After a disappointing defeat to Siddington last week, Lakeside went into the game against Southside looking to recapture the form that saw them deservedly lead at the top of the table.
Lakeside started the brighter of the two teams and soon found themselves 1-0 up when in form striker Simon Brady opened the scoring after some fine work by Will Norman down the left flank. Lakeside continued to create a host of chances and soon found themselves 2-0 up when captain Luke Hitchman latched onto Simon’s pass to take his tally to nine for the season. Two minutes later Simon again turned provider for Cameron Smith, who despite being ill throughout the week, added a third for Lakeside and continued to pull the strings with Luke Hitchman in the centre of the park. The midfielder’s willingness to make chances continued with Luke Hitchman supplying Jem Taylor, who on his first start for Lakeside, opened his goalscoring account by striking into the keepers right hand corner. Straight from the restart, the energetic Luke Hitchman make a fine run into the box only to be taken down by a Southside defender. Liam Powell, who was having a great season at right back, stepped up to fire the penalty into the keeper’s top right-hand corner, claiming his first goal for Lakeside.
The resilience of defenders Rob, Liam, Harry, Sam and Alex, along with the hard working midfield of Will, Luke, Cameron and Elliot allowed Lakeside to go into halftime with a comfortable 5-0 lead, with strikeforce Simon and Jem amongst the goalscorers in a new look Lakeside front line.
The second half saw Lakeside continue to dominate the game, with Luke Robson replacing the ever-battling Elliot Harris. The new look strike force of Simon and Jem continued to cause Southside problems, with Simon further extending Lakeside’s lead with strikes in the 41st and 43rd , claiming his third hat-trick of the season. Lakeside’s only scare of the game came in the 48th minute when a good block from Rob Jones rebounded back into the striker’s path, only for the super consistent Harry Mansell to clear the danger. Simon wrapped up the scoring for Lakeside, when Luke Hitchman again supplied Simon with a super ball over the top of the Southside defence, allowing the impressive Simon Brady to round off another fine performance. With Lakeside in control of the game substitutes Ben Simpson, Steve Brown, Budd Nicholson and Alex McPherson all came on with enough time to stamp their mark on the game. With the game coming to a close, Steve Brown and Luke Robson were unlucky not to have added to the final score.
A much improved performance, with all players putting in a good shift, despite the poor pitch and bitterly cold weather. Thank you to all the supporters and well done lads!
Man of the Match- Luke Hitchman/Alex Pike
Managers Man of the Match- Alex Pike
