The Tampa Bay Rowdies extended its unbeaten streak to eight games on Saturday night, grabbing a 3-2 victory over the Carolina RailHawks on an own goal in the 90th minute.
The win is the Rowdies’ first in over a month, as the team walked away with ties in each of their last four matches.
It appeared Tampa Bay would have the same result Saturday against Carolina, until a critical error in the final minute of the game by RailHawks defender Paul Hamilton gave the Rowdies a long awaited win.
“We deserved a bit of luck; we haven’t had a lot of it in recent times,” Rowdies head coach Ricky Hill said. “It is great for the fans and it is a morale boost for our players. We created chances and luckily we were able to get the three points.”
Tampa Bay looked like a team that was determined to win rather than draw from the moment they stepped on the field. The Rowdies pressured the RailHawks early and had the first scoring chance of the match by forward Etienne Barbara, but would eventually concede the first goal to Carolina midfielder Tiyiselani Shipalane in the 34th minute.
The Rowdies have given up the first goal of the game in three of its last five matches. Attacker Etienne Barbara slotted a pass to Evans Frimpong, who then powered the ball past RailHawks goalkeeper Akira Fitzgerald in the 42nd minute.
“I got a glimpse behind me and there was nobody there so I kept it, and I saw Evans come in so I just went for the cross,” Barbara said as he discussed the first goal setup. “I didn’t have time to shoot, so I just put the ball in the box and thank God Evans was there.”
After a rain delay following halftime that could have potentially caused the Rowdies’ momentum to fade, Barbara made sure his squad stayed on the right track as he assisted Georgi Hristov in giving Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead at the 60-minute mark.
The Rowdies’ defense appeared to struggle in finding their footing during the second half, as they were unable to defend the one-goal lead for longer than four minutes. Carolina midfielder Enzo Agustin Martinez found the equalizer in the 64th minute off a shot that Rowdies keeper Diego Restrepo couldn’t stop.
Lucky Mkosana, who made his Rowdies debut, took a shot from the right flank that was deflected off of Hamilton and into the net.
Tampa Bay is now in first place in the NASL standings. Carolina and Fort Lauderdale are tied for the top spot but their plus-4 goal differential puts them on top.
“I’m delighted tonight for the players, for their confidence and for the effort they put in so that we managed to be on the right side of the result,” Hill said. “We’re not looking at the table, we’re taking it one game as it comes. It’s just nice to get a win.”
