ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (July 8, 2018) — The Tampa Bay Rowdies fell to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of the defending USL Cup champions Louisville City FC on Saturday night at Al Lang. It was only the Rowdies’ third regulation loss at home in the last two seasons.
1. The halfway point
Last night’s match was the Rowdies’ 17th of the regular, marking the official halfway point of the USL schedule. The first half was tumultuous, with a coaching change and a handful of starters going down with long-term injuries or retiring and the Rowdies didn’t cope with adversity as well as they had probably hoped. Tampa Bay has posted a record of 6-7-4 (W-L-T) to this point in the season and sits three points outside the playoff positions.
The good news, though, is that the second half figures to be much smoother as Neill Collins continues to grow into his new role as head coach after an extremely short transition period. The Rowdies have strengthened their roster in the last few weeks with the additions of Dominic Oduro, Afrim Taku, Poku and Stefano Bonomo.
With departures and absences from the squad, as well as being on short rest after Wednesday night’s match, only two players in the Rowdies’ starting lineup against Louisville started for the Rowdies on opening day of this season. Cody Mizell (bench), David Najem (injured), Neill Collins (coach), Zac Portillos (injured), Joe Cole (bench), Jack Blake (away on loan), Marcel Schäfer (retired), Georgi Hristov (bench) and Leo Fernandes (bench) were all opening day starters that were absent from the lineup last night.
Still, there’s plenty of reason for optimism as the roster continues to come together in the coming weeks. The playoffs are within easy touching distance, but even first place isn’t truly out of reach yet. The Rowdies trail FC Cincinnati by 13 points with 17 games remaining. If the Rowdies beat Cincinnati next week, the gap reduces to 10 points and the Rowdies will still have a game in hand over Cincinnati.
2. Oduro’s impact
Dominic Oduro has made an instant impact on the Rowdies since joining the club June 20. He arrived with a lower profile than some of the other players to sign for the Rowdies, having previously played for the FC Golden State Force in the USL PDL, but the 23-year old midfielder has more than proved his worth in his short time with the club.
In his three matches with the Rowdies, Oduro is yet to lose a tackle (7-for-7), has four clearances and three interceptions and he has completed 90.6 percent of his passes, with only 10 percent of his passes go backward. In addition, he has already tallied a goal and an assist. The goal was a bomb from distance in Charlotte to tie the match in the 90th minute.
3. Help is on the way
Collins asserted after the match in his postgame press conference that more signings are potentially on the way.
“Hopefully by next week and the following week, we’ll have more additions and we can start making the changes we want and having more competition for places,” Collins said. “Obviously, in the attacking positions we do, other positions we don’t.”
Tampa Bay opened the season with eight defenders on the roster, but has only had four available for the last two months, with David Najem, Zac Portillos and Kyle Curing all unavailable due to injury, plus Neill Collins coaching.
In addition to any potential defensive signings, the Rowdies should have midfielder Kwadwo Poku ready for next weekend’s match in Cincinnati. Poku signed with Tampa Bay on June 26, but he is ineligible to play until after the transfer window opens this coming Tuesday, July 10.
