9:48am Wednesday 9th January 2008
Lions 1 Slough Town 2 A new manager, a lot of effort but the same outcome as Lions dropped three points they could ill afford to fellow strugglers Slough Town at the Portway on Saturday, writes John Gorman.
The commitment of the home side could not be faulted but the giving away of two goals and the failure to turn large periods of pressure and possession into goals of their own ultimately proved to be their downfall in a game that many were describing as the proverbial "six-pointer" at what is only the halfway stage of the season.
Former Lions player Mick Catlin, in his first match at the helm and after only one training session to acquaint himself with the players, made two enforced changes to the side defeated on Boxing Day with Joe Harris and Piotr Zygier coming in for the suspended Glen Damen and the unavailable Ryan Woodford and saw the early stages of the game confined almost entirely to the centre of the pitch. The first 15 minutes saw a Lee Charles shot that was too high for the visitors and a Dean Stow shot blocked for the Lions as the only moments of note before the away side were gifted the lead. A careless back pass put the home defence under pressure and when Matt Davies was both penalised and cautioned for shirt tugging, Dean Harper drove the spot-kick low past the diving Dave Hook.
Piotr Zygier was only inches wide and the visitors survived a goalmouth scramble that saw two shots blocked and vociferous penalty appeals turned down before Harris, Stow and Ben Matthews were in turn all too high. Davies produced a saving tackle to deny full-back Lee Rendell, a constant source of danger on the left, and Lions were close again when both Harris and Stow saw shots narrowly clear the crossbar but Slough, always dangerous on the break, caught the Lions again with the half in its closing seconds.
Committed to attack, Lions lost possession on the halfway line and the speedy Abby Nsubugu raced away to slide the ball past the advancing Hook and they sought the dressing room two goals down after having the majority of the play.
Both Matthews and Zygier tested keeper Barnard, whose handling was suspect throughout, before the Lions forced themselves back into the game with only six minutes played when Matthews dispossessed Rendell on the right and his low cross was gleefully tucked past Barnard by the fast arriving Stow. A Bobby Swayne reflex header was just off target when Barnard could only parry a free-kick as the Lions kept up the pressure but they were lucky when Charles broke away only to totally fluff the chance. Stow was behind most of the Lions' efforts but the inability to get the shots on target was frustrating for players and supporters alike while Slough were ever dangerous on the break.
Manager Catlin replaced Jason Minton with Matt Styles and was then forced into a further change after both Kyle Swayne and Rendell left the field after a nasty looking clash of heads with Adam Heath entering the fray. Happily there was no lasting damage to either player after the collision. A Joe Bye cross evaded everybody in the area and both Stow and Matt Holmes collected cautions as the frustrations continued to grow and after Heath had failed by inches to connect with another Bye cross the last throw of the dice deep into stoppage time saw Bobby Swayne head a right wing cross back across the goal and Matthews' follow-up header hit the bar and go over - which just about summed up the Lions afternoon. There was still time for Bye to fire another effort wide but it was the visitors who were celebrating three precious points at the eventual final whistle.
Manager Catlin was left rueing the two mistakes that were punished and his own side's inability to turn possession into goals. With one match under his belt and two training sessions to follow before the next match he will then have a good idea of what is needed in the short term at least to pull the Lions up the table.
Team: Hook, Bobby Swayne, Davies, Minton, Kyle Swayne, Stow, Holmes, Zygier, Bye, Harris, Matthews. Subs: Anderson, Martin, Styles, Heath, Morse.
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