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FC Tampa Bay Rowdies Fall 1-0 To Rochester Rhinos

One momentary lapse in focus hurt the FC Tampa Bay Rowdies on Thursday night as the visiting Rochester Rhinos picked up a 1-0 win at George M. Steinbrenner Field.  The Rowdies seemed to be heading towards a second consecutive scoreless draw, when Isaac Kissi scored a 91^st minute winner for the visitors.

“It’s just the way our luck’s going at the moment.  Just a big mistake in the last minutes of the game and we’re beaten,” said Head Coach Paul Dalglish.  “There’s nothing we can do about it now.  We’ve got to dust ourselves off, pick our heads up and get ready for Sunday."

Jonny Steele made his Rowdies debut and played all 90 minutes for FC Tampa Bay just two days after he was traded from the Vancouver Whitecaps.  Steele recorded three shots in his first start since July 8^th.  He nearly picked up the game-tying assist in the 93^rd minute after his corner kick found Jeremy Christie on the far post.  Christie headed just wide of the target.

“It’s a tough way to lose, but they’re one of the top teams in the league and we had chances to beat them.  I don’t think Paul (Dalglish) and Perry (Van Der Beck) will let us drop our heads after this game,” said Steele.  “I came here not knowing much about the team, but I’m happy with the way we played tonight and we’re just going to get better and better.”

Even with the addition of Steele, the team was still short a number of regular starters tonight.  Gordon Kljestan, Erik Ustruck, Yendry Diaz, Aaron Wheeler and Scott Buete were all unavailable for the match.  Christie was limited to the final 25 minutes because of a nagging groin injury. 

Stanley Nyazamba picked up his fifth yellow card of the season, which will rule him out of the Miami FC game on Sunday with a one-game suspension.  That loss could be offset by the arrival of Ricardo Sanchez from Vancouver, the other player picked up in the Steele trade.

Long Tan and Kwame “JJ” Adjeman-Pamboe each had scoring chances in the second half.  Twice Tan picked up the ball and shot from outside the box but both shots sailed over the crossbar.  Adjeman-Pamboe was the beneficiary of a flick-on from a Steele corner kick but put his header just wide of Rhinos goalkeeper Scott Vallow’s right-hand post.

“Hopefully by Sunday we’ll have Yendry (Diaz) back, we’ll have Ricardo (Sanchez) in and Jeremy (Christie) back to start the game and we’ll look much more like the team we want to go into games with,” said Dalglish.  “But tonight is just devastating.  They looked like they were going to settle for a point but then there was one mistake and then it was game over.  It’s just heartbreaking.”

It’s a quick turnaround for the Rowdies before they’ll be back on the field for a 4 p.m. kickoff against Miami FC on Sunday afternoon.  The match will be the third of four games in the Coastal Cup rivalry series between the teams.  Tickets for that game are available by calling (888) 75-ROWDIES or by visiting www.fctampabay.com.

FC Tampa Bay Rowdies Lineup: GK Daryl Sattler, D Rob Valentino (81' - Mozzi  Gyorio), D Graham Tatters, D Julian Valentin, M Kwame Adjeman-Pamboe (73' - Aaron King), M Pascal Millien (73' - Andre Akpan), D Joe Donoho, F Long Tan, M Jonathan Steele, M Stanley Nyazamba (65' - Jeremy Christie), D Takuya Yamada.

Rochester Rhinos Lineup: D Tyler Bellamy, D Aaron Pitchkolan, M Felix Motagalvan (73' - Nano Short), F Anthony Hamilton (56' - Andrew Hoxie), M Jamie Franks (75' - Ian Bennett), F Darren Spicer (83' Isaac Kissi), M Ryan Heins (46' - Tyler Rosenlund), D Troy Roberts, D Frankie Sanfilippo, GK Scott Vallow, D Jonathan Greenfield.

Goal Summary:

ROC - Isaac Kissi - 90'+1 (Assisted by Andrew Hoxie)

Misconduct Summary:

ROC - Aaron Pitchkolan - 17' (yellow)

TAM - Stanley Nyazamba - 43' (yellow)

TAM - Graham Tatters - 48' (yellow)

ROC - Tyler Bellamy - 90' (yellow)