Strong Performance Seals Loughborough Victory For Men's Firsts
- by Daryl Boyce
Braving the wind and rain of Storm Ellen, the Men’s Firsts made the short journey up the A6 to fourth placed Loughborough Town on Saturday 22 February, knowing that another win against tough opposition was required to maintain the push for promotion.
After a blustery warm-up, City dominated the opening minutes with David H pulling the strings at the bottom of the diamond and it wasn’t long before they took the lead as Karl scored on the rebound after forcing a good save from the home ‘keeper.
The visitors doubled their lead a couple of minutes later as Jamie deflected home a powerful drive from Liam, Jamie then doubled his tally with a calm finish after a scramble in the D to make it 3-0. Dominating possession, City created several chances to add to their lead and Kaleb was unlucky not to score after being picked out at the far post by Tim.
With the first half drawing to a close City added two more goals as Harry W slotted home on the reverse after a mazy run and Declan swept home from a short corner. Leading 5-0 at half-time, captain Declan urged the team to keep the pressure on but the visitors never really got going after the break and it was the home side who dominated the second period.
Loughborough scored early in the second half as a clumsy challenge resulted in a short corner for the home side, the corner was converted with a straight strike which took a horrible deflection leaving Jacob D with no chance at the left post.
The home side continued to push forward and were unlucky not to grab a second as a powerful strike hit the post and only a strong tackle by Nic prevented them from scoring the rebound. City had become ragged and were almost undone by a long ball forward which caught the defence and midfield flat footed, Harry G raced out of his D to challenge for the ball and was lucky not to see green, or worse, for a mistimed tackle.
Loughborough should have grabbed a second as one of their forwards dribbled around Harry G to find himself with an open goal but he dallied on the ball giving the City ‘keeper time to recover and make a last ditch tackle.
After that scare, City finally recovered some structure and added a sixth as Harry W scored another reverse stick goal after some neat interchange with Mike down the right wing.
Squad - Harry G (GK), Boyce, Nic, Liam, Jacob D, Declan (C), David H, Karl, Tim, Harry W, Jamie, Mike, Kaleb
MotM - Jamie - Two good goals and was unlucky not to score more
DotD - Harry G - conceding a short corner with a wild stick tackle on the 25
Fixture - Leicester City Men’s 1s v Loughborough Town
Competition - South East Div 3
Date - 22/02/2020
Venue - Loughborough University
Final Score - W6-1
Goalscorers - Harry W x2, Jamie x2, Declan, Karl
