Richmond 1, Tampa Bay 1

RICHMOND, VA – (Saturday, June 17, 2017) – The Richmond Kickers (2-7-5) found the back of the net deep into stoppage time to draw level with the Tampa Bay Rowdies (6-3-6) at City Stadium Saturday night. Marcel Schäfer scored off a free kick in the 64th minute for the visitors as the Kickers debutant Franck Tayou scored in the final moments of the match. 

Richmond looked to get on the attack early in the 3rd minute. Sunny Jane fed the ball out wide to Anthony Grant. Damien Lowe went in to defend and lost his footing, bringing Grant down on the edge of the box for a free kick. Raul Gonzalez stepped up and sent his free kick in to the back post, missing everyone and out for a Rowdies goal kick. 

Another foul and another free kick opportunity came for Richmond in the 22nd minute. Braeden Troyer played the ball up the wing to Luiz Fernando. Fernando continued his run until a sliding Damion Lowe catches him and called for a foul. Gonzalez stood over the free kick once again. This time Keith Savage is there for Tampa Bay and heads it away from danger. 

A corner kick for the Rowdies in the 26th minute became a narrowly missed goal. Marcel Schäfer played a dangerous corner right to the center of the box to find Neill Collins. Collins found space and placed a powerful header towards goal, but it ended up going just wide.

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Tampa Bay would find the back of the net in the 64th minute. Darwin Jones fought with the Kickers defense to set up a shot as Conor Shanosky was called for a foul right at the top of the box. Marcel Schäfer stepped up to take the free kick. The shot took a deflection in the wall as Turner was diving to make the save and bounced in to give the visitors the lead. 

Just three minutes later, the Kickers would see a similar chance to Tampa Bay. Darnell King was called for a handball outside the Rowdies box to set up a free kick. Raul Gonzalez looked for a shot as his kick went right into the Rowdies wall and they were able to clear away. 

Space began to open for Richmond in the second half and Alex Lee tried to take advantage of it in the 51st minute. Samuel Asante played the ball wide right to Lee after not being able to create anything on the left side of the field. Lee started to make a run to the top of the box and launched a shot towards goal that narrowly missed the far upper corner. 

Franck Tayou made his debut in the 65th minute and made it count at the death of stoppage time. Chris Durkin looked to move the ball up field quickly trying to make something happen as the match was coming to a close. His ball nearly found Mallan Roberts but Neill Collins got a head to it first. Tayou saw the ball coming down and went for a side volley and put it past Matt Pickens and in the back of the net for the game tying goal just before the final whistle. 

Richmond will be back at City Stadium next Saturday, June 24 to host the Charlotte Independence at 7 p.m. along with the annual Summer Fest, presented by Stick’s Kabob Shop and Bounce 2 The Moon. The party starts at 5:30 pm with live music by The Hit List, a one-of-a-kind splash zone featuring a 40-foot slip ‘n slide and a 20-foot water slide, human foosball, soccer darts, inflatable games, RVA food trucks and over a dozen craft beers on tap. Tickets are available now at www.richmondkickers.com 

BOX SCORE

LINEUPS

Richmond GK Matt Turner, Alex Lee, Conor Shanosky, Mallan Roberts, Braeden Troyer, Chris Durkin, Yudai Imura (77’ – Fred Owusu Sekyere), Raul Gonzalez, Sunny Jane, Luiz Fernando (70’ – Finnlay Wyatt), Anthony Grant (65’ – Franck Tayou)

Unused Substitutes: Marcel DeBellis, Samuel Asante, Oliver Minatel, William Yomby

Tampa Bay Matt Pickens, Luke Boden, Neill Collins, Damion Lowe, Leo Fernandes (21’ – Darwin Jones), Georgi Hristov, Keith Savage, Joe Cole, Marcel Schäfer, Martin Paterson (80’ – Deshorn Brown)

Unused Substitutes: Tamika Mkandawire, Martin Vingaard, Alex Morrell, Kyle Porter, Akira Fitzgerald

STATISTICS

SCORING SUMMARY

CAUTIONS SUMMARY

EJECTIONS SUMMARY

MATCH INFORMATION

Referee: JT Alukonis

Assistant Referees: JC Griggs, Tim Suess

Fourth Official: Michael Buzard

Attendance: 4034

Weather: Partly Sunny, 78ºF