ST. PETERSBURG – The Tampa Bay Rowdies extended their lead in its USL Championship group following a 2-0 win over Charleston Battery at Al Lang Stadium on Friday night.
The opening stages were tense and tight, but the Rowdies opener came in the 40th minute when Sebastian Guenzatti put it away. Jordan Doherty sent a perfect through ball for his captain, which allowed Guenzatti to beat his man and score with a deflection.
All chances of a Charleston comeback took a hit in the 81st minute when Jared van Schaik earned his second yellow card for a handball.
When it looked like Tampa Bay was going to manage a 1-0 win the second came with two minutes to play. Malik Johnson made a significant impact on his return from injury, putting away a goal to seal the result.
Despite the win the Rowdies manager, Neil Collins wanted more.
“I thought the performance probably didn’t deserve a clean sheet, I think we could have easily scored more goals.”
Tampa Bay Rowdies Head Coach Neil Collins
The first half was riddled with fouls, both teams working hard to prevent their opponents from getting any free play in the match. It was evident that this was still an early-season match for both sides.
With the win, the Rowdies are now five points clear of Charleston in second place on top of the group and looking good ahead of the first Floridian derby of the season on Friday.
(Photo: Dominic Oduro)
Florida Soccer Report 
One thought on “Captain Guenzatti Leads Rowdies Past Battery”