Langy Tame Lions To Win 4 In A Row
Posted: 1 July, 2010
| Preston Lions | 1 | V | 4 | Langwarrin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M.Durrand (2) C.Nicholes S.Mur |
||||
Round 11: Preston Lions v Langwarrin – 27 June, 2010
Preston Lions, comfortably at the bottom of the ladder having secured one measly point for the entirety of the season, played hosts for the round 11 match. Langwarrin, sitting second, made small work of the Lions and took home the 3 points scoring 4 goals to their one.
Langwarrin, perhaps not feeling threatened, began the game slowly which allowed Preston to break through their defence early and take a shot. It went wide but signalled their belief that the season was not yet over for them regardless of their hopeless position.
It didn’t take the boys long, however, to assert their dominance and utilise their far superior skills to put a score on the board. The play began with Caff who passed the ball onto Boris. Boris sent it up the line to Caleb. A Preston defender got to the ball first but his clearance rebounded off Caleb and toward the goal. He chased the ball down, passed another defender and put it away for a 1:0 lead in the 7th minute of the match.
Matty nearly made it 2 soon after. Boris received the ball in front of the goal and sent it out wide to him. It was delayed by a defender but hung around long enough for Matty to pounce and send the ball flying straight toward the top left hand corner – but it sailed over, inches too high.
Preston were awarded a free kick in the 22nd minute just outside the box. It was efficiently defended by Junior and Caff but the ball came back seconds later. They managed a shot on goal but the omnipresent Jonsey leapt with arms out stretched and deflected it out.
The 40th minute brought another opportunity for Langy, this time in the form of a free kick due to a Preston handball. Taken by Matty, from the edge of the penalty box, his shot bypassed the wall and the mass of defenders outside the goals to put the ball cleanly away for a 2:0 lead.
It seemed the half was winding down but Langwarrin were not done. Caleb won possession of the ball and put it through the Preston defence for Matty up-front. Matty dribbled the ball up and took a shot but it went straight to the keeper who mistakenly deflected the ball back out into play. Matty was all over it and didn’t make the same mistake twice. He out-manoeuvred the flustered keeper and put it straight past him into the goal for a 3:0 lead right before the end of the half.
The beginning of the second half saw Preston relentlessly attempt to outsmart the Langy defence and get a score on the board – on 3 successive occasions. A combination of sound defending by the likes of Junior, an easy save by Jonsey and Preston’s poor aim, ensured the sheet stayed clean for Langwarrin.
Despite the home team’s newfound vigour, it didn’t take long for Langy to once again produce a goal scoring opportunity. Boris received the ball and crossed it in for Matty but the Preston keeper got there first. He cleared it out but it was a poor effort and Matty took a shot on the full. It skimmed the top of the goal.
A series of passes found Vinnie with possession in Langy’s half. He crossed the ball in to Simon but before Simon could get there, the keeper did. He caught the ball and went down –seemingly trodden on by his own player. Preston’s anger got the better of them– as evidenced by their spectators as well as their players who, with a few pushes and shoves almost began an all-out brawl. The referee made his way over eventually and sent Caleb and another Preston defender off with red cards.
Not to be deterred by the referee’s harsh decision to send Caleb off, the boys were on the attack mere seconds later. Simon received the ball on the right and speedily brought it into the box to take a shot – but it went straight into the keeper’s arms.
He put things right in the next minute when Caff won the ball in defence and played it to Vinnie in the centre. Vinnie sent it up to Simon who controlled the ball and positioned himself in the same location as seconds earlier. The similarities ended there. He took the ball around the keeper, then past him to extend Langwarrin’s lead to 4:0 in the 74th minute.
The Preston Lions were not dead and buried though and while Langy appeared to lose their steam towards the end of the match, they seemed to gather some. They finally put one away in the 88th minute when a cross found the head of a striker who put it past Jonsey to deliver his team a 4:1 score.
Jonsey ripped out a last minute save to keep the score at 4:1 and when the boys won a free kick straight after, they simply had no energy left. They played it around slowly until the ref blew his whistle to signal the end of the match.
It was a positive note to end the first half of the season on. The boys did well to secure the victory and the three points.
Team: Jones, Black, Caffrey, Cochrane, Donaghy, Mur, Bontemps (Quinn 70), Driver, Ovcin (Ulusoy 73), Nicholes, Durrand
Unused Subs: Thomas, van Heerwaarden, Andronicos
