RICHMOND, Va. – The Richmond Kickers were on their way to a fourth defeat at home, but new signing Franck Tayou put an exclamation point on his debut. Tayou’s stoppage-time volley gave Richmond a late equalizer to draw 1-1 with the Tampa Bay Rowdies on Saturday at City Stadium. Tayou’s volley from the top of the box found the right of the frame to salvage a point. For the Rowdies, Marcel Schäfer found the back of the net in the second half with a free-kick strike. The Kickers move to 2-7-5 (11 points) overall and 2-3-3 at home. The Rowdies are now 6-3-6 (24 points) overall and 1-2-4 on the road. While the two sides did have a goal-scoring moment in the final half, both teams are still in the midst of extensive winless streaks. Richmond is winless in nine straight now (0-4-5) and Tampa Bay in five straight (0-1-4).

Scoring:
64’ – TBR – Marcel Schäfer
90’+4 – RIC – Franck Tayou

• #RICvTBR: Full match and Opta box score

Three Things That Mattered:

• 1. Tampa Bay broke the stalemate with a free kick tally in the 64th minute off the boot of Marcel Schäfer. Schäfer’s strike took a deflection off the Kickers’ wall and snuck inside the left post for a 1-0 lead. The Rowdies did gain some confidence down the stretch, with Joe Cole finding a high-quality scoring chance in the 73rd minute; if not for Richmond’s Millan Roberts sliding in for a key tackle and deflection, the Rowdies could have doubled their lead.

• 2. The Kickers didn’t cause enough of a nuisance offensively until the 50th minute as Chris Durkin got around his defender on the right side, crossed in and found Conor Shanosky who leapt up for the header. It was a strong look for Richmond, but Shanosky’s header went over the crossbar. Richmond was behind midway through the second half, and it took new signing Franck Tayou to provide some massive heroics with a side volley from 18 yards out, prompting him to rip off his jersey in celebration.

• 3. The Rowdies had to burn an early substitution when Leo Fernandes appeared to injure his knee in the opening 20 minutes. Fernandes took a couple early corner kicks during his short time on the pitch. Head Coach Stuart Campbell brought in Darwin Jones. Jones attempted a toe-poke toward the far left post in the 43rd minute that was stopped, but aside from that effort, not much was created offensively through most of the first half for either side.

USLSoccer.com Man of the Match:
Franck Tayou, Richmond Kickers – It doesn’t get much bigger than scoring in the final moments of a debut to help the team salvage a point.

Upcoming Games:
Richmond Kickers vs. Charlotte Independence – June 24, 7 p.m. ET, City Stadium
Tampa Bay Rowdies at Pittsburgh Riverhounds – June 22, 7 p.m. ET, Highmark Stadium