CARY — Impressive numbers have been hard to come by for Railhawks forward Hamed Diallo. Diallo, who donned the No. 45 after his customary No. 19 jersey was lost in the laundry, put up the only number that mattered – the go-ahead goal early in the second half that gave the Railhawks a 2-1 edge – on Tuesday night at WakeMed Soccer Stadium in Cary.

It was Diallo’s first goal of the season. He also assisted on Daniel Paladini’s goal 14 minutes into the game.

“We were up 1-0 and they tied us up,” Diallo said through a translator. “All you needed to do was react and try and keep pushing, and that’s what we did.

Though the Kickers are a member of the United Soccer League’s Second Division, this was hardly a match-up coach Martin Rennie took lightly. The Kickers beat the Railhawks, 1-0, in the final minute of an exhibition game on April 4.

“They’re better than some of the teams in our team, I believe,” Rennie said. “In the preseason we were all over them and didn’t score. It didn’t go our way. I would rather have had it then than during the season.”

Midfielder Josh Gardner edged the ball up the left side to Diallo. Diallo played the ball back across to Paladini, who coaxed the ball out of Richmond goaltender Ronnie Pascale’s tenuous hold.

“I split a couple of defenders,” Paladini said. “I saw Diallo, and I know what he’s going to do – he’s going to give it back. He gave me a good ball and I just tapped it in.”

Paladini, whom Rennie described as “white-hot,” now has three goals and six points in his last five games. After Paladini gave the Railhawks an early lead, Rennie said he felt confident about the direction of the game.

“When we scored early I thought we were going to do really well tonight, but then we eased off a little bit,” Rennie said.

The Kickers tied it up six minutes later off a penalty kick. Railhawk goaltender Eric Reed went out to play the ball, but a Richmond’s Matt Delicate tried to sneak around him. Reed took him down and was called on the play. The Kickers’ David Bulou converted a penalty kick for the tie.

The Railhawks rallied out of the gate in the second half, clamping down defensively and largely controlling the play.

“We were a little static for some reason and we had some problems in the back, but we cleared them up in the second half,” Paladini said.

The team was rewarded offensively when Diallo became the tenth Railhawk to score during the 2009 season. Diallo came up on the left side and took a cross pass. His shot wasn’t hard, but it was enough to find the net.

“He’s been working hard to get into the line-up, and now he’s got the rewards,” Rennie said.

The win ensured a second-round match against the Wilmington Hammerheads on June 16. The Hammerheads beat the Charlotte Eagles 2-0 on Tuesday night. Before that match, Carolina will meet the Portland Timbers on Thursday evening at 7 p.m. in Cary.