BIRMINGHAM, AL (September 11, 2024) – The Tampa Bay Rowdies fell 2-0 to Birmingham Legion FC Wednesday night at Protective Stadium. The defeat is the second straight road loss for the Rowdies, who remain third in the Eastern Conference standings heading into the weekend.
Rowdies Assistant Coach Nicky Law served as acting head coach for the match while Head Coach Robbie Neilson served a one game suspension for his red card in Tampa Bay’s last match.
“Give [Birmingham] credit, They were clinical and we were not,” said Law. “In the second half in particular, we were poor. At the minute, it seems when we concede and things kind of go against us we unfortunately, for whatever reason, lose our confidence and wilt a little bit.”
Tampa Bay looked on the verge of scoring several times throughout the first 45 minutes as they earned 8 corner kicks and directed five shots on target. Ryan Spaulding registered the first shot on target of the night in the 14th minute, pouncing on a loose ball in the box with a left-footed strike to the bottom left corner that Birmingham keeper Matt Van Oekel managed to parry away with a diving stop.
The Rowdies aimed for the same bottom left corner in the 21st only to be thwarted again. This time it was midfielder Blake Bodily, collecting a rebound at the top of the box for a rocketed effort that was saved by Van Oekel.
Birmingham turned the tide in the 36th minute with their first tally of the night. With a quick passing exchange down the right flank, the home side penetrated Tampa Bay’s defensive lines and threaded a cross for Stefano Pinho to bury with a one-timed effort off of the crossbar.
“The six goals we’ve given up in the last two games, it comes down to desire,” said Law. “It’s the basics of football. Yes, confidence is low, but that shouldn’t stop you from doing the basics of football. Compete and work harder than the guy you’re going up against. If we can get back to that, then things will turn quickly for us.”
Scoring chances were harder to come by for the Rowdies in the second half. Attacker Damian Rivera had Tampa Bay’s best look at goal of the night when teammate Ben Bender lofted a pass over the back line to spring Rivera into the box. Rivera took one touch forward and with his second touch blasted a shot past Van Oekel that clipped the crossbar to stay out of the net.
As the Rowdies continued to push forward for an equalizer, Birmingham found a late goal to seal the result in the 86th minute. With time and space outside of the box, Kobe Hernandez-Foster fired a low strike past Rowdies keeper Jordan Farr.
Next up for the Rowdies is a home matchup against Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC this Saturday at Al Lang Stadium at 7:30 p.m. ET.
“We have seven games to put it right.,” said Law. “We have as tough a game as we can this Saturday. I think we’re actually looking forward to it, to see what kind of reaction we can get. Against Pittsburgh, you’re gonna have to fight. You’re gonna have to do the basics. If you don’t, they’ll run all over you and make it difficult. We have to come with the right attitude at the weekend.”
Scoring Summary
BHM – Pinho (Dodson), 36’
BHM – Hernandez-Foster (McCartney), 86’
Caution Summary
BHM – Hernandez-Foster, Yellow Card, 13’
BHM – Pinho, Yellow Card, 32’
BHM – Nyarko, Yellow Card, 43’
BHM – Dodson, Yellow Card, 48’
TBR – Kleemann, Yellow Card, 55’
BHM – Nwegbo, Yellow Card, 58’
TBR – Crisostomo, Yellow Card, 71’
Lineups
Rowdies: Farr, Niyongabire, Kleemann (Crisostomo, 62’), Guilllen (Munjoma, 86’), Bodily, Doherty, HIlton (Worth, 63’), Bender, Rivera (Fernanes, 62’), Spaulding, Arteaga (Jennings, 62’)
Rowdies Bench: Breno, Munjoma, Crisostomo, Worth, Perez, Fernandes, Jennings
Birmingham: Van Oekel, Dodson, Paterson, Crognale, Nyarko, Hernandez-Foster, Nwegbo (Zouhir), Martinez, McCartney, Pasher (Preston, 46’), Pinho (Rufe, 70’)
Birmingham Bench: Spangenberg, Rufe, Hamouda, Calloway, Corcoran, Perez, Zouhir, Kassim, Preston
