SPARTAN SOUTH MIDLANDS LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
LONDON LIONS 3 WINSLOW UNITED 1
Winslow came to Rowley Lane lying second in the League after beating current league leaders St Panteleimon last week. With Lions having another five players missing through injury, this was going to be a tough game.
Lions started at a very fast pace, and the tempo caught Winslow by surprise. Mattey playing wide on the left was making a big impact on the Winslow defence, linking up extremely well with Lee Goldberg.
It was in fact that combination in the 16th minute that led to the first goal. A pass from keeper Josh Samberg to Jake Rinsler, led to Jack Mattey coming off the wide position, and Lee Goldberg moving into the space vacated by Mattey. Rinsler passed it wide to Goldberg, who then passed inside to Mattey who was in the box. He jinked right and left opening up a space for him to shoot into the net, 1-0 Lions.
Winslow continued to be very aggressive, but Lions were up for the fight, and all that meant was free-kick after free kick to Lions, along with four yellows for Winslow. Lions felt that perhaps one or two of them could have been dealt with more strongly. Another set-piece was conceded on the right, Goldberg went over to sweep it in from his left foot. The ball was headed back from the far post, and there to strike in the ball was centre half Jamie Jackson, making it two goals in three games for him. 2-0 Lions after 29 minutes.
Lions continued to control the game, but a long ball down the middle from the Winslow goalkeeper caught the Lions defence sleeping, and on 33 minutes it was 2-1.
The half-time message from manager Andy Landesberg was straightforward. "Continue with the same intensity as the first half, keep your discipline, do not react or get involved. Stay focussed."
Lions came out and continued as they left off, creating several chances throughout the half. Keeper Josh Samberg’s kicking was excellent and that helped Lions to continue to move the ball around nicely on the Rowley Lane surface. The substitute were eager to get on, but no changes were being made.
In the 75th Minute, again playing out from the back on the left hand side, Adam Bolle broke through, he played a superb reverse pass to the overlapping Lee Goldberg who cut inside and dinked the ball over the advancing Winslow keeper. 3-1 Lions.
With 15 minutes left the magnificent Jackson was starting to cramp up, and he was replaced with Adam Arnold. Benji Weinberger was replaced by the 16-year-old Max Davis and Tyler Smith making his first appearance of the season replaced Austin Lipman. The fitter Lions team took note from the dugout to keep the ball, play in the corners and run down the clock. Winslow remained frustrated, and Lions showed their class and ran out 3-1 winners.
Manager Andy Landesberg said that this is what we are capable of doing to every team in the league. "Our inconsistency is the thing that has let us down so far this season," he said. "The good news is that we have 20 games still to play in the league, if we apply ourselves as we did Saturday and the injured players continue to trickle back from injury, there is no telling what we are capable of.
"This is still a very young team that is gaining experience as every week goes by. Jack Mattey and Lee Goldberg were outstanding today down the left, their quality and pace made a huge difference.
"Defensively we were sound, and the real difference was the whole squads mental attitude and application. That is what we must build on in training and every game."
LIONS: Josh Samberg, Rob Cohen, Jamie Jackson, Jake Rinsler, Lee Goldberg, Adam Lipman, Jake Furman, Jack Mattey, Austin Lipman, Adam Bolle, Benji Weinberger. Subs: Adam Arnold, Max Davis, Reiss Mogilner, Tyler Smith, Nick Landesberg
