First Half
On a snowy surface, with the lines brushed and a yellow ball the Lions started very well and looked dangerous from the first whistle with some strong attacking moves involving Wade Reeve, Ellis Jewell and Chris Fulcher. Tom Saunders and Dominic Ford looked lively in the midfield and Ashley Dale started well with some good passes and crosses from the left within the first 5 minutes.
On 8 minutes Wade Reeve controlled the ball well on the right after a good pass by Levi Simon and his through ball found Ellis Jewell running forward. Ellis controlled well, rounded the keeper and fired home. Spartans 0-1 Lions
Just after the goal, with the Lions booming, Tom Saunders won the ball in the centre of midfield, played an excellent one-two with Chris Fulcher and was unlucky to see his shot sneak just wide of the goal with the Spartans keeper stranded.
The defence of James Sanford, Levi Simon, Liam Fox-Teece and Usama Akkouche looked very solid and they kept the Spartans attack at bay and protected Vinish Bhuva in goal without Vin hardly having a touch for the 20 minutes.
Wade Reeve had a shot well saved on 12 minutes, Dominic Ford had a hard and low shot deflected off for a corner, after a good passing move with Ashley Dale and Ellis Jewell and Liam Fox-Teece also got into the shooting action on 17 minutes with a good strike that was again well saved and pushed round the post for a corner.
On 20 minutes, Chris Fulcher picked up the ball wide on the right and his shot deflected off the defender and the post and from the corner kick, James Sanford hit a great low shot that hit the defensive bodies for yet another corner.
In the 23rd minute, Cameron Scarr made a great tackle and sensible pass to James Sanford. James played a good pass forward to Ellis Jewell, Ellis laid the ball off to Chris Fulcher and Chris sent Wade Reeve clear. Wade’s shot was heading for the goal and a deflection off the head of a defender helped it into the top corner leaving the keeper no chance. Spartans 0-2 Lions
Just before the interval, with the Lions running the play in all areas of the pitch, Matthew Auker played a measured pass through to Ashley Dale, who made a good run down the left, cut inside and his shot was well saved by the Spartans keeper down to his left.
Half Time - Spartans 0-2 Lions
Second Half
The Lions knew they were on top at the half-time point, but after losing to the Spartans earlier in the season, were more than aware that they had to be on the game to keep ahead following the interval.
On 39 minutes a Wade Reeve cross found Chris Fulcher and Chris’ shot made the keeper scramble across his goal. From the corner, Ellis Jewell was unlucky to see his shot hit the defender and bounce into the keepers hands.
The Lions were not happy to settle for 2-0 and Usama Akkouche came close to extending the lead with a good low shot – probably the Lions’ 20th of the game – that was well saved by the Spartans keeper who was having a very good game in the difficult conditions.
In the 50th minute a hopeful through ball was not dealt with and the Spartans sneaked a goal back, very much against the run of play. Spartans 1-2 Lions
Only 2 minutes later the Spartans attacked again and managed to sneak in another to level the scores. Spartans 2-2 Lions
With both goals being very much against the run of play, the Lions were determined not to let this one slip away and almost immediately – on 54 minutes - Tom Saunders battled immensely to earn himself a shot at goal after a good one-two with Ellis Jewell to put the Lions back into the lead.
Spartans 2-3 Lions
The Lions extended the lead further, when on 63 minutes Levi Simon made a great run through the middle, his first shot was blocked, but he managed to pounce on the rebound and pop in the bottom right corner.
Spartans 2-4 Lions
With only 2 minutes to go, the Spartans, who were not giving up, gave the Lions a good battle and they managed to scramble another goal to make the final few kicks of the game very nervous for the Lions. Spartans 3-4 Lions
The Lions did hang on for the victory – and a very well deserved one at that.
Final Score – Spartans 3-4 Lions
An excellent game played in excellent spirit and some awful conditions, but big thanks to the referee who played it and correctly so.
The simple football, disciplined positioning and competing during the first 50 minutes of this game are some of the best football we have played all season – I challenge any U14’s team to be able to cope with our squad when we play like this and look forward to building on this on Wednesday in training and again next Sunday when we travel to Red Lodge.
Match report by Mick Jewell
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