Saturday, July 19, 2014. WEST CARROLLTON, OH …The Dayton Dutch Lions FC (5-12-2) and the Charlotte Eagles (5-11-3) played a hard fought game at DOC Stadium Saturday evening, with Charlotte picking up three valuable points winning 1-2.
Dayton was looking for their first win at home tonight. They carefully built from the back, passing with patience. Charlotte was not going to allow much forward progression however as they pressed the Lions who were forced to keep going back to keeper Matt Williams. The battle was tough in the midfield and neither team was able to create chances in the first ten minutes of the game. In the fourteenth minute there was a scramble in front of Dayton’s goal as a Dayton defender went down and Charlotte took aim, but Dayton’s keeper Williams was there for the block and the Dayton defense would find their feet and clear the ball. The Lions would answer back in the fifteenth minute when Joel DeLass would shoot a ball out of the air but Charlotte’s keeper Alec Kann would be there. In the eighteenth minute again the Lions would have a chance, as Eli Garner would receive a ball and run down the left and cross to a waiting Guilherme Felix who would shoot. The ball would take a deflection off a Charlotte defender and land at Cameron Vickers, who would take another shot, but it would be saved by Eagle’s goalkeeper Kann. Charlotte would not be so lucky in the twenty second minute when Dayton’s Felix would put a ball to the right over his defender. Matt Walker would make the run and be on the end of a through ball from Felix. Charlotte’s keeper would come out to challenge but the ball would already have flown off Walker’s foot into the back of the goal: 1-0.
Charlotte would come close to an equalizer in the twenty eighth minute as David Estrada would find an opening and fire a shot to the bottom right corner of the Lion’s goal. Williams would make a diving save to block the ball and it would fly out right behind the goal giving Charlotte a corner. Charlotte tied the game in the thirty sixth minute, when a cross from the left found an open Jorge Herrera who would cross back to the middle as Bilal Duckett would push the ball into the back of the net. The Lions would come back fighting with a run by defender Shane Smith and pressure of their own in front of Charlotte’s goal. The half would end tied, Dayton Dutch Lions FC-Charlotte Eagles 1-1.
In the second half both teams would begin to create additional chances. In the fifty second minute Dayton’s Walker would have the ball in the box and surrounded by three Charlotte defenders he would pass out right to Vickers who found himself wide open in front of Charlotte’s goalkeeper but his shot would go wide of the Charlotte goal. The Eagles would finish off their opportunity in the sixtieth minute when Estrada would run down the left pass in to Darren Toby at the top of the key who would fire one into the right side of the Lions net to put Charlotte up 1-2. The seventy eighth minute would find the Lions on the attack and substitute Jesjua Cruyff would fire one off but it would go wide. Dayton would continue to fight until the end but the only danger they created was several long throw-ins without becoming really dangerous, leaving the Dayton crowd disappointed losing 1-2.
Dayton Dutch Lions Coach Sid van Druenen had this to say about the game. “It was a game of two halves. I think in the first half we showed some good moments and a nice goal. Offensively they broke us down a few times. At half time we were hoping we could fix the little mistakes in the back and keep the pace in the game but we were not playing with confidence and spirit that you need to get the win. I don’t have an explanation as to why we didn’t win. Overall it was a very disappointing result. All we can do is focus on next week.”
The Dayton Dutch Lions FC (5-12-2) remains at home on Saturday, July 26th to play the OKC Energy FC (6-7-4) at 7pm. They play the Harrisburg City Islanders (5-7-5) at DOC Stadium on august 2nd at 7pm. For season and individual game tickets, visit the Dutch Lions website.
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Stefan Beerens, Media Relations s.beerens@daytondutchlionsfc.com
Photo Credit: Todd Friedman
Dayton Dutch Lions FC-Charlotte Eagles 1-2
22’ Walker, Felix 1-0
36’ Duckett, Herrera 1-1
60’ Toby, Estrada 1-2
Dayton Dutch Lions FC: Williams, Smith (Kissinger), Wiet, Friedman, Granger, Harada (Thuriere), DeLass, Walker (Khutsidze), Garner, Vickers (Angoy Cruyff), Felix (Broekhuizen)
Charlotte Eagles: Kann, Russell (Ibikunle), Duckett, Greer, Newnam, Brandao (Sekyere), Guzman, Yates (Gold), Herrera, Estrada, Toby (Boggs)