Sunday 12 May
Loko 3 vs Battersea Elite 1
LOKO STRUGGLE BUT WIN AGAINST 10-MAN OUTFIT
It was touch and go whether this game was ever going to take place. For a start, it was a major struggle getting a Loko team together following the previous week’s cup final loss.
Plus, on the day, the game had to be delayed owing to only 7 Battersea players turning up. Battersea Elite eventually kicked off with 10 players, surely a decisive advantage especially considering their lowly league position.
Not quite.
Despite fielding a decent team complemented by the return of Gomes and Poland tournament newcomer Issam, Loko were very slow out of the starting blocks. Complacency was arguably the main reason but on the pitch, it looked like half of the team had been sedated. Inaccurate passes, panic-induced punts upfield, lack of determination, you name it.
Thankfully, goal machine ADIL managed to get Loko out of their slumber on 21 minutes when he pounced on a through ball Dave K delivered from the midfield. Finding himself one-on-one against the keeper, our centre forward didn’t let us down and scored from 10 yards out.
The rest of the half saw Battersea Elite perform admirably given their numerical inferiority. In particular, their 19-year old number 8 on the left wing was running the Loko defence ragged so much so that Issam and Neil had to double up on him.
Meanwhile, Loko were still incapable of making their number count. Various chances came our way, most of which were crafted by Dave K, Kevin and Gomes but the finish was rather disappointing.
On 37 minutes, their number 8’s devastating pace and skill got rewarded as he outpaced Issam then Neil - who’d so far done a sterling job on him - but this time he dashed down our right wing cut into the box and arrowed an unstoppable low shot past John into the far corner.
Half time: Loko 1 vs Battersea Elite 1
To give the team more control and abort any more lethal attacks from their number 8, as the second half got underway, Neil was tasked with marking their number 8 very closely whilst Ismail came on and slotted into the central defence with Ivan, whilst Issam was redeployed to left back instead of Marcel.
This seemed to do the trick as Neil gradually marked their number 8 out of the game and still managed to venture forward on occasions and also support the Loko attacks.
On 53 minutes, ADIL again found himself one on one versus their keeper and scored his second goal of the match.
After that, certain Loko players’ selfish tendency to want to score instead of passing to their better placed teammates or their desire to show off by shooting from impossible positions instead of playing it more simple prevented us from accumulating goals.
At the same time, Battersea Elite were arguably playing their best game this season. They could have even scored when their number 9 gave the defence the slip only for John to save with his right knee.
Loko created breathing space for themselves on 72 minutes though when Alex, who’d just come on, sliced their defence open with a through ball that ended up at the feet of ADIL who coolly shot in the back of the net therefore completing his hat trick.
The game was not over yet. With Kevin preferring to go for glory down the wing at the expense of his role as left back (and neglecting to tell the midfield to cover his position when he was going up), Loko found themselves badly exposed in defence. This included a situation when Battersea Elite were three against one on our left side and this could have meant a tense last few minutes had they scored. At this very moment, Ivan who’d been screaming for Kevin to do his job throughout the second half, completely lost it so much that the ref had to tell him to curb his language.
Thankfully, the last few minutes were slightly more peaceful and Loko managed to hang on to their 3 points – or rather their 6 points given that the original game vs suspended London Titans had been awarded to Loko.
Final score: Loko 3 vs Battersea Elite 1
After the game, the Player of the Season Award was announced as follows:
4th position: Marcel
3rd position: John
2nd position: Adil
Winner: Neil (pictured above)
M.O.M: This week, 2 players deserve the accolade: Adil for his cool hat trick and Neil for neutralising the main threat to our team. Well done to both! Special mentions to John and Gomes.
Club Secretary Ivan commented: “We would have probably played better had they had 11 players on the pitch. The advantage from the outset made us relax too much and cockiness crept into our game, too. All in all, we have to be happy with the result following last week’s crushing defeat.
Line-up: John – Issam (then Andre, 65’), Ivan, Neil, Marcel (then Ismail, 46’) – Lawrence, Luke (then Alex, 76’), Kevin, Gomes, Dave K - Adil
It was touch and go whether this game was ever going to take place. For a start, it was a major struggle getting a Loko team together following the previous week’s cup final loss.
Plus, on the day, the game had to be delayed owing to only 7 Battersea players turning up. Battersea Elite eventually kicked off with 10 players, surely a decisive advantage especially considering their lowly league position.
Not quite.
Despite fielding a decent team complemented by the return of Gomes and Poland tournament newcomer Issam, Loko were very slow out of the starting blocks. Complacency was arguably the main reason but on the pitch, it looked like half of the team had been sedated. Inaccurate passes, panic-induced punts upfield, lack of determination, you name it.
Thankfully, goal machine ADIL managed to get Loko out of their slumber on 21 minutes when he pounced on a through ball Dave K delivered from the midfield. Finding himself one-on-one against the keeper, our centre forward didn’t let us down and scored from 10 yards out.
The rest of the half saw Battersea Elite perform admirably given their numerical inferiority. In particular, their 19-year old number 8 on the left wing was running the Loko defence ragged so much so that Issam and Neil had to double up on him.
Meanwhile, Loko were still incapable of making their number count. Various chances came our way, most of which were crafted by Dave K, Kevin and Gomes but the finish was rather disappointing.
On 37 minutes, their number 8’s devastating pace and skill got rewarded as he outpaced Issam then Neil - who’d so far done a sterling job on him - but this time he dashed down our right wing cut into the box and arrowed an unstoppable low shot past John into the far corner.
Half time: Loko 1 vs Battersea Elite 1
To give the team more control and abort any more lethal attacks from their number 8, as the second half got underway, Neil was tasked with marking their number 8 very closely whilst Ismail came on and slotted into the central defence with Ivan, whilst Issam was redeployed to left back instead of Marcel.
This seemed to do the trick as Neil gradually marked their number 8 out of the game and still managed to venture forward on occasions and also support the Loko attacks.
On 53 minutes, ADIL again found himself one on one versus their keeper and scored his second goal of the match.
After that, certain Loko players’ selfish tendency to want to score instead of passing to their better placed teammates or their desire to show off by shooting from impossible positions instead of playing it more simple prevented us from accumulating goals.
At the same time, Battersea Elite were arguably playing their best game this season. They could have even scored when their number 9 gave the defence the slip only for John to save with his right knee.
Loko created breathing space for themselves on 72 minutes though when Alex, who’d just come on, sliced their defence open with a through ball that ended up at the feet of ADIL who coolly shot in the back of the net therefore completing his hat trick.
The game was not over yet. With Kevin preferring to go for glory down the wing at the expense of his role as left back (and neglecting to tell the midfield to cover his position when he was going up), Loko found themselves badly exposed in defence. This included a situation when Battersea Elite were three against one on our left side and this could have meant a tense last few minutes had they scored. At this very moment, Ivan who’d been screaming for Kevin to do his job throughout the second half, completely lost it so much that the ref had to tell him to curb his language.
Thankfully, the last few minutes were slightly more peaceful and Loko managed to hang on to their 3 points – or rather their 6 points given that the original game vs suspended London Titans had been awarded to Loko.
Final score: Loko 3 vs Battersea Elite 1
After the game, the Player of the Season Award was announced as follows:
4th position: Marcel
3rd position: John
2nd position: Adil
Winner: Neil (pictured above)
M.O.M: This week, 2 players deserve the accolade: Adil for his cool hat trick and Neil for neutralising the main threat to our team. Well done to both! Special mentions to John and Gomes.
Club Secretary Ivan commented: “We would have probably played better had they had 11 players on the pitch. The advantage from the outset made us relax too much and cockiness crept into our game, too. All in all, we have to be happy with the result following last week’s crushing defeat.
Line-up: John – Issam (then Andre, 65’), Ivan, Neil, Marcel (then Ismail, 46’) – Lawrence, Luke (then Alex, 76’), Kevin, Gomes, Dave K - Adil
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