Steve Winter was on top form for Zion FC as they triumphed 4-2 against Real Portslade. Despite making hard work of the result The Lions showed enough class to win the game.
Real Portslade started the game with a tight mindset. Their tight marking high up the pitch allowed little space for the Zion forwards to breath, and the game got off to a slow and scrappy start. Winter started his medley of spectacular saves blocking a close range effort with his feet. Then came Winter's only error of the game. As the Real Portslade striker ran with the ball towards goal he shot from a tight angle. The ball beat Winter at his near post as the Portslade striker ran off in celebration. That mistake was more than made up for throughout the first half as Winter pulled out save after save to keep Zion in with a shout despite theior slow start. Zion were creating a number of chances themselves. Tommy Powell and Dave Shaldoum had efforts saved and narrowly missed, before the equaliser arrived. Powell laid the ball to Shaldoum, who jabbed the ball home with his outstretched leg. A succession of chances came as Tony Dain and David Jones began to find more space and thereafter more passing moves. The half ended with Zion fully believing they could go on to win the game.
That positive attitude was fully justified minutes into the second period. A neat one-two between Powell and Jones, allowed the former to tap his side into a 2-1 lead. Zion fans have been used to their side making life difficult for themselves down the years, and this game was a prime example of that. Not long after scoring, they were hit on the break and a mis-hit shot found its way past Winters fingertips to draw the game level once more. This only spurred the Lions on and they were soon back on top. Shaldoum played a great pass through to Jones who dummied the keeper and was able to fire into the empty net. The result then seemed inevitable. However, Winter was then forced into some more outstanding saves, each time pushing the ball out of the danger areas. It was an awesome display of goalkeeping that maintained Zion's lead. At the other end, there were comparitively higher amounts of chances, however, the keeper was forced into less saves it seemed. One chance that was taken came towards the end of the game. Jones and Powell broke forward in tandem, and when Jones drew the keeper towards him, Powell intelligently moved into space. The pass was on que and Powell's finish routine, as Zion finished the game with a 4-2 victory.
Manager Tommy Powell felt his side made hard work of their win, "We didn't play to our full ability today, but even then we easily created more chances and deserved to win the game. It wasn't as comfortable as we would have liked, but we got the win and that is the main thing." Powell then went on to hail the performance of his goalkeeper, "Steve was brilliant for us tonight. For me he is the best shot stopper in this league and we're lucky to have him in our team." Man of the match Steve Winter felt his side were lucky not to rue the numerous missed chances Zion created, "We missed a lot of chances and we could have been made to pay for that. I am pleased with my individual performance, it's always nice to be recognised and I am just pleased that I helped the side gain the three points we needed to get our season back on track." Zion face rivals Dazeone next week, and will be looking to create some winning momentum.
