I last two road matches didn't yield the points to keep the Rowdies at the top of the standings. We find ourselves trailing the league leading Railhawks by three points and behind Atlanta and Minnesota by two. Both Carolina and Atlanta have a game in hand on us, so dare I say now, that tonight's match is a must win? Without full points tonight, we would need a lot of help to get back to the top. For those Shane Hill haters, we get to see how the club will do without him, since he and Arango have to sit due to suspensions. If Keith Savage can play like he did on Wednesday, then we should control the possession. Hristov needs to show up tonight and it will be interesting to see if we have Del do starting again, since Ambersley limped off the field in Portland
Not only is this game a MUST win our last 3 games are. Too many teams ahead of us not to take all 9 available. If it was just one then maybe, not but we got some major work to do.
And there you have it. The Rowdies are done in the Spring season. Never mind the horrible officiating, the Rowdies offense was nonexistent in the first half and they went into their typical panic mode in the second. I usually like Savage's play, but good God I hate it when he gets within twenty yards of the opponent's goal. He either has a clear shot on goal and passes it away or fires off a wild miss. The good news is I think I saw the best 15 or 20 minutes ever from Del Do which eventually led to his assist on the Cort goal. For much of the game, the Rowdies never made me think they would break through the Scorpions' defense. This is a common theme for them. Is it poor coaching or player selection? Maybe the fact that we have nothing but injured players to sub in shows a lack of depth that management hasn't given Hill the tools he needs? Oh, well. Maybe we will win at some point this season.
Frustrating night. Yes the official did not help them but overall TB was just not good enough. The pattern continues, mental lapses in D and the final third lacks of quality opportunities. Still need these 6 points as all points are needed in case the Spring Champion is also the Fall Champion.
I was at the game last night and brought my dad to his first Rowdies game. He enjoyed it even though he isn't really a soccer fan. He said the game was very entertaining and he was surprised how many people were at the game. Now for the game itself. Why the Rowdies kept going to the right wing and crossing the ball in the box with a striker that is 6 foot or less and two CB that were pushing 6ft4 or taller is beyond me. The crosses were nice but with the size of the two CB that SA had there was no way our striker was getting those headers. Only when we brought in Court did we threaten through the air. Also, I was impressed with how many people were at the game till I realized that a large amount of those people were kids that played in the halftime game and their parents, but nice crowd non the less.
The other thing I forgot to mention was that Sanfilippo has lost a few steps. I haven't seen him make those strong runs down the right flank to support the offense. He used to do that all the time and this season they are few in number and he looks lost going forward. Plus he has been burned a couple times in the back.