F.C. Lions of Wycombe turned up a player short today, and still exacted revenge on the side that had turned them over 3-0 in a bizarre game of football only 4 weeks ago. The Lions dominated proceeding during the first half of that game but somehow found themselves 0-2 at the break - but they were at their clinical best today.
Due to the no show of striker Ben Phippen, the Lions were forced to begin the game with only 10 men, and had the best of the opening half. Winger Royan Collins was adjudged to have been offside when he raced through in the 31st minute to bury the ball home, this coming after Sam Jordan had missed a great one-on-one opportunity, shooting narrowly wide after being put through by Collins. Striker John Tilbury, playing in central midfield today, hit the post from 20 yards with a superb strike before seeing the rebound fall to him and his second shot cleared off the line.
Alan Davies ploughed a lonely furrow up front on his own, and was the victim on the linesman's flag on several occasions as he struggled to find the timing in his runs.
Striker Will Carter and a Chinnor midfielder were both lucky to stay on the field of play after an ugly confrontation in the opening quarter of the half. The referee failed to award Carter a free kick on the left hand touchline, when he was challenged illegally from behind, Carter then suffered the "red mist" that most passionate footballers succumb to from time to time, and jumped into the next challenge with two feet on the Chinnor right back who had cleared the ball, what followed was your typical handbags parade before Carter was shoved in the face by Chinnor midfielder, Craig Harding. How the referee kept a straight face when he claimed to not have seen the incident is beyond me. Even the local dog walker 50 yards away saw it. The end result was a telling off for both players, and the refs cards stayed in his pocket on this occasion. To the disbelief of most watching and involved in the game.
The Lions deservedly took the lead a minute before half time when Keegan Casey and Will Carter linked up well down the left hand side, with the latters exquisite backheel releasing the former before Casey's venomous shot hit the bar and the resulting ball was put past his own keeper by the Chinnor number 5 Maloney, under intense pressure from winger Royan Collins.
John Tilbury saw himself unlucky to not end the first half with a brace after seeing one shot smack the post from 20 yards and another similar effort cleared off the line.
The second half is where the Lions really kicked on and clicked into gear, taking the game to Chinnor in their own back yard and handing out retribution in the deadliest way, scoring 4 times in the second 45 minutes, conceding a solitary effort in reply. The consolation goal was scored in good fashion by Chinnor who had pegged themselves back in the game at 1-1 inside the first 5 minutes of the second half, when Keegan Casey was caught out of position for the only time in the game. Chinnor's number 7, D.Portnall had escaped Casey's clutches and was allowed the freedom to carry the ball down the right hand flank before whipping in a superb cross across the goalmouth and the ball was swept home by number 12 Mitchell, who was by far Chinnor's deadliest threat.
The Lions refused to let their heads drop though, and within 5 minutes again, 19 year old debutant Sam Jordan had restored the away sides lead, when Tilbury dug out a long ball into the Chinnor box, the Chinnor defender headed clear straight to Jordan 25 yards out who carried the ball to the left hand side of the box and fired an unstoppable left footed shot past the keeper and into the far corner. 2-1 game on.
The Lions then added another goal shortly afterwards when, following a series of corners, striker Alan Davies hung a cross into the box which Tilbury took down and volleyed into the net in one movement, under strong pressure from the Chinnor defenders. It was a fitting goal for Tilbury, who had delivered on his promise to avenge the memory of his previous outing against the team in yellow and black.
Skipper for the day Keegan Casey had played out another fine game and after the third Lions goal, Chinnor switched their wingers after neither found much luck from either Lions full back. The Lions copied this move and Casey switched with Stacey to play Right Back for the last half hour. During the time there was another flashpoint and this time Chinnor's Harding picked up a yellow card for a filthy lunge at Casey who also picked up a yellow for his retaliation, his third of the season.
With their tails up now, Alan Davies was put in with a slide rule Jordan pass from deep, but couldn't get his shot off as he was hustled out of play. The threat was only supressed momentarily though, as Tilbury won a battle in the middle for the ball, and played a great ball through the heart of Chinnor's defence for Davies, Davies realising he was offside, stopped his movement but Sam Jordan was alive and continued his run to pick the ball up on the right hand side and fire over an inch perfect cross for striker Will Carter to connect with and divert past the keeper at the far post for his 5th of the season.
On 82 minutes the marauding Casey was felled in the box, and striker Alan Davies was given the opportunity to open his Lions account, which he duly did so, firing low and hard to the keepers right.
Man of the Match. Sam Jordan. Simply faultless and capped his debut with a fine solo goal and an assist. Although really, every player deserves massive credit today for pulling together as a team in the face of adversity.
