DDL FC forgets to put Charleston away in first half, 1-0 loss

DDL FC forgets to put Charleston away in first half, 1-0 loss

Saturday June 2, 2012

DAYTON, Ohio – On a cool June night, the Dayton Dutch Lions played a double header that saw both the men’s and women’s teams suffer losses. DC United Women defeated the Lions women 2-0 and a single goal by the Charleston Battery overpowered the Lions men in front of a crowd of 800 people at Miami Valley Hospital Stadium.

 

The first half saw strong action from the Lions (0-5-4) deep in Battery (8-2-0) territory. A run in the 16th minute started by defender Nixon Dias resulted in a corner taken by Mikael McNamara with the ball falling to Gibson Bardsley, who hit it off the post. The Lions played very compact with Jones and DeLass as strongholders in the center midfield and speed on the wings with especially Garner being a threat on the left side. The Iions had the initiative most of the first half and Bardsley had a shot in the 22nd minute with Battery keeper Drew Dykstra grabbing the ball before one of the many Lions players could finish it. The best chance came for Eli Garner who almost scored from close range on a cross from the right side but instead of his inside foot the ball came against his heel. With five minutes remaining in the first half, the defense picked up the pressure, keeping the Battery off the goal, including Mettin Copier receiving a yellow card in the 42nd minute after stopping Navion Boyd’s run on goal.

 

The second half the Lions was having more and more trouble to keep the pressure up front making the defense fall back making the field "too long". Slowly Charleston got more dangerous on their counterattacks. The Battery’s Sallieu Bundu crossed into the box in the 56th minute to Jose Cuevas who passed back to Boyd but Lion’s Shane Smith was there to block the straight shot at goal. Lions’ keeper Matt Williams had a misclear in the 65th minute, but the shot by Bundu went wide right after pressure from the defense.

 

The lone goal came from Cuevas in the 70th minute after a cross from Dane Kelly. The Lions attempted to counter in the 81st minute off a foul on Gerrit Jan Bartels, which resulted in a yellow card being shown to Battery’s defender Sean Flatley. Akeem Priestley hit the ball low and hard around the one-man wall, with the keeper diving to make the save.

 

 

 

“It’s an old Dutch saying: ‘If you don’t score yourself, they put one in your net,’ said Coach Ivar Van Dinteren. “We didn’t score in the first half, and they got one in the second. It’s unfortunate.”

Dayton will travel to Oakland University to face the Michigan Bucks in the fourth round of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup on June 5 at 7:30 p.m. The winner will move on to face either Sporting Kansas City or the Colorado Rapids in the quarterfinals.

 

The next home match will be a double header Saturday June 9 at Careflight Field in Springboro, featuring the women’s team against Virginia Beach Piranhas at 5:30 followed by the men playing the Pittsburgh Riverhounds at 8 p.m. For season and individual game tickets go to www.dutchlionsfc.com.