SPARTAN SOUTH MIDLANDS LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION
LONDON LIONS 1 AMPTHILL TOWN 5

A woeful second half performance saw London Lions suffer their heaviest defeat of the season as they were crushed 5-1 by Ampthill Town at Hemel Hempstead FC.

The less said about this performance the better. A shocking second-half overshadowed what was actually a promising previous 45 minutes for Lions, which was all the more disappointing given they had claimed their first win of the season on Saturday.

Lions welcomed back Mario Cenolli, Guy Morris and Nick Landesberg and Max Kyte made his first start.

The teams went in level at the break 1-1 after Ben Ellis put Lions in front following a great move down the right. Their lead lasted 15 minutes though as Kyte gave away a needless free-kick on the edge of the left hand side of the 18-yard box. The resultant dead ball was expertly headed home when the Ampthill player managed-to score unchallenged following poor marking.

What unfolded in the second half was a horror show. Lions were categorically punished every time they gave the ball away. If the ground could have swallowed up certain players they would have jumped voluntarily before they were given the option, it was that bad.

Four different phases of play where Lions gave the ball away cheaply, ended with a goal for the visitors.

Saturday sees Lions entertain Holmer Green and they will be hoping for a far better and improved performance.

Lions: Mario Cenolli, Ricky Engleman, Guy Morris, Nick Landesberg, Ben Lauffer, Harry Hatchwell, Max Kyte, Ben Joseph, Mitch Hahn, Adam Bolle, Ben Ellis (sub: TJ Keterman)

Scorer: Ben Ellis