Okay, let’s get the score out of the way. The Tampa Bay Rowdies came to town and beat Ottawa Fury FC 2-0 in North American Soccer League action on a beautiful Saturday night at TD Place.

I’m kind of a newbie to this professional soccer thing, so we’ll start this with a couple of observations.

I love the drums and the flag waving and the enthusiasm and the chanting. “OF-FC ... OF-FC” ... great fan support, with 4,206 on hand for the game.

I’m not so sure about the referees doing their little synchronized stretch/bunny hop/Riverdance just prior to the start of the game.

Fury FC had its chances early. At the 11:40 mark of the first half, Tony Donatelli had a great opportunity, then Tom Heinemann just failed to click on a pass in close.

In the first half, Rowdies forward Brian Shriver found the mesh to make it 1-0. In the 41st minute, Darel Russell found the top shelf with a laser beam to make it 2-0.

That sealed the fate for Fury FC, which just didn’t have enough in the tank.

“I think (Tampa Bay) was better, especially in the first half,” said Fury FC coach Marc Dos Santos. “They won every second ball. We weren’t aggressive enough in certain moments.”

Fury FC went into the game with their back-end strength depleted. Mason Trafford was the only defender in the lineup who had started the fall season.

Drew Beckie is injured, Ryan Richter was returned to Toronto FC and Maykon returned home to Brazil.

“We need stability,” said Dos Santos. “It seems like everything happens to us. Because we’re an expansion team, we need everybody healthy to play. We don’t want to use that as an excuse, but it’s there.”

In the second half, Heinemann had a golden opportunity, but his shot went into the arms of Rowdies keeper Matt Pickens. Fury FC found the net a bit later, but the play was offside. In the 81st minute, Oliver blasted a shot that forced Pickens to make a timely stop. In the 84th minute, Philippe Davies was ejected.

Heinemann said the players are appreciative of the support they’re getting.

“We feel the support from the top to the last minute,” he said. “You don’t see many fans, with their team down 2-0, still behind them. (We want to win), we owe them that.”

Fury FC will host Carolina Sept. 7.

Twitter: @timcbaines