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[andyallenone]

Match report by Iain Cochrane

With apologies if I’ve spelt your name wrong, invented you, missed you out altogether or fictionalised events.

Thanks to no-one for Dictaphone duty as I forgot to turn it on.

01/12/2007

Colombo Lions 4 – Maldives 5

So this is what defeat tastes like.

Last week a depleted compliment claimed another scalp in the absence of the Phuket squad but Saturday generated a somewhat lacklustre display which ended in a 5 – 4 disappointment. It’s true that we (the perennial “away Team”) suffered some bias but two crucial goal decisions were given in favour of our adversaries beneath a veneer of 50/50 foul calls. On the basis of fair play, the score line should have read differently but, that said, this Maldives team ripped the Lions to shreds time and time again. Only poor finishing saved deeper blushes.

The first significant action came barely four minutes into the game when Steve H’s badly timed tackle in the Lion’s area gave Maldives a chance to open the scoring from the penalty spot. Asanga got nowhere near it.

0 – 1

A couple of minutes later, a through ball put Liam in and he managed to get a toe to the ball just before the on rushing keeper to level.

1 – 1

Without the aid of a Dictaphone, the details of the second Maldives goal are lost forever. Never mind eh?

1 – 2

With barely 10 minutes gone Cap’n Rich floated a corner into the six yard area where Vegard met it with the back of his head. It could have gone anywhere. But t didn’t. It flew into the back of the net.

2 – 2

On 15 minutes Rich once again found himself in possession on the Maldives by-line just outside the area. He jinked inside his man and curled a left foot shot beyond the keeper and into the far corner to put the Lions ahead for the first time in the game.

Half time: 3 – 2

We all thought that we could go on and win the game. It just took an unusually long time for the game (and the Lions) to settle. It is true however that the back four were not firing on all cylinders.

Not long after the break the score line was level again proving that the game hadn’t settled at all, we were still off-colour and this Maldives team actually weren’t that bad!

3 – 3

But it didn’t take long before we hit back again. Rich played a short corner to Kadi whose cross deflected to the 18 yard line where Liam was waiting to stick in his second of the day.

4 – 3

Then, disaster. It became apparent too late in the game that the off-side trap we were using wasn’t going to save our skins every time and so the back four took it upon themselves to play deep to handle the pacy Maldives strike force and their neat one-twos. Sadly, this tactic didn’t work either and parity was restored within the blink of a carp’s eye.

4 – 4

The goal that won the day for Maldives was a beauty though. A smart move down their right cut the Lion’s defence in two and an inch perfect cross beat two defenders and Asanga and was headed into the Lion’s net at full stretch.

Final score: 4 - 5

Starting XI: Asanga, Iain D, Donaldinho, Steve H, Iain C, Rich (Capt) (1), Disco,
Liam (2), Vegard (1), Hashim, Francis

Subs: Laurent, Kadi, Sylvain, Kaz