It was cold and snowing, but it produced one of the best matches of the year for the Rabbits.
FC Edmonton knocked off the visiting Tampa Bay Rowdies 2-1, to the delight of their supporters in the Rabbits final home match of the season.
The Rowdies looked out of their element even before the match got underway as they were shaking and trying to stay warm with temperatures dipping to -8° Celsius.
Darryl Fordyce opened up the scoring in the 34th minute by pouncing on the rebound from an Eddie Edwards shot that was deflected.
FC Edmonton's Robert Garrett scores against the Tampa Bay Rowdies at Clarke Stadium on 27 October 2013.
The Rabbits would increase their lead just two minutes later as Robert Garret put home his first goal of the Fall Season to double up on the Rowdies.
In the second half, Tampa Bay would cut the lead in half with a goal coming from Luke Mullholland, thanks to a 48th minute free kick.
Later on, the Rabbits had plenty of chances to increase their lead, but just couldn’t find another to emphatically seal the win.
In the end, Colin Miler’s bunch ended their home schedule with three points in a match they had dominated throughout.
In conditions like this, turnout would be expected to be low and the pitch would probably not be in the greatest shape, but neither was the case.
Miller praised the supporters for coming out, and the FC Edmonton Staff for making sure that the field was in great shape.
“The fans, everyone deserves so much credit,” said Miller, “the people that worked behind the scenes to make the field playable.”
Also, Miller didn’t move training into warmer elements once the Edmonton temperatures started to dip.
“Someone asked me a week or so ago are we going to move indoors to train? I said absolutely not! We’ll stay outside as long as we can, because this is what we are, this is where we live. This is our culture.”
FC Edmonton end their season on November 2nd against the NASL’s other Florida club, Fort Lauderdale Strikers FC.