Lions lose 2-5 in 1st game of SPL U18 league

For the 1st game of the season 2019/2020 in the SPL U18 league, our young Lions were up against DEQ U18. We knew it wouldn’t be easy, but we started the match positively with the older players guiding the younger ones and trying to play like in our training. Unfortunately, Til got injured just before the match so we had to move a bit around in the line-up…

In the first half, the work rate was high. We got a couple of corners and Alvaro finally gave us the lead 1-0. Unfortunately, we gave away 2 goals to let DEQ come back into the match… Sometimes, it’s better to clear the ball instead of finding a solution and play short… This is part of the learning experience and it will be remembered. Our 2nd goal for the 2-2 came was a perfect free-kick from Julia on Alvaro’s head… With a few minutes to go before half time, DEQ got lucky again as we gave the ball away too easily… 2-3 for DEQ.

In the second half, we made a couple of changes and the intensity picked up. We created a couple of good chances… The best with Ryu but unfortunately he couldn’t finish it! Half-through we faced bad luck and stop the match for a while as David was knocked down in a challenge. As it was a head injury we didn’t want to take any risk and sent him to the hospital to make sure everything was Ok. While writing this, he is still doing some tests in the hospital… Of course, we and the opponent wish him a well and prompt recovery. After this, it was a little hard for our young Lions coming back into the game and DEQ scored 2 more goals to make it 2-5 as the final score.

This is only the 1st game of  SPL U18 league and we all know that the season is long. With many youngsters in our squad, we can be positive about this match as most of the goals we conceded today were avoidable. What’s important is to learn from these mistakes and progress through the season.

Cheers
Freek