Due to an extensive lightning delay, Birmingham Legion fans had to wait an extra 90 minutes to see their team return to USL Championship action. Those who stuck it out witnessed an exciting display, but one that ultimately fell short under the pouring rain.

“It was definitely not the result we wanted,” Jay Heaps said. “But overall, if I had to look at the energy and the effort and what the guys put in tonight, we’ve got some work to do, but excited by the progress.”

Birmingham’s home opener was originally scheduled to kick-off at 7 p.m., but lightning strikes just 10 minutes prior kickstarted a lengthy wait. With every new strike near the stadium restarting the mandatory 30 minute wait time, players were left in the dark on when, or even if, they would return to the field.

“It’s tough,” AJ Paterson said. “Everyone’s different. Some guys like to just get in the zone, listen to music. Some guys are touching the ball, some guys are just laying down. Everyone’s different. I like to just mingle.”

Fans and players finally learned shortly after 8 p.m. that the game would be starting at 8:30 p.m. Despite the delay, and a team featuring six newcomers, when the game did kick off, Legion got off to a fast start.

The hosts nearly scored within the first three minutes of the encounter through one of their debutants, Gevork Diarbian. The winger curled a shot from the left that was well-saved by the Tampa keeper. Sebastian Tregarthen ran onto the rebound with the goal gaping, but mis-hit his volley wide of the target.

Tampa took control of the game shortly thereafter, but the Three Sparks did well to limit the visitors’ possession to less threatening areas. New goalkeeper Jassem Koleilat claimed a few crosses and made one straightforward save from distance but had otherwise little to do.

On the counter, Legion looked threatening while often lacking the final pass. Samuel Shashoua and Tyler Pasher both tried their chance from distance, but the first was wide and the second well-saved. Diarbian looked the biggest threat, with the team often turning to their new winger to trouble the Rowdies’ defense.

“I want to be the most dangerous guy for this team, and I want to continuously help this team with whatever they need me to do,” Diarbian said. “Whether it’s tracking back or beating a guy one-v-one, all I want is for this team to win.”

With no changes either side, the second half saw Tampa quickly take the upper hand. This time, however, the visitors proved more incisive. Within three minutes, they fired a golden chance just wide.

They missed a couple more chances soon after before finally opening the score just shy of the hour mark.

“I thought our first half was really good, but then we were disappointed with our start to the second half,” Heaps said. “We lulled a little bit more than I want. We needed to come out at half-time a little bit more composed, with a little bit more energy. We just dropped back. We didn’t follow some of the changes we made.”

In the 58th minute, a long throw made its way into the box. After a few bounces, it was nudged forward through a couple of bodies and fell perfectly for Marco Micaletto. The Rowdies midfielder volleyed home from point-blank range, though with suspicions of offside abounding.

Legion nearly had an instant response as Diarbian threaded Romario Williams through on goal, but the Jamaican forward went down in the box. The referee waved play on much to the dismay of many Legion players and fans.

Those two perceived missed calls were then compounded even further some 10 minutes later when a Tampa player raised a hand to Shashoua’s face. The English midfielder was visibly shocked that no red card was given, and tensions started to flare between both teams as a result.

“I think [the ref] lost control of three key moments,” Heaps said. “If you look back at the goal, that was offside. The second one was a hands to the face, clearly Shash gets hit to the face, and he didn’t look at it. The third was the penalty kick.

“That’s a penalty kick, offside goal and red card, all within ten minutes of the game,” he continued. “So that’s why our players started to get really frustrated. … The consistency’s just got to be better.”

Tensions boiled over soon after the Shashoua incident, when Diarbian was blatantly held back while running at goal. The winger retaliated by shoving the culpable Tampa player over, and a short melee ensued. Diarbian picked up a yellow card, and Heaps promptly followed him into the referee’s notebook.

Legion players could not channel that frustration for good, as, despite spending the final part of the game firmly camped in the Tampa half, they could not find the final ball to unlock the Rowdies’ defense. Diarbian had the best chance in the 86th minute but put it just wide of the post, and a few more attacks ended with cleared crosses or overhit through balls.

In context, the result was not terrible. Last time these two teams faced off, Tampa left Protective Stadium with a 4-1 victory. Since then, the Florida team have added serious star power to their roster and are considered a top contender in the East. It will still sting, however, given it could have ended differently but for a few key moments.

“It was a tough one,” Paterson said. “I think we came out and put a decent performance. It was one of those games that was going to go either way, with the pitch being so slippery and the back and forth. There’s obviously things that we definitely need to work on, defensively and attacking, but there were moments that we looked like the team we want to be.

“We just need to put that together for 45 minutes, 60 minutes and then ultimately 90 minutes to start winning games,” he added.

The Three Sparks will get the chance to do just that in quick order, with their second game of the season coming in just four days.

“Most important is the next 24 hours,” Heaps said. “We need to get rested, get our feet up, get healthy, as healthy as we can. … We’ve got a lot of work to do in terms of getting rested and recovered, but also getting ourselves mentally ready for the game.”

Birmingham Legion face Hartford Athletic at 11 a.m. Wednesday March 11 at Protective Stadium.

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