Sportsmans League Division 3
Lokomotiv Londres FC 0 v Real Northern 'B' 3
Loko Contribute to Own Downfall
The team had a couple of people drop out on the morning of the game again, but managed to get Paul along at the last minute and we had a decent thirteen.
We started with the same 4-3-3 formation from the week before with Ismail in goal, a back four of Morris, Steve, Ivan and Stefano. Dale, Diego and George in the middle of the park with Dave, James and Terry upfront.
Northern started quickest and were pressing us back early on, they got behind the defence a couple of times but Morris and Steve provided good covering tackles to keep them at bay, they then hit the post with a breakaway. It was obvious after ten minutes that the formation was not working so we switched back to 4-4-2 and Loko finally settled down.
The railwaymen finally started to press forward and Diego and George linked well in midfield and got the ball into Dave who played a one two with James and got through on goal only for the keeper to come quickly off his line and smoother the effort.
Shortly after Terry got down the left and swung a ball to the back post where Diego came in and looked like getting on the end of it, but the flag went up and the chance was lost. Diego and Dave both had shots from the edge of the area that were blocked and it was now a much more solid performance.
Loko fell behind to the usual comical goal, Ismail mishit the goalkick, Steve was talking to the midfield and caught unaware and the striker ran through and slotted past Ismail for an easy goal.
George went down with an injury to his ankle but nobody seemed to see what happened, although his ankle had swollen to double the size so an ambulance was called and he went off to hospital to have an x-ray taken. It will hopefully not be too bad, and Joe came on to take his place with a bit of a reshuffle taking place.
Half-Time Loko 0 v Real Northern 'B' 1
Paul was off waiting for the ambulance so there were no changes at half-time, it was obvious that we needed to press higher up the pitch so that's what we discussed.
The railwaymen now began their most productive period of the game and with Terry going up front, should have equalised straight away when Steve chipped the ball over the top and sent Terry away but he couldn't get his shot on target from just inside the penalty area.
Terry nearly scored again when he challenged the keeper after being played through, the ball broke loose past the keeper but the ball wouldn't sit for him and the covering defender cleared for a corner.
The railwaymen continued to press and when a corner was cleared, Dale (pictured above) picked up the ball on the left sideline, played a neat one two with James and hit a thirty yard curler a few inches past the far post.
Unfortunately, after lots of pressure and possession for us they scored another soft goal to kill the game. A corner was swung in and Ismail failed to get to it and it hit their striker and Steve before rolling over the line in another defendable situation where we failed to clear our lines.
Their striker was then played through and Morris tracked back well allowing Stefano to come around and clear the ball to safety, but the third goal came shortly after when they attacked the box, we had chances to but failed to clear our lines and the free man at the back post had an easy time sidefooting home from five yards.
Final Score Loko 0 v Real Northern 'B' 3
Manager Dale Mellor's comments:
"Another defensive mistake and we have to chase the game from early on. It was another slow start from us and we gave ourselves too much to do.
If we had started like we played for the middle thirty minutes of the match then things may have been different. We had a couple of great chances but we were not clinical enough and were outbattled at keys times of the game when we needed to step up.
It was good fitness for the team and allowed us to see more of Paul and Joe who are both looking good. Shame to see George head off to hospital with a swollen ankle, let's hope for good news with the Tournoi only 12 days away."
Team Line Up
1. Ismail
2. Morris
3. Stefano
4. Ivan
5. Steve (c)
6. Dale
7. Diego
8. George
9. Dave
10. Terry
11. James
12. Joe (Replaced George 35th Minute)
13. Paul (Replaced Morris 70th Minute)
Man of the Match
Dale - I have been instructed by Ivan and a couple of others to give myself the man of the match, I tried to keep us going throughout and battled away gamely in midfield. I was inches away with my 35 yard effort in the second half as well.
Special mention to Stefano who I thought was outstanding at covering the back four yet again, Terry for lots of effort and pace, and to Joe who is really bringing a positive influence to the team.
Match Report by Dale Mellor.
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