ByDanny Caro, Danny Caro
London Lions maintained top spot in the Herts County Premier League with a 4-1 win over Lemsford.
Daniel Stanton, a brace from Adam Stolerman and young Ben Ellis ensured another three points were secured.
Lions manager Tony Gold was once again without several regulars which meant handing Adam Hakimi his first team debut at the heart of defence.
Lemsford’s current league position is something of a mystery given that they play good attacking football and gave the Lions more than a game. In fact had the home side shown a little more composure in front of goal, Lions could have been in for a very uncomfortable afternoon.
Lions eventually took complete control of the game in the second-half but were fortunate to lead 1-0 at the break. In actual fact chances were missed by both sides and had it been 3-3 at the interval it would probably have been a fair reflection on the half’s events.
Stanton put the visitors 1-0 up courtesy of a lovely crafted finished on 30 minutes but the Lions should have been three up inside 15 minutes. Dean Nyman missed a good opportunity to open his Lions account while Stolerman added to the misses with two chances on another day he would have taken.
The weather conditions were making life hard for the Lions defence who were playing into a strong crossfield wind. Lemsford had three corners all of which they could have scored from.
However, storm-ridden, Tony Gold’s men put the game to bed within the first 15 minutes of the second half when Stolerman netted a quickfire double to put them 3-0 up.
Lemsford pulled a goal back when a lapse of concentration from another corner allowed the home striker to bundle the ball home.
Injury to Stanton and Cole allowed the introduction of young stalwarts Ben Ellis and James Stanley, both of whom had a real impact on the game in the last 20 minutes. In fact, Ellis notched his second senior goal of the season with a deadly finish to finally kill any hopes of a Lemsford come back.
With a tough fixture list facing the Lions in December, including a potential clash of the titans game with Wormley on the 19th, manager Tony Gold said: “We can be pleased with where we are after 12 games but we can’t be complacent.
“We started the season with a run of eight games unbeaten before losing to Baldock but we recovered from that loss showing real character.
“We are planning day by day, week by week and I don’t pay too much attention to the table right now.
“There is still not that many points between the teams in the top half of the table and as we have seen many times you only have to lose form for two or three games and you’re right back in the mix.”
Lions: Matt Davis, Danny Berg, Danny Cole, Adam Myeroff, Rob Glass, Adam Hakimi, Ben Lauffer, Daniel Stanton (sub: Ben Ellis), Aron Freeman, Adam Stolerman, Dean Nyman (sub: Tony Gold)
Goals: Stolerman (2), Stanton, Ellis
Man of the match: Danny Cole