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 . .  .