Sun 5 October 2014
King's United 3 vs Loko 3
Bright sunshine and a silky smooth pitch surface greeted the Loko squad at King’s House today.
The first few minutes of the game were non-descript though with none of the teams creating any clear cut chances and the standard of play being below par.
However, on 6 minutes, a long John clearance found James T’s feet and our forward put Adil through and one-on-one against their keeper but our number 9 (or rather number 6 on the day) shot wide.
Loko were not having a good game. We were being overrun in the middle of the park with Dave K playing in an unusual defensive position and not finding his feet whilst Woody, James L and Matt were struggling against the fit and fast King’s players and not passing the ball crisply enough despite the good playing surface.
True, with the exception of John, James T and Adam, none of the Loko players were at their best.
King’s were becoming more and more menacing; they hit John’s woodwork on 20 minutes and then missed a sitter on 27 minutes when their number 8’s 5-yard volley flew over the bar.
On 31 minutes, Woody, who looked like he was going to cross took a shot from 30 yards out but missed the target by a few inches.
At the other end, we were playing with fire: Gary passed back to John, who was having a good game despite being hammered and not going to bed the night before. John looked like he was going to get punished, though, as he tried to clear but the ball bounced off the King’s player's backside and, as Loko were watching with their hearts in their mouths, the rebound missed our goal by 3 yards.
Our defence were now seriously under the cosh. On 37 minutes, one of our defenders handballed in our box but the ref didn’t spot the foul despite King’s recriminations.
The signs were that Loko were definitely going to get punished – and so they did.
True, John saved brilliantly when he palmed a header out of danger at the far post on 39 minutes. But on 42 minutes Kings’ were rewarded for their effort and opened the score with a header from yet another corner.
With only 2 minutes to go before half time, King’s capitalised again as they scored with a low rasping shot from just outside the box that went in under John’s body.
Half –time: King’s United 2 vs Loko 0
As the second half got under way, Dan R came in for Dave K.
On 47 minutes, Adil put James T through and looked like he was going to reduce the deficit but he missed at the last minute.
On 53 minutes, Gary, who got a knock in the first half had to come off limping and was replaced by Marcel.
On 68 minutes, a long ball from the right saw JAMES T chip their goalie as he found himself one on-one from 10 yards out.
King’s United 2 vs Loko 1
Loko were now playing slightly better with Tom and Adam surging forward, Woody crossing as often as possible and Adil and James T making their presence felt but, once again, our lack of fitness reared its ugly head as we were trailing Kings’players who were adept at finding holes in our defence.
On 76 minutes, Adam managed to clear the ball just inside the edge of our box and, as their forward fell to the floor, this most innocuous of challenges inexplicably resulted in an unfair penalty decision by the ref. The spotkick was almost saved by John who dived to his right but only managed to touch the ball that ended up in the back of the net.
King’s United 3 vs Loko 1
It was a bitter blow and, on 78 minutes, it looked like Kings’ were going to wrap up the 3 points for good when their number 26, who’d shaken Marcel off on the right hand side of our defence, missed the goal frame by 5 yards.
On 80 minutes, Adil passed the ball back to John who got trapped in his own box by an advancing King’s forward but somehow managed to clear the ball out of danger.
As the clock hit 90 minutes, ADIL, again found himself through on goal and breathed more life into the Loko challenge.
King’s United 3 vs Loko 2
And, as the ref looked like he was going to blow the final whistle at any second, Tom carved the King’s defence open with a long through ball for JAMES T who, incredibly, equalised with a shot from inside the box.
King’s United 3 vs Loko 3
As the Loko players were instructed to remain solid and not give King’s an inch of space, the ref eventually blew the final whistle on yet another occasion where Loko proved the masters of last minute suspense…
Overall, a poor first half performance but all the players on the pitch redeemed themselves with a very determined late late show. Well done Loko!
M.O.M: Great performances by John, Adam and Tom but M.O.M this week goes to JAMES T for his two opportunistic goals and hard work.
Line-up: John – Tom, Adam, Gary (then Marcel, 53’), Mark – Matt, Dave K (then Dan R, 46’), James L, Woody – James T, Adil
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