Match Report: Sporting Lisbarnes v Loko

Sunday 22nd February 2009
Barnesalona League

Sporting Lisbarnes 2 v Lokomotiv Londres FC 0

Loko Lack That Cutting Edge!

There was an air of expectation when the players arrived in anticipation of a close fought encounter with the current league leaders. There was another two debutants with Tom and Chris coming for the first time ensuring that we had another good squad of thirteen players. It turned out that Sporting had only ten players but they aren't top of the table for nothing and they started with good organisation and lots of passing and movement.

Loko had Dave (pictured below) in goal, the usual back four, two holding midfielders in Chris and Ismail and an attacking midfielder in Stefan, with Peggy and Joe on the wings and Roger up front.

The start of the game, was the same most of the way through, with Loko not pressurising them and allowing them far too much time on the ball to find and pick their passes. When we played them in November we gave them no time and should have been 5-0 ahead by half-time, the only reason we weren't and went on to draw was our habitual problem of being unable to take our chances.

They had the majority of the possession throughout the game especially early on, but chances were few and far between by both teams and the breakthrough came when a needless push by PJ on the edge of the box, saw a cross swung in, missed by four players and go directly in and was one hell of a sloppy goal to concede.

The team changed to a 4-4-2 formation and straight after Roger could and should have equalised when Joe made a fantastic run down the left and pulled back a ball to Roger just outside the six yard box and instead of a first time shot he took a touch and two defenders closed him down and got the ball away. Joe then found a loose ball come back to him on the edge of the area and he hit the ball a yard or two over, and Dale had a shot blocked on the edge.

Sporting kept hitting on the counter attack and a long free kick into the box was headed wide by their midfielder coming in late. They had a lot of possession and played the ball around the edge of the box but Dave had hardly had a save to make.

Half-Time Sporting Lisbarnes 1 v Loko 0

Pete came on for Ismail and Tom replaced Joe at half-time and Dale had had a few choice words for the team who had failed to show the desired hunger to win their challenges and take the game to Sporting.

The second half was better from a Loko perspective but we continued to give the ball away too easily and panic when the ball was received to feet, and at times kept hitting the ball long for their centre backs to gobble up. Their was little to no communication once again and we seem to have taken a step backwards in that regard when it was really starting to improve and you could see a positive effect in our performances.

Loko dominated the better chances in the second half, but squandered lots of possession, and at times seemed to be chasing the ball aimlessly around the pitch. It was a difficult game for the Railwaymen as Lisbarnes spent the majority of the game rolling around on the floor and moaning at the referee in groups of four and five after almost every challenge. Unfortunately the referee was extremely picky and booked Stefan for handball, Steve and Chris for fouls and with one minute of injury time remaining Dale was harshly sent off for telling one of their players to get off the floor and stop being a soft male rooster.

Loko twice sent balls across the face of goal but no one was on hand to convert the chances in front of goal, Roger (pictured above) then got a peach of a cross from Peggy but couldn't direct it goalwards when it was crying out to hit the back of the net.

The inevitable happened shortly after, a long throw into the box was flicked on at the near post and their midfielder had made a late run into the box and was not picked up by Loko and he hit a very good volley into the back of the net that Dave got nowhere near.

This shocked Loko who sat back and had to defend in numbers and a Lisbarnes midfielder hit a long range drive just to the left of the angle which was too close for comfort, and this was followed by a number of corners that were well defended by Loko.

The last twenty minutes belonged to Loko who started to press the Sporting penalty area, and Tom almost took advantage of a Roger pull back but had his shot blocked by a defender, straight after a scramble in the box fell kindly for Roger who was one on one with the keeper but could only knock wide with the keeper bearing down on him.

The ball was then worked through Pete, Tom and Chris in midfield and Roger sent the ball into PJ's path one on one yet again, it was crying out for a decent first touch and a low drive past the keeper, but a bobble and too many touches allowed the keeper to close down and block the effort when it was finally got away.

Dave came out of his area to clear on a couple of counter attacks with Loko pushing men forward but aside from the two goals, he did not need to make a save of any note and dominated his area very well. Loko had a number of chances but our inability to score this season, once again led us to another defeat. The team need to contribute goals from other areas of the playing staff and not just rely on our forwards and inparticularly Roger to get us the goals and the victories.

The most disappointing aspect of Sunday was that the game was not enjoyable because the opposition are not a gracious team to play against, they moan and whinge their way through games and put pressure on the referee from the word go. They are arrogant and make snide comments about the teams they are playing against. Luckily we do not have to play them again this season and we can enjoy the rest of our games and finish as high as we can.

Final Score Sporting Lisbarnes 2 v Loko 0

Manager Dale Mellor's comments:
"This is a game for us to forget, we were playing against ten men and didn't look like a team who wanted to use the ball and make that extra man count. They were first to the challenges and won the lose ball everytime.

We needed to put some challenges in early and let them know we were up for the game but we didn't. They had a lot of possession and can keep the ball well, but they didn't really create much throughout the game, their first goal went through a bunch of bodies and their second was a good strike, but I don't recall Dave having to do much in goal, apart from see a couple of efforts go wide.

Our downfall this season has been the inability to take our chances, we had two one on ones with the keeper and both times either shot wide or at the keeper, Roger had a free header at the back post and just one of those would have changed the game. Joe had a long range effort just over and Tom just failed to take his shot from a Roger pull back, we had the better chances, if not possession, but couldn't convert again. We'll have to keep trying."

Team Line Up
1. Dave
2. PJ
3. Ivan
4. Dale [R]
5. Steve [Y]
6. Ismail
7. Peggy
8. Chris [Y]
9. Roger
10. Stefan (c) [Y]
11. Joe
12. Pete (Replaced Ismail 45th Minute)
13. Tom (Replaced Joe 45th Minute)

Man of the Match
Dave - Played well for a second week running, this time in goal and dominated his penalty area. I didn't see an outfield player stand out today and take control, either during play or vocally. Therefore Dave takes the plaudits.

Match Report by Dale Mellor.