SPARTAN SOUTH MIDLANDS LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
CRAWLEY GREEN 3 LONDON LIONS 3
London Lions picked up a useful point away at Crawley Green in a tough bank holiday Monday fixture.
Missing several regulars thanks to the Easter break, this was always going to be a difficult place to get a result with a depleted squad.
The Barton Rovers pitch didn’t allow a game for the purists and both sides benefitted from the slope and windy conditions when defending up the hill.
Lions had the honour in the first half and surged into a two-goal lead. Sam Sloma finishing clinically to start the scoring and Josh Kennet doubling that lead with a great shot which was helped in by the strong wind.
It was felt by both players and manager that one more goal was needed to ensure they had a sufficient lead to defend in the second half knowing that they would face a barrage of pressure in the final 45 minutes.
As expected, Crawley Green applied the necessary pressure and helped by some poor Lions defending started to claw back the two-goal deficit. The first came from a free-kick which hit the underside of the bar bouncing off the Lions keeper and rolled into the goal. The equaliser was a catalogue of errors resulting in a simple tap-in and then with 20 minutes remaining the home side went 3-2 up following another poor pattern of defending.
If anything in the last three games Lions have shown a real resolve and one minute from time substitute Ben Ellis<?b> ensured the visitors left with a point finishing off the only shot on goal in the half.
One point gained? Or two points dropped? Only time will tell ...
Lions manager Tony Gold said: “We face an extremely tough ask - there is no two ways about it. This is our third game in five days. My squad has diminished due to holidays, injuries and general unavailability. The players coming in are doing their best, but you can’t replace quality.
“Players I wanted to rotate and give a rest I haven’t had the luxury and in the final 30 minutes today we started to show a few tired legs.
“No matter what transpires from this point onwards, I am extremely proud of the effort those players who have given up a lot of personal time and commitment in the last few weeks."
Lions: Mario Cenolli, Adam Myeroff, Guy Morris (capt), Guy Helman, Nick Landesberg, Andy Glynne, Josh Kennet, David Souter, Jordan Marks (sub: Dean Nyman), Adam Bolle, Sam Sloma (sub: Ben Ellis)
Scorers: Sloma, Kennet, Ellis
