It all started so well for Birmingham Legion.
Just 12 minutes into the game, Dawson McCartney gave the Three Sparks the lead on a fast break. The fans, filled with children for Legion’s “education day” were invested and rowdy, and Birmingham was on the front foot the rest of the half as Tampa tired.
But when the teams returned from the break, momentum rapidly shifted. McCartney went off injured and soon after Tampa equalized. Four minutes later, the visitors had the lead.
Birmingham never looked likely to get back level, let alone win, after the setbacks in quick succession. Two more goals late on as the Three Sparks threw everyone forward just compounded the misery and led to the second 4-1 loss at Protective in the last three home games, both in massive six-pointer contests.
“Everyone knows in the city, fans around the club, that this was a massive game,” Mark Briggs said. “And we stepped up in a massive game for 45 minutes, but the game’s 90 minutes long. We only played half the game at a level that we should be playing at, and then we fell apart.”
In an unusual early kick-off, Birmingham got out on the front foot and scored early.
In the 12th minute, Matt van Oekel made a big save to deny Blake Bodily at his front-post. Exactly 20 seconds later, the Three Sparks had gone up the other way and scored.
Enzo Martínez kickstarted the move with a long diagonal to Amir Daley. The wingback put a simple through ball for McCartney to run onto, and the midfielder calmly slotted the ball past Bill Hamid.
A couple of minutes later, Birmingham thought they had the perfect opportunity for a second.
Ronaldo Damus ran through on goal, and Tampa’s Aarón Guillén brought him down with a shove from behind. But despite vehement appeals from the Haitian, his teammates and his coach, the referee signalled for a corner rather than a penalty.
“The fourth official and his linesman tell him it’s a penalty kick,” Briggs said. “The referee says ‘I know better, no it’s not.’ I don’t know what to say.
“As the league gets better, as the players get better, as everything gets better, the officiating doesn’t,” Briggs continued. “It’s becoming a big problem. They need help, because these calls turn results. It’s not players making games, it’s referees making bad calls.
“That’s no excuse for the second half performance,” he added. “But in that moment, we get the penalty kick, which we should have, and it becomes 2-0. It’s a completely different game.”
Despite the frustration at the call, Legion kept pushing.
On the half-hour mark, the crowd thought the Three Sparks had a second, but AJ Paterson’ header from McCartney’s free-kick was actually just the wrong side of the post. Minutes later, Damus had another opportunity, but Hamid got down well to save.
Even though it was only 1-0 at the half, Birmingham looked like they were going to get the job done. And then the second half happened.
Tampa made one halftime change, bringing in Alex Mendéz for Robert Castellanos in an attempt to get more going offensively. While the first few minutes of the second period remained evenly balanced, a knock to McCartney in the 54th minute was the harbinger of change.
The central midfielder, up-till-then a clear Man of the Match candidate, limped off as part of double substitution in the 58th minute. Edwin Laszo replaced McCartney and Sebastian Tregarthen replaced Enzo Martínez.
Tregarthen nearly made an instant impact, forcing a near post save four minutes into his introduction. But it was Tampa who benefitted from the double change instead, tying the game in the 64th minute.
“Quite frankly, our subs came in and didn’t impact the game in a positive way,” Briggs said. “If anything, they impacted the team in a negative way.
“It’s massive, because I thought Dawson was probably the best player on the field in the first half,” he added. “He was energy, all over the place, scored a goal, showing a level of player that you need out there. I thought he was excellent.”
On the first goal, Jackson Travis intercepted a crossfield diagonal only to give it straight to Tampa. After an initial cross was repelled, Amir Daley then failed to clear the second ball. Méndez stole it off the wingback, got to the byline and put in a cutback for Manuel Arteaga to slam home from point-blank range.
Not even four minutes later, Tampa had the lead.
In the 68th minute, Bodily sent in a straightforward cross only for miscommunication in Legion’s backline allowing for Paul Marie to get to it first and head home the go-ahead effort.
“They scored that first goal, and you felt the energy in the stadium, you felt the energy in the team,” Briggs said. “We backed off and crumbled.”
Briggs brought on Preston Tabort Etaka for Peter-Lee Vassell in the 75th minute to try and turn the tide. The Cameroonian had one driving run through the Tampa defense that ended with a curled shot just wide, but that was one of only two real chances Legion had of getting back in the game.
The other saw Damus get through on goal again, but he was just unable to squeeze the ball past an onrushing Hamid.
As the game got chippy in the final moments, the referee seemed to lose control of proceeding. Calls became wildly inconsistent, and it ended up hurting Legion even further as a foul on McIllhatton went uncalled, followed by a barge in Travis’ back getting the same treatment just moments before Tampa got their third.
With nearly all of Birmingham’s players pushing forward, the visitors then added a fourth deep in stoppage time with a beautiful Luis Álvarez top corner finish.
Birmingham Legion now sit in 11th place, five points off Rhode Island in eighth, with six games to go. Though still mathematically possible, it looks likely that the Three Sparks will miss out on the postseason for the second successive year.
“It’s not good enough from us, at all,” Briggs said. “The second half performance is not good enough. That’s on me. It’s just not good enough. First half I thought we were really good. Good energy, created opportunities, but second half an absolute disaster.”
Birmingham face another bottom-dwelling six-pointer in just four days as the Three Sparks travel to Indy Eleven. The game will kick-off at 4 p.m. and be televised on CBS Sports Network.
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