SPARTAN SOUTH MIDLANDS LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
STONY STRATFORD TOWN 0 LONDON LIONS 3

Goals from Josh Kennet, Rafi Soccairello and Rick Jacobson saw London Lions put the midweek setback at Southall behind them with an impressive victory on a wintry night in Stratford.

This was probably Lions' tallest starting 11 of the season, with five centre halves involved, but it was this backbone that gave the Lions the steel it had been looking for all season. The back four of Zac Rose, Jake Rinsler, Michael Sacks and Cameron Most set the tone early on, and were extremely well protected by the middle trio of Kyle Bentwood, Rafi Soccairello and Nick Landesberg.

Stony Stratford tried to outmuscle their visitors, but it was not to be, and after a tidy three-man move, captain Kennet finished off in style tucking ball neatly inside the post to give Lions a deserved lead.

In previous games, perhaps Lions may have sat back a little, but this was not the case, the heavy conditions meant that Lions normal passing game needed to be saved for different conditions and they gave their opponents no time on the ball, winning tackle after tackle and header after header.

After 25 minutes, Soccairello had two good chances to extend the lead, but was unfortunate not to quite connect properly with both headers, and it remained 1-0, until five minutes before half time, when the tireless Jacobson ran onto a low cross from the left and hit a rocket of a shot into the top right corner of the net.

The visitors went 2-0 up at just the right time, and were well worth their lead. Goalkeeper Mario Cenolli was yet to have to make a save. This first half saw Sacks, Landesberg and Bentwood command aerially, a feature that has been sorely missed up to now.

The teamtalk at half-time was very straight forward, it was just more of the same, making sure the opposition had no time on the ball and tackles and headers were won on every occasion.

The 17-year-old full-backs - Zac Rose and Jake Rinsler - continued to command the wide areas both defensively and going forward, their strength and fitness was exceptional. Michael Sacks and Most remained faultless throughout.

Soccairello sealed the win after getting on the end of a five-man move and clipping the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper.

Captain Kennet continued to look very dangerous and Max Kyte played one of his very best games as the target man, looking full of running right until the final minutes.

Jake Bentwood came on for Soccirelli, and Adam the 'Hitman'' Lipman for Jacobson. The back back and middle three continued to stop the men from Stony Stratford over and over again. It wasn't until the 85th minute that Cenolli was called into action and he duly delivered with a great diving save to his left.

Bradley Lander came on for Kyle Bentwood, and the Lions saw out the game with a well deserved victory and clean sheet.

This was a really great performance, with a great show of strength and steel throughout, this is what is needed game after game.

Next up for Lions is Broxbourne at home, and if they can continue to play with this intensity and guts and determination then a further three points is more than possible.