Tampa Bay Rowdies Overrun Scorpions 2-0 To Jump Into Playoff Position
Early adversity didn’t stop the Rowdies in their quest for a win Saturday night at Al Lang Stadium, where the Rowdies beat the visiting San Antonio Scorpions 2-0 in front of a lively crowd of 6,135 fans to take a huge step forward in the playoff race.
Well worked Rowdies goals in the third and ninth minutes were incorrectly called offside by assistant referee Miguel Martes (pictured above) and that kept the match level through halftime. Corey Hertzog then put the Rowdies ahead 1-0 in the 50th minute and Juan Guerra secured all three points for Tampa Bay with an insurance goal in the 88th minute.
Tampa Bay’s win, paired with a 2-0 Fort Lauderdale Strikers loss to the Ottawa Fury FC on Saturday night, lifted the Rowdies back above Fort Lauderdale and into fourth place in the North American Soccer League Combined Standings, a position which would see them qualify for The Championship, the NASL’s four-team playoffs. Tampa Bay leads Fort Lauderdale by two points in the standings with seven games left.
The Rowdies started the match well, playing aggressive and confident football, but had two good goals waived off in the opening minutes of the match through inept officiating. First, after 4 minutes, Georgi Histrov (pictured above top) converted from a Darnell King cross on the right hand side and in the 10th minute Corey Hertzog (pictured above) had the ball in the net after a King shot rebounded off Scorpions keeper Daniel Fernandes but that was also ruled out for a mythical offside call.
“One of the phrases I used at halftime was strength and adversity,” Rowdies Head Coach Stuart Campbell (pictured above left) said. “We started the game as we liked, but we had two goals disallowed. It took the wind out of our sails, but we turned it around and dominated the game. Their goalkeeper made some very good saves and we’re happy to have taken all three points.”
With Campbell’s words echoing in their ears the Rowdies started the second half as they began the first. After a period of pressing forward they were rewarded with a bit of fortune that some might call a make up call by referee Robert Sibiga as he harshly penalised Zourab Tsiskaridze for handball. Hertzog (pictured above) duly converted the spot kick sending Scorpions keeper Fernandes the wrong way for his second goal of the season. San Antonio Head Coach Alen Marcina then abandoned his defensive five-defender formation in favor of putting more forwards onto the field as first Giuseppe Gentile entered the field and then Eric Hassli entered the fray. Immediately, the Scorpions looked more dangerous and from a team that should have been three or four down, they looked like a team that might snatch an undeserved draw.
The Rowdies were content to play a waiting game though and they had another goal correctly disallowed for offside when Brian Shriver tucked home a rebound from the goal post after a Marcelo Saragosa header. The deserved win was secured in the 88th minute with Guerra’s (pictured above) second goal of the season. Rowdies midfielder Darnell King took his defender on one-on-one before crossing to second-half substitute Darwin Espinal near the penalty spot. Espinal shot on target with his first touch, but Fernandes made a good save that rebound for Guerra to pounce on.
It was nothing more than the Rowdies deserved and after the game Guerra said, “It’s not easy when you score twice and they’re taken away. But this is what I love about our team. We have a lot of young players, but we’re very mature. We have guys that know how to manage their emotions well and that’s what we did. We stayed together, we waited for the spaces to open and when we had the opportunities to score, we did.”
Rowdies Head Coach Stuart Campbell added, “I’d have liked to have gotten the second goal a bit earlier, but the team likes to make my life difficult. We’re game by game right now. We’ll enjoy this result tonight, but then come in Monday morning ready to get to work and prepare for another tough game next weekend.”
Up next, the Rowdies head to Jacksonville to play their 2015 Coastal Cup finale against Jacksonville Armada FC on Saturday, August 26. Tampa Bay will next be home Saturday, September 30 for a midweek match against the Indy Eleven.
Lineups
Tampa Bay XI (4-4-2): GK Matt Pickens; D Rich Balchan, Tamika Mkandawire, Gale Agbossoumonde, Ben Sweat; M Darnell King, Juan Guerra, Marcelo Saragosa (c), Corey Hertzog (Darwin Espinal 88′); F Georgi Hristov, Brian Shriver (Richard Menjivar 78′)
San Antonio XI (5-4-1): GK Daniel Fernandes; D Milton Palacios, Nana Attakora, Adrian Cann (c) (Eric Hassli 75′), Zourab Tsiskaridze (Giuseppe Gentile 59′), Stephen DeRoux; M Marvin Chavez, Tyler Gibson (Josue Soto 87′), Rafael Castillo, Billy Forbes; F Omar Cummings
More photos at www.FloridaLeisurePhotography.com
