Toronto FC II battled hard but ultimately fell at the hands of the Tampa Bay Rowdies in an afternoon clash at BMO Field.

Both keepers were on their games early as Caleb Patterson-Sewell and Akira Fitzgerald came up with big stops within the first 20 minutes.

Tampa leaped out in front off a pair of goals within 90 seconds of each other. Junior Flemmings finished off a Marcel Schafer cross and then Michael Nanchoff fired home a long-range effort to give the Rowdies an early 2-goal advantage.

The Reds did well to see out the second half at 2-0.

TFC II showed great resilience as they battled back to start the second half. The comeback got started as substitute Luca Petrasso played a great cross in for Dante Campbell who muscled home his first career USL goal.

The Reds equalized on the counter-attack as Luca Uccello streaked past the Rowdies backline and then laid the ball off for Malik Johnson who tapped it home to level the score.

However, Tampa jumped back in front as defender Hunter Gorskie headed home a well executed free kick.

With the Reds pressed forward Flemmings hit on the counter and scored in the last minutes of the game to sure up the three points.

TFC II return to action next Wednesday as they travel to Ottawa to take on the Fury. Kickoff is set for 7:00 PM at TD Place Stadium.