On the last day of the 2011/2012 season for the Lions, we finally played the long-anticipated double header against the runaway divison leaders Epsom Rangers and pushed them further than anyone else in the League. Coming into this first game, Rangers had a 100% record for their 16 games so far, but the Lions came so close to consigning them to a shock defeat and even though I'm writing this report almost a month later, it still hurts to remember the cruelty of having victory flipped into a loss within a few crazy minutes.
Line-up:
Paige (GK),
Adam (RB), Simon (CB), Matt R (CB), Julian R (LB)
Lee M (CM), Nathan (CM), JP (CM)
Gregg (RF), Scott (CF), Gary (LF)
As it was a while ago, can only remember the real highlights of the match. Think it was pretty even in the first half, with not that many chances created at either end, with neither keeper having to pull off any truly remarkable saves. Rangers were good, but we weren't being played off the park and though we had to work hard, we played decent football to match. First half was goal-less which was in keeping with our excellent defensive record of late.
Second half, we got off to a great start with some good play by Kris on the right resulting in a ball through the penalty area that may have pinged round a bit before finding its way to Scott on the left side, who smashed a drive past the keeper.
After that we had chances to go further ahead with Gregg sending a header from a corner just over and then we thought he had scored when he ran through on goal and managed to squeeze a shot off just before being clattered off the pitch by a defender. From where we were standing it looked like the ball went through the back of the net but apparently it had gone through the side netting first.
Gregg went close again when he managed to latch onto a bouncing through ball and lofted a goalbound shot over the keeper. The ball came down on the angle of post and cross bar and bounced over the onrushing Gregg as he tried to follow it up. Kris also had an opportunity when a cross came over from the left but he just couldn't get his head onto it. Think there were other chances as well as we chased the second goal throughout that second half but those are the ones that stand out.
With a few minutes to go we were definitely starting to hang on and Rangers were stepping it up, latching onto any lapse in concentration and casual play from us. With a few minutes to go, Paige had the ball in his hands after gathering a corner and in a rush of blood decided to punt it upfield with most of our team still in the penalty area. Standing on the sidelines I couldn't believe it as the ball came straight back and they won another corner. Their keeper came up and although we got the ball away it was only for another corner. Their keeper stayed up hanging round our left post, the ball came to him and he managed to knock it in past our guys to level things up. There were literally a couple or minutes on the clock and it was a real blow after we'd been leading for so long and come so close to doubling our lead.
Worst was to come though. In injury time one of their players made a burst into the penalty area and collided with Simon. Their player went down, the ref pointed to the spot, Si went ballistic. A couple of minutes arguing with the ref that it was a shoulder-to-shoulder challenge obviously didn't change his mind and the penalty was eventually and decisively dispatched to Paige's right as he dived left.
We had a couple of minutes (probably due to Si's arguing) to try and rescue a point, but we couldn't muster any attempts on goal and it's been a long time since I've been so dejected and furious at the sound of a final whistle of a football match. This truly was snatching defeat from the jaws of victory and it was going to be a hard ask to pick ourselves up for the second game. We found out later that Rangers had not even been behind in their previous league games, which says something about our team and the way we play, but it was bitterly disappointing that we couldn't see the game out.
