The Oakland Roots’ recent struggles continued on a brutal Saturday in West Central Florida. Cal Jennings scored all the goals in the Tampa Bay Rowdies’ 3-0 win over the Roots on a muggy night at Al Lang Stadium.
The Rowdies went into the match with extra motivation. Not only did they have a chance to move into first place in the Eastern Conference with a win, but this was Coach Neill Collins’ final match before leaving to coach Barnsley FC of English Football League One.
Tampa Takes Charge in First Half
It only took 8 minutes for Jennings to put the home side in the lead with a perfect finish from close range. The play began with former Roots’ midfielder Charlie Dennis holding the ball for a moment to draw in Kevin Wright, then feeding it to Sebastian Dalgaard. The Danish winger dribbled it into the penalty area and sent a small cross over to Jennings perched at the near post; Jennings slotted it in between the legs of goalkeeper Paul Blanchette.
The Roots had a few chances after Jennings’ goal. The first came a little over a minute later with a shot from Lindo Mfeka from distance, but it went straight into the arms of goalkeeper Connor Sparrow.
Trayvone Reid made his first start for the Roots and his best moment came in the 16th minute, when he made a run along the end line, then found Darek Formella at the top of the penalty area. Formella trapped the ball well, but didn’t hit it cleanly and his shot went wide.
In the 18th minute, Mfeka lost his shoe, but still got a shot off from outside the penalty area that made for an easy save by Sparrow.
A hydration break in the 33rd minute seemed to reinvigorate the home side. Jennings had another scoring chance in the 35th minute, on a header after a cross by Jake Areman. Blanchette tapped the ball over the crossbar for safety.
Tampa Bay came close again in the 38th minute, but Oakland defender Danny Barbir saved a certain goal by deflecting Jerome Williams’ cross off the goal line, denying Jennings the chance for a tap-in.
But the Rowdies could not be stopped and they added the second goal on a brilliant individual effort by Jennings three minutes later. Williams fed him the ball near midfield and Jennings did the rest, dribbling the ball into the penalty area and blasting a shot that skidded off the turf and settled inside the far post.
Jennings nearly scored another in first half stoppage time, with a wicked blast from distance that Blanchette punched away.
A Few Signs of Hope in the Second Half
Jennings earned his hat trick in the 58th minute. Dennis dished the ball to Dalgaard on the right side. Dalgaard cut back, then went to his right, and sent in a cross that Jennings redirected into the net.
Oakland’s Wolfgang Prentice had a couple of decent chances, but his shot in the 60th minute went right to Sparrow. In the 68th minute, Prentice got behind the Tampa backline, but Sparrow rushed out and batted the ball away with his hand.
Formella had another chance in the 79th minute, blasting a shot from close range on a nice feed from Anuar Peláez, but Sparrow got his hands up quickly to bat it away.
The host side maintained their three goal margin until the final whistle, as the home fans celebrated the five-year tenure of their departing coach.
Tamacas and Hackshaw Return
Both Bryan Tamacas and Neveal Hackshaw came on as substitutes for the Roots in the second half, returning from national team duty in the Gold Cup. Tamacas entered the match in the 62nd minute, Hackshaw in the 82nd.
