Sainey Touray voted for as Player of the Week

After Harrisburg’s dramatic upset win over Sainey Nyassi’s New England Revolution, many wondered what the City Islanders could do for an encore.

Sainey Touray had a few ideas. The 22-year-old Gambian attacker scored his club’s first two goals, including the game-winner, to lead them to a 3-1 upset win over the New York Red Bulls last Tuesday.

That suitably impressed pundits, and they in turn voted Touray as their Philadelphia Player of the Week. For Touray, it may have seemed like sweet justice. He signed with the Red Bulls in 2008 at age 18, but he never got in a game with the first team.

After scoring two goals in six Reserve League games, Touray returned to his native Gambia in 2009 to play for Wallidan FC in the tiny West African nation’s capital. He returned stateside in 2010 to sign with the Carolina Railhawks, who in turn sent him on loan to Harrisburg, where he remains today.

Against New York, he played up top as a lone striker, which provided the goalscoring opportunities. That changed his fortunes, because as of today, he has yet to score in seven league games for the USL’s City Islanders.

One can forgive Touray and Harrisburg if they seemed a bit flat the following Saturday in a 2-0 loss to Wilmington in league play. But it’s a long USL season and a shorter US Open Cup. So far, Harrisburg keeps coming up big in the latter, thanks to great performances like those from Sainey Touray.