Friendly - Dutch Lions V John Lewis 3 -2

With the season coming to an end and the outstanding form of the Lions as of late, a friendly was organised to keep the lions focused and sharp for the remaining fixtures of the season.  The lions entertained John Lewis for a match which was anything but a friendly. A recent fixture between the two teams ended up as a draw, a game the lions felt they should have won and the manager made sure that everyone remembered that and got the right result this time round. The lions had a healthy squad of 16 players and lots of competition for places. The starting team was Skinny, Oli, Grant, Pete, Noel, Jules, Pedro, Timid, Hamzeh (b.t.w. this is how you spelt it), Yasser and Ahmed. With Jabor, Mo, Paulo, Macca and Carlos who made his debut for the club in fine fashion, on the bench.

The game started slowly with both teams reluctant to push forward with numbers as they were both trying to get a grip of the game and keep possession of the ball. The pitch was very hard and bouncy that at times made it difficult to play the style of football that we enjoy playing. Not much happened in the first half but players had been noticed such as Yasser who didn’t stop running and fighting for every ball and showed his commitment on the pitch. With the inclusion of Carlos and Jabor as substitutes at the end of the first half, they sprung straight into action with a first touch through ball played by Carlos to Jabor whilst he was making his run through the heart of the Lewis defence, with a shot on his first touch it narrowly passed the post. With seconds left in the first half Carlos won possession in the Lewis half and ran towards goal before lobbing the keeper from a tight angle and scoring his first goal for the lions on his debut. 

At half time Carlos was asked about his goal and he was quoted as saying “The size of the goal is too big man” no comment needed. In the second half further changes took place as Paulo came on. It was a totally different game to the first, the lions looked dominant and very comfortable with the ball, pushing more number up for attack. With good work and good feet from Paulo he crossed the ball to Jabor in good space, only to miss the target with a header but he makes up for it later. With the inclusion of Macca after a long absence from the team he linked up well with Pedro with a smart one-two which released Pedro into space to cross the ball in for Jabor, who this time instead of opting for a header decided to do things in style and attempt an over head kick, he connected with the ball well and the keeper had no chance as the ball flew past him. 2- 0 and the score line started to show the lions dominance. Lewis were still not able to play and only being restricted to long ball that the defence dealt with easily. Half way into the half Grant won possession in the middle of the park then laid  the ball off to Pedro who had one touch and played an remarkable through ball to a running Carlos, where again he showed great finishing and a good eye for goal as he lobbed the keeper again from and extremely tight angle.

With the score at 3-0 complacency crept into the side, the lions started to lose the 50:50 challenges and lost there fight, with a poor clearance from defense a JL striker had the opportunity to creep into the box, and finish into the right hand corner. It’s a shame because the defence did play well and deserved their clean sheet, but it wasn’t to be. With Mo’s inclusion onto the pitch he was played a pass in front of him with only the keeper to beat, as he was taking his strides towards the ball he started to move more slowly as if it wore in slow motion, and the defender was able to catch up and win possession, but it was seconds later when Mo dropped to the ground in dramatic style it was known that he had pulled his hamstring and had to be taken off.

With the resulting lose of possession and the players’ worry for Mo health; JL had scored again with good work from their striker. In the dying stages of the match Hamzeh was through on goal and was fouled in the box and a penalty was awarded.  Yasser had stepped up to take the penalty in confidence and was on the brink of his first goal for the Lions, after a long delay because the referee had forgotten to blow his whistle for the penalty to be taken, Yasser ran up to the ball, and struck it, only for the ball to trickle straight down the middle of the goal for the keeper to clear it out. The match ended 3-2 and it was a good victory for the lions against a strong team in the league. 

Written by Hamzeh (After being forced by his own brother)