Sun 6 Sept 2015
Loko 0 vs Invictus 2
QUIET LOGO RESIGNED TO THEIR FATE
Another week, another team. With several players injured, on holiday or not too excited about playing pre-season friendlies, Loko took to the field today with several new faces.
As you would expect playing with relative strangers can cause problems and this was apparent right from the start as some of the guys out there probably couldn't remember the names of the players on their side.
Loko were also very quiet and were not threatening the opposition who were always causing our defence problems on the break. Sure enough, on 20 minutes, a long ball over the top took Joel and Morris by surprise on the right wing and their number 12 was the first to react and slotted the ball in the back of the net from 10 yards out.
Loko created very few chances but the best one fell to James T on the left wing in one of his favourite positions as he fired a shot from the edge of the box but he missed the target by a few inches.
Half time: Loko 0 vs Invictus 1
At half time injured Gary, who was managing from the sideline, was visibly frustrated by the Loko's lack of determination and communication and told the team in no uncertain terms that we needed to up the ante, a sentiment that was echoed by skipper Matt.
As the second half got underway, it looked like the Loko players had taken the message on board and were now applying themselves and communicating better.
On 51 minutes, a Dave F corner from the left was headed by Ivan into the far corner and looked like an equaliser but it was cleared off the line.
Loko were now slighly more dominant in the middle of the park, in particular Lee, Miguel and Tom with the support of long balls Matt was spraying across the pitch but Loko were unable to unlock their defence, in particular their imperial tall central defender.
Loko were always at the mercy of a counterattack and, on 60 minutes, their number 11 outpaced the whole Loko defence and cut into the middle of our box and took a shot that looked goalbound only for Tony to pull off a great save as he palmed the shot over the crossbar.
Unfortunately, Invictus scored a second from a shot from the right wing despite Tony touching the ball as it found its way in at the near post.
Loko 0 vs Invictus 2
From then on, it was all hands on deck as the Loko only kept 3 at the back - but it wasn't meant to be. This was a very poor performance overall with only one more chance to redeem ourselves in our last pre-season friendly before the new league season starts in earnest on 20 September.
M.O.M: Not too many sparkling performances today but the award goes to LEE for the second consecutive week.
Lineup: Colin (then Terry 46') - Ash, Morris, Ivan, Tom - Miguel, Dave F, Matt, Little Matt - Lee, Hayden, Various substitutions: Joel, Ismail, James T
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