Zion FC continued their winning streak with a 6-0 victory that all but resigned Gullens Specials to relegation. The Lions didn't look at their best, but showed enough class to comfortably overcome considerably weaker opposition.
The journalists were salivating at the prospect of another Zion exhibition. Many had predicted another goalscoring masterclass of double figure stature. That feat however, did not materialise and the game only showed glimpses of quality in the first half. Instead misplaced passes and an inability to control a slippery ball seemed to prevail. Zion did show some neat passages of play at times, and to no-one's surprise they took the lead. David Jones found Tommy Powell who tucked his shot past the keeper with confidence. Jones then doubled the lead when Dan Shotton's clearance was twice headed in the air before two defenders took each other out of the game and allowed Jones to volley into the net. Gullens showed great desire, but that wasn't matched by finesse. Instead their chances came about through their sheer determination to scrap and fight for everything. Steve Winter however, was on top form making a difficult greasy ball seem like it had been smothered in superglue. Ben Short and Dan Shotton were winning the defensive battle, especially aerially and despite a laboured performance the Lions were in complete control at the half time interval.
The game continued to show sparadic moments of magic in the second half, with a game that lacked entertainment. Zion could be forgiven for that fact, having secured the title two matches ago. However, Manager Tommy Powell had expressed his desire to maintain their winning run and to please the fans in his programme notes. It was the player/manager who was first to net after the break. Jones again the provider went on a jinking run down the left and cut the ball back for the grateful Powell who made no mistake from two yards out. A carbon copy of that goal came soon after as Jones again allowed Powell to grab another hat-trick. Powell then returned the compliment when he played the ball forward for Jones, who netted to make it 5-0. Despite this good link up between Zion's leading scorers, it was the defence that was perhaps the most impressive as Shotton and Short dominated. The moment of the second half was unquestionably a fantastic Steve Winter save. A break from deep from Gullens Specials created a one on one with the veteran keeper, who spectacularly saved low down to his right and the ball was then cleared. The tally then increased to six, when Shotton broke forward, after a decent passing move Jones laid the ball to the giant defender who calmly sidefooted the ball past the keeper. Another emohatic victory for Zion now sees them one game away from the perfect season.
Murmours of an angry exchange in the tunnel emerged among the gathered media after the match. Some insulting words apparently between several dissappointed members of the Gullens squad and Zion goalkeeper Steve Winter had been said, with the Lions keeper reportedly likening the Gullens match to a pre-season friendly. Players had to be separated as tempers flared. Tommy Powell played down the incident whilst also calling on his side to up their game if they want to keep their winning run going, "These minor disagreements happen regularly in the tunnel after matches, but they are always a heat of the battle thing, and everyone's laughing and joking soon afterwards, it was nothing. Steve isn't a troublesome player, he keeps his head down and generally has good relations with opposing teams. As far as our performance goes, Steve was our star man today, making some fine saves and keeping another clean sheet. We didn't play to our full ability, but we won and that is pleasing. We know that if we are to continue this good habit of winning, we'll need to play a lot better than that in future." Man of the match Steve Winter was also keen to protest his innocence when he was bombarded with leading questions after the alledged fracas, "Their were no thrown punches or even raised temperatures. I think it's more a case of you guys trying to make a mountain out of a mole-hill. I said something in jest that was taken the wrong way, and got a mouthfull back and that ended it. I'm just about to go and chat to their lads in the players lounge, and I'm sure it'll be all laughs and jokes in there. This nonsense just distracts us from talking about a fairly uneasy to watch game. We never got out of second gear really, but showed enough quality when it counted to comfortably win. It's hard to stay motivated when you are so far ahead, but we have all been talking up the chances of our unbeaten run making history, and so we know that an improvement in the level of performance is needed. Zion will find a G.A side determined to stop Zion from re-writing the record books next week in the final game of the season.
