Friday brought another batch of overcast skies and a threat of rain to the Durham area, but save for a few spits from the clouds above, training was conducted in dry weather. The training session today was a short one, lasting only about 75 minutes.

Tomorrow, the Revs travel to Charlotte to face the USL-2 Charlotte Eagles  at 6 p.m. Charlotte is about a three-hour bus trip from what I am told, so the team will be departing the area at about 1:30 p.m. With the travel tomorrow and a full-fledged scrimmage against a professional soccer team in which players will be fighting for roster spots, Head Coach Steve Nicol thought it best to keep today’s training session light and short.

Aside from the usual run, stretch and passing drill, the team engaged in a full-field 11 vs. 11 inter-squad scrimmage for about 30 minutes. The only goal was scored by Kevin Alston, who sneaked one past Bobby Shuttleworth in the opening minutes in an unsettled situation. Kevin’s new teammate, Marko Perovic was aggressive today, constantly advancing the ball down the left side to set up his teammates and even get off a shot or two of his own.

On the opposing side, the only true scoring opportunity came when Kenny Mansally lined up a free kick from outside the box on the right side. Mansally bent one around the wall, but the offering was low enough for keeper Preston Burpo to catch sight of it and make a routine save.

On the injury front, Gabriel Badilla worked into the jog and stretch, but did individual work after. Mauricio Castro continues to nurse an ankle while Darrius Barnes limbers up from the sideline with his quad injury. Taylor Twellman went for about a three-mile jog before getting into his calisthenics and Matt Reis continues to work back from shoulder and knee surgery. Edgaras Jankauskas left the scrimmage early to ice down his calf.

Finally, Friday’s training session anti-climactically closed with the apparently annual staff race. The race was handicapped, so the competitors were staggered from the bottom of the circle to the top of the box in a race to the end line. Steve Nicol pulled out the victory (I’ll give you one guess where he started from) and we exited the field feeling somewhere between humiliated and happy. Luckily, the staff race only takes place once a year - looks like we have to get faster or older to advance out poll positions.