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Match Report

Woodley Saints Lions 0 v Pinewood Panthers 1

Lions first match at the Saints home ground, Berkshire County Sports, proved to be a good contest all round.

With Hope away on international duty, Emily failing a late fitness test and Josh involved in a car accident on the way to the game (get well soon Josh, Terrie and Alex), the Lions only had 6 available players. Fortunately, Pinewood arrived with 8 and a friendly kid called Tom joined Lions as their keeper for the first half. The starting lineup was as follows:

Tom in goal, James and Dylan (Dee) in defence, Ollie, Joseph (Digger) and captain Toby (TT) in midfield with Sam (Sauce) playing the lone striker role. TT won the toss and elected to take kick off and thus shooting downhill. (Not much of a gradient or advantage there though!)

From the off, the crowd could see it would be a even contest with both sides battling for control of the midfield. To be fair, Pinewood probably enjoyed greater possession throughout the match and had more attacks than the Lions. However, Tom in goal proved excellent with Dee reading the game as well as ever. Positions seemed to stay in the managers head as Toby and James (both playing free roles in the end) charged up and down the pitch making impressive tackles and breaks. Ollie, Sam and Joseph were feeling the cold a bit and a quick word from the ref saw them get involved and soon warm up. Halftime 0-0.

The second half saw Tom rejoin his Pinewood teammates although nobody else could be enticed to wear the red and white of the Lions. Joseph eagerly volunteered to go in goal and what a tremendous job he did. Playing 6 a side now, Pinewood made better use of the space and Joseph pulled off a number of magnificent saves to keep his side in the game. Ollie and Sam were starting to show their Tigers experience and making good breaks down the wing. James continued where he left off in the first half and won most tackles he went in for. TT continued his Gerrardesque performance and drove his team on with Dylan rarely being beaten at the back. Soon Pinewood’s pressure told and they managed to sneak a goal at the near post. Rather than collapse, the Lions showed tremendous heart and upped their game to force the equaliser. Unfortunately, the final whistle came too early for them and it wasn’t to be. Final score 0-1 to Pinewood.

As always, the team took part in a penalty shoot out after the game and some excellent strikes were witnessed by the vociferous Lions crowd. Joseph continued his fine form and pulled off a string of fine saves which resulted in the Lions pipping Pinewood as penalty winners.

MOTM - Joseph. After the game it was difficult to decide from some excellent performances but when pushed, the manager decided to give it Joseph for his top display from some excellent performances.

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