feel it is finally time to hit their stride and go on a winning streak with the Hudson County tournament seeding meeting coming up.

"We're starting to jell a little bit better, now we have to start doing the positive things consistently," said Dickinson head coach Sebastian Gus Joulain. "It was tough to control the ball in the midfield, but we fought through by just hustling to every ball. The most important thing for us today was that when things weren't going our way early, we didn't get discouraged. As long as we play every game as hard as we played today, we'll keep getting better and we'll be a dangerous team to face by the time the county and state tournaments come around."

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