ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (August 4, 2018) — The Tampa Bay Rowdies fell to a frustrating 2-0 defeat at the hands of Ottawa Fury FC on Friday night at TD Place.
Here’s Three Things from the match…
1. Conceding early
The Rowdies conceded a goal only 23 seconds into the match, derailing whatever plans they may have had for the match. Ottawa’s Tony Taylor took a speculative shot from the corner of the box and it slipped through the hands of Cody Mizell for an early shock to the Rowdies’ system.
In last week’s match against New York, Tampa Bay conceded a goal in the second minute, but immediately rallied to take a 2-1 lead by the ninth minute. This week, they couldn’t replicate that success.
Conceding that early in a match is never ideal, but it’s particularly harmful in Ottawa and against the Fury FC. Ottawa tends to sit deep and defend with all 11 eleven players waiting to spring a counterattack even when the score is tied, but with an early lead, there was even less pressure to be ready to counter. This season, Ottawa has now won 11 out of 14 games in which it has scored first.
As expected, the Rowdies had plenty of the ball (68 percent) and did plenty with it (the Rowdies completed 557 passes compared to 258 for Ottawa), but couldn’t find enough ways to break through Ottawa’s compact defensive block. Tampa Bay managed only two shots on target, compared to six for the Fury FC.
2. Coach Cole
With Neill Collins serving a one-match touchline ban following his dismissal last week, Rowdies midfielder/assistant coach Joe Cole served as Acting Head Coach for the night. It was Cole’s first time taking charge from the bench.
Perhaps due to the newness of the situation, Cole wore cleats to coach the match. He’ll be back on the field this coming week when the Rowdies host a pair of games against the Charleston Battery and North Carolina FC on Wednesday and Saturday night, respectively.
3. The playoff picture
The Rowdies are in the thick of a fight in and around the playoff positions, even after Saturday night’s defeat in Ottawa.
As of Saturday morning, the Rowdies sit four points outside the current playoff field, but the table is extremely tight. The difference between sixth place Indy Eleven and 13th place Penn FC is only five points, meaning there are eight teams within touching distance of the last three playoff spots. New York is in fifth place on 35 points, but every team in the East has multiple games in hand over New York, so their place is far from safe.
About 10 weeks remain before the regular season ends October 14 and it figures to be a wild ride all the way to the end.
