Tampa Bay Rowdies continue losing streak with 3-1 home defeat to Minnesota
Tampa Bay Rowdies continued their losing streak under interim Head Coach Stuart Campbell (pictured above) as they suffered a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Minnesota in St. Petersburg this evening.
Fresh from the shock news of the departure of Head Coach Thomas Rongen late on Thursday evening, Rowdies fans came into the game hoping for a change of fortune after just one win in their last seven games. The Rowdies delighted the vast majority of the 5,059 fans at the game when they took a 28th minute lead with Juan Guerra’s (pictured above) first goal for the club after good work from Georgi Hristov to set him free just inside the box.
The joy was to be short lived though as Minnesota equalized through a well worked Ibson (pictured above) goal in the 36th minute. After some neat play Kalif Alhassan set Ibson free on the right side of the Rowdies box and he made no mistake firing home past Matt Pickens in the Tampa goal.
After the break, the Rowdies had some good possession but were twice caught on the break by Minnesota and were punished by goals by Justin Davis (pictured above) in the 65th minute and Daniel Mendes (pictured below) in the 90th.
The result sees Tampa Bay fall three points behind Minnesota, but remain in fourth place in the NASL Combined Standings with 26 points.
“I feel a bit unfortunate and disappointed that we got caught by two counterattacks in the second half,” Rowdies Head Coach Stuart Campbell (pictured above shaking hands with Bill Edwards – Tampa Bay Rowdies Chairman & CEO) said. “It’s something we spoke about before the game and at halftime. We know Minnesota are very quick on the counter and they caught us twice.”
Overall, Campbell was pleased with the team in his first match in charge. “I can’t fault the guys’ effort and commitment,” Campbell said. “It was great. We played some pretty decent stuff and we created enough opportunities to win the game, but it wasn’t our night tonight. I’d have liked to see us move the ball a little bit quicker, but I understand it’s our third game in (eight days,) so I’ll accept that they had heavy legs. If we got outplayed and lost, I’d be the first one to hold my hands up, but tonight, it’s a gutting feeling.”
Lineups
Rowdies (4-4-2): GK Matt Pickens; D Darnell King, Tamika Mkandawire, Stefan Antonijevic, Ben Sweat; M Brian Shriver, Juan Guerra, Marcelo Saragosa (c) (Richard Menjivar 79′), Darwin Espinal (Martin Nuñez 67′); F Georgi Hristov, Maicon Santos (Corey Hertzog 59′)
Minnesota (4-1-4-1): GK Mitch Hildebrandt; D Kevin Venegas, Tiago Calvano, Aaron Pitchkolan (c), Justin Davis; M Juliano Vicentini; M Kalif Alhassan (Daniel Mendes 69′), Ibson, Greg Jordan (JC Banks 89′), Yago (Andrei Gotsmanov 75′); F Christian Ramirez
More photos at www.FloridaLeisurePhotography.com
