By JAKE NUTTING

Tampa Bay Rowdies supporters have been waiting 48 days to see their team win a match. With that in mind, the two-hour lightning delay they had to endure to see the Rowdies claim a 2-0 victory over FC Cincinnati at Al Lang Stadium shortly before Thursday became Friday was nothing.

“We love playing in this stadium in front of these fans,” Rowdies Coach Stuart Campbell said. “Once again tonight, they were great. … We know that when we’re at home and we’re on our game, we’re tough to beat.”

Fresh off the sting of a loss to the first-place Charleston Battery over the weekend, Campbell altered the formation to a 4-3-3 in an effort to kickstart the attack after going scoreless in their previous two matches. Georgi Hristov, Martin Paterson and Alex Morrell were all tasked with providing the offensive spark as the front three. The youngest of the trio, Morrell, did not disappoint.

After an early scare in which a clearance from Darnell King deflected off Kadeem Dacres and required a clutch save by Matt Pickens, Morrell and the Rowdies took hold of the match.

At the half hour mark, Morrell burst through a crowd of defenders with a sprint to his left at the top of the box and fired a shot that got by keeper Mitch Hildebrandt but clanged of the left post. The rebound filtered out to Joe Cole, who got a shot off that comfortably sailed to Hildebrandt.

Just nine minutes later, Morrell was back at it again with another outstanding individual effort. The Lakeland native initially cut inside just outside Cincinnati’s box, but he then sliced back outside and brought the ball all the way to the endline before delivering a perfect low cross to an unmarked Paterson at the near post for an emphatic finish to end the scoring drought.

Surging from the high of that opening goal, Morrell produced a sensational 55-yard run down the field to set up the second in the 44th minute. Morrell played through a tough challenge near the halfway line to keep the counter attack going and then juked the pair of last defenders to earn a shot and force Hildebrandt into a save. The keeper could only push the ball into the center of the box, where Cole swooped in to clean up the rebound and double the lead.

“The coaches tell me to (take on my man one-on-one),” Morrell said. “It’s very important for me personally and for the team. We needed a little spark and I believe I brought what I could to the table and gave everything I could. I won’t sit here and soak in it because we’ve got more games coming up and we’ve got to get to the top of the table.”

Moments after Cole’s strike, a flash of lightning sent the teams into the locker rooms before the halftime whistle. It took nearly two hours for play to resume so they could close out the last three minutes of the first half and then immediately kick off the second half.

Pickens was on point straight out of the extended break. Minutes after being inserted into the match, forward Djiby Fall guided a header off a free kick delivery on frame. As the header was on its way toward the far post, Pickens dove through the air to punch the ball out of danger.

Tampa Bay’s defense held firm for most of the second half as the visitors pushed to get back in the match. Along with Djiby, Cincinatti brought on Jimmy McLaughlin to break through the defense, which was mostly only limiting the visitors to shots from well outside the box.

Djiby and McLaughlin did combine well to create one dangerous chance in the 83rd minute. With a nice pass into space from Djiby, McLaughlin slipped by King on the right side of the defense, but the Rowdies were let of the hook as the attacker’s low strike to the far post missed by inches.

Pickens was called on one more time to preserve the shutout. As stoppage time neared, Djiby powered a header toward the near post where Pickens swatted it down and center back Neill Collins helped out with a clearance out of the area. Pickens’ five total saves on the night helped the Rowdies record their first shutout since the May 13 win over Louisville City.

The Rowdies return to action next Thursday with a trip across I-4 to take on Orlando City B. Orlando sits tenth in the Eastern Conference, seven points behind the Rowdies in third place.