colombolions.com

[RedOrDed]

Sign in boys asap. Bar open at poets after game.

[Richard Lloyd]

RorD,

IS IT STILL AN EARLY KO, AS THERE IS NO MENTION IN THE SIGN UP PAGE OF ANY CHANGES , MAYBE WORTH REMINDING ALL LIONS WHO COULDNT MAKE TRAINING!

[Mucky]

:roll: KO 3pm Meet up at 2:30!!!

[Mucky]

Match report By Black Cat Ian

Lions 2 - Korean United XI 1

Broken wrists 2
Bruised ankle 1 (twice)

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, someone (probably a bloke) described football as “a funny old game”. Whoever it was that coined this sweeping and overused cliché, he obviously hadn’t bargained on the likelihood of Saturday’s encounter with a decent Korean united XI. There wasn’t much to laugh at here in a game that went from farce to folly and back again in the space of 87 minutes. Yes, I said 87 minutes.
However, this tactic of calling time prematurely probably prevented the match from descending from posturing gamesmanship into an all out, no-holds-barred brawl.
This wasn’t the referee’s finest hour (and 27 minutes) and of the two people on the pitch wearing spectacles, it was ironic that Mr. Osman and at least one of his assistants weren’t the ones benefiting from these miracles of modern science. Add to the mix a 3.00pm kick-off on a baking hot day, it was almost inevitable that proceedings would become heated in more ways than one.

The game started tentatively enough with both sides sussing each other out but the visitors were marginally more dominant in the opening minutes. Cherdon earned his bravery wings early on when he opted to dive into danger to save with his feet in a crunching 50/50 with the Korean striker.
Two minutes later the visitors won a corner which was ultimately wasted but showed that they intended to take the game to the Lions.
They were on the attack again in the eighth minute. Their nippy and skilful winger brought the ball to the corner of the Lions area where his run was unceremoniously ended by Martin. There was only going to be one outcome of this perfectly fair challenge in which the ball was cleared cleanly along with the winger’s right foot.
The game was stopped while he received treatment but it was clear that he would be unable to continue.

Meanwhile, Lion forays into the Korean half were a bit like a Van Morrison gig. Rare and not really worth the wait.

This looked to be due to a lack of link up play between a deep midfield and the front two. Forward balls were persistently met by a striker on the flank leaving only one other in the box to aim at.
However, a defensive error in the thirteenth minute allowed Mucky an opportunity to do some damage. With Daz waiting and free in the box, Mucky sliced his cross which fooled everyone but the resulting shot went narrowly over.
Soon after, the ball was back at the other end of the pitch. A high corner and some casual defending caused confusion in the Lion’s area. The ball fell to Korean feet but it was an awkward bounce and the shot lacked power. Lion hearts momentarily stopped as the weak effort rebounded of the bar before being hastily cleared.
In the same minute another injury befell the opposition. A broken wrist saw the departure of a second Korean and, with a lack of available players, injury number one was forced to limp back into action as a stand-in goal keeper.
With all their invention and endeavour leading to nothing (and the injuries), it was easy to assume that this was not to be the opposition’s day. Never assume!
The script was re-written in the 17th minute when a weaving run by their tricky midfielder led to a low shot which beat the advancing Cherdon at his near post. With three defenders in the vicinity, he should, perhaps, have been made to work harder to get his shot away but it was no more than he and his side deserved. 0-1.

Cue substitution. Chandu came on for the re-start replacing Prev who is still plagued with a dodgy knee.
There was an uncharacteristic element of negativity in the Lions as the Koreans re-started brightly. They came close again in the 20th minute when a hopeful ball forward was taken down well and the shot was only narrowly wide.
On 24 minutes Mucky spurned a great chance when he was one on one with the keeper. A decent shot led to a decent save. The resulting corner was well floated into a packed area and another good strike was cleared off the line. No goal but it put a round into the Lion’s chamber and led to a sustained period of pressure.
Two minutes later another Mucky shot was well saved at the expense of another corner.
Then Daz and Chandu linked up well on the right wing to feed Jules with a shooting opportunity but he shot wide.
On the half hour, Rich shot over. In the same minute, Korea shot wide.
They did so again four minutes later when it would have been easier to score.
On forty minutes, Anil (on for Jules) did the hard part by tearing down the left wing and into the area only to cross to Johnny X, the invisible striker.
Shortly after, Mucky latched onto a great through ball but he shot wide.
Just before half-time Pablo (on for Daz) had a decent effort saved but he continued to cause some anxiety in the Korean defence.
The KE XI had the last hurrah of the half when their winger shot well over despite having at least a fortnight to compose himself.

Half time 0-1

The talk at half time was positive with a genuine belief that things could be turned around. There were plenty of fresh legs but no idea as yet how hard it was going to be to persuade Mr. Osman into considering some kind of fair play concept.

The fun and games started in earnest shortly after the re-start but, in between bouts of cramp, bad decision making and yet more injuries, there was a fairly even sided football match going on.
Curiously, very early on, the Koreans decided to kill a bit of time suffering from cramp. On 49 minutes there was a hasty clearance after more Lion’s dithering at the back as the Koreans had begun the second half as they had the first.
It was almost ten minutes into the half before Mucky was sent clear but the flag came up and the first of many poor decisions was made.
After a goalmouth scramble at each end which yielded nothing, Mucky made up 50% of a mid-air collision which he walked away from. The other guy did eventually get up and then showed how original he was by actually carrying on. Well done that chap!
The second erroneous off-side came on 62 minutes when a Korean deflection put Pablo in with a clear goal scoring opportunity. The linesman’s flag suggested otherwise. Tempers were beginning to fray and this was exacerbated by another attack of time-wasting cramp.
At one point, a Korean attack in the 64th minute pitched 3 strikers bearing down on one Lion but a bad touch saved any embarrassment.
After a couple more changes things started to happen. On 75 minutes, some great work down the right saw Daz reach the by-line. He drew the ball back to Keith who shot first time but straight at the keeper. Fortunately, he couldn’t hold onto it and Pablo steamed in to clear up, putting the ball into to an empty net. 1-1.

The shot was so hard that the keeper had to go off soon after. How hard? Gerr-h-ard (admin)

Then a bizarre thing happened. From the kick off, their midfielder played the ball backwards into a square mile of open space. The pass was so inexplicable and so ill-judged that the Korean defence could only watch, rooted to the spot, while Disco danced (geddit?) onto the free ball, took a couple of touches and crashed the ball beyond the stranded, dumbfounded, one-legged keeper. 2-1.

I’m pleased to report that Lion tails stayed up and were on the look-out for another goal rather than breathe a collective sigh of relief and sit back. Those goals had been grafted for and another wouldn’t be asking too much. It nearly came when Pablo got to the by-line and invited Jules to have another crack with a clever back pass but the shot went just over.
A couple of minutes later, Laurent challenged for a 50/50 ball down the Korean right wing. Their winger, though, fell awkwardly onto his arm and the second broken wrist of the day saw play stopped for 7-8 minutes. Laurent looked shaken but had every right to go for that ball.

I harbour a hope that Koreans are generally made of sterner stuff than this but today’s XI were as fragile as Britney Spear’s grip on reality.

On 81 minutes, Mucky was legitimately (for a change) pulled up for another off-side but this time the frustration got the better of him and he struck a powerful shot at goal which struck the keeper on his already injured ankle long after the whistle had blown. His red mist earned him a deserved yellow card. It took a good 25-30 seconds, but the keeper eventually decided that he was, in fact, angry enough to look for revenge. The gloves came off but he was restrained by a couple of his defenders. There were around five more minutes of listless play with everyone just going through the motions before Mr. Osman blew prematurely for full-time.

The mood immediately after the game in the Lion’s camp was one of pragmatism. It was a kind of joyless victory as it was an even game with no clear superiority.
Though had it been a boxing match, the Lions probably would have shaded it on points and, undoubtedly, there would have been fewer injuries. Well done everyone!

Starting XI: Frederik, Steve, Martin, Andy, Keith, Prev, Cormack, Rich, Jules, Darren (1), Mucky.

Subs: Iain C, Kaz, Anil, Furrukh, Asanga, Pablo (1), Laurent, Mesh.

[RedOrDed]

Good report, Maybe next time you can mention more about the defenders who did well to keep them at 1 goal. :P