After two good cup wins Ware were hoping to carry their form into kick starting their league campaign. The kindly fixture computer had provided them with a home match against a London Lions team that had lost its last three games and all three of their previous meetings with Ware. Nothing was said before the game, no assumptions made but it is reasonable to think that expectations were positive in the home camp.
Lions hadn’t read the script however and turned out to be a team of young, fit, talented players who ultimately rattled in four goals without reply in a ten minute period of the second half. As a result they overtook Ware in the league table, dropping them to third from bottom, unprecedented in Ware’s time in the Southern League.
It was all so different in an absolutely cracking first half in front of what then was seen as a disappointingly small crowd. There were chances galore at both ends as the contest swayed one way and then the other. Still, perhaps it’s as well that so many fans missed Ware’s second half performance.
There were early signs that the Lions were not to be taken for granted. They were fast and played the ball around at speed, finding each other well and looking confident in what they did.
Ware matched them with their own style, firstly keeping them at a distance from Fred Burbidge in the Ware goal. Burbidge was in good form and dealt with most of the long range efforts at his goal in a manner that made it all look easy. Jack Mattey was the first to be thwarted, a fierce shot being plucked out of the air but there were others. Just once in the first half was Burbidge required to dive low, this to deny Ben Barnett’s run on goal.
At the other end Ware probed methodically and as early as the eighth minute Theo Ofori almost produced a duplicate of his goal on Saturday. Coming in from the right and jinking past defenders his shot came off Nathan Bloohn’s left post instead of finding the net.
That set the tone for Ware’s play in the first half and five minutes later it was David Sota carrying the ball past two defenders towards the six yard area before shooting into the side netting. Twice Josh Hutchinson skimmed shots just over the cross bar, chances that sandwiched another Ofori effort though this time he shot high over the bar whilst blocked by three defenders. Ekow Coker then forced Bloohn to dive low to block his header on the goal line before the keeper ended the half by fielding Gucci Soulya’s shot.
It was all quite different in the second half as Ware failed to get a shot on target whilst Lions continued to run, chase and harry their opponents. They had their reward just past the hour mark. Max Granville easily robbed Adam Burchell and carried the ball forward but it was lost to the Lions and a quick return found Burchell on the left, initially slow to get back from Granville’s tackle, but now fortuitously free to run and then cross for Josh Gibbons to score from close range.
There was little time for Ware to recover before Barnett was determined to reach a ball on the right that had looked likely to go out of play. The home defence was slow to react and working his way past Josh Okotcha along the goal-line Barnett’s cross reached Burchell who shot home for 2-0.
Even a draw now looked unlikely but if Ware aimed for damage limitation they were to be disappointed. On 70 minutes Mattey’s free kick on the edge of the penalty area was driven low through the wall and just inside Burbidge’s left post. The keeper looked accusingly at his defenders. Did the ball take a deflection?
The scoring was completed three minutes later. A Lions clearance fell to Coker who, looking for a free team mate to pass to, delayed and was robbed by Joe Leslie. The diminutive forward ran through to steer the ball past Burbidge.
It was a good win for the visitors but what had initially been an excellent advert for the non-league game became marred by a plethora of cards. Losing teams are often the guilty ones in these situations as frustration takes hold and Ware certainly picked up a number of cautions.
However, there seemed little need for the Lions to join them but they did and more so, not least Alexander Lee. Having picked up one yellow earlier on he fouled Khale DaCosta towards the end of the game. The referee chose to let play go on with Ware having the advantage. Still, Lee didn’t take the hint and within seconds had fouled DaCosta again. This was too much for Mr Stetacovic who produced a second yellow card for the number six.
DaCosta himself then followed suit, picking up a yellow on 93 minutes before getting a second in a dispute with the referee after the final whistle.
It was all a disappointing end to what had begun in such fine style.
Line-ups and cards
Ware: Fred Burbidge, Max Granville, David Sota, Herbie Townsend (C) (Anthony Wordsworth 61mins), Josh Okotcha, Ekow Coker, Theo Ofori (Khale DaCosta 65mins), Gucci Soulya-Osekanongo (Jack Taylor 65mins), Josh Hutchinson, Rechan Esprit, Sam Mayuma. Unused subs: Leigh Rose, Jay Rolfe.
Yellow cards: Max Granville 58mins, Josh Okotcha 78mins, Khale DaCosta 93mins.
Red card: Khale DaCosta (second yellow after final whistle).
London Lions: Nathan Bloohn, Jake Rinsler (Ethan Myers 81mins), Ben Bellman, Joshua Shack (Tyler Smith 73mins), Scott Leslie (C) (James Cohen 73mins), Alexander Lee, Jack Mattey, Ben Barnett, Joshua Gibbons (Jack Sanders 77mins), Joe Leslie, Adam Burchell (Zak Jackson 66mins). No unused subs.
Yellow cards: Joshua Shack 42mins, Alexander Lee 58mins, Ethan Myers 91mins, James Cohen 94mins.
Red card: Alexander Lee (second yellow on 82mins).
