Bouncebackability! DLFC 3- NLT 2

Dutch Lions FC 3 – 2 North London Tara
Report By Peter Clark (Resident Right Back for the Lions)

The Lions showed their increasing mental strength and fitness levels to come from two goals down to defeat title-chasing North London Tara 3-2 at Northwick Park.
 
Turning round at 1-2, the Lions reshaped their formation to score twice, and then survived a nervy last 10 minutes to keep all three points. After the disappointments of a cup exit on penalties two weeks ago, then a narrow league defeat last week, this win was richly deserved.

The match was a personal triumph for player-manager Don O’Keeffe, who took over in goal after regular keeper Arron called off. With a couple of crucial saves in the last ten, he helped ensure victory for the Lions.

The Lions starting formation was altered slightly this week, with Timid moving to the point of a four-man diamond formation in midfield, supporting Jabba and Yasser up front. However, it was Tara that made all the running early on, as the Lions conceded midfield, and allowed the Tara opposition to dominate. It was little surprise when Tara went one up, a low shot from the edge of the box finding its way through a forest of legs and squirming past the unsighted O’Keeffe. It didn’t take long for Tara to double their lead, when a weak goal kick was returned with interest, expertly dispatched from 35 yards.

Instead of heads going down, the Lions redoubled their efforts, and started to dominate. The Tara defence were put under more pressure, and several hasty clearances signified the changing mood of the match. Justice was done just before half time. Noel flighted a searching pass from left back, which found the Tara centre half wanting. Jabba was onto the ball in a flash, and gave the keeper no chance with a confident strike from 16 yards. The half time whistle went soon after, and the Lions had clearly seized a key psychological advantage.

The Lions reshaped for the second half, moving to a 4-3-3 with Paolo coming on to spearhead the attack. The Tara defence was soon under pressure again, as the Lions set about finding an equaliser. Clark was finding plenty of space down the right, and when given time and space to cross again, sent a laser-guided raker to the far post. Jabba, timing his run to perfection, headed powerfully back across the keeper, and the Lions were back on level terms.

The game was clearly there for the taking now. Tara, with heads starting to go down, were looking increasingly vulnerable at the back. The Lions went for the jugular, and duly drew blood – although the blood-letting coming from perhaps an unlikely source.

A corner from the right was flicked on by Timid. With Grant causing confusion amongst the Tara defence, the ball was cleared weakly to Clark on the edge of the box. Without breaking stride, the buccaneering right back connected perfectly with a left-footed half-volley from 18 yards. The roof of the net bulged, and the Lions were ahead thanks to Clark’s first goal in open play for 23 years.*

Tara threw everything at the Lions for the remainder of the match, with numerous goal mouth scrambles and dangerous crosses coming to nothing in the end. In fact, the nearest to another goal came at the opposite end, when a mazy run and cut back from Timid gave Paolo a sight of goal. His shot appeared to hit the inside of the side netting and come out again, with the reaction of all the players from both sides near the goal telling its own story. However, the referee disallowed the goal and waved play on.

 

In the end, a morale-booting victory was ground out. The Lions never gave up, got their shape back after a ropey start, and fashioned three quality goals to take full points. With 4 matches left, if we’re looking at targets, it’s got to be 12 points, just to emphasise the massive strides this new team, group of players and the management have made since the start of the season.

Good luck to Tara in their cup final. Hope you win, lads.

(* A tap in from a yard in an Angus Amateurs Division 2 match, Dawson Park, Dundee, April 1984 if you’re interested . . . )

Sals Bar Steal It. 2-2 AET, Lost On Penalties 2-1.

A hard fought quarter final was eventually lost by the Lions on penalties, despite completely outplaying Sals Bar, a division above, and enjoying a fine season in their own league.

Finishing 2-2 after extra time, the Lions only managed to convert one penalty, while, despite a couple of fine saves from Aaron, Sals Bar slotted the necessary two to progress to the semi final. The Lions lined up with their familiar formation, with the exception of fit again player-manager O’Keeffe returning to replace the injured Ollie at centre half. The Lions started brightly, with the usual neat interplay between midfield and attack soon stretching Sal’s somewhat laboured defenders.

Totally dominant, it was no surprise when the Lions went one up. Timid cut in from the left wing, and hit a daisy cutter which their keeper let slip through his hands. Somewhat fortuitous, but totally deserved. However, as so often happens, a couple of immediate lapses of concentration allowed Sals an equaliser. A rubbish bit of control by one of their attackers saw a pass ricochet off Grant, who conceded a corner. When it was floated over, the wind caught it, and it evaded Aaron and Don at the far post to float in. Rubbish goal, and their only attempt in the whole half. Justice swiftly followed though, when the Lions won a free kick on the edge of the box. Despite a substantial wall, Paolo cracked a screamer straight through it, and the keeper could only help the ball into the net. 2-1 up at half time, the Lions handled some early pressure in the second half, but were looking totally comfortable. Perhaps the turning point was when Ahmed was worked into space with only the keeper to beat, but hammered the ball against the crossbar. 3-1 would have seen Sal’s dead and buried, as they were offering little in attack.

With the Lions running down the clock, progress into the semis looked assured, until Sals scored their second rubbish goal. From an innocuous free kick with four minutes to go, the ball skimmed off the head of one of their attackers, confusing everyone, and crept into the net at the far post. You make your own luck, but they had no right to be in that position given the previous 86 minutes. Extra time was hard fought, but with few goal chances, although the Lions were much the stronger side. The Lions looked to have scored when Jabba bundled the ball into the net in the first half, but a foul on their keeper was awarded. Then, with minutes to go, Clark met a Paulo corner to bullet a header goal-wards, which the keeper kept out without being aware of what was happening. And so to penalties.

Sals went first, with Aaron pulling of a magnificent save. Unfortunately, what was to follow was disappointing, despite penalties being practiced for this eventuality at the previous training session. Jabba, Paolo and Timid all sent their penalties straight down the middle, and all were saved. Noel coolly slotted his, but Clark, needing to score to keep the Lions in the game, crashed the Lion’s fifth off the junction of post and crossbar. If you don’t win during open play, then the lottery of penalties means anything can happen, and as it does so often in these situations, the poorer side won.

The Lions can hold their heads high though. Another solid performance, and against a decent side from a higher league. Similar levels of performance will see plenty more points won by the Lions during the remainder of the season.

Written By Peter Clark

MATCH REPORT:AFC Finchley 0-3 Dutch Lions

28/01/07 By Noel Jones (aged 23 and a bit)

After the Dutch Lions first win of the New Year two weeks ago against Gwalia, the team wanted to keep the momentum going.
There was one change from the team that beat Gwalia, Peter Clark came in for Taela at right back. The Line-up as Follows:

 

The first half was all Dutch Lions and we were all over them from the first minute to the last.  Timid scored his first of two goals when he picked up the ball on the left, took on a couple of AFC Finchley defenders before drawing the keeper and sliding the under him.

This wasn’t a dirty game but it will be remembered for one outrageous challenge when the number six of AFC Finchley took out Pedro. He should have been sent of but the ref was very lenient giving him only a yellow card.
The Dutch Lions bossed the game as AFC Finchley barely got out of there half in the first half. You would not believe this is the same side, which gave as a 4nil spanning earlier in the season. Dutch Lions got there second midway thought the first half Paulo scored. Dutch Lions were 2-0 up at half-time……
It seemed to take a while for as to find our feet as we were kicking up hill and against the wind in the second half. Timid got his second goal of the game and that point it was game, set and match. Aaron has very little to do and whatever saves he had to make he done very well.
We could and should of scored more but the most satisfactory is that the team kept a clean sheet and the will help confidence within the team.
The team had a job to do and went about in professional manner!!!!
There is still a lot of work to be done but all in all a job well.
  
Noel Jones
29/01/07

MATCH REPORT WIN Dutch Lions 3-1 Gwalia

DUTCH LIONS  3 - 1  GWALIA
 
Its a New year and the Lions endeavoured to make a new start in the league. The team was back to the 4-4-2 formation with some changes as follows:
 
                                                   Arron
 
                        Taela          Oli            Grant         Noel
 
 
                        Timed        Julian       Pedro       Timed
 
 
                                          Ahmed        Paulo
 
For a change the sun was shining and the Lions started brightly. But with 15 minutes gone the worst happened, a Gwalia throw-in was met by grant, but the ball looped over the back of the defence and fell at the feet of the Gwalia striker, Arron rushed out to make the block, but the ball got stuck in the mud allowing Gwalia to place the ball into the net and put Gwalia 1-0 up.
 
The Lions heads did not go down and the rest of the first half saw a dogged display with the Lions dominating possession and chances, though by half time we had nothing to show for it. Tackles were flying in restricting Gwalia’s chances and those they had were confidently handled by Arron in goal.
 
The second half saw the Lions again pressing forward. Meanwhile the defence survived several penalty box scrambles by throwing everything they had at the ball. The grit and determination eventually paid off when a though ball split the Gwalia centre backs. With Gwalia’s offsite cries falling on deaf ears Ahmed went clear and stayed composed to pass it past the keeper. With the score at 1-1 the Lions were back in the match.  As the game progressed Julian and Pedro’s battling in the middle kept the ball in the Gwalia’s half more and more. Ahmed and Paulo doggedly pressed their defence into making mistakes while Noel and Taylor pushed forward to apply more pressure.
 
The rewards came when Ahmed again found space and broke free to slot home Dutch Lions second goal! With the Lions 2-1 up Gwalia looked like a defeated side. With 10 minutes remaining the Lions were awarded a free kick and I was surprised to see Taela step up to take control, but that was nothing compared to the shock of seeing Grant running onto Taela’s shot which had gone through the leeky Gwalia wall. Grant shot past the keeper leaving him stranded, resulting in high fives all round and wrapping up the game for the Lions. In the end it was a well deserved victory and it could have been by more with Timid unlucky not to add to the score.
 
It was a fantastic response to the new year with everyone playing with heart and determination. The defence were solid and we nearly doubled our seasons goal tally in one game - well done lads, but lets not get carried away - we need the same every week!
 
Oli

MATCH REPORT Stag 5-1 Dutch Lions

Reg Ellis Cup - Match report written by Ahmed Ajjour

Sunday the 7th of January felt different compared to the previous Sundays I had experienced. It probably was because it was the first Sunday of the New Year, it felt like a new start, it felt fresh. In practice it was no different, we all met at the same meeting spot and I was one of the last to arrive. We took off at around 9.30 and arrived at the ground by about 9.50 after some difficulties in finding the entrance. The area appeared very posh and peaceful and the park that the pitch was in looked well presented and clean, it was definitely different compared to west London.

It took a good twenty minutes for the changing rooms to open, after finally getting changed and getting certain players to come to terms with the club not providing any toilets, we made our way to the pitch. It was no different to any other game, we warmed up in the same way and carried out the same stretches, we had a team huddle and a few motivating speeches. Everyone looked optimistic (as usual).

Don started the game with, Mo in goal, Pete and new addition Wolf man in the centre back, Ole left back, Tailor right back. In the midfield, Hamzah was right, Pedro and Grant in the middle, Macca left, me (Ahmed) and Paulo up front. The first 10-15 minutes you can say that we were all over them, the midfield started of brightly and the defence looked positive and calm. We had a few chances with myself going through on goal in the first few minutes, were if I had been more composed we would have been one up. Paulo had a chance a couple of minutes later but was off-side. We carried on the pressure with Hamzah, Pedro, Grant and Paulo linking up well and penetrating through the heart of their team. I and Macca were linking well down the left hand side and the defence was passing the ball on the ground. At that point it felt like a new year and we looked like a new team.

When the strong dominance we had in the opening 15 minutes was over, things started changing. It was as if somebody had pressed a self destruct button, the team did just that, the opposition took full advantage. 3-1 down at half time. Same old story. We came out the second half with a lot of determination and ambition. Hamzah came off as he was carrying an injury, Timid replaced him with a straight swap down the left had side, which injected energy into the left tunnel. Moving the ball around in the way we know how to, we started the second half the stronger side.

In the first half we did that, that’s when we were at our best. It doesn’t take somebody like Albert Einstein to notice that playing the ball on the floor gives us an advantage over opposition. The pressure lasted again for about 15-20min and was not rewarded with a goal. It took just one long hoof like a rugby kick by the opposition and they were 4-1 up. Soon after it was 5, which was helped by a mistake from the keeper. The game ended this way (in a way, it was relieving; as it could have been worse had we played on for longer).

The same feelings, same disappointment, near enough the same score line and the same lack of understanding to why we had lost that game, but there wasn’t anybody to blame but ourselves. Our lack of focus, desire, belief, and fight throughout the ninety minutes was in large periods missing. One thing that I absolutely hate seeing in a football match is, when one of our players is talking to the opposition player and even sharing a joke with them while the game is going. A lot of players were guilty of that last week, and I’ve noticed it in the previous weeks. How do you expect to be focus on the game and on your position, when you’re too busy making friends?

It’s like some players wake up for the wrong reasons! Apart from that, I believe we can take a lot of positives out of the game, that is to learn from our individual mistakes, behaviour and attitudes towards the game and try to improve on them. I believe the best way to learn is from mistakes and we have a lot to learn. Every Sunday is a new chance to write a new script, let’s not have the script written for us, let’s go out there every Sunday and write our own.

Ahmed Ajjour

MATCH REPORT Gwalia 3-0 Dutch Lions

An own goal followed by a a dubious second was enough to take Gwalia into the second half 2-0 up. The Lions swapped defence for attack in an attempt to win back some precious goals but our attacking was in vane with Andy the Gwalia Manager in goal having made some crucial interceptions with his size 13’s. Jabor forced a save in the second half and Grant tried tirelessly to make something happen. Paulo failed to get the kind of service he needed to really make an impact. Gwalia hit us on the break throught out the second half and got a third after some neat interchanging on the far side.

Seeing Gwalia’s keeper wrestle his own centreback to the floor in an attempt to “Control the situation” was comical but to be fair it did take the spotlight off a few of his own players in a game the ref didn’t have a grip on. Gwalia have two lads up front who were genuine, good lads, Look forward to seeing you fella’s again.

Overall a frustrating day in the office for the boys especially after beating this side last week in the Cup.  Next week league Leaders at the fairground.

MATCH REPORT Dutch Lions 2-0 Gwalia

MATCH REPORT Dutch Lions 2-0 Gwalia

Reg Ellis Cup Round 1

The lions began the first half of this cup tie with the sun and the wind behind them.  Despite missing a few regulars and playing in a new 4-4-1-1 formation, it was the lions who started the stronger.   With a muddy pitch it was difficult to play our usual passing game, but we forged out a few good chances, with Julian and Grant having decent shots. Pedro came close with a free kick that flashed just past the post. It was a strong first half performance which saw the lions dominate possession and restrict Gwalia to only a couple of chances, however the score remained 0-0.

The second half started with the wind against us and Gwalia came back strongly with the Lions struggling to get out of their own half.   Just as the Lions were starting to regain the upper hand some Gwalia pressure in the box lead to two penalty appeals.  The first was waved away but minutes later the ball was fired against Grant’s hand with no chance of him getting out of the way, the referee pointed to the spot.  The Gwalia player stepped up only to hit the post and see the ball go wide.  The Lions haven’t had much luck so far this season, but this appeared to spur us on.  From then on the Lions had all the pressure and appeared to have too much pace for Gwalia’s defence to handle.   The breakthrough came with Pedro winning the ball in midfield and playing it to Paulo, who slotted it through for Ahmed. Ahmed stayed composed and shot to the keepers left and into the back of the net to make it 1-0 to the Lions. As the game progressed every Lion played his heart out and the defence remained solid.   The Lions made more chances with the mud appearing to be the biggest obstacle. Meanwhile Gwalia pushing forward were loosing their shape and their ‘impartial’ linesman was becoming even more irate. With 10 minutes remaining Macca was played through by Paulo. Gwalia’s keeper rushed out, Macca took it round him and managed to finish from a tight angle to seal the victory.

The Lions played with more grit and determination today and even managed to keep a clean sheet! Well done guys, lets now use this to push on in the league with more of the same.

Oli

MATCH REPORT DLFC 0-4 AFC Finchley

Thanks Timid for the comments. I think they did move the ball around well considering the playing conditions. Conceding 3 goals in the first half and only a “dodgy” forth in the last twenty was hard. We will continue to improve mark my words. Thanks to Clark for reminding us all it’s a physical game and Taela for demonstrating just how to get down & dirty.

Lets here your comments.. Add them below

MATCH REPORT DLFC 0-3 John Lewis

The first half display from the Lions today was some of the best football I have witnessed for sometime however within minutes we went one goal down with a poorly dealt cross into our box being poked right into the corner of our net leaving our keeper with no chance. Chances for the Lions were carved out that seemed harder to miss, Hamza could not believe the position he found himself in with a smart ball from Timid but blazed over his effort from 16 yards. Timid opted for long range efforts that the John Lewis keeper done well to keep out. There keeper was the the busiest without question. Good pressure was applied to John Lewis and we dominated the first half even though it ended after 45 minutes one nil to them.

The second half began with John Lewis doubling their lead with a cross that bounced directly to an unmarked John Lewis player. He had the simply task of passing it into the net. We battled on but failed to get the same passing and width going which was present in the first half . Ahmed had a thundering left foot effort from 20 yards hit smack of the cross bar but no one was able to bounce on the rebound. If that had gone in who knows how the game would have settled. They knocked another in which was truly forgettable (I rang Taela and he forgot also) and Macca failed to beat the John Lewis Keeper with a one on one with their goalie doing well and putting it out for a corner.

I would be very interested to hear John Lewis’s view on this game. Please leave comments below. Surly even they must admit they were living a charmed existence for large periods of the game. We gave a good account of ourselves but the fact is we gave away some weak goals and failed to put the ball in the net.

I must also say that John Lewis’s number 8 (Lee Sullivan) was different class. He is considering signing for us and could be highly valuable as he currently has a good relationship with the Burger Van Man.  Also the John Lewis Line-O, What game was he watching? Just for your info line-o this is the crack..

A player is in an offside position if: he is nearer to his opponents’ goal line than both the ball and the second last opponent.

At that stage you are permitted to raise that flag the referee kindly lent you at the start of the match.

Remember.. This is a Linesman Flag 

 

 And this is a Batternberg Cake

So training continues this Wednesday Lions and we will go again. In today’s game we saw improvements, lets maintain our steadily improving performances and get our second win in the next fixture.

Mr Kipling’s Batterberg Cake is available in all good corner shops and some crap ones too.

MATCH REPORT DLFC 2-8 KDA

Match report posted for completeness (and NOT Phil)

KDA scored 8, We scored 2, They were ok, We were poor. One Lion walked. Phil played crap.

MATCH REPORT - Dutch Lions 2-1 NLO III

WARNING: This match report contains deep and meaningful concepts that you may not be capable of understanding.

Today I witnessed a sign from above. A sign that would indicate something very special was about to occur. I was the first of the team to enter the ground closely followed by Taela. Just as I was entering the building I noticed a little flutter, like a crisp packet, after focusing I realised this was no crisp packet, it was a little bird, not any type of bird, a very special variety, a robin redbreast. I froze, this was a rare moment, the wee little fella settled on another player’s bag for a little rest. I slowly got the attention of this guy and his mate who hadn’t noticed this intrusion whilst they shared a cigarette. I ask the guys to freeze and not make any movements. Looking back this wasn’t the wisest thing to say. If you hear that around my way then you’re probably getting mugged at gun point.

Oddly enough they compiled and I alerted them to his new team member. To my amazement the bird sat completely still, as if it was thinking…. Was it dead, no, He was having a dump. All over matey’s bag. Unlike me, they where not able to see the significance of this event. My mother has always supported a theory that animal shit is lucky, why I don’t know. I guess it’s about taking something positive from a negative situation and I have always enjoyed that idea.

I stated to these two guys that what we had seen was a sign, a sign of good things to come, don’t be disheartened, don’t be embarrassed because a two inch bird has shit on your bag, rejoice for what you have seen is special.

I was disappointed that throughout this mind bending experience Taela remained cold, unmoved and frankly unimpressed with the whole situation. I do hope that spiritually he will realise the impact of this symbol and stop being so shallow. Only time will tell I guess.

I understood straight away that this moment had to be recorded. Matey carefully pulled out his phone in an brave attempt to capture this gift. Not only did he get close enough for a picture but the robin was polite enough to turn his head towards the camera phone totally unprompted, what a pro. At this stage I was an emotionally wreck. Then the moment was topped off with the krem-da-la-krem, Mateys Mate (you still with me) turned and whispered to the watching crowd that bravely “I’m gonna stroke it”. This for me was too much, he should be locked up. He’s clearly a nutter. As he bent over the bird remained still, not even Dr Dolittle himself would attempt such foolery but sure enough the bird remained still whilst having it’s little red breast stroked. I’ve seen everything now and wanted to go home but we had a game to crack on with. Matey sent me the photo below complete with the bird shit clearly visible.

I later contacted Matey that night and found that he had a name, they call him Paul. He plays for AC Carrera. He went onto to tell me his own story after this mornings events. His team, with a bare 11 went four nil up, lost two players to injury (one being the keeper) and Paul grabbed a brace including one half volley from a full 25 yards. Paul had also spent Sunday evening realising the robins importance. Sadly Paul’s team lost a team member recently to leukaemia. The team had dedicated their season to him and Paul genuinely believes that the robins presence was related.

Before the game it was announced that Pedro would be our new captain. Timid has stood down and we thanked him for his efforts. Pedro was very proud to take up the post. We talked before the came about being positive. We went out determined to support each other and encourage. Julian Marshall made he’s debut at right back and did not put a foot out of place all game. I replaced Noel (injured) at left back with Paulo joining Timid up front. Other than that the team was unchanged.

Timid stirred the team’s emotions comparing the film “the last samurai” with the type of dedication we should aim to achieve. He was ranting on and started talking about cutting geezers nuts off if we lost, Pedro then insisted that if we lost today we should stab ourselves. I’m really, really concerned about these two.

The first half provided several efforts from both sides with the lions testing the NLO keeper the most. We went one down after pushing up from a deep NLO free kick, unfortunately no one picked up the runner from midfield and Taela was left with a one on one which he a little chance of stopping. Timid then came close with an effort fired directly at the NLO keeper.

As the second half began we knew what was required. 3 points was achievable today, With respect to NLO we felt we could and should win. Paulo’s passing and work rate was immense today and moments into the second half he made a sensational run into the six yard box and picked out Hamza who coolly finished. Every Lion knew that our aim could be realised and we pushed on. The link up play during the game was a joy to watch between our attackers. Our second goal and the winner came from a cross into the six yard box. Macca rose like a salmon to nod the ball with pace into NLO’s net. Everyone was delighted for Macca. Sadly Macca’s Grandmother died only days before and he dedicated he’s goal to her. Well done Macca.

The lions did not get too carried away, we allowed ourselves a few high fives and cracked on. We could smell victory. Taela continued to come off his line well after some nervy late breaks from NLO but they rarely throughout the game hit the target. Grant was immense today in defence often coming to the rescue of his fellow defenders. Pedro and Ahmed kept the engine room running smooth and it was great to see the wingers enjoying the width of our pitch.

For me, my highlight was the joy I witnessed on our players faces at the final whistle, we worked hard and supported each other throughout and deserved the win today. We have also seen what can be achieved and will use this as a springboard to bigger and better things. I was very proud of everyone today.

The robin may have been a sign (it certainly was for Paul) but truthfully I have always been a firm believer that in life (and football) you make you own luck, today we made ours; we battled for one another and played as a true team. We executed our plan and refused to lose.

So Timids nuts get too see another day, Let’s hope he can keep hold of them for a little while longer. Well done Lions.

Thanks also to Paul from AC Carrera and we wish you and your team continued success.

MATCH REPORT - St Andrews 3-1 Dutch Lions

Within minutes of the game starting Taela was called into action tipping a shot onto his own post and collecting in one stroke.
St Andrews 1st goal came from a long deep cross which looped over the keeper and in. Jabor made it 1-1 after latching onto a long ball and lobbing the keeper for a fine finish. St Andrew second goal came  in the second half after a little light weight defending gave a chance for there star striker who snapped up the invite, in of the post, our keeper had no chance.

The final nail in the coffin came with about 15 minutes to go with further defensive indecisiveness which gave them possibly the easiest goal they will score this season.

St Andrews Youth are a very young and fit side who are capable of good things this season. The Lions will learn from this defeat and I am confident that this miserable start will end now and we must focus on our next game with NLO III this sunday. Changes will have to be made to correct our game. Lets keep the team spirit and the belief and I know this will come good.
Watch this space.

MATCH REPORT - Dutch Lions 0-3 Hanwell Celtic

MATCH REPORT by Peter Clark
Lions’ Roar Muted
Dutch Lions 0 – 3 Hanwell

The Lions were brought back down to earth on Sunday, sliding to a three nil defeat against a youthful Hanwell side. Preparing for their first league match after a couple of friendlies and a cup match, the Lions knew this would be a far harder examination of their progress since forming in the summer. Hanwell had won both their league matches to date, and are an established set up (albeit new to this level), while the Lions are still in the in the throes of creation.

Despite this, the three goals conceded could all be put down to defensive errors, with each being the result of a failure to clear our lines effectively whilst in possession. The Lions made one change from the previous week, with Jabba returning in attack and Paulo dropping to the bench. Hanwell started confidently, but the Lions were soon into their stride, constructing a series of dangerous attacks with some neat interplay. Jabba went close twice, heading into the keeps arms from five yards, and then just wide with an ambitious overhead kick after a thrusting right wing attack. Timid was also unlucky, constantly probing, and almost rounding the keeper on one occasion before the covering defence came to the rescue.

Hanwell were clearly a side to be respected however, though not creating too many clear-cut chances. It looked like the sides would turn round at nil nil when the game changed dramatically in the space of a few minutes.

Firstly, possession was conceded in the Lions’ left hand corner. From a tight angle, virtually on the byline, the Hanwell midfielder showed good skill to strike a hard, swerving right-footed cross which deceived keeper Walters and drifted over his head into the net at the far post.

Not deserving to be behind at this stage, the Lions pushed forward, but were unable to force the equaliser. Worse was then to follow, when another loose ball wasn’t cleared effectively from in front of the Lions goal. The scorer of Hanwell’s first took advantage to double his and his teams tally, stepping up to crack the loose ball home with a fine strike from 22 yards.

With the wind and the slope behind them, the Lions were confident of coming back into things in the second half, but as events transpired, it wasn’t to be our day.

Paulo replaced the injured Hamza soon after half time, followed quickly by O’Keeffe replacing Jabba. The reshuffle pushed Timid wide left, while Clark moved into midfield.

The pressure was all on Hanwell, but so was a fair slice of luck. Timid rattled the post with one pile driver, and saw the keeper perfectly positioned to hold another rising effort. However, despite a large amount of possession, too often through balls ran straight to their keeper, and it was clear that it was going to take something special to beat him and the well-organised Hanwell defence.

With ten minutes remaining, the Lions again lost possession in a danger area in front of goal. A quick ball floated over the defence left the Hanwell striker with the simple task of sliding the ball past Taylor for three nil.

The Lions finished on the attack, Noel shooting narrowly wide after another intricate attack, but frustratingly, it was proving to be one of those days.

So, not the ideal way to kick off the league campaign, but the scoreline did not reflect the reality of the match. All goals were the result of possession being gifted to the opposition. Do that consistently at any level, and life will be difficult.

However, it’s early days, and the team is still gelling. Had one of our efforts gone in, even at two nil, things could have been very different. We were still pushing on at the end, and unlucky not to net. Hanwell are a good, well-organised side (although somewhat inclined to get involved in Irish parliaments with the referee), but eminently beatable. Today’s experience must be put to use and learnt from. The target for next week is three points.

MATCH REPORT Dutch Lions 5–1 Beesotted B

Beesotted Bedazzled
Match Report By Peter Clark
Dutch Lions FC 5 – 1 Beesotted B

The Dutch Lions first ever competitive fixture ended with a resounding 5-1 victory over Besotted B in the first round of the Middlesex FA Junior Trophy.

Going in 1-0 down at the break, despite creating numerous chances, the Lions came roaring out of the traps in the second half, hitting five without reply to stride purposefully into the next round of the cup.

The starting line up featured only two changes from the previous week’s, with Peter Clark coming in at right back, and Paolo replacing the unavailable Jabba in attack. Keeping the ball on the ground, and looking to spread it wide at every opportunity, the Lions were soon in command. Numerous opportunities were created, but a combination of some sloppy finishing and poor final ball meant that Besotted were still very much in it. Indeed, in one of their rare forays up the park, they snatched an unlikely lead. A free kick wide right was whipped in viciously, and the Lions’ defence failed to pick up the late midfield runner whose subtle touch from 6 yards gave keeper Walters little chance.

Refusing to let their heads go down, the Lions pushed forward continuously, but in truth, didn’t force the Beesotted keeper into too much action. Apart from a header by Clark from a corner, it’s difficult to recall the Besotted keeper having to make a save in the first half. While the opposition didn’t pose much threat from open play, any set piece was not dealt particularly comfortably in the Lions’ box. Indeed, Beesotted were unlucky not to go two up when a throw in caused all sorts of confusion in the six-yard area, and the ball looped narrowly over Walters’ bar.

The half time team talk from manager O’Keeffe concentrated on the Lions sticking to the basic principle of simple passing, and starting to take their chances. The team responded in the most positive way possible. Right from the kick off, Ahmed almost scored when a speculative forward ball from in his own half almost caught the Beesotted keeper napping when it sailed narrowly past the post after one bounce. Xabi Alonso, eat your heart out . . .

That wind-assisted effort indicated that the increasing strength of the wind would be a factor in the second half, and so it proved shortly afterwards. A massive clearance from Walters was allowed to sale over the Beesotted defenders’ heads and nippy striker Paulo ghosted in behind to bury the equaliser. Considering that all the wasted chances created by the Lions were due to neat passing football, it was ironic that a route 1 Wimbledon –style effort should bring their first goal.

The smell of blood was in the Lions nostrils now, and the wind made it increasingly difficult for Beesotted to clear their lines. Corner followed corner, and it was from one of these that the Lions took the lead. Paulo’s effort was slightly mishit, and also took a deflection, before spinning into the top right hand corner to make it 2-1.

There was only going to be one winner now. With the Lions defence imperious, Beesotted were never going to score. Paulo almost grabbed his hat trick with a driven shot going narrowly wide, while Clark had another header from a corner clawed away by the keeper, as Timid floated in a variety of wickedly teasing set pieces.

Timid notched the third himself, running at the right hand of the Beesotted defence, then firing a snap shot past the partially unsighted keeper’s left hand. He followed this up with his second and the Lion’s fourth, pouncing on a defensive error to run on and easily beat the keeper.

 

An injury to left winger Hamza saw player/manager O’Keeffe coming on at right back, with Clark moving to central midfield, and Ahmed going wide left. The Lions’ dominance was, however, unchanged. Timid duly completed his hat trick, taking and receiving a short corner, and driving low past the keeper just on full time.

All in all, a satisfactory first “real” match, with everyone contributing to a comfortable win. Defence was rock solid, with Grant and Olly in total charge in the middle, and Noel as Mr Reliable on the left. O’Keeffe, while still recovering from an injury, showed all his experience in maintaining the defensive rigidity when he came on. Pedro and Ahmed linked the play well, and drove the team forward from midfield, while Hamza and Macca were always available out wide and willing to get into dangerous forward positions when possible.

Up front, Paulo never gave the opposition defence a moment to relax, while Timid dropped off to pick up the ball and run at them with increasing effect.

The wind certainly had an impact, but it would be difficult to argue that the result would have been any different had the Lions been playing into it in the second half.

The one area where the team perhaps needs to concentrate more is taking chances when they occur. Against Beesotted, the Lions always seemed confident that goals would eventually come. Against different opposition, there will be fewer chances, and those that arise need to be tucked away.

However, the Lions are now off and running. Unbeaten in three, and with the leagues about to start – we’re in pretty good shape.

MATCH REPORT Dutch Lions 3-1 B’way Celtic A

Broadway Celtic A’s (Second Division) were the guests today as the Dutch Lions continue their preseason warm ups before next weeks Season opener in the FA Junior Cup. B’Way Celtic specifically requested a friendly with lower opposition on the league website but didn’t bargain on us. Perhaps their team needed a comfortable victory to boost confidence whilst testing out new potential but we arrived with own agenda and we don’t do charity (With the exception of Noel of course).

In total we had 18 players to view today. All 7 subs seeing second half action. This game was our first ever home match and the pitch was in fine condition.

The game started tight but within 5 minutes Macca and Jabba where finding areas wide right that could exploit B’ways defence. Hamza, playing left wing , started out of the traps quickly and was industrious.

Hamza’s hard work paid off big style with him working the ball towards the oppo’s corner flag, his persistence and work on the ball caused a desperate punt from defence only landing on the D. With the ball still bouncing around it was nudged back to Hamza who from 9 yards sweetly struck a half volley into the opposite corner of the goal. From his celebrations we all knew he enjoyed that. With the possession we had Hamza’s opener was well deserved. Broadway won several free kicks in the first half but only once did they look like taking advantage with their tall Central midfielder heading the ball just over the bar. Broadways number 10 found space on a number of occasions down our right but after getting into such positive positions was closed down by our covering centre back Grant Bates.

Hamza managed to carve out an almost identical effort to his first 10 minutes after his opener but the Broadway keeper reacted superbly to tip his effort over the bar. From the resulting corner we witnessed something one young man will never forget. Macca whipped in a pacy corner kick which was only half cleared by Broadway. The ball ran low out of the D with Ahmed running towards his own goal to collect. From nowhere came the colossus that is Grant Bates, Ahmed sensed that Grant’s positioning was made for an effort and swerved out of the centre backs path only for Grant to release an effort from a full 27 yards . At that moment we realised that this effort was special and we simply froze (all of us, even the pigeons above). My thoughts as it left his right boot was of concern, not concern over the pigeons but a concern for the Broadway keeper, he had work to do. The laser guided strike flew towards the top right hand corner, the keeper could only tip it with his fingers but failed to alter the cannons path into the back of the net. The pace of the effort was simply too much. Grant celebrated like it was 1999, he had waited sometime for that and for me, only Liverpools Centre back Agger has replicated this fantastic drive this season.

The second half saw Broadway enjoy better interchanges between them particularly on their right. The key chance during this pressure falling to a Broadway forward who failed to hit the target from a tight angle. Broadway worked hard to carve out shots from outside the D but never made the keeper work with efforts going to the keepers right and wide.

Peter Clark and Barbak both made their debut early in the second half and were inventive and solid.
A good passage of play by Broadway aided by a rare absence of our midfield pushed their team into our penalty box. Some desperate challenges by our defenders culminated in Peter bringing down a Broadway player. We had no issue when the referee awarded a penalty. Broadway stepped up calmly and hit it to the keepers right, Taela went the correct way but could do nothing to stop the resulting goal.

The game was sealed as B’way pushed for an equaliser A potential two on two situation was materialising bang on the centre circle on the 75 minute after Broadways attack broke down. Noel Jones spotted this advantage early and released the ball to Timid inside his own centre circle. Paulo did extremely well to pull one of the two defenders wide which allowed Timid to run at the one and only defender left. With his direct run from just inside his half he slotted home the 3rd of the game from 7 yards.

Special mention to all the Debutant’s today which included Oli, Peter and Taela who all had impressive starts. Oliver proved versatile when moved to right back after Grant was replaced with a slight injury and later was moved back into the centre to be joined by Macca. In the last 20 minutes we were able to change virtually our entire forward line with some of the new prospects and had Derek, Paulo, Anthony, Shane and Dups all getting in on the action.
This result was a great one today, much was said about Broadways recent triumphs and many players who had done their homework on Broadway had cause for concern before this match. We gave their keeper so much to do whilst minimising their efforts to shots outside the box. In what was a hard fought victory we also managed to see all players in action and keep our preseason unbeaten record intact.

A very good days work by all.

MATCH REPORT Cashen Rover 2-3 Dutch Lions

MATCH REPORT by Mo Awada (Proof read by Don O’Keeffe)
Cashen Rover 2 - 3 Dutch Lions FC

The game got off to a scrappy start with both team finding their feet in the opening 10mins. It was the Lions first ever game and tension was high. The first goal came against the run of play. A good interchange of passes by Cashen Rover sent there forward clean through on goal with only the keeper to beat, he placed the ball into the back of the net and Cashen Rover went 1-0 up. The Lions controlled the game with most of the possession with out really creating any clear cut shots on goal but their pressure paid off when Timid raced clear on the left hand side and played a beautiful cross towards Jabber, with the ball just running away from him, but he had the energy to run after the ball and play it back into the box were Pedro had raced into the box to head the ball into the back of the empty net. The Lions continued to enjoy most of the ball until a long ball forward by Cashen was raced onto by the Cashen forward and Grant came in to stand him up and the forward fell over Grants leg. The referee fairly awarded a penalty kick to Cashen which was put into the back of the net.

The 2nd half started as the 1st ended with the Lions having most of the ball but this time applying more pressure on the Cashen goal, Hamza had a good shot at the far post which was saved by the keeper. Cashen raced clear and a cross shot was saved by the Lions keeper to keep the us in the game, that proved to be the only shot on target from Cashen in the whole of the 2nd half, as the Lions pushed forward a great ball in my Macca was missed by Jabber but Hamza came racing in with a sweet right footed shot that flew past the keeper, 2-2. The lions pushed forward in search of the winning goal which came, Cashen Rover could not handle the consist pressure on their goal and were broken again when Timid played the ball to Danny in the box, he seemed to have so much time, he turned and hit a right footed shot into the back of the net given the keeper no chance. All in all a much deserved win for the Lions on their opening game.

To read Cashen Rovers version of events click here at http://www.dalysfc.com