When we last saw Memphis 901 FC head coach Tim Mulqueen at AutoZone Park, he was a mere spring chicken at the age of 53. Saturday, he was back in the friendly confines, one year older and delighted with the present his team gave him.

Brandon Collier scored twice as the city's United Soccer League franchise won its second consecutive game, 4-2, over Swope Park Rangers. Pierre Da Silva and Josh Morton also scored for Memphis, which improves to 6-7-13 (25 points).

For Mulqueen, it wasn't a bad way to celebrate his 54th birthday.

"No parties," he laughed. "Maybe 30 years ago … They're a great group of guys and it means the world to me to get the three points, not just because it's my birthday. I'm really happy for them. The energy is great and that's two games in a row now."

Memphis was playing at home for the first time since a 2-1 loss to North Carolina on Aug. 10. Since then, their travels had taken them to Birmingham, Tampa and Atlanta, where they won, 2-1, on Aug. 28. They were scheduled to play in Charleston on Labor Day but Hurrican Dorian forced that one to be postponed.

And in some ways, Saturday's game was a repeat of their fine performance in Atlanta. In that one, the home team went a goal up in the 37th minute and the same thing happened against Swope Park as Wilson Harris converted a 34th-minute penalty after Wes Charpie was called for a soft foul in the box.

But unlike against Atlanta, when the response came late, the fightback was immediate this time. Pierre Da Silva got his first goal for the club in the 38th minute as he lasered one in from just outside the box. Two minutes later, it was 2-1 after Josh Morton scrambled in a corner kick.

Swope Park (3-6-15) tied it shortly after halftime through Ze Pedro but Memphis continued to create the better chances and dictate the pace of play. Cam Lindley played a terrific through ball to Brandon Allen in the 67th minute and Allen finished to make it 3-2. He then got his fourth 15 minutes later on one of the team’s prettier goals of the season as Elliot Collier sent a nice cross in front of the goal for Allen to run on to.

“Obviously to get on the scoresheet is great,” said Allen. “But back-to-back wins, that’s big for us. The next game is just as big for us. We’re still in the playoff push.”

Allen’s right, although it will take several more performances like Saturday’s. The top 10 teams in each conference make the postseason and Memphis is nine points out of 10th with eight games remaining.

That would be the gift of all gifts for Mulqueen. Right now though, he’ll take the continued growth and development that his team has shown over the last couple of matches.

“It was tough on the road,” he said. “We got three points against a very tough Atlanta team and to continue (to play well) in front of our home fans … all week long we talked about putting on a good performance at home. We took a goal but the didn’t flinch and even at 2-2 we were on the front foot. I thought we would get good chances.

“I think now there’s a comfort level with the way we play. I think we have a real solid roster now … (and) we were an expansion team. We were brand new with all of this. It's hard when you're an expansion team; you don't have that core of guys to build around."

The four goals equal a season high for a league game, matching the 4-1 victory over Hartford on July 6. Memphis also scored four against Hartford in the U.S. Open Cup. It's also the first time all year Memphis has won consecutive league games.

To further underscore Mulqueen's point about the solidity of the roster, the victory came despite the absence of regulars Abdi Mohamed, Adam Najem and Leston Paul who are on international duty with Somalia, Afghanistan and Trinidad and Tobago respectively. They'll be back after the international window closes on Tuesday.

 And like their teammates experienced Saturday, being home is always nice.

"It's tough on the road; all the guys will tell you," said Lindley. "We've got to get over that hump of letting goals (be) scored on us and then waking up. We've got to put the game to bed early when we have our chances. But we have good attacking options and it was only a matter of time before the goals started going in.

"We've kind of come together and realized that we have a common goal of winning games for this franchise, for Coach, for the owners and for everyone that's invested in this team, especially the fans."

Memphis 901 FC 4, Swope Park Rangers 2

Rangers (4-1-4-1): John Pulskamp; Mark Segbers (Tyler Freeman, 82nd); Kaveh Rad; Rennico Clarke; Alexsander Andrade; Ayoub Allach; Ze Pedro (Ethan Vanacore-Decker, 66th); Tucker Lepley; Rassambek Akhmatov; Killian Colombie; Wilson Harris

901 FC (4-2-3-1): Jeff Caldwell; Wes Charpie (Ewan Grandison, 75th); Liam Doyle; Marc Burch; Josh Morton; Cam Lindley; Dan Metzger (Morgan Hackworth, 87th); Marcus Epps; Pierre Da Silva; Lagos Kunga (Elliot Collier, 57th); Brandon Allen

Goals: Rangers, Wilson Harris (penalty, 35th); Ze Pedro (50th); 901 FC, Pierre Da Silva (38th); Josh Morton (40th); Brandon Allen (67th); Brandon Allen (78th)

Cautions: Rangers, Mark Segbers (43rd); 901 FC, Wes Charpie (34th); Dan Metzger (53rd); Marc Burch (70th)

Attendance: 6,036