James Rettie Cup Semi-Final
West Ken Kings 5 v Lokomotiv Londres FC 0
Season Ends in 30 Minutes of Madness
It ended up being a sad way to end what had been a promising season, however, thirty minutes of comical defended cut short Loko's season a week earlier than hoped.The squad arrived bristling with confidence an hour before the game, the warm up was good and the preperation could not have been better, with many players making a concerted effort to stay in the night before and prepare properly.
Loko started with Jules in goal, a back four of Nick, Ivan, Pete and Rohan, Dale and Lineker in the centre flanked by Dave H and Peggy, with James and Roger up front. This left Paul and Ismail with places on the bench.
The match started brightly for Loko with everyone first to the ball and winning every challenge they came up against, an early ankle injury to Dale (pictured below) disrupted things slightly, although he managed to shake this off slowly and get back into the game.
Loko once again failed to make early dominance count, when nice build up play between Roger and Dave H ended in the latter through on goal from the right hand side, unfortunately the ball didn't come down quick enough and a snatched shot sailed two yards over the crossbar.Roger then ran onto a Dale ball over the top but was unable to hit the target again shooting just wide and over the angle of crossbar and post. Kings were occassionally stringing some nice passing together in midfield but were not a threat at any point in the first half, and Jules did not have a save to make.
James and Roger were creating good space up front and on a couple of occassions they were nearly through on goal with only the keeper to beat, however, the ball never seemed to fall kindly for them and the covering defenders were able to come across and prevent anything other than a half chance.
Half-Time West Ken Kings 0 v Loko 0
With a possible thirty minutes extra time to come if the scores were still level, Jules intelligently decided to hold back his substitutes for 10-15 minutes to allow the game to settle into the second half and see how it panned out.
Kings came out for the second half with more intent but were still not providing any real threat in the Loko defence apart from a couple of long range shots from outside the area that gave Julian no troubles at all. Loko again started well and had a lot of possession in and around the Kings penalty area, Lineker (pictured left) was getting forward well and providing support for the front four, with Dale holding a little deeper.James was working really hard and creating space for Roger to work in, and a foul on Roger on the edge of the Kings area presented a golden opportunity for Dave H to whip in a shot-cum-cross to the back post, however, it was just the right height for the kings keeper to grab before a touch could take it in.
Surprisingly James was taken off to be replaced by Ismail up front on the hour mark, after putting in a really good performance, Dale who had found lots of space in the centre of the park in which to create was unsurprisingly replaced by Paul, as the injury he sustained early on had restricted his movement a little, the ankle now double the size and black and blue.
Loko had been the better team for the first half and the start of the second, however, one lapse in concentration at the back was all that was needed, a long high ball forward from the Kings centre half which was heading directly for Rohan's head, was deflected by Pete (pictured below) stretching backwards straight to their little forward who criminally had no one within 20 yards of him to run through, and nutmeg Jules to open the scoring.
Five minutes later and the contest was over, again a long ball in behind Ivan was latched onto by the little guy who lobbed Jules and with the ball heading for goal, Rohan handballed the ball over the crossbar. This league being a friendly one, an odd decision by the two teams and the referee to allow Rohan to stay on if the penalty was scored, meant that Rohan stayed on, as it was depatched into the bottom corner with Jules getting extremely close to it. It was a an unconventional decision as Rohan should have gone, but fair play to Kings for their generosity.Goalmouth scrambles got the remaining three goals as Loko time and again failed to clear their lines, and after the second goal Loko never looked an attacking force, as the spirit deserted them Kings made the most of the gifts presented at the back and made Loko pay for this with a resounding defeat.
The first sixty minutes had Loko fans believing they could reach the final, they had edged the possession and clear cut chances and Kings were not in the game as an attacking force, however, two lapses in concentration had cost Loko the game and from 2-0 down the railwaymen never looked like staging a comeback.
The hopes and dreams of Loko's players and staff were ended for another year, but with an improvement in our league position and reaching the semi-finals of the cup for the first time in five years, the future looks very bright indeed.
As the song goes, "...always look on the bright side of life" and to the upcoming Tournoi in Poland as a way of ending the season with some silverware and the title of European Champions.
Final Score West Ken Kings 5 Loko 0
Team Line Up
1. Julian
2. Nick
3. Ivan
4. Pete
5. Rohan
6. Dave W
7. Dave H
8. Dale
9. James
10. Roger (c)
11. Stephen
12. Paul (Replaced Dale 60th Minute)
13. Ismail (Replaced James 60th Minute)
Barnesalona Cup Semi-Final Results
Hendrix FC 4 v Barnes FC 2
Celtic 3 v Real Madras 2
Barnesalona Cup Final Draw
29th April 2007
Barnes Common, 10.30am KO
Celtic v Hendrix FC
James Rettie Cup Semi-Final Other Result
Uncle Bob's FC 2 v South Auckland Rangers 0
Uncle Bob's FC 2 v South Auckland Rangers 0
James Rettie Cup Final Draw
29th April 2007
Barnes Common, 2.30pm KO
West Ken Kings v Uncle Bob's FC
29th April 2007
Barnes Common, 2.30pm KO
West Ken Kings v Uncle Bob's FC
This Season Head-to-Head
