by JAKE NUTTING

The Road Warrior Approves

No one is under any delusions about the quality of the performance from either side last night. It was another frustrating night out for the attack and the clunky play from both sides was difficult to sit through at the times. The importance of the victory isn’t easily quantifiable, though, because it was more of a mental hurdle overcome for the Rowdies.

Last night’s closely-contested match was the first win the Rowdies have earned on the road in over a year. Their last three points away from Al Lang came in week one against San Antonio last year. After that the team remained competitive in most of their road matches, but they always came up short when trying to edge out the competition. Hopefully this win is a sign that this year’s squad is more capable of grinding out the results even when they’re failing to fire on all cylinders.*

Matt Pickens and his beard (who came up with a huge stop in each half to keep the Strikers off the board) admitted as much in his post-match comments.

“If we’re going to have any success this year, we’re going to need play like that from me. We’re going to have to grind results out on the road 1-nil like we just did. It’s a good character builder for our team early in the season and it’ll be one of those ones we look back at five or 10 games from now where we look back at and say, ‘Man, that was a turning point. We stuck our chests out and took the three points.'”

*Caveat to this hope. Fort Lauderdale is really bad. They’ve ascended past dumpster fire into landfill inferno territory. Teams who beat the Strikers should refrain from patting themselves on the back too vigorously.

That’s the Defense We Know and Love

While the attack suffered from the same frustrations, Tampa Bay’s defensive unit rebounded well from its worst outing against Carolina last week. They came up with 17 clearances, allowed only one successful cross from ten attempts, and held the Strikers to only three shots on goal in the entire match.

The momentary lapses that snake bit them last week were cut out. Pickens and his beard handled the only serious lapse of the match when Jose Angulo was left alone on the left side of the box in the 23rd minute.

The recovery speed of fullbacks Zac Portillos and Darnell King also played a factor, neutralizing any quick counter attempts from the Strikers. The superior pace that Portillos offers at left back can be a serious game changer for the Rowdies.

No Chill

Be honest. How many times did you check your phones during the match? You won’t be judged too harshly considering the unbelievable amount of times play was stopped by the referee’s whistle. 39 total fouls were conceded in the match, meaning on average there was a stoppage in play approximately every two minutes. It’s no wonder both teams failed to string together long stretches of possession.

I brought up the high volume of cautions the Rowdies were drawing as a troubling sign a few weeks ago, but after five games it’s an undeniable problem. Last night the Rowdies added 20 more fouls to their tally, bringing their grand total to 87 through only five matches. Everyone knows the level of refereeing at this level can be putrid, but at a certain point you have to learn to live with it like everyone else. The Rowdies are letting their emotions get the best of them, with cynical tackles and moaning to the referee at every turn. There’s a balance to strike here and the Rowdies haven’t found it yet.

With three yellow cards already, Darnell King and Juan Guerra are already two more away from being suspended for yellow card accumulation.

Collins Quickly Winning our Green & Gold Hearts

Neil Collins is without question the man of the match for me. The Scotsman was a fierce presence for the Rowdies at every stage, accounting for seven of the team’s 17 clearances out of danger.

Collins is consistently exploiting his height and physicality in a way the Rowdies back line has not seen in some time, winning 16 of his 27 aerial duels.

He hasn’t just noggin isn’t just for clearing the ball away, though. Collins’ aerial prowess has ldirectly contributed to the team’s last two goals. He provided the assist to Tam Mkandawire last week and finished one off himself to clinch the win this week.

You never want to rely on your center backs to be your biggest scorers, but having them come through for you in clutch moments when the attack is experiencing troubles is a common trait among many good teams. Tommy Heinemann had his worst outing of the season so far (18 touches, one shot off frame), but the team still prevailed thanks to Collins.

Rubbing it in

Let’s just take a moment to savor the dissapointment from the dozen Fort Lauderdale fans that were behind the net when Maicon Santos botched his penalty attempt.