Sportsmans League Division 3
Mass 6 v Lokomotiv Londres FC 3
Promising Season Ends in Hammering
Lokomotiv turned up promptly and in force with a complement of fourteen players for the last game of the season against Mass, one of the Division’s low ranking teams.
The starting line-up included Ismail in goal, a back line of Stefano, Steve, Chris and Ivan, a midfield composed of Paul, Roger, Dave, Stefan and Peggy plus Nicolas as the lone target man up front.Mass had caused panic in the Loko defence in the first leg back in October and history repeated itself right from the start. Slack defensive work and a rather unsupportive midfield meant that the Loko men were all over the place and incapable of holding on to the ball.
By comparison, Mass enjoyed plenty of possession with their hunger, composure, pace and skills belying their lowly league position. Mass were running past players on the flanks with great ease and bombarded the Loko goal from all angles without being seriously challenged. Loko’s uninspired performance was sealed in the first half.
The first goal came from a cross from the left with the Mass forward slotting it easily past Ismail. The next goal came from a long ball with the Mass forward beating the offside trap and crucifying Ismail one-on-one. Paul came off midway through the first half and was replaced by Morris.
The third goal came when a Mass player trapped the ball on the edge of the box and his powerful shot hit the inside of Ismail’s right post into the net. The fourth one came from the edge of the box following a corner from the left and the powerful shot cannoned off Ivan’s shoulder into the empty net.
After forty five miserable minutes, Lokomotiv were clueless and out for the count.
Half-Time Mass 4 v Loko 0
Although the Railwaymen tried harder in the second half it simply wasn’t enough. After five minutes, Adrian came on for Ivan and Vincent replaced Stefan who is still finding his feet after a long lay-off.
On fifty five minutes, Peggy went off on one of his trademark mazy runs past two defenders but was knocked off the ball by a Mass defender in the box. The referee blew his whistle for Lokomotiv’s first penalty of the season, albeit a very generous one. The team were all holding their breath and hoping for the team’s third best goalscorer to finally reduce the deficit. Dave stepped up but he scuffed his shot and hit it low on the ground in the middle of the goal and the keeper saved it easily.
Five minutes later Mass put the game out of Lokomotiv’s reach with a long ball flying over Adrian’s head. The oncoming Mass forward found himself one on one against Ismail who remained rooted to his spot and the forward finished low to Ismail’s right for what was ominously beginning to look like a tennis score.
This is when tempers flared. Adrian got involved in a slanging match with their number 15 and got a yellow card. Morris was on the receiving end of a similar coloured card for his repetitive fouls. The ref even had a word with Ivan on the touchline warning him that Morris might get sent off if he continued in that vein.
Fortunately, Loko pulled themselves together. Peggy took a shot from thirty five yards out which flew over their keeper’s head and struck the crossbar and Nicolas, who’d been running his socks off for seventy minutes, followed up and nodded the ball in from two yards out.
With Roger now organising the game in midfield and launching Peggy and Nicolas off down the flanks, things started to look up. Following a neat one-two between Dave and Nicolas down the middle and the ball coming off a Mass defender, Dave rounded his opponent and scored Loko’s second goal by placing it to the right of the diving keeper from the edge of the box.
Unfortunately Mass put paid to Loko’s revival by scoring their sixth goal. But the Railwaymen hadn’t given up the ghost just yet. Morris took on his opponent in their own half thirty five yards out, down the right hand side of the pitch. The defender tried to clear the ball but it rebounded off Morris’s head. Our crazy Irish horse then charged down the right wing, crossed the ball for Dave who turned his defender on the right side of the box and half-volleyed it to the right of the Mass keeper and into the net.
Final Score Mass 6 v Loko 3
Club Secretary Ivan Rahal's comments:
"Yet another mercurial Lokomotiv performance. We have showed this season that we can play neat football and, unlike previous seasons, score many goals. But, we also tend to push the self-destruct button far too often. Today we were shambolic and when we needed to impose our presence, we committed unnecessary fouls and got involved in silly arguments which resulted in a few players losing their concentration.
Next week’s tournament in Switzerland is the opportunity for us to redeem ourselves. But we can only achieve it by being disciplined, organised and listening to instructions. We also have to support each other instead of picking on players who are making mistakes.
Finally, for the benefit of newcomers and those players who haven’t yet got the message, a few words of warning for the Tournoi:
1) Expect the refs to give our opponents a lot of unwarranted protection, i.e. blow their whistle for what is often deemed as merely physical challenges in this country, no physical contact is allowed.
2) Expect some diving.
3) Don’t expect the referee's to stand for any verbal nonsense.
If you don’t accept the refs’ very strict rules and don’t keep your temper in check, you’ll get sent off and will jeopardise our chances of retaining our title."
Team Line Up
1. Ismail
2. Stefano
3. Ivan
4. Chris
5. Steve (c)
6. Paul
7. Peggy
8. Dave
9. Roger
10. Nicolas
11. Stefan
12. Morris [Y] (Replaced Paul 25th Minute)
13. Vincent (Replaced Stefan 50th Minute)
14. Adrian [Y] (Replaced Ivan 50th Minute)
Goals
Nicolas (1)
70th Minute - Nicolas nodded the ball in from two yards out after Peggy’s shot struck the crossbar.
Dave (2)
75th minute - Following a one-two with Nicolas, Dave shot from the edge of the box into the keeper’s bottom right corner.
80th Minute - Morris charged down the right and crossed for Dave who half volleyed the ball to the right of the keeper and into the net.
Man of the Match (as voted by Vice-Captain Roger)
Dave - Despite his squandered penalty opportunity, he contributed a glimmer of hope with his two very well taken goals.
Match Report by Ivan Rahal.
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