As the ball flew from the left foot of David Jones into the back of the Gunners net, there was an atmosphere of relief among the Lions fans. Zion had salvaged a point in the dying seconds, despite a laboured performance, when it seemed certain they would suffer their first defeat of 2009.
It was frustratingly slow for the fans to watch in the opening moments of the match. Although the passing was accurate, Zion's plays were predictable and uninspiring. Premiership newboys adopted a deep lying defence in a bid to sufficate the space in and around their goal. As an attacking force The Gunners failed to provide much of a threat and Tony Dain, and Ben Short were able to command the defensive battle. Even when Zion are not on form, they always seem to create chances out of nothing, and this game was a shining example of that. The first half was a tale of largely impotent finishing and some good Gunners Goalkeeping. Tommy Powell, and David Jones managed to create several good chances without scoring. Eventually it was defender Dain who showed the attacking players how to put the ball in the white rectangular thing, with the net attached to it. Good work from Powell gave Dain an empty net to shoot at. Dain made hard work of the chance, hitting the post with his first attempt. Fortunately the rebound landed at his feet again and he gave Zion the lead. That was to be the epitome of the match.
The first five minutes of the second half gave the neutrals hope of a match with decent football. Zion seemed sharper with added purpose. They continued to create chances, many of which were squandered, many thwarted. The Stun Gunners changed their style of play to suit that of a team who were chasing the game. Dain and Short were under far more pressure as a result and The Gunners dangerman in particular caused them some concern. On several occasions goalkeeper Steve Winter came to the rescue with some outstanding saves. Zion looked to have settled the match when Jones produced some magic, wrong footing his opponent before smashing a left footed drive into the bottom left corner of the goal. The comfort of a two goal margin was short lived. Straight from the kick off The Stun's striker breached Winter's goal with an accurate finish. Zion looked certain to wrap up the match moments after when Jones' cut back was squandered first by Dain and then at the second time of asking, Powell. That let off galvanised The Gunners who broke to grab an equaliser. Their striker ran through on goal to round Steve Winter and tap home. The same player then went through on goal and smashed the ball into the top right corner. This prompted a frantic final few minutes of the match. Constant pressure eventually told when Jones beat his man with some good trickery before he wrapped his left foot round the ball and watched it arrow into the top left corner of the net. Seconds after the restart the final whistle blew to a muted reception from the fans. Relieved rather than happy, Zion fans would have expected more from their side against an inferior team. the home fans were still in shock and perhaps felt they had been robbed, but on refection a point for them against the reigning champions was quite an achievement.
Manager Tommy Powell was left frustrated by his sides performance, and felt that the result meant that two points had been lost, rather than one point gained. "We were lacklustre tonight. They were defending very deep and didn't allow us much time on the ball, but it's not as if we aren't used to that in this league. We needed to take our chances, but we didn't and it cost us the win." Defender Ben Short was a little more upbeat about the game, as he stated "It was a great strike from DJ. I thought his first was better. We looked like we had lost the game as we struggled in the second half with their striker, but taking the positives out of it, we didn't give up, and our pressure in the final few minutes was too much for them." David Jones had mixed feelings about the game, "It was great to get that goal at the end. It keeps us in a relatively strong position." Asked about his sides unbeaten run he answered "I think the reason we are so hard to beat is that we have so many players who can produce a bit of magic from nowhere to get us a result. Even when we are not on form like today." Jones then went on to explain why he felt Zion hadn't performed, "Our final ball wasn't great today and the one touch link up play was slightly off. To unlock defences we need to be sharper in the final third both with our passing and our finishing". Zion find themselves in second place ahead of the top two clash with Bike Track Cosmos next week.
