SOUTHERN AMATEUR VETS LEAGUE

MLFC 4 GLOBE RANGERS 1

With the home side returning to league action after an 11-week break, due to cup runs, the festive break and scheduled fixtures falling foul of the weather, the instructions were clear from the management duo ... get off to a fast start, play a high-tempo pressing game and look after the ball.

MLFC were skippered by Matt Kleinman at left-back, who defied the medics by playing through the pain barrier after sustaining a nasty training ground thumb injury earlier in the week, playing alongside Josh Bentley, Alex Norman and Sam McCarthy in the defence with James Swead marshalling them from between the sticks.

In front of them James Abrams and Rob Soutar as the holding pair with Mark Wagman and Gideon Gold taking up wide berths with Max Radford behind Paul Lenchner in attack.

It was MLFC who started the brightest and were rewarded with a fine goal from their first attempt on the Globe goal, Kleinman linking well with Gold down the left, feeding Lenchner who slid in Wagman who made a clever run across the box. His trickery and cross was met by Soutar who’s first shot beat the keeper but cannoned back off the cross bar, and was fortunately met on the rebound by Soutar again who had the simplest of tasks to nod over the stranded keeper for 1-0.

Within 10 minutes the Lions should have been 2-0 up, first Lenchner dispossessed the Globe centre-half and got wide whipping in an inviting low cross which Gold failed to convert at the far post, and then Lenchner had the ball in the net but his headed effort was ruled out for offside.

Hadley Silver was now introduced to the action, and he immediately set Gold away, who got to the byeline and centred to Abrams whose tidy finish beat the keeper but was again ruled out this time the referee adjudged Gold to have carried the ball out of play in the build-up.

The home side doubled the lead on 35 minutes; a Bentley interception set free Abrams who played a neat one-two with Soutar, before squaring to Lenchner who fired the ball into the bottom left from around 18 yards.

MLFC introduced Ranaan Firmin and Jeff Gotch to the backline with Brad Lazarus joining the attack. Good work from Gold, setting up Lazarus whose cheekily executed chip was grabbed by the visiting stopper. However, within minutes Lazarus made it 3-0, a high press from Gold again squaring for the Lazarus to bury a low shot into the bottom right hand corner.

The hosts were now well on top, Radford to Lazarus whose audacious flick on the volley set McCarthy through on goal, but his shot was dragged wide of the far post.

The home defence started to sit a little deep and with Rangers freshening things up with a few changes of their own, started to put the pressure on. A few tame efforts were well saved by Swead, and some brave headers from Gotch and Bentley averted the danger as the visitors looked to find a way back into this game.

From a corner the Rangers then got a goal back, a short corner was then whipped to the far post where the visitors had a man over who was able to find the far corner of the net. 3-1.

Lenchner made it 4-1 and in turn halted any chance of a Rangers comeback with a low powerful effort that the Globe stopper made a complete hash of, the ball squirming up over the keeper and crossing the line to make the game safe for the home side.

A positive start to 2020 and the win sees the Lions move up to second place in the league.

MLFC: James Swead, Sam McCarthy, Matt Kleinman, Alex Norman, Josh Bentley, Rob Soutar, Max Radford, James Abrams, Gideon Gold, Mark Wagman, Paul Lenchner. Subs: Ranaan Firmin, Hadley Silver, Jeff Gotch, Bradley Lazarus

SCORERS: Soutar, Lenchner, Lazarus