Once again, the Lions contrived to wrestle a bewildering defeat from a comfortable position on top , after a dominant first half display. Two late goals in a matter of minutes undid all the hard work of a first half that had everything for the Lions except the glut of goals that we deserved.
Line-up:
Dorian (GK)
Richard (RB), Phil (CB), Simon (CB), Ollie (LB)
Dale (CM), JP (CM), Lee (CM)
Nathan (RF), Scott (CF), Gary (LF)
To be honest, the game was virtually a carbon copy of the one against Epsom Rangers that ended in the same scoreline, except the opposition were really quite bad in the first half and we were on top from start to finish. It was the same old story though. Loads of goal scoring opportunities, none of them seemed to go in. I think our forward trio would be the first to admit that they had a particularly bad day in front of goal and it made for frustrating viewing for everyone in Lions red. We really did seem to lack confidence in taking our shots - Nathan, Gary and Scott all had clear sights of goal but on each occasion the ball just didn't sit right, the touch wasn't there or the final shot was wide.
It was such a relief then when Scott finally did put us one up, sweeping the ball home from close range after being played in by Nathan. We couldn't add to it in that first half, even though we had virtually all the possession. The only chance the opposition had was a long range effort that was palmed away by a decidedly under-used Dorian.
With the oppo being joint top of the League, we knew they were going to come out much stronger in the second half - we just had to keep playing the way we had been playing but step up to match their change in tempo. Simply put, we didn't. They put us under loads of pressure after half time and although we defended well, we were desperate for the cushion of a second goal. Our fortunes up front were no better in this half than the first however, and as time ticked on, we were just desperate for any let-up in the pressure as the ball just kept coming back at our goal. We were getting a bit ragged towards the end but although their goals were perhaps inevitable, they were no less sickening to stomach.
The first came from a move down our left that ended with ball being crossed over to the right, eluding both myself and Matt with their striker able to finish it low into the far corner. The second was almost identical to the first, though ,I think in this instance, the guy was actually intending to just put it across the goal for someone to poke in, but somehow it ended up just inside the post.
We had time to pile people forward for a free kick in an effort to get something out of the game, but it was to no avail and we left the field feeling stunned and wondering just how on earth we managed to lose the game. Writing this on the Thursday after the game and I'm still p****d off about it.
Anyway, pick ourselves up, learn the lessons and move on.
