Taela Walters - The Legend

Get Well Soon Eduardo

 The mighty Dutch Lions F.C. wish Eduardo a speedy recovery. We will wait and celebrate your come back goal for the Arsenal very soon

Claddagh Ring Conquered

The Claddagh Ring 1- Dutch Lions 4

Playing against the Claddagh Ring for the first time we set out to play our game and not allow them to impose on us.

Previous results from the Claddagh Ring saw Gwalia bang 10 past them with no reply and then they go and beat the good starters Colindale Athletic  3-2.

We started a little shaky with them getting behind us a couple of times with the wind assisting almost every pass. We settled and Paulo came close when he screwed a shot two foot away from the left post from outside the box. Jabor scored our first when he cleverly filled in as the third striker in a move I honestly cannot remember. The early goal calmed us but didn’t distract the Claddagh as much as we’ve seen others teams in the past. The Claddagh Ring had limited shots but none really tested Arran in the first half.

Our second came shortly after Pedro had a one on one with the keeper and failed to capitalise, O’Keeffe pinched the ball high up in midfield and poked it to Paulo, with me making the decoy run to the left pulling their defence apart he pushed it into the opposite right side, straight into the path of Carlos who Cooley passed the ball in the net, 2-0 and cruising.

Half time tea did the trick and our third was created with O’Keeffe placing a wind assisted ball over the towering defender, with Carlos anticipating this is again slotted home for his second. We conceded our goal because of Noel (again)

An attempted chest back to Arran from 3 yards out in a crowed six yard box was slammed home from the Claddagh Ring.

Our forth was also supplied in a similar vein to the third. Grant placed another long ball into the path of Carlos and he made no mistake knowing his first hat-trick for the lions awaited him. Well done Teves.

I thought the Claddagh Ring had some good players who liked to pass the ball. The game did get a little heated at times and perhaps this could have been avoided. They worked hard and a lot of them limped off the park after finding it a hard physical contest. They maintained there spirits late on and have the right idea. They are a credit to the league, Good luck fellas.

The game may be remembered for the trigger happy linesman-ship, but to be fair I couldn’t really argue with many of them from where I was but after a while it seemed to get silly. We will work on this.

Paulo’s Audacious shot from the second half kick off was amazing. Did the keeper flick it over? it was a bullet. What an Incredible effort from a man who has shown such dedication to the team. Keep plugging away P.

Goal from The Kick Off Courtesy of FC United

I was very impressed by Ahmed and Pedro, they showed great composure in the middle today, Hamzah was solid, Grant lead well and Jabors work rate was fantastic. Peter came close with a directed header from 10 yards going over the bar. Subs Yasser and Danny done well to keep the momentum up.

Well done today team. I was very pleased with todays solid performance that didn’t really push us out of third gear.

Sudbury Inn next week at the Den, another win and we can go second, above FSL who have cup duties. What more motivation do you need?

PROOF Team Talk In Spurs Kit DID Happen!

Lions exit Cup

FSL 7-2 Dutch Lions 

2-1 up with 4 minutes to go. How can we lose? We did and badly. A late goal by the former 1st Division Harrow side put us into extra time and in the space on 30 minutes they extended there goal tally by FIVE. A cast iron penalty won by Niall allowed Carlos to claim a calmly taken penalty and Carlos’s second was special. The man dedicated the goal to me just BEFORE he actually took the kick, He must have been 28 yards out. That was a special moment.

Lets remember guys that when we meet these again in the league we can beat them, We have beaten better sides. Concentration played a key part in our loss but if I know the team, we will bounce back. Get your boots clean (and dry) because Sundays League game now means more than ever.

Kenton Crumble

Kenton Town FC 0 – 4 Dutch Lions FC

The Lions swaggered into the next round of the President’s Cup, with a comprehensive demolition of Kenton Town.

While the opposition were from a division higher, the result was no real surprise, as Kenton are marooned at the bottom of their league while the Lions go from strength to strength. The next round is likely to prove far tougher, as the opposition are FSL, currently two points above the Lions in the league.

A SPURS KIT LIONS! Hang your heads in Shame

On a perfect day for football (quagmire of a pitch notwithstanding), Kenton started with plenty of enthusiasm, but without threatening Pedro in goal. Having weathered the early storm, the Lions were soon creating chances. Paulo and Niall’s movement was dragging the Kenton defence all over the place, and it was really only the boggy pitch that prevented an early lead being established. However, the opening goal soon arrived, when Carlos found some dry grass on the right wing and swung over the first of three pinpoint crosses that led to goals. On this occasion, it was Noel who arrived at the far post to nod in a simple opener.

After a couple more chances, including a cast iron penalty call, Niall made it two, with another header from another Carlos cross, this time from the left.

The second half started with another flurry from Kenton, and Pedro made a couple of quality saves to keep the Lions two in front. Normal service was resumed when Jabba, on as a sub, spun in the box and lifted the ball into the area where Noel connected with a sweet right footed volley to put the Lions three up.

Number four followed soon after, with Carlos again bamboozling the left back and picking out Jabba at the far post, and his finish was confident and emphatic.

A solid all round performance from the team, with everyone contributing, and another clean sheet. In particular, Pedro was safe as houses in goal, while Hamzeh and Noel again worked the left flank to good effect. Ahmed bossed the midfield, not only winning the ball, but also picking out numerous rapier like passes as well as getting shots on goal. Top performance for the second week running!

Up front, Niall got his customary goal, as well as taking some heavy punishment, and while Paolo may not be scoring, his work rate and movement cause the opposition’s defence endless problems.

 Finally, Carlos – three carbon copy assists after getting himself back in the starting 11 – good day’s work, fella!

While the match got a wee bit niggly, the Kenton WAGS on the touchline provided some witty banter to those of us close by. Makes a change from being called an old Scottish c**t!

Conversely, a couple of points for the male Kenton supporter, who shouted (at 3-0 down) “Let’s not get beaten by a bunch of yids!”:-

• While the Lions may not have a single person of the Jewish faith in the team, it was still a grossly offensive remark
• In what universe do you exist, whereby there was any likelihood of Kenton staging a four-goal comeback to defeat the Lions? Pigs flying, blue moons, hell freezing over, month of Sundays etc etc all spring to mind. Look forward to playing you next year. Whoops – that’s not going to happen either . .  .

Lions Punish League Leaders

Dutch Lions FC 3-0 Colindale Athletic

Colindale may be top of league but for how long? Our comprehensive beating of this team was a joy to watch. Colindale with a bare eleven looked weak in certain positions and we exposed that. Justice was sweet as we did not do ourselves justice in the away leg.

Our first goal came from a great run by noel getting past their right back with ease and cutting the ball back for Niall to poke into the bottom left corner. The second was from a delicious ball from Pedro that had SMACK THAT wrote all over it. Pedro looked like he was shaping up for the shot but with confidence passed the ball into Niall who had the better angle to score. Pedro claimed his second of the season also and could of made it two but for a him putting a rebound over the bar. In the second half we made three changes bringing on Carlos, Danny and Jabor but could not increase our lead. What a difference an early goal makes hey.

Down the left we were strong and inventive. The right done well to contain colindales star player Fabio (number 14) and to get in advance of the oppo’s fullback. Again Arran made two tidy saves and another clean sheet. We have conceded 6 all season in league which give us not only the best defence in the league but also the joint best goal difference with FSL with +17.

Next week its our last cup chance and we entertain second division Kenton. Until then, at ease soldier.

 Team: Skinny,Clarke,O’Keeffe,Bates,H.Ajjour,A.Ajjour,Pedge(1),Jules, Noel, Niall(2),Paulo. Subs used Carlos,Jabor,Danny. Subs not used Yasser D.