A 3-1 halftime lead looked like with would be enough on Saturday night at Al Lang Field. But as quickly as they had gained it, the Tampa Bay Rowdies gave it right back to the Atlanta Silverbacks who scored three times in the second half to win 4-3.
Luke Mulholland scored twice for the Rowdies. Newcomer Evans Frimpong scored the other Rowdie goal in the loss. For Atlanta, forwards Pedro Mendes and Ruben Luna each scored twice in the come-from-behind win.
The night started out like so many other sporting events across North America. The crowd at Al Lang paused for a moment of silence to remember the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings. A set of red, white and blue balloons were released along with a pair in the same yellow and blue of the Boston Strong ribbons.
Tampa Bay put their first tally on the board in the ninth minute. An Amani Walker cross found it’s way to Luke Mulholland who knocked it down before finding the eventual goal scorer Evans Frimpong. Walker had all the time to set up his cross as the Silverbacks defense was unable to challenge him.
Atlanta would rely on long lead passes to set up their chances. The Silverbacks would dump the ball down to a corner and a forward would sprint after it. This allowed the Silverbacks to set up their two best chances in the first half.
Atlanta’s scoring opportunities in the first half were sparse but were quality attempts. A corner went straight through the box for their first try. The Silverbacks would go long stretches not being able to sustain any pressure in the Rowdies’ end of the field.
Another long through pass allowed the Silverbacks to set up another cross like the one on their first goal. The original try was punched out by Fontein but a second sailed just wide of left post, nearly tying the match in the 32nd minute.
The tie wouldn’t last as Mulholland put a strike past Atlanta goalkeeper Joe Nasco. The tie only lasted for one minute. Up to that point all four of the Rowdies’ goals had been scored by a different player.
A bad no call by the officials stopped a Rowdies’ scoring chance. Georgi Hristov was breaking down the left side of the field when he was shoved from behind and fell over forwards. The play was allowed to continue the other way to the audible disagreement of Ralph’s Mob.
A moment later the official made a, possibly make-up, call giving Mulholland another free kick. Instead of finding a team mate in the box the midfielder bent the ball and beat Nasco for his second goal of the match.
Tampa Bay’s three goal first half was their best offensive output for one half during the short Spring Season and made it their highest scoring game of the season. Not only did the Rowdies dominate on the scoreboard but the majority of play was in the Atlanta end of the field.
Atlanta built on the later part of the first half to stage their second half comeback. They managed to have longer possessions in the Rowdies’ end towards the end of the first forty-five minutes.
Atlanta made the match a one goal game moments after Rowdies’ goalkeeper Fontein had to scramble to find a loose ball near the goal. A long shot from Pedro Mendes froze Fontein and the ball went over his head and into the goal to make it 3-2 Tampa Bay.
After the goal, the Silverbacks’ fans who were in attendance drew the attention of the St. Petersburg police after they lit a road flare in celebration of the goal. The police confiscated the flare, put it out and none of the supporters were removed from Al Lang.
Atlanta tied the game 3-3 when Luna touched the ball past Fontein on another long lead pass. Fontein collided with Needham on the play as the ball trickled into the goal. The flurry of Atlanta goals continued when a lax Tampa Bay defense allowed the Silverbacks’ Mendes to make an uncontested shot from the top of the box that found the back of the net making it 4-3 Atlanta.
