Story by Trevon Purdie
The Orlando City SC Lions defeated I-4 rivals Tampa Bay Rowdies 3-0 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. The Lions are undefeated (4-0) against the Rowdies.
Although Orlando City won the game, club manager Adrian Heath was not happy with the Lion's desire and attitude throughout the game."I thought we were awful from minute one to minute 90,” said Heath after the game. “I thought our counter attacking play was very, very good, but as a group I think it’s probably the worst we’ve played for a long long time.”
Both teams had quality chances to score early in the game with midfielder Brian Span and Dennis Chin leading the way for the Lions early in the game. It wasn't till the 28 minute mark, when Adama Mdengue scored the games first goal on a Span assist.
“The first half could’ve easily been 4-4 because none of our players wanted to do the dirty work,” added Heath. “None of our players wanted to get back and make the tackle that was needed, and I won’t stand for that.”
Span would help his teammates score again on the 44th minute. Span blew past his defender and Tampa Bay Goalkeeper Ryan Thompson saved the ball, but Forward Dennis Chin was there to give the Lions a 2-0 lead into the break.
In the second half of play, Tampa Bay was aggressive in their search to find a goal, but Orlando City's defense proved to be too much for the Rowdie's. Brian Span would score the Lion's final goal two minutes into stoppage time.
Although this game didn't effect the USL Pro standings, the Lions were not happy about their teams performance.“We won, we won convincingly in the end, but we made a lot of silly, silly mistakes and just didn’t play the way we expected ourselves to play.” said Chin after the game.
Orlando City plays their next USL Pro match at home against OKC Energythis Sunday, May 4. The game is set to start at 7:30 p.m.