For the time being, at least, the Tampa Bay Rowdies are the fourth-place team of the NASL, a spot which would qualify the team for the post-season.
The Rowdies earned a point Saturday night with a comeback draw against the first-place Ottawa Fury despite having only 10 men on the field at the time of the equalizer.
“We wanted the three points, but even at halftime when we were 1-nil down, I believed that if we raised our level and raised our intensity that we were more than capable of getting a result,” Rowdies Head Coach Stuart Campbell said. “At halftime, I said no matter what happens in the second half, give me every ounce of energy you’ve got—do it for yourselves, do it for the fans and do it for the club. We were down to 10 men for about 15 minutes and you’d never have known it.”
Tampa Bay had entered the game in a three-way tie for fourth place with Fort Lauderdale and Edmonton. And while the draw wasn’t exactly according to the Rowdies’ script, it was enough to pass the other teams. Fort Lauderdale lost to Minnesota, 2-1. Edmonton plays today against third-place (second in the Combined Standings) New York Cosmos.
Edmonton took a 1-0 lead in the 42nd minute on a goal by Tom Heinemann, a lead that seemed to be destined to stand up. Not only are the Rowdies the next-to-last scoring team of the Fall Season, they went down to 10 men when defender Darnell King was sent off with his second yellow card.
It didn’t matter. In the 88th minute, Freddie Adu lofted a pass toward the goal, and a sliding Brian Shriver poked it home for the tying goal.
“We wanted three points, but at the same time, any points at this point in the season is going to help us to our goal of making the playoffs,” Shriver said. “We live to fight another day and we’ve got a humungous road game next weekend and we have to focus on that now.
“I saw Freddy get the ball at the top of the box and we were trying to get in behind the defense, so I made a run,” Shriver said. “He saw my run and played a fantastic ball for me. It was a ball I had to do something with and I was able to get my first touch on it and put it on goal and past the goalkeeper. It was a great ball and a great feeling to tie the game.”
The Rowdies travel to Atlanta Saturday to play the Silverbacks. They play their final home game on the 24th against Carolina.
