27/03/11: Hunters Lodge (City FC) (2) v (1) The Victory Club
Scorer: Davison
Team: Swan (GK), Hudson, Bunyan, Davison (c), M. Dryden, Harding, Collins, Lamb (Rodgers), Robson (Stores), Lewis (Hunter), Smiles
Unused Subs: Fisher, Jackson
Yellows: Lewis, Dryden
Reds: None
Two goals in five second half minutes saw Hunters Lodge overturn a one goal deficit to claim a crucial 2-1 win over The Victory in the fight for Division Two survival. While the result all but ensures Hunters Lodge will remain in the Division next season, the Victory find themselves with work still needed to be done if they are do to the same.
For the third game in a row, Lee Hermiston, made one alteration to his starting line up bringing in Jonny Lewis in place of Simon Mountford. Peter Harding was moved out to the right wing with Lewis stationed up front alongside Victory top scorer, James Smiles. It was a decision which surprised more than a few observers.
The Victory got off to almost the perfect start as with only five minutes gone they were awarded a penalty. A ball from Harding found its way to Smiles who was free just inside the box. In a desperate attempt to tackle Smiles before he shot a Hunters Lodge defender dived in full length however he only succeeded in taking Smiles legs out from underneath him and referee, Kieran Downey, had no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot. Up stepped, Greg Davison and the Victory captain made no mistake in dispatching the kick into the bottom right hand corner of the net. Had the match been in the Barclays Premier League then the defender who committed the foul may well have received his marching orders given he had denied a clear goal scoring opportunity but in this instance he got away with merely a ticking off.
It took until around the twentieth minute for Hunters Lodge to have their first effort on goal but they almost scored from it. A speculative shot from distance looked as though it was going to be easily dealt with by Swan but the Victory keeper allowed it to slip from his grasp. However, as the ball dribbled back to his own goal line Swan recovered and dived on top of it. Hunters Lodge attempted to con the referee into giving a goal claiming the ball was over the line but the fact was it was nowhere near.
Jonny Lewis then picked up a caution for a late tackle on the Hunters Lodge centre half. Once again Hunters Lodge got in the referees face demanding that the colour of the card be red but there was no way the tackle warranted a sending off.
Both sides were struggling to create anything in the way of a meaningful chance.
A long ball out of defence put Smiles clear down the right but after he beat two defenders his left footed shot lacked any real conviction and was comfortably saved by the Hunters Lodge keeper.
Hunters Lodge had barely been inside the Victory penalty area and again they resorted to trying their luck from distance. A fierce strike from thirty yards though was straight at Swan.
Despite the Victory’s failings in attack they were still looking strong in defence and at half time the score remained 1-0.
At the interval, Hermiston praised the work rate and effort of his side while over on the other side of the pitch the Hunters Lodge manager could be heard tearing strips from his players as he was clearly unhappy with their first half display.
The words from their manager clearly fired up the Hunters Lodge players as they came out at the start of the second half with a renewed sense of purpose. They started to dominate things in the centre of the park and were first to any loose ball.
Just before the hour mark, Hunters Lodge’s positive start to the second half was rewarded when they equalised. The nippy substitute, who was brought on only a couple of minutes earlier, beat Dryden down the right wing and whipped in a cross to the back post where the left winger ghosted in and tapped it home from no more than five yards out.
A couple of minutes after the concession of the goal, Hermiston tried to inject some fresh life into the Victory by replacing a tiring, Lewis with Scott Hunter.
However, a little less than five minutes later and the game had been turned completely on its head as Hunters Lodge profited from a stroke of luck to put themselves 2-1 ahead.
The Victory failed to clear a long throw in properly and it broke to a Hunters Lodge player around thirty yards from goal. He hit a shot goal wards that deflected off Bunyan, as he tried to block it, and ricocheted straight into the path of another Hunters Lodge player who was left with the simple task of slipping the ball past Swan and into the net. It was a real sucker punch for the Victory and one which they would sadly never really recover from.
Shortly after the goal, Hermiston made his final two permitted subs throwing on Ben Stores and Alex Rodgers for Stephen Robson and Graham Lamb. This meant Victory stalwart Steve Jackson, would for another week not get a game. After the game Jackson, who has scored two goals in fifteen appearances this season, announced his decision to quit the team due to a lack of playing time. There is no question the Victory will miss his creative abilities in the centre of the park.
The Victory huffed and puffed in their efforts to grab an equaliser but their failings in the attacking third were there for all to see.
Hunters Lodge survived a half shout from the Victory for a penalty when Smiles was blocked off in the box but that and an overhead kick effort from Rodgers apart the men in red never really looked like getting an equaliser.
At the other end, while the Victory were throwing bodies forward, Hunters Lodge looked dangerous on the counter attack. Mark Dryden picked up a yellow card when he pulled back a Hunters Lodge player who was threatening to run away from him but in the end Hunters Lodge were happy to sit on their 2-1 advantage.
As the final whistle blew the disappointment was clear to see on the face of all the Victory players. In truth it had been a poor game between what ultimately are two poor teams. Hunters Lodge will be delighted to pick up the points while the Victory will rue their careless five minute spell in which they conceded twice as well as their inability to create a real chance of note in the whole game. Hermiston will have a tough job on his hands to try and lift his players for the first of the Victory’s midweek games – this one at the Silksworth Sports Complex against Hendon Vics this Thursday evening. Things could not be much harder though as the Victory are set to be without a number of players for the match while Hendon Vics have shot up to second in the Division Two table having won their last nine games league games in a row.
