Tony Gold has told his London Lions he will not tolerate another defensive horror show following the opening day draw at Bedford.

Despite taking a two-goal lead inside the first 12 minutes, the Lions were unable to make the most of their advantage and needed a late equaliser from James Gershfield to rescue a point.

It could have been so different after Gershfield had opened his account early on, adding to new signing Alex Sesto's first goal for the club. But the Lions were soon muffled as the home side fought back to come within a whisker of taking all three points with Matt Davis' penalty save thwarting the men in black.

"Having made the start we did it was a little disappointing to throw away that two goal lead in the manner we did," said Gold.

"I know the areas we need to work on and in time those areas will get stronger.

"We travelled without six regular first team starters, so to compete the way we did and come back the way we did at the end shows how good the depth of the squad is."

The Lions face a tricky tie against Kings Langley this weekend but Gold is confident his side are more than capable of competing in the South Midlands Division One League.

He added: "Hopefully, the players will take heart from knowing that if they can minimise the individual mistakes they will be more then a match for anyone in this league."

See pictures from the match here http://www.thejc.com/galleries/sport-galleries/london-lions-vs-bedford