Second part of the the day's double header and a second win. The victory was even more comprehensive this time round as the Lions managed to defy both the elements and gravity(!)
The line up for the start of this match was:
Phil (GK)
Julian (RB), Mike H (CB), Simon (CB), Julian (LB)
Matt P(RM), Mark (CM), Mike G(LM)
Lee (RF), Darren (CF), Richard (LF)
We lost the toss this time so started the first half kicking down the slope which - if you haven't read the first part to this double header - is considerable at Nescot Sports Ground where we were playing. What I didn't mention in the first report was the hefty wind that was blowing down the hill, which may have been a factor - along with the still firm ground - in our first goal.
Spartans came out strongly as expected having lost the first game, but we started as we had finished - literally as we were playing in the same direction - and controlled the early part of the game. I sent a long goal kick down the pitch and it carried on the wind and bounced over a couple of their defenders leaving the door open for Darren get on the end of it and finish with a shot past the keeper. 1 up in the first 5 minutes and my first assist (despite somebody giving it to Mike H) for the Lions.
The first half was all Lions as we managed to improve on our performance from the last game. We should have added to our total far sooner than when we did. Can't remember the goal too well though think it involved Matt P going past a couple of defenders before centring it for Lee to finish. Matt then got of his own to mark his comeback, emphatically finishing past the keeper after receivng the ball from Darren.
3-0 up at the break and although we now had to go against the wind and the hill, it was Spartans who had the mountain to climb. That got a little higher within minutes of the restart when Richard finished off some good work by Lee on the right with the first of his two goals.
Spartans then had a little spell where they put us under real pressure, winning corners and threatening with some half chances. Their cause was helped by the fact that they were going down the hill and with the wind. That culminated in them winning a penalty after we failed to clear the ball after numerous chances to do so. JP was the unfortunate culprit, with a somewhat inelegant challenge through their player.
I didn't have a chance with the penalty which was well taken and our lead was down to 3 again. However it was back up to 4 almost straight afterwards when a flowing team move on the right again ended with Darren this time crossing in to Richard who got his second goal in 10 minutes. That was Darren's last act on the pitch and he was replaced by Jon.
Spartans were still making a game of it and again pressured our goal. I managed to pull off a couple of saves in quick succession (found out later that the first shot was nearly an own goal by Danny), but they then scored from the resulting corner. The corner ball was headed out as far as their player who put his shot in through a load of players and was past me before I really saw it. Julian was on the line and we both thought he'd managed to keep it out but the ref disagreed. Still annoyed at that, as I'm pretty sure the whole ball wasn't across the line. What price goal-line technology, eh?
Didn't matter anyway, as we scored two without reply right after that. Lee got the first - a "lovely lob" (so says the scoresheet) and then Mike did his Maradona thing, working from the right hand side and ending firing a shot in that literally burst the net and had me thinking that he'd actually missed.
So despite the wind and the hill, we still ended up winning the second half. An excellent performance against a decent team. One of those days where genuinely everyone had a good game, with a special mention for an inspirational performance by Simon as Captain. We have a break before the next fixture which has now been confirmed as the eagerly anticipated double-header against Esher Athletic. HAVE IT!!
