Deer Park Rangers went level on points with Zion FC and are now top of the league on goal difference. A dominant 6-2 victory for the Yellows blew a lacklustre Zion FC away.
The crunch game of the season was upon Zion. A win or even a draw would keep Zion massively in the ascendency with four games to play. Zion fans thought they would grab the three points when Dan Shotton opened the scoring with a great long range effort after a decent pass from Alex Ternouth. Deer Park then seemed to dominate possession as Zion relinquished it regularly. A lack of composure on the ball and a succession of rushed passes contrived to allow Deer Park to dominate the first half. A goal of quality grabbed the equaliser. A long range strike that seemed to have unnatural dip left Steve Winter confused. The veteran goalkeeper who turned fifty at the weekend pulled off some saves to keep Zion in it, before Deer Park turned the screw. Decent one-two's and confident finishing gave Zion a huge mountain to climb. A few goals and some squandered half chances later and Zion trailled 4-1 at the break.
The tide didn't change with very few periods of sustained possession and incisive passing. In truth it didn't look like Zion had the belief nor the desire to get back into the game. Even when they reduced the deficit when Dan Shotton poked home a Tommy Powell effort that came back off the keeper, Zion failed to inspire or lift themselves for a rousing finish. Instead they seemed to wave the white flag, and watched almost in awe of their opponents. Two Deer Park goals later and Zion were completely out of it, and were quite lucky not to have conceded more. The final whistle blew with only a handful of Zion supporters left in the ground, such was the lack of a good performance.
Tommy Powell refused to speak with the media once more, as the F.A will surely question why, it is believed he was so angry with his sides performance that he stormed out of the ground without uttering a word to anyone. Dan Shotton, the player who did himself justice on the night apologised for his Manager and then spoke glowingly about Zion's opponents, "They were better than us tonight, some of their football was really good and sometimes you just have to put your hands up and admit we were not on it tonight. We got the lead and I thought we might win it, but they came back strong and deserved the win. We must respond and make sure that we push them and make the most of any slip ups." The watching Tony Dain who edges closer to a return to action after a long injury lay off also spoke with the media, "As much as we were bad tonight, Deer Park were good. We didn't seem comfortable on the ball, and if you give it away that much you are asking for trouble. It's important to bounce back next week and make sure we keep the title race a two horse one." Zion will be hoping to get straight back to winning ways next week when they face Big Mac and Fries.
