Lions suffer late loss at Hatfield
London Lions suffered a heartbreaking defeat at Hatfield as they were denied a deserved points by a 90th minute free-kick.
Spartan South Midlands League Division One:
Hatfield Town 2 London Lions 1
Tuesday, 14 April, 2015
The Gosling pitch was once again at its grand best, rock hard and bumpy and those faithful few watching from the stands had their neck braces at the ready. To the hosts’ credit, they moved the ball around with purpose and always tried to play where possible and Lions had to have their wits about them from the start.
The tempo of the game was high and in the early stages it was Hatfield taking the initiative, pressing and probing, but they were unable to penetrate
Lions had their opportune moments but too many long hopeful balls either ran through to the goalkeeper or were blasted high and wide of the goal. On the half-hour mark, Lions somewhat against the run of play, took the lead. Once again talisman Charlie Kasler showed his footballing qualities taking a rasping shot from 20 yards which left the Hatfield goalkeeper with no chance – it was a strike of the highest quality.
The lead lasted 10 minutes, as five minutes before half-time, Hatfield were back on level terms. From Lions’ perspective it was a soft goal, from Hatfield’s it was the minimum they deserved for their first-half endeavours. As they did on Saturday, Lions made a few tactical adjustments at the break and came out a different proposition for the second period. The visitors suddenly found themselves on the back foot as Lions pressed and explored the space just in front of the home side’s back four. David Soutar, Tony Gold, Charlie Kasler and Omri Brinner all had opportunities to extend the visitors lead, but Hatfield’s goal led a charmed life.
The Lions’ back four looked comfortable with Will Beresford and Nick Landesberg putting in a terrific shift. With the game entering injury time and a good point looking like it was secured for Lions, the referee awarded an extremely debatable free-kick to Hatfield 18-yards from goal. It was debatable due to the fact that the free-kick should have gone the other way, with the foul very much looking like it was committed on the Lions player and not the opposition opponent. Cenolli lined up his wall but the free-kick was just too good, as the ball sailed over the five standing bodies and nestled exquisitely into the left hand corner of the goal. It was a rough bit of justice for Lions, as they certainly did enough in the second-half to gain a point, but far too many times this season Lions have been undone by small margins in games.
Player-manager Tony Gold said: “It was another case of so close. We have played the top five in our last six games and taken five points, losing two of the games by one goal. Small margins but enough to make the difference. In the end it was Hatfield’s night, we felt given our second-half performance we deserved at least a draw, but sometimes football is like that.
“If the 11,12, 13 players that rock up from game to game continue to show that fighting spirit and effort we will be fine in our remaining five fixtures and hopefully finish with a few more wins.”
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
