After a season of beautiful expansive play from Zion's talented players, it was a laboured 4-3 victory against hardworking Amplicon that sealed the title for The Lions. Needing just to draw, Zion struggled to harness any rhythm in the game despite coming back froma two goal deficit to win.
The game started at a ferocious pace with Zion keen to get the silverware rapped up. Rushed passes, rushed attempts on goal, and a somewhat nervous looking defence did little to help their cause. Amplicon had no pressure on their shoulders and were determined not to give Zion an easy ride. They gave The Lions players little space to create and deployed a counter attacking style that looked threatening on several occasions. Amplicon took the lead when Zion surrendered possession and the ball was neatly dispatched past Steve Winter. Minutes later the same things happened again as Zion's struggled to find their team mates with their passing. At 2-0, it only fed Zion's anxiety, and passes continued to be rushed, and instead of the ball be held up and calmly knocked around, shots were being fired in before players had even got the ball under control. It was no surprise that the one piece of calm, measured football resulted in a foothole back into the game. Tony Dain played the ball forward to David Jones, who settled on the ball and played a well timed his pass through to Dan Shotton. The big defender showed the composure the forwards were lacking with a neat finish past the keeper, claiming his 80th Zion goal in the process. This gave Zion new hope, but didn't settle their game. It took a goal of individual excellence to bring Zion into a title winning position once more. Dain played the ball to Jones on the halfway line. The creative midfielder led two defenders on a merry dance, jinking and dummying around them, before unleashing a superb curling effort past the motionless keeper. The ball found itself lodged between the stanction and the net, perfectly in the top corner of the goal. The Lions were fortunate to be level at the break, and their relaince on that individual moment of genius, aptly tells the story of their poor football.
The atmosphere around Stanley Deason continued to be tense. Passes weren't finding red shirts and the rushed manner of the game persisted to disrupt any progress Zion made when it came to creating a passing rhythm. Another individual piece of magic, rather than a silky passing move, gave Zion the lead. Powell played the ball to Jones, who again dribbled past his ankle biting opponents before unleashing a left footed strike past the keeper. Laboured football continued as Zion looked to close out the title winning position they found themselves in. The defence had improved from the first half as they soaked up Amplicon pressure and looked to break. It was a counter attack that extended Zion's lead. Jones and Tommy Powell found themselves with a two on one situation, and the midfielder laid the ball into Powell's path for the tall striker to comfortably tuck the ball into the back of the net. Powell was making his 150th appearance in a Zion shirt, and marked it with his 280th goal, phenominal stats. 4-2 was an extremely generous scoreline for Zion, who again looked to close out the match. However, they were caught out when Amplicon broke in numbers and Winter's goal was breached. A long range effort found the corner of his goal. A nervous finale to the match saw several saves from Winter as Amplicon looked to upset the party. However, it wasn't to be and Zion bagged their 5th Premiership crown, their 3rd Monday Early crown.
Zion Manager Tommy Powell had mixed feelings after the match, "It's great to win the league, but the performance tonight was aweful. None of our passes connected, and we were far to nervous on the ball. We have played such beautiful football until this game, and it's a shame we didn't close the season with a good display. Having said that, its great to win the league, back where we belong." Defender Tony Dain echoed his Managers words, when asked in the post match press room, "That was our worst performance of the season. We never settled and played our football. We then had to rely on individual efforts and counter attacks to get the result we needed. On the other hand a win is a win, and sometimes you have to win ugly. We did the job and got the job done." Zion will be looking to mirror the success of this season as they look forward to the new campaign, however, they will be hoping that their next performance massively improves. Champions again, teams will be looking out for their name when next seasons fixtures are distributed.
Premiership Team P W D L F A GD Pts 1 Zion FC 7 7 0 0 29 8 21 21 2 Bike Track Cosmos 7 6 0 1 32 12 20 18 3 Dazeone.co.uk 7 4 0 3 32 23 9 12 4 Embassy FC 7 3 1 3 24 21 3 10 5 Real Portslade FC 7 3 1 3 18 15 3 10 6 Amplicon Athletic 7 3 0 4 22 24 -2 9 7 The G.A 7 1 0 6 14 31 -17 3 8 Deportivo La Coronary 7 0 0 7 7 44 -37 0
