Another fine display from Tommy Powell inspired Zion to an emphatic 7-3 victory over rivals Dazeone. The win has boosted The Lions chances of winning the title and has ended Dazeone title challenge.
Zion started brightly and it didn't take long for them to take an early lead. Tony Dain played the ball forward to Powell who smashed the ball into the bottom corner of the net with confidence. Dazeone failed to settle and Zion applied some good pressure only to be thwarted by the goalkeeper on several occasions. They were made to pay for their wasted chances when the Dazeone striker struck a sweet strike into the top left corner of Steve Winter's goal. The Lions fans stirred Zion back into action and their attacking rhythm resumed. Dan Shotton played a neat ball forward to Powell, who continued to bamboozle the Dazeone defence, skwirming through multiple challenges before dispatching a neat finish and restoring Zion's lead. Dain ventured forward moments later and struck with venom. Shotton managed to control the ball in front of the commited keeper. Seeing him despairingly laboured on the floor, like a beached whale, Shotton proceeded to tap the ball into the opposite side of the goal tto make it 3-1. Dazeone hope came before half time, when Scholesy was set through on goal and tapped home. Winter was having a fantastic game in the Zion goal, with much improved distribution and some phenominal saves. His opposite number was also on song, Chunk had double handedly kept Dazeone in with a chance at half time.
Pundits in the Sky TV studio box had predicted a tight second half with a lot of tension for the home fans. However, such tension was calmed early on when Powell completed his hatrick soon after the restart. A pass from David Jones set him through and dummying the chip he slid the ball underneath chunk to give Zion some breathing space. That breathing space was extended further when Jones set Dain through on goal, and the veteran defender finished with consumate ease. Dazeone were then awarded a penalty when Shotton pulled back Scholesy. The penalty went high and wide to the relief of Shotton and his team mates. Winter was forced into some fantastic saves as Dazeone searched a foothold back in the match. Winter and the Zion defence were holding out and frustrating their opposition, and that frustration boiled over. Dazeone had been kicking the Zion players throughout the match, as they couldn't compete with the Lions flowing football, and when tackles went unpunished and the referee was struggling to keep control of the game, tempers flared. Shotton was pushed by an angry Dazeone player completely off the ball, and what seemed to the referee like a squaring of two players heads, was actually little more than Shotton standing up to the over-excited player. As a result of the referee's interpretation, both players were sin-binned. Zion continued to dominate and played possession football. However, they found themselves conceeding when a Dazeone counter attack culminated in a neat finish from their pacey striker. Zion immediately responded. The re-introduced Shotton found himself through on goal and laid the ball across unselfishly to Jones who had a simple tap in to grab his 30th goal of the year. He should have had a 31st when Zion were awarded a penalty soon after. Powell flicked the ball whilst controlling it round the keeper with his first touch after a long ball, only to find himself wiped out WWE style by the embarrased Chunk. Fans expected regular penalty taker Jones to step up, but to their dismay, Shotton had tried to steal the limelight. The 6"8 defender stepped up and tamely stroke the ball into the keepers grasp to the aggrivation of his team mates, not to mention the disgruntled fans. The response was one reminiscent of Emmanuel Eboue against Wigan when he didn't receive a rapturous reception. However, the villain was given the chance to make ammends, and after good work from Jones, Shotton rapped up the win with a right footed finish past the helpless keeper.
Tommy Powell was delighted with his sides display, when he was presented with the Man Of The Match award after the game, "We outplayed them completely, and also matched them in the battle and that was key. I love it when we play good football and tonight was special." Tony Dain was in confident mood in his post match press conference, "It's great to get that win, we deserved it, and now I think we have the quality to keep our cool and do the job in the final game.", David Jones was also upbeat after such a hard fought result, "We deserved it, I think particular praise should go to Tommy who was magic tonight, but the whole side played well at times." When questioned about the penalty incident he said, "It won't happen again, I allowed Dan the chance coz we were winning, but looking back we need to make sure that the right decision is made for the team. Every goal counts towards our final league position and extends our goal difference that some seasons could prove vital." Dan Shotton was confused as to the reasons of his sin-binning, when asked after the game, "I don't know why he chose to sin-bin me. All I saw was this guy in my face pushing me, and coz I didn't fall over the ref thought it was both of us I guess. He may be a bit embarrased when he sees the replays." Zion now head into their final match needing just a point for the title, against Amplicon Athletic.
