The Lions secured a vital win to stop the recent run of bad form, snatching the victory at the death through a last gasp winner from Dale.
Line up:
Dorian (GK)
Phil (RB), Simon (CB), Matt R (CB), Julian (LB)
Kyle (RM), Danny (CM), JP (CM), Lee (LM)
Scott (CF), Brett (CF)
First home game that's actually been at our home ground since November and the pitch we played on was in pretty poor shape. We were up for the game on the back of our second half performance against the current leaders last week but in truth we struggled to get our foot on the ball in the first half. A lot of good battling and winning challenges but we didn't really play much football and it wasn't all down to the pitch. When we had possession we didn't give the man on the ball much in the way of options and we tended to give the ball away too often.
They had a very good early chance when the centre forward got onto ball midway into our half and let off a fierce high shot that was dipping in. Dorian did tremendously well to get a good hand to it which diverted it onto the bar and then caught the rebound as it dropped out of the sky.
Scott and Brett were seeing plenty of the ball up front with some good touches, but couldn't find a route past their back line. I think we managed one shot on goal in the entire half when Brett shot weakly from the left with his left foot, with the keeper having plenty of time to fall on the ball. They were putting on most of the pressure with the strong wind flying the ball a little further than we at the back were expecting and causing uncomfortable moments as the ball bounced around our half.
They had another chance which became an awful miss from their point of view. Their long throw specialist launched one that bounced in the area and from literally a couple of yards out, their striker pinged it over the bar. It was a let off but that was the closest either side came in a low quality first half. Having said that, the oppo did have a spell of play in that first half where they pinged it about for close to 20 passes. They didn't actually get anywhere with it, but it was probably the closest thing to football that either team managed in the first half.
So 0-0 at the interval, and the wind that was seriously howling down the pitch was now at our backs. Lee and Brett swapped positions for the start of the half with Jon and Dale coming on for Kyle and Danny respectively a few minutes in. It was our turn to do most of the pressing this time and we working the ball better to get into more threatening positions, even if we weren't creating clear-cut chances.
Now about the first goal, not sure if it was from a corner or a throw in...anyway, we were on the attack and then they broke and launched a ball up to their left winger. I got to the ball first and despite some complaints about me easing him out of the way, I carried on and sent the ball back into their half . Their defender stuck out a leg, but missed and suddenly Lee was in. I think he took a touch before lobbing the oncoming keeper. It was a quality finish (and pretty happy to get my first assist of the season) and we deserved the lead on the back of our strong start to the half.
We couldn't keep the advantage though as we fell victim to the long throw specialist. It came in from our right and was allowed to bounce over the pack of players in the box to be softly nudged in by the same guy who'd missed the sitter in the first half. It was especially annoying since we knew what to expect with the throw but it just wasn't dealt with.
Lee had a great chance when JP's free kick from just outside the area on the right found him at the far post but his header was just wide. By this time the game was starting to open up and we were playing decent football, moving it through the middle out to the wing and giving them more problems than they were giving us.
Another throw on from the left was knocked out to me and I lobbed the ball to the left. Lee took a first time shot which was actually driven backward to JP. who showed great presence of mind to flick the ball up over the keeper and spinning into the far corner.
So in the lead for the second time and determined to keep the lead. Adam was on for Scott up front and after a long time out of the team, did well in holding the ball and getting Lee into the play. Lee himself got an opportunity when he robbed their centre-back who was dallying on the ball and his low shot got past the keeper but went into the side netting.
They then got a penalty when a cross into the box saw the ball bouncing higher than I expected and it came down on my outstretched hand as I was in mid air trying to volley it away. No disputing the penalty but we did ourselves no favours in the build up when a couple of our guys stopped as they were expecting the ref to blow for something. Their guy dispatched the spot kick into the corner but since half their team were in the box before he'd kicked it, the ref had it retaken. Straight down the middle, same result.
Gutted, but from the restart we got a handball decision go our way a midway into their half. Simon put the ball in, the keeper came out but Dale touched it on past him (getting clobbered by the keeper in the process) into the empty net. It turned out to be the last action of the game as the ref blew for time seconds after the restart.
So we battled through to a really vital win that keeps us up there in the title hunt. Maybe not our best performance but right now, the result's all that matters.
