Herts Senior County League Prem Div:
London Lions 7 - Buntingford Town 1

A hat-trick from Adam Stolerman kept London Lions breathing down the necks of leaders Met Police (Bushey) as they finished in seventh heaven at Rowley Lane.

Player-manager, supersub Tony Gold, Ben Lampert, Andy Glynne and Danny Castle completed the rout.

Very rarely are football teams found in seventh heaven after 90 minutes but that is exactly where London Lions ended up after a scintillating 7-1 win over Buntingford Town.

The visitors, in actual fact, were not as bad as the score line suggests it was just that the Lions came roaring out from the first whistle and killed the game off in the first 20 minutes scoring four superb goals.

Manager Tony Gold was forced to make a couple of changes from the previous weeks 2-1 win over Knebworth with Aron Barnes injured and Ben Lauffer away. Andy Glynne, who recently signed from Hillingdon Borough, made his debut in the middle of the park lining up alongside Danny

Castle who was back from business and Ben Lampert. Rob Glass, back from honeymoon, and Danny Cole, who recently returned after a short spell at Wingate, made up a strong Lions bench.

With conditions perfect for football, Lions flew out of the traps playing some quite exquisite football. Matt Davis in the Lions goal, who pulled his thigh muscle in the warm-up, orchestrated his defence superbly with Guy Helman, Guy Morris, Adam Myeroff and Eddie Manson looking impenetrable.

After some good early exchanges, Lions took the lead with debutant Glynne scoring his first goal for the club. Picking up a loose ball 18 yards yard he drilled a low shot which the visiting keeper couldn’t reach and the ball nestled into the goal.

One soon became two with Lampert scoring his first goal since November with a very well-taken finish.

It seemed like the Lions midfield show as not to be out done Castle got in on the action and how. With a finish Ronaldo would have been proud of he smashed the ball from 25 yards into the top right-hand corner.

Buntingford just didn’t have an answer for Lions attacking play. Dominique Cheniart and Ben Ellis were a constant threat throughout and continued to attack the flanks with an air of confidence whilst Stolerman loitered with intent.

It was Stolerman who scored Lions forth and the first of his three goals virtually killing the game off as a contest.

Buntingford did hit back just before half-time but the goal was little more then a consolation. Guy Morris was replaced at the break to protect his injured knee, giving newly-wed Glass the chance to get back into the thick of things.

After 15 minutes of the second-half, home manager Gold decided to freshen things up as the game needed a spark to get it going again. Cole was introduced, replacing debutant Glynne, and Gold himself replaced a hard working and tired-looking Ellis.

It wasn’t long before Gold was in the thick of the action wriggling free of his marker and baring down on goal, he lashed the ball past the keeper making it 5-1.

Stolerman then wrapped up proceedings with goals six and seven completing a well deserved hat-trick.

Lions remain second one point behind Met Police who beat Bovingdon 2-0.

Looking back over the 90 minutes, Gold commented: "The lads showed great confidence today and the result reflects that. As a group we know what is required from the remaining eight fixtures and it is key we focus all our energies into getting another three points at Sandridge next week."

Lions: Matt Davis, Guy Helman, Eddie Manson, Guy Morris (sub: Rob Glass), Adam Myeroff, Andy Glynne (sub: Daniel Cole), Ben Lampert, Daniel Castle, Ben Ellis (sub: Tony Gold), Adam Stolerman, Dominic Cheniart