Below are the game reports of the 14th November. There where multiple exciting games at Jim Jeffers park last weekend.
Good fight from U8 team 1 against the Knights
The first U8 game of the day involved the Dutch Lions team 1 and the Fort Myers Knights who are on top of the league rankings. As soon as the game kicked off, both teams started playing aggressively and tried to establish themselves on the field. The Knights were able to open up the score on a high kick, but the Lions only pushed harder after. Some great chances were created offensively, but unfortunately Fort Myers finished an opportunity on a corner to make the score 2-0 at half time. The second half was filled with exciting moments and great combinations between the Lions, but five minutes before the final whistle the Knights took advantage of counter attacks and scored two more goals for a final score of 4-0.
U8 team 2 ties against Naples Lions
The Dutch Lions U8 team 2 was up next, facing the Naples Lions. They began with some good combinations and opportunities. The first goal of the game was scored by Troy, celebrating as always with both arms in the air. Couple seconds later, Naples scored the equalizer making the game 1-1 before half time. The second half offered multiple great opportunities from both sides, the wind blowing the Dutch Lions forward even more. The goalie has a great powerful kick and came very close to scoring a goal on a punt. The Naples Lions scored a goal after 8 minutes in the second half, but the Dutch Lions came back from water break fighting for every ball. A great counter attack by Mackenzy ended with a nice finish, tying the game 2-2.
Dutch Lions U9 ties, but still on top in the ranking
The Dutch Lions started the first half with the wind in their face, which also meant the wind would be in their back for the second half and they could keep the Naples Lions under pressure. The Naples Lions started their game way stronger than the Dutch Lions, scoring twice in the first 10 minutes. Following these goals, the Dutch Lions woke up and started to create chances. Unfortunately, the shots missed quality, going wide or easily caught by the goalkeeper. After the water break, the Dutch Lions got a corner kick and as always Joel took it. The ball dropped in the box where Alex was standing and he was able to bring the Dutch Lions back in the game making it 2 - 1. After a first half of 35 minutes although it was only supposed to be 25, the Dutch Lions kicked off the second half energized by the wind pushing them forward. It was definitely an advantage, and Joel scored the equalizer from distance with a great shot set up by Thomas who recovered the ball in the midfield and saw him open. The Dutch Lions kept pressuring the Naples Lions, and it resulted in multiple chances, but the finishing wasn't good enough. After a corner from Joel, Naples countered the Dutch Lions to make the score 3-2. Right after that moment, a player from the Naples Lions made a handball in the box. Thomas put the ball with great confidence on the penalty spot and kicked it in to tie the game 3-3. There should have been 10 more minutes of play, but the referee tried to repare the overtime of the first half by cutting time in the second. It became a big disadvantage for the Dutch Lions since the wind was an impactful factor that day. Despite of that, the Dutch Lions U9's played a good game and still leads in the league rankings.
U11 plays exciting game
The U11s cut warm up short for their photo shoot, but they were still ready to play at the first whistle. The game started with a lot of possession by the Naples Lions, but the Dutch Lions were defending together really well. Although there were some good combinations for the Dutch Lions, they conceded a goal on a Naples counter attack. The rest of the first half was much better offensively building some good opportunities. Unfortunately, Naples managed to score again 3 minutes before half time. The half was seconds away to being over when the Dutch Lions replied with a nice goal to make it 2-1. The second half had just started when the score became 3-1 for the Naples. The Dutch Lions fought even harder and scored their second goal to make the score 3-2. All the efforts led to tiredness and the Dutch Lions were not able to hold up the Naples Lions until the end. The final score was 6-2.
U12 loses in last seconds of the game.
The U12 game was scheduled at 12pm against the Naples Lions, but it started after a small delay of 10 minutes, giving more time to players to warm-up. Although the Dutch Lions prepared well, they had some trouble connecting balls to one another at the beginning. Slowly, they were able to establish their own pace and created some good chances. The first big chance came from Samuel who had a 1 on 1 with the goal keeper, but he was rushed and wasn’t able to place the ball a corner of the goal. The effort of the Dutch Lions was really good and they barely had any good chances in the first half. The biggest chance for the Dutch Lions was 10 minutes before half time. Zackary picked up the ball and passed it to Lhegend, who then dribbled into the box and made a shot on goal, but the goalkeeper of the Naples Lions made a good safe and it resulted in a corner. Kevin took the corner and crossed it to the second post and Michael was able to control the ball in the box and tried to cross it again. The ball didn’t reach a Dutch Lions player, but it hit off the hand of a Naples Lions player. The referee gave a penalty kick and Zackary made the score 1-0. The Dutch Lions kicked off for the second half, but the Naples Lions recovered the ball quickly and scored the equalizer. Unfortunately, 10 minutes later it was the Naples Lions scored again and the The Dutch Lions were trailing back trying to get back into the game. Multiple chances were created by Naples, but there was always a defender at the last moment to prevent them from scoring. Mia, Michael and Noah did a really nice job blocking shots and keeping their team into the game. After these chances, the Dutch Lions started to play a little stronger and faster. Lhegend picked up the ball on the Dutch Lions half, and started running with the ball pushing the ball behind defenders. He won the sprints battle against the opponents and finished with a goal, making this huge individual effort look so easy. With a score of 2-2 and such a good battle between both teams, the game could have gone either way. Unfortunately for the Dutch Lions, the Naples Lions scored the winning goal in the last minute of the game. The hard loss of 3-2 should not be what they remember from the game since they played really well putting so much effort into every fight and left it all on the field.