Tides extend winless streak to seven matches
The conditions were abysmal at TD Place on Thursday night but the score line was worse as the Halifax Tides lost their composure versus an offensively-minded Ottawa Rapid squad and lost 5-0.
The Rapid, who were playing their second match in four days, got on the board early as Delaney Pridham — the bane of backlines across the Northern Super League — converted on a broken sequence in the Tides' box in the 10th minute.
Halifax had their looks in the first half, including a dangerous shot on target by attacker Saorla Miller in the 38th minute, but failed to take advantage of their opportunities. Megumi Nakamura was one of several players to send the ball wide despite being having time and space in Ottawa's box. Finishing, to note, has been an issue for the Tides this season as they sit last in goals scored at 10 through 17 matches, or at a rate of 0.58 goals per match. Only one of Halifax's shots on Thursday out of their 14 were on target.
But the match was not out of reach at half time, something Miller and interim head coach Stephen Hart noted in their media availability. However, the Tides came out flat in the second half, conceding a goal in the 46th minute courtesy of Rapid midfielder Min-a Lee, and lost their shape and focus. Ottawa players Olivia Scott, Melanie Forbes and Stella Downing all put the ball into the back of the Tides' net from the 66th minute onwards.
The match, which held some promise in the first half, became a rout.
"We just have to move on," Hart said post-match. "We've been in this situation before and came back strong. I think the spirit of the team is good. We just have to move on.
"You know, on the back of the first half, I didn't see the game being 5-0. I thought the first half performance was one of our better ones. Yeah, we didn't take our chances and then early in the second half we gave up a second goal. I think, what's in the players' minds, is sort of, we had a lot of time but they felt they had to chase the game and we sort of lost our discipline, our shape and mistakes started to compound.
"We gave away our chances, to be honest. We kind of gave them goals. All credit to them, they took their chances."
Josh Healey
Miller echoed her coach's statements about the first half, adding they felt ready to execute but lost their way.
"We were ready to get back out there second half. Obviously, we go down early, it's never easy, and we kind of just lost our composure," she said.
The Tides are now winless in their last seven matches following a bright start under Hart. Asked by media what the squad needed to work on to get back into the win column, Hart highlighted both a better offensive touch and leadership.
“It depends on who we’re playing of course but we’ve been spending a lot of time working on the offensive part of our game. As I said, in the first half, and even sometimes in the second half, we got into some really good positions where we, with a little more composure or maybe a little bit of luck, I don’t like to use the word luck, but a little bit of luck, something breaks for us and we score a goal and we get a different feeling," he said.
"We’ve got to continue to work on that and maybe a little bit on the field leadership to not lose this one."
The Tides next play on September 6 at the Wanderers Grounds.
Cover Photo Credit: Ottawa Rapid FC
