Barnesalona League
Munchen 2 v Lokomotiv Londres FC 1
Looking to forget the disappointment of the FA Junior Cup exit and build on their success in the league against Auckland, Loko’s players rolled up to the pitch at Barn Elms for a third successive afternoon kick off. Manager Jules was yet again forced to be creative when shuffling his pack of player cards as he found himself with no strikers; Andreas, Olivier and Rudi all were absent and Mark yet to return from injury.
The team lined up with Jules in goal; Rohan, Paul, Ali and Christophe at the back, and Dave, Adrian, Stephane and new signing Clint in midfield. Ismail took on the strikers’ mantle but there was still an empty slot. Striding out of the mist of Loko past came the ethereal figure of Oliver Whitney-Coates, having heard the ancient call to arms.
The game kicked off in fantastic football conditions but Loko were half asleep as usual. Munchen are a very average team by Barnesalona standards but have a strong physical presence and Loko failed to switch on and challenge for the ball. Munchen piled on the pressure early without ever really looking like scoring. However, with the ball coming straight through the Loko midfield after every missed header the sheer weight of possession was bound to bring some reward, and so it proved. After 10 minutes under the cosh Loko conceded a corner. Slack marking allowed the Munchen ponytail a free run from the edge of the area to make a sweet connection with the ball and power an unstoppable header into the net.
With the absence of Dale other voices attempted to prevent Loko heads sinking and briefly the tide was stemmed. Unfortunately, having not fully recovered from an ankle injury, Jules was unable to take the goal kicks, with Rohan and Adrian sharing the duties, which left Loko with an even taller order to win the headers in the centre of the park. There was no excuse though for the lack of conviction when competing for the second ball and Munchen soon capitalised, easily threading a ball through for their centre forward who ran onto it and slotted past Jules for 2-0.
At this point, with only twenty minutes gone and no strikers the outlook seemed bleak to anyone who has followed Loko for a while. A 5-0 or 5-1 looked on the cards but Loko slowly managed to get themselves back in the fight. Clint and Ali showed the way, competing fiercely for the ball in the centre and Paul shored up the defensive line. The crowd became excited and a great chorus of ‘only one Whitney Coates’ went up as Ollie continually found good space in the final third. Loko finished the half on the attack and Munchen not having had a sniff of a chance since the second goal.
Half-Time Munchen 2 v Loko 0
Encouraged by the fight back and boosted by the late arrival of Samer, Jules wasn’t as angry as he might have been, but still lambasted the team for their failure to compete from the off. Samer came on for Ollie, who disappeared in a puff of smoke. Ivan replaced Christophe at left back. The wingers Stephane and Dave were told to come more into the centre to help Adrian and Clint compete for the headers.
Playing uphill and into the sun Loko nevertheless managed to dominate the second half, with Munchen resorting to attacking on the break. Samer dropped deep to collect and formed effective triangles with Ismail and Clint. Ivan’s physical presence in the back line seemed to galvanise the defence too as Loko began to win more than their fair share of the headers.
They were rewarded with half an hour still to go as Dave chipped the ball into Ismail, who headed on for Samer (pictured above) to flick the ball over the despairing Munchen keeper to bring it back to 2-1.
Loko’s best chance to draw level came about 10 minutes later when Munchen conceded a series of corners, two of which resulted in goalmouth scrambles which were only just cleared off the line. Munchen had chances of their own though including a corner headed off the line by Ivan an attempted lob over Jules that floated wide and a snap shot from the penalty spot that whisled just over.
In the closing stages though Loko could not make the possession count and the final minutes ran down with no late scares for Munchen. Jules and the players were rightly disappointed to have conceded the two early goals, although it had been satisfying to play in such an even contest that never descended into argument despite being fiercely contested. Loko play Munchen again in the cup this Sunday and so have the chance for instant revenge.
Full-Time Munchen 2 v Loko 1
Manager Julian Milne's comments:
"A narrow defeat and a game we should have got something out of. Another goal conceded from a corner and again we failed to convert any of our own set pieces. At the moment we are playing with a handicap and are giving each team a head-start.
When we brought it back to 2-1 I thought we would have a real go and although we played well I thought we lacked a little bit of self-belief and raw desire to turn the game around. Some good individual performances however and if we can continue to fine-tune and improve we will start winning games.
Right now we need some leaders out there and some players who can step up to the challenge."
Team Line Up
1. Julian
2. Rohan
3. Christophe
4. Paul (c)
5. Alistair
6. Clint
7. Dave
8. Adrian
9. Ismail
10. Oliver
11. Stephane
12. Samer (Replaced Oliver 45 Minutes)
13.Ivan (Replaced Christophe 45 Minutes)
Goals
Samer (1)
60th minute - Samer ran through on goal chipping the goalkeeper with an excellent piece of individual skill.
Match Report provided by Rohan Tesh.
