After receiving a bye in the first round of the cup, the Lions travelled down to Fishbourne on a bright, sunny morning to play their 2nd round match against a very solid and well-equipped team in Chichester City Colts. With the Chichester City senior team the lowest ranked club still in the FA Cup - and now through to the second round courtesy of a bye - there was certainly a feeling of cup-fever in the Chichester air!
The pitch was soft underfoot and playing slow and, to avoid a kit clash, the Lions wore unfamiliar sky blue bibs which were quickly changed to luminous yellow to help differentiate the teams in the sunshine (n.b. the club committee have since confirmed that we will be having a brand new change strip of black and yellow stripes to reflect the heritage and junior grounds of our club - great news!).
Team for the day was Eron in goal; Rory, Fraser, Joe and Mags in defence; a midfield of Ben, Will (great to see him in a Lions shirt this season), Louis, Ted and Harry; and Hamish up front. Max and Brodie to come on.
From the early exchanges it was very clear that the key offensive Chichester tactic was to try to exploit the pace of their striker with balls played in behind our defenders, but Ted and Ben also made very quick, positive and penetrating runs to threaten the home defence. After the opening ten minutes Chichester then had a good period, playing long balls for their strikers to chase. Eron was super-alert to this strategy however, and was eagerly out of his goal to sweep up behind the defenders to avert any danger.
The midfielders on both sides settled into the match as both sides battled to dominate the middle of the park. In central defence Joe was doing very well positionally to intercept passes and make key blocks, before coming forward with the ball to start Loxwood counter-attacks. On either side Mags, Rory and Fraser were solid - winning balls and quickly closing forwards down - and distributing the ball smartly through midfield.
Both sides forced a series of corners which created real danger in both penalty boxes, but nobody could apply a finishing touch. One of the corners actually came from a very well-judged Joe clearance 25 yards out which for one brief moment looked bound for the top right corner of Eron's goal but Joe knew exactly what he was doing! In any case it wouldn’t have matched the brilliant twenty yard bullet Joe smashed in against Chesworth three seasons ago!
Loxwood were restricted to shots from the edge of the area in the first half from Harry, Ted and Ben without really troubling the goalkeeper. At the other end the striker ploy looked to have finally unlocked the defence on two occasions but both times Eron again raced off his line to close down and block the striker’s shot - great goalkeeping. Half-time 0-0.
At half-time Max replaced Joe at right-back and five minutes later Brodie replaced Ben at right-midfield. The same pattern of the play continued in the second half, but on one breakaway the ball fell kindly in the box for a Chichester player to knock the ball in the Lions net, but the goal was rightly adjudged to be offside. The disallowed goal spurred the Lions on and they began to turn the screw in midfield as Will, sitting deeper, drove Loxwood forward, assisted superbly by the solid defence behind him. Rory and Fraser became more dominant in the middle at the back, with Rory’s pace key, and Fraser showing great strength to shield and hold the ball brilliantly to frustrate the strikers. On the flanks Max was looking to come forward with the ball and Mags was shutting down the wide attacker and playing probing balls forward to midfield and to release Harry wide. Ted was now linking play beautifully looking for killer passes as the Lions became more threatening.
Midway through the second half the Lions forced more corners and from the third corner of the half Harry fired the ball over into the huddle of players on the edge of the six-yard box where Hamish was first to the ball to head the ball back across the keeper and into the near corner of the goal. Headed goals from corners are like red buses! 1-0 Lions.
After the opening goal the momentum was all with the Lions as confidence surged; our defenders and midfield grew in further in strength as the Lions began to play the majority of the match on the front foot, and in the Chichester half. Another corner and on the back-post Brodie did well to take the ball down before firing a snap-shot which was cleared off the line. Will, Ted and Louis were now combining brilliantly in the midfield - a fluid mixture of steel to win back the ball and silky creativity. Ted then picked up the ball 30 yards out, strode past a player and released Hamish clear one-on-one. Hamish took his time, drew the keeper and stroked the ball home low to the keeper’s left. Superbly worked goal. 2-0 Lions.
The boys were now enjoying every moment and playing with total freedom. Hamish hit a 25 yarder that the keeper just managed to tip round the post, and on the next attack Ted and Harry began the flicks and tricks. Inside the box Ted rolled back the ball under his right boot and with his instep played the ball behind his standing left foot into Harry’s path - fantastic skill and vision - and Harry then cut the ball inside the defender before seeing his shot saved - both terrific examples of ability and confidence and an absolute pleasure to watch.
Loxwood never looked like conceding in the final quarter of the match as every Lion chased down every challenge with Louis appearing to run even faster in the closing stages to win back the ball and crunch into tackles. One final save late on from Eron and then Fraser fending off the striker again to win a free-kick was enough to see Loxwood home, as the referee blew the final whistle. FT: Chichester City 0 Loxwood 2.
Man of the Match: All the boys were really terrific, particularly in the second half, but Louis just edges MoM this week for his boundless energy and tireless commitment in the middle of the park.
LOUIS AND LOXWOOD TEAM-MATES IN BIBS TAKE UP POSITION AFTER GOING CLOSE YET AGAIN
The pitch was soft underfoot and playing slow and, to avoid a kit clash, the Lions wore unfamiliar sky blue bibs which were quickly changed to luminous yellow to help differentiate the teams in the sunshine (n.b. the club committee have since confirmed that we will be having a brand new change strip of black and yellow stripes to reflect the heritage and junior grounds of our club - great news!).
Team for the day was Eron in goal; Rory, Fraser, Joe and Mags in defence; a midfield of Ben, Will (great to see him in a Lions shirt this season), Louis, Ted and Harry; and Hamish up front. Max and Brodie to come on.
From the early exchanges it was very clear that the key offensive Chichester tactic was to try to exploit the pace of their striker with balls played in behind our defenders, but Ted and Ben also made very quick, positive and penetrating runs to threaten the home defence. After the opening ten minutes Chichester then had a good period, playing long balls for their strikers to chase. Eron was super-alert to this strategy however, and was eagerly out of his goal to sweep up behind the defenders to avert any danger.
The midfielders on both sides settled into the match as both sides battled to dominate the middle of the park. In central defence Joe was doing very well positionally to intercept passes and make key blocks, before coming forward with the ball to start Loxwood counter-attacks. On either side Mags, Rory and Fraser were solid - winning balls and quickly closing forwards down - and distributing the ball smartly through midfield.
Both sides forced a series of corners which created real danger in both penalty boxes, but nobody could apply a finishing touch. One of the corners actually came from a very well-judged Joe clearance 25 yards out which for one brief moment looked bound for the top right corner of Eron's goal but Joe knew exactly what he was doing! In any case it wouldn’t have matched the brilliant twenty yard bullet Joe smashed in against Chesworth three seasons ago!
Loxwood were restricted to shots from the edge of the area in the first half from Harry, Ted and Ben without really troubling the goalkeeper. At the other end the striker ploy looked to have finally unlocked the defence on two occasions but both times Eron again raced off his line to close down and block the striker’s shot - great goalkeeping. Half-time 0-0.
At half-time Max replaced Joe at right-back and five minutes later Brodie replaced Ben at right-midfield. The same pattern of the play continued in the second half, but on one breakaway the ball fell kindly in the box for a Chichester player to knock the ball in the Lions net, but the goal was rightly adjudged to be offside. The disallowed goal spurred the Lions on and they began to turn the screw in midfield as Will, sitting deeper, drove Loxwood forward, assisted superbly by the solid defence behind him. Rory and Fraser became more dominant in the middle at the back, with Rory’s pace key, and Fraser showing great strength to shield and hold the ball brilliantly to frustrate the strikers. On the flanks Max was looking to come forward with the ball and Mags was shutting down the wide attacker and playing probing balls forward to midfield and to release Harry wide. Ted was now linking play beautifully looking for killer passes as the Lions became more threatening.
Midway through the second half the Lions forced more corners and from the third corner of the half Harry fired the ball over into the huddle of players on the edge of the six-yard box where Hamish was first to the ball to head the ball back across the keeper and into the near corner of the goal. Headed goals from corners are like red buses! 1-0 Lions.
After the opening goal the momentum was all with the Lions as confidence surged; our defenders and midfield grew in further in strength as the Lions began to play the majority of the match on the front foot, and in the Chichester half. Another corner and on the back-post Brodie did well to take the ball down before firing a snap-shot which was cleared off the line. Will, Ted and Louis were now combining brilliantly in the midfield - a fluid mixture of steel to win back the ball and silky creativity. Ted then picked up the ball 30 yards out, strode past a player and released Hamish clear one-on-one. Hamish took his time, drew the keeper and stroked the ball home low to the keeper’s left. Superbly worked goal. 2-0 Lions.
The boys were now enjoying every moment and playing with total freedom. Hamish hit a 25 yarder that the keeper just managed to tip round the post, and on the next attack Ted and Harry began the flicks and tricks. Inside the box Ted rolled back the ball under his right boot and with his instep played the ball behind his standing left foot into Harry’s path - fantastic skill and vision - and Harry then cut the ball inside the defender before seeing his shot saved - both terrific examples of ability and confidence and an absolute pleasure to watch.
Loxwood never looked like conceding in the final quarter of the match as every Lion chased down every challenge with Louis appearing to run even faster in the closing stages to win back the ball and crunch into tackles. One final save late on from Eron and then Fraser fending off the striker again to win a free-kick was enough to see Loxwood home, as the referee blew the final whistle. FT: Chichester City 0 Loxwood 2.
Man of the Match: All the boys were really terrific, particularly in the second half, but Louis just edges MoM this week for his boundless energy and tireless commitment in the middle of the park.
LOUIS AND LOXWOOD TEAM-MATES IN BIBS TAKE UP POSITION AFTER GOING CLOSE YET AGAIN
