ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – In their opening game in the USL, the Tampa Bay Rowdies produced the looks at goal they were hoping for, but not the end product.

On Saturday at AL Lang Stadium, the Rowdies put the final piece of the puzzle together. A run of three goals in 11 minutes paved the way for an emphatic 4-0 victory against Toronto FC II and made it two wins from two to start the season.

“We played really well last week and we played well tonight, the difference was that we put the ball in the back of the net,” said midfielder Joe Cole. “It was great that the crowd turned out tonight. We want to keep putting on a show and get the whole city behind us. You can’t really do more than score four goals and it seemed like everyone really enjoyed it.”

Former England international Cole’s finish in the 22nd minute off a cross by former German international Marcel Schäfer capped the goal glut that saw Tampa Bay take complete control midway through the opening half.

Offseason signing Damion Lowe had begun it 11 minutes earlier with a powerful header from Michael Nanchoff’s cross from the left. Nanchoff also recorded the assist as a clever dummy by Leo Fernandes let the ball reach Georgi Hristov for his second goal of the season.

“It was a good showing overall collectively from everybody,” said Nanchoff. “The goal was to attack, attack, attack and be relentless. It was good to get a 4-0 result.”

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Nanchoff could have added to the scoring in the first half, only for his well-struck free kick to hit the crossbar, but the Rowdies added a fourth when Deshorn Brown scored his first for the club off a cross by Hristov with 20 minutes to go. Brown came off the bench as he made his debut for the Rowdies after minor injury setbacks ahead of the club’s opening game against Orlando. Both he and Darwin Jones had positive performances in their first official outings.

“It was so frustrating for them,” said Rowdies Head Coach Stuart Campbell. “They were great in the preseason and lo and behold they both got injured in the final preseason game. Darwin started back training on Wednesday and Deshorn on Thursday so there was no way they were ready to start the game, but it was crucial that we them on the field. It’s a great luxury to be able to have those two come on.”

Sitting on top of the Eastern Conference standings two games into the season is certainly the start the Rowdies – tipped preseason to be a serious contender – were looking for. With Ottawa Fury FC the visitors next Saturday before the side hits the road for the first time this season, Campbell is expecting another big performance in front of the home crowd.

“We want to make this place into a fortress,” said Campbell. “We want to make it so that teams hate to come here, this is our home and we want to make it into a fortress.”