If we slip up again here, we could be on the outside looking in for a top two finish and a first round bye in the playoffs.
Wow. Appears that the air has been let out of the Rowdies' tires as of late. No goals. No one commenting. No nothing. Lack of excitement in general. Got to wonder what the management is thinking exactly. I know they haven't done much to this point, but I do give them credit for putting a competitive side together. Just wish they could market it, too. As far as the play on the field, three games without scoring a goal pretty sums up the rut they are in. Or maybe choking on three straight penalty kicks tells the story. At least in this match they had some chances. Hit the post. Near misses. As always, good possession, but can't finish. We contained the Islanders pretty well, but they were also resting several starters on offense. The pleasant surprise was Raphael Cox. He showed promise with speed and a flair for attack. The front three have plenty of skill and speed but in a league like the NASL, without a big man up front, you are going to get pushed around. Antoniuk must be in the doghouse now, because he sat the match while the shrimp brigade struggled against the Islanders' defense. We won a ton of corners, but they were a waste without any sort of height up top. Cort barely got a run out and didn't really get a chance to seem him play. I reckon Hill uses him like he did Antoniuk, to spark the offense in the second half. Hopefully, the Rowdies can shake this scoring slump off soon. With five matches left, the Islanders have a slightly easier schedule with an extra home match than the Rowdies. Puerto Rico, however, has two CONCACAF Champions League matches to squeeze in before the end of the regular season, so if they have trouble juggling both competitions we could sneak past them for that first round bye.
That is two from him. At least he didn't kick it right at the keeper like last time. It wasn't the best taken kick, but the keeper did well to save it. I watched the archived feed to check a few things, but was really annoyed with Hill's after game interview. He was asked about the missed PK and he just kind of smiled and said that is going to happen. Not upset at all that it cost us the three points. He likes his favorites and nothing on the field is going to change his mind.
I liked Evans Frimpong play Saturday night. He played with a lot of heart and was all over the field. Luke Mullholland and Fafa Picault also played well. If Mullholland's blast off of the crossbar would of been about six inches lower,we would of won the game.
No doubt, we outplayed the Islanders. However, we have no Killer Instinct at top! If they had kept their shots and crosses low, we'd be a much happier bunch right now!
Agreed. My wife was commenting to me during the match that,why don't the Rowdies take more shots from outside the box. It seems to her that,they try to dribble into the penalty area and then shoot.
It's because all their forwards can't see over the defense to find the goal. They have to dribble past to get a look.