Dayton Dutch Lions FC wins last three at home, collecting 14 points in last 6 home games
Sunday, July 29 2012
DAYTON, Ohio -- The Dayton Dutch Lions FC picked up a crucial three points in their pursuit of keeping both Antigua and Pittsburgh behind them in the standings after a physical game tonight. The Lions started off poorly when confusion in the Dayton Dutch Lions defense led to an early Antigua Barricuda (3-13-1) goal in the 11th minute by Tamoley Thomas, who finished a shot that goalkeeper Matt Williams denied off of Stefan Smith. But in the 14th minute, Dayton answered with a beautifully placed Eli Garner corner that found Nixon Dias’ head for the goal, bringing the score to 1-1.
The Barricudas kept up the pressure, but Dayton Goalkeeper Williams hit the ground for the save on a shot by Smith at the 17 minute mark. The Lions had trouble keeping the ball in the final third but were dangerous a few times on several corner kicks by Eli Garner. The game changed in the 38th minute when Barricuda’s Matthew Aldred was red carded for a tackle on Dayton’s Kyle Knotek’s, forcing him to exit the field with a possible bone fracture. It also left the Barricudas with one less player as well.
With a man up and Holowaty as an axtra forward coming in for Knotek the Lions got extra pressure on the Antigua's defense resulting again in several corner kicks. One was served in the small box and not being cleared and came at defender Mettin Copier's feet who scored the 2-1 in 57th minute from close range. After Antigua's protest against the goal another red card was issued to Barricudas’ George Dublin for an assault on the referee, following the Dutch Lions’ goal.
With 9 vs 11 DDL clearly dominated play and after a keen cross by Dutch Lions’ Kissinger found defender Copier once again in the box who zipped the no-look pass to Holowaty for a slam into the goal at the 72nd minute, and Dayton strengthened their lead to 3-1.
An appreciative Dayton crowd honored goalkeeper Matt Williams’ departure from the game at the 76th minute with Corey Whisenhunt, who makes his Dutch Lions début. The Dayton Dutch Lions maintained their strong position for the balance of the game and three minutes of stoppage, finishing with a 3-1 win against the Antigua Barracudas. Holowaty had another great chance to score his second and Dayton's fourth goal but his header missed the goal by a few inches.
Even so, Coach van Dinteren was not satisfied. “The only good thing about this game is the result,” he quipped. “We must improve more – we need to do better if we want to win games against better opponents. But we have won 4 games and tied 2 in our last 6 home games and that is good for our fans. Now we need to beat Charlotte at home in two weeks and prove we can also win on the raod our final two games.”
DDL FC is back in action Saturday August 11 at 7.30pm when they play against the Charlotte Eagles. It is the Lions' last home game of the 2012 season.