Dizzy new heights for the Dutch Lions

Dutch Lions FC 3 - AFC Finchley 0 (Game played at the Lions Den) 

AFC Finchley provided us with a match that if we won, would mean us going second in the league.

The game was not a nasty one with both sides attempting to play in rather slippery conditions. The first half finished a stalemate with both keepers doing enough to keep the score 0-0. Pedro (are relief keeper) did a great job and no doubt Arran will be hearing all about his game next weekend in full stereo. To be fair he handled everything suburb, We always expected our Captain to do his very best and he never let us down, coming off his line well and providing great kicks also.

I felt Ahmed was immense during the second half, Niall and Paulo worked hard, a third goal of the season for Hamzeh (great going) and a well taken debut goal for Tan-Tan. Niall provided the Third to round up a solid 3-0 victory.

With key players absent we grind-ed out this performance which I feel seems to be needed more often than not these days. It was also a game where the squad and importantly the subs played their part.

With some other crazy results (see Mitoo link on the right) the league is wide open. Win our games in hand and we can go top. As well as Colindale keep an eye on FSL, They are the only unbeaten team in Division 3 now.

Getting back to the game, We will focus more on trying to win the game in the first 45 minutes and not the last. Some of us ain’t no spring chickens and my ticker can do without it.

Well Done boys, Next Up, Diadora Away. See you at training, 7:30PM Pitch 1, Vale Farm.

MISSED CHANCES AND LOSS OF CONCENTRATION COST US

Colindale Athletic 2-1 Dutch Lions 

This was a match for the Dutch Lions to show their title credentials against the league Leader Colindale Athletic. Going into the match both teams were unbeaten so something had to give. The first half seemed to fly by, it was a half with few chances in truth. The Dutch lions never really tested the Colindale keeper in the first half. Colindale did have their chances. One noticeable chance was when Peter bought down one of Colindale striker just outside the box, once the free kick was taken it was heading for the bottom corner until a excellent save from Arran turned it away for a corner……Half time (I think I need to take a 5mins break )…

In the Second half the Lions seem too turn up the pressure on Colindale Athletic goal with chances after chances going begging. Colindale Athletic did have their moments on the counter-attack but pressure told on the Colindale Athletic defence when a throw-in found Niall and he found himself in a great position in the box and slipped the ball passed the Colindale keeper. With the Dutch lions taking the lead you would think now that once in the lead we would go on and find the second but unfortunately it was one of those days.

 The danger was as long as the game was at 1-nil there was always a chance for Colindale to come back into the game and boy did they took their chance after a defensive mistake (No names mentioned) and Arran in no mans land it was 1-1. After the Dutch lions continued to press for the winner it did not come. Colindale Athletic were awarded a penalty after someone (Me) gave away a penalty for the second time this season. me personally, I thought it was dive but I’m not the ref. In the end the penalty was missed as he put it over the bar.

As they say a match is not over until the final whistle and boy did we find out the hard way with the last kick of the game Colindale Athletic stole all three points. In truth a draw would have been a fair result but credit to Colindale they battle until the last minute and won. But hell for sure in the return Dutch Lions will be fired up and come out all guns blazing. We will bounce back starting against AFC Finchley this Sunday were nothing less than three points will do.

Report by Noel (da Beast) Jones

Presentation Night Results + Photos

Players Player & Top Goal Scorer awarded to Paulo Ramalho

Dutch Lions 3 Gwalia 0

The league results are out from Sunday and the Lions are now the only team to take maximum points from their opening game. Gwalia were always going to be “Physical” but their number nine took it to a new dimension. The game started with Gwalia poking the outside of the post after a moment of madness from out defense & midfield. It simply took an age for us to get into this game and with us not getting our foot in at the right times we allowed Gwalia to play. To be fair, They did stretch us but we continued to work hard with Carlos, Jabor and Paulo  working the channels. We got our act together and Carlos made some great space for himself to cross a beauty over the entire defence to the far post for Hamzeh to side foot in. won nil going into half time.

Second half kicked off with Gwalia coming out like mad dogs and trust me, they wanted blood, we rolled with it but never got involved, I think that was key in this result. I believe they became their own worse enemy. Some of the baiting from the Away sides following on the sides lines was a OTT (this is well documented) and with such intimidation present it’s no wonder we struggle to get enough referee’s. Big Andy from Gwalia did his best to keep everyone in check. I really believe if this team could start using there energy in a more positive manner they might achieve something.

Gwalia threw everything at us second half but with some good defensive performances from all we kept them out. Arran made a great save with his feet to deny Gwalia an equaliser and O’keeffe cleared one off the line to keep our one goal lead in tact. Clark fouled one of Gwalia’s dangerous subs just outside the box but nothing came of there pressure. Paulo came so very close with almost two identical efforts which both whizzed low past the keepers left hand post. With 15 minutes left Yasser D. made his first appearance and within minutes worked really well to carve out a shot which (with pace) went over the out-coming keeper and into the back of net, 2-0 and now I started to smell victory. With Gwalia pushing forward we worked hard on the counter and Paulo put the game to bed with his second of the season with a low shot into the near post.

In summary, A well deserved victory however 3-o probably flattered us. 

Next week, The Impressive, Unbeaten, League leaders Colindale Athletic. Our objective is simply,  We win and we could go top, Need I say more.

Have you heard of John Sitton? My Hero..

Dismantling the Partnership

John Lewis 1 - 4 Dutch Lions FC

This was hugely satisfying result for the lions. We were determined to start this campaign where we finished off last year and winning this game in the manner we did proves that we have achieved just that.

Arsenal (Finally) do the Crossbar Challenge

Division Three Is Decided…..

BIG News, No North London Tara But plenty fresh teams.

Click Here for the table

Any Comments boys……..

Presentation Night Set for the 6th Oct.

At Hayes Goals, Saturday 7 till Late and not to be missed. More details PLUS Timids wonderful ticket coming soon.

North London Tara 1 - Dutch Lions 1

The match kicked off late to our original ref sustaining an injury. NLT’s Damo (and stand in goalie for the day) impressively had the nets up at 9:50 and the weather was ideal for our meeting. As far as the table was concerned this game didn’t mean anything but never the less both sides didn’t just turn up. The lions went one nil up after a driven corner my Paulo was met by Grant.  That’s 2 for Batesy this year not including goal of the season contender against Broadway Celtic.

Yasser made his first full debut and was asked to fill in for the absent Julian. This was not a easy job but he was equal to the task. Yasser D ran his socks off in the centre of the park. Hamzeh had a fantastic game on the wing providing great width and cover throughout. Skipper Pedro filled in all over the park and together we really took the game to Tara.  Sloppy defending by us was punished with a Taras equaliser before the break, the less said the better in this case.  Paulo narrowly missed the bottom corner of Taras net with an almighty half volley from a defensive clearance which if on target would have resulted in a certain goal. Tara found space in the final third to carve out a number of good efforts all handled superbly by Arron including a one handed save which I will never forget which denied a definite goal for the Tara. Nice one Skinny.

The second will be remembered for the glorious miss Tara’s number 11 committed. Their tricky number 11 ran on to a  ball coming straight through the centre evading our centre backs and with the ball sitting up nice he opted for power rather than accuracy and blazed a golden opportunity high a wide. We got life.

I was proud of the way the lions went about this game and thanked everyone after the match on a great effort. The fact is we threw everything at Tara but failed to unlock them with a killer pass. More Training will improve our passing and our understanding of each others abilities.

All credit to Tara who have been great to us in our first year. Damo and Liam have been great since the start and next year we look forward to further battles with these boys. Now we take on St Andrews Youth in the charity cup.  Be ready boys for another great contest and don’t forget your shooting boots.

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)

Sudbury Inn hit for 6 in the sun

Dutch Lions FC 6-1 Sudbury Inn at the Den. 

Today was Jabor’s Day. After he banged in his third he gestured to the bench that he couldn’t do no more and he’s contribution to the game was over. This man works so hard he rarely finishes a game for the lions these days due to pure exhaustion and his love of the shirt. You can tell he’s enjoying his football. We salute you J.
The Lions opener was created after Jabor got the better of the Inn’s defence only to be brought down 20 yards from goal. Paulo coolly executed the  set piece placing the ball into the opposite corner of the net. What a start with 5 minutes on the clock. Another was added by the Lions Paulo shortly after to cap a great start by the former Wanderers right back.
Hamzeh created space for others with some great running and was unlucky not to top it with a goal when we side footed effort crashed off the frame of the bar and post.

Sudbury hit back after Noel brought down the oppo just outside the box. There hanging ball to the back post was met by one Sudbury Inn player willing to jump and one lion who forgot to. That made it a tight score line of 2-1 into the break.
Oranges… full of Vitamin C and Super Powered Lion Juice. After tasting the wonder fruit (5 for a quid) the team is transformed. The Super powered juice gave us “the right stuff” to  put this game to bed.

The first of the second half goals was from an unlikely source. Sporting a new haircut, Sudbury’s Brave and controversial number 5 sliced a clearance which looped over his own keeper and dropped just under his own bar. Paulo desperately wanted the goal to be attributed to him in the chase for top scorer but listen up P. Simply laughing the loudest doesn’t mean it gets given to you pal, If it did I would have claimed it. When your lucks out you would normally expect a break but unfortunately for Sudbury Inn, Jabor hadn’t even got started. Jabor’s three goals today were all about anticipation and movement. Preying on his opponents weaknesses he pounced like a true Lion onto every half chance, sniffing around the box he calmly slotted 3 in the space of 30 minutes and even managed to hit the post too.
Pedro was unlucky not to get on the score sheet with the Sudbury keeper preventing the first ever goal scorer adding to his tally from a couple of free kicks.
With Oli ignoring the call from the advancing Lions keeper Arran, the clash of the tits occurred with Arran coming off worse. Arran tried but failed to continue and a re-shuffle was called for. Mo who had been up front for all of 2 minutes found himself between the sticks with myself coming on to fill in the middle.
Mo made some fantastic saves during his 15 minutes in goal. One brilliantly saved effort was from a direct Sudbury free kick coupled with a tip over the bar from long range.
Paulo did all he could to cap his day with a third but after working he’s way through the Sudbury defence and hitting a low shot into the opposite corner Sudbury’s keeper made a fine save to deny him.

In summary I was pleased with the display, Our formation was positive and with three up front with Ahmed dropping into the hole we really went for this game from the start. Today was a true team effort boys on a blazing hot day. I’m looking forward to seeing Timids video coverage of the match and especially some rather dubious goal celebrations captured forever on film.
Sudbury Inn have a lot of sprit and some guys could win Nobel peace prizes for gestures the U.N.’s Kofi Annan would be proud of. Shame not all could extend to smoking the pipe of peace but hey, Maybe we expect too much.  Sudbury Inn now join NLO 2 on teams we have completed the double over in our first year, Let’s make sure North London Tara become part of that statistic when we meet them for our final League fixture in the next couple of weeks. Good Work Team.

Team: Skinny, Clark, Bates, Pugh, H. Ajjour, P. Ramahlo Senior, Marshall, Jones, P. Ramahlo Junior, Jabor, A. Ajjour.
Subs Used: Darr (65), Awada (70), O’Keeffe (75).

The Best Goal You Will Never See From The Lions

Points shared Away at John Lewis 1-1

What a great day for a kick about, Greeted by John Lewis’s top dog Lee Sullivan (we got lost) We found his pitch and boy it was looking fine, absolutely fine. With only 25 minutes before kick off (Ramahlo’s having another siesta) we worked quick to get out there for the warm up. With Peter Clark out (Holidaying in south Spain) Pedro dropped in occupy the right back position with Jabor and Paulo asked to lead our attacks.
Ahmed and Julian made the middle theirs with Timid and Hamza out wide.

Today’s Line up is brought to you as a homage to the trusty coins used to outline our formation. Without them we would be lost. Thank God for Coinage.

Paulo forced in total three good saves from the keeper, each almost identical with him hitting the ball so sweet but only right at the keeper. After a great start dominating the first 20 minutes J.L. pumped a long ball forward, it bounced once..then twice and with a little strong arm tactics and brute force from Brian from the Lewis banged them in front. Heads dropped a tad with JL taking the impetus. Going into the second half the oranges worked a treat, we took the game to John Lewis and I believe had the share of possession. After a mix up between Oli and Arran, Oli headed the ball over our advancing keeper but Oli recovered with ease to prevent an embarrassing second for the home team. That was to be our second and only real shaky moment in defence.

Ahmed came the closest to equalising when being put through with some intricate passing only had the keep to beat. Knowing the John Lewis keeper was no mug he opted for power and smacked the crossbar. It’s still shaking now. That gave us belief and with Jabor retiring from the match with a knock Yasser Darr once again came onto make an impact. Yass was strong and battled from thought-out. Oli played a calm ball out from the back to Yasser. He paused and threaded a delightful ball to the on running Paulo who didn’t break a stride stroking it into the opposite bottom corner. 1-1 and nothing less than what we deserved.

Paulo ran all day and deserved his goal and I was pleased with Yasser’s impact. As the ref’s whistle blew i really wanted another 5 minutes to finish JL off as they rarely tested our keeper second half.

So back to the clubhouse for tea and Battenberg, not on your Nellie. Looks like the budget was blown on the pitch. With the best will in the world it would appear that promotion for JL is unlikely and only the mother of all cock ups by Hanwell will hand JL second placed.

We look forward again to meeting them again.  They are a good bunch of lads who like to play football (when allowed).

Sudbury Inn again next week and with NLT breathing down our necks we need to replicate our recent 4-2 win over them.  Should be fun.

Sudbury Inn 2 – 4 Dutch Lions

By HRH Oliver Pugh S.T.D.

The sun was shining brightly, but the Lions started slowly, as Sudbury Inn took the early initiative and won several corners. However this did not last long and the Lions soon roared back into the match. The pressure on the Sudbury goal mounted, as did the shots which were initially wayward. However the Lions dominance would soon tell when Buzzy struck a half volley which bounced through the Sudbury defence and into the back of the net to make it 1-0 to the Lions. The Lions continued to press forward and were given plenty of space to shoot by the Sudbury Inn midfield. While at the back the Lion’s defence remained strong.

The Lions gained another breakthrough when Buzzy went free on the right. His ball into the box defeated the Sudbury keeper who was left stranded at the near post as the ball curled into the top corner. Was it a cross or shot? The Lions didn’t care as they went 2-0 up. The first half continued much the same until shortly before the break. A rare Sudbury Inn break saw their striker in a race for the goal with Grant, Grant slid in to make the challenge just inside the box, up ending the Sudbury player and the referee pointed to the spot. Grant earned a yellow card for his troubles. Sudbury’s striker stepped up and sent Arron the wrong way, making it 2-1 and giving Sudbury a glimmer of hope going into the half-time team talk.

The second half followed a similar pattern, with the Lions dominating for large periods and getting plenty of shooting practice, which by evidence of some of the efforts was much needed! However the Lions stretched their lead when Timid scored his first of the game to make it 3-1 (I don’t remember much about this goal but I’m sure it was great Timid). It was then that Sudbury introduced their super-sub. Super for the speed that he came on and then was sent off the pitch! To be honest I’m not sure why he bothered coming, as his intention was clearly not to play football but to cause someone an injury. The late and dangerous challenge incensed the Lions bench so much that it resulted in the bench given being a stern word from the referee. However business was resumed and Timid then added to the Lion’s lead when he dribbled past several Sudbury players and drove a fierce shot past the helpless keeper to make it 4-1.

What happened next was a carbon copy of the first half, another missed timed challenge and Grant’s penalty box nightmare came back to haunt him. The referee repeated the punishment - a second penalty and a second booking for Grant who was unfortunate to be sent for an early bath. However the nightmare did not completely repeat itself, as the Sudbury Inn player ran up to the spot Arron dived to his left and superbly saved the penalty. The Lion’s breathed a sigh of relief. However the relief and the action-packed game did not end there. From a corner a half cleared ball was fired back in by Sudbury past a crowd of players and into the back of the net to make the score 4-2. The last 10 minutes were played out with the Lions having most of the chances and should have added to their lead.

Mo came on as sub and whilst causing all sorts of confusion in the Sudbury box missed a golden opportunity to open his goal scoring count in the dying minutes. Overall the Lions never really looked like loosing, though Sudbury should be praised for never giving up hope and continuing to chase the game. It was a shame such a good game was marred by some red cards and moments of silliness as I think the majority of both sides played the game in good spirits. To be honest so much happened its all a bit of a blur, but well done Lions on another win.

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 . . . )

A side claiming to be Dutch Lions lose 1-0

Match Report by Arran McMahon

What can I say? After the heroic performance the Lions put in against Sals Bar spirits were high amongst the team. We believed that we could take on any team in the league and that Hanwell Celtic was no exception.

The referees whistle blew for the beginning of the match, and it seemed that the Lions were in control of the game for the first ten minutes, bar a few chances by Hanwell. It was after this though that it all went horribly wrong. The lions failed to maintain their structure or discipline when Hanwell Celtic called every tackle as a foul, every handball as theirs, and every throw-in as going their way. It was somewhat annoying as the ref seemed to fall for their tactics. But what was worse is that we seemed to be affected by it. And this was the difference between the Dutch Lions of the previous five games and that which turned up today. We fell apart and the other team didn’t even have to play good football to break us.

We had a couple of chances in the first half, with Hamzeh, and Ahmed going close but the wind was a major factor in this match, as was the extremely poor condition of the pitch (not detracting from the fact the other team had the same conditions to play in). It was in the first half that Hanwell went 1-0 up. Playing the long ball forward, their striker, closely followed by Olly latched onto the ball. The lions keeper ran out to claim it and quickly realised not only that he wasn’t going to make it, but that he was also stranded in no mans land. The ball gets lifted over him and into the net. What a mug he is.

This seemed to depress the team even further. Which again was something we hadn’t seen happen to us in the previous games we won. The rest of the half followed suit, as did much of the second, although we did seem to have a couple of chances with Timed going close. The lion’s goal keeper makes two unbelievable saves, seriously you couldn’t script it. I was amazing. Although, I did fail to hold onto them and some quality follow up play by my back four came to the rescue. But honestly I can’t believe how good I am. In the final moments of the game, Noel makes a horrendous challenge on the goal keeper. His shoulder actually came into contact with the keepers… disgusting and uncharacteristic of Noel, to actually come into contact with another player. I expected more. But the keeper stays down because apparently he’s hurt. I think he’s been taking tips from Jens Lehmann or at least he has some Italian blood in him somewhere. But anyways, the match finishes, we lost, although I wouldn’t say we were beaten by a better team by any means. All we can hope is that the old Lions team turns up against N. London Tara. For Queen and country boys.

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

Quote of the Week by Wayne Bridge

“It doesn’t matter what happened in the game - we got the three points.”
Wayne Bridge gets confused after winning the Carling Cup final with Chelsea.

Best Penalty Ever? You Cannot Make It Up.