Mixed results for the Lions !
Lions,
It was a weekend with big games ! The weather was still good and actually it was hot to play with 28 degrees on Sunday !
We as well received our new lions kit and all players were happy with the new out fit, well done Simon for organizing this !
On Saturday we were up against our old rival the Shooters this game we can consider as “El Classico” of Shanghai due to the history of both teams. Before the game the strategy was explained by the coach and we were set for the clash. For some reason the Lions started nervous most likely due to lack of two experienced defenders. A trade mark shooters move by Mcgoo on the left wing gave them an early lead as his cross landed on the head of Zippy and dropped in our goal.
It was a wake up call and the Lions started to push forward. Azz came close as he saw is effort hit the woodwork however he got hit on his foot and unfortunately for him and the Lions he couldn’t play on. The Lions equalized by scramble goal with a final touch of Allan. Shooters had a few dangerous corners before half time but the Lions got away with it. The second half saw a different game with the Lions dictating the play and fighting for every ball. The Shooters were pushed back and hardly made it over the middle line ! Where the Lions tried to play football they were stopped by hard physical play from the Shooters. In the end the best opportunity was for Thomas who already passed Chris the Shooters goalie only to see his shot cleared on the line by a Shooters defender.
It stayed 1-1 and our players felt this as a loss but the fighting spirit in the second half was great and we are looking forward to our next game on Saturday !
On Sunday we played ERS who have a strong team this season. They have very fast forwards and a solid defense. The lions welcomed a new goalie who came over from Sino Ball in Hangzhou and played in the new white kit ! ERS scored first
on a counter attack. Lions got a lucky goal back and went into half time 1-1. While pushing forward and looking for the winner the lions were exposed at the defense and couldn’t deal with the superfast counter attacks. In the end the Lions were not playing well on all fronts / attack/midfield/defense. It was a deserved loss of 4-1.
We have a lot of hard work ahead of us but with the help of the training session of Azz and Simon we are confidence that we can get back on track !
Cheers Freek
