DAYTON, OH (July 6, 2016) The Dayton Dutch Lions FC (4-3-4, 16 pts) returned home after several games on the road to play the Derby City Rovers (5-4-2, 17 pts) at DOC Stadium. Having lost on the road to the Rovers just 4 days ago , the Lions, with the support of the home crowd, came out with focus and a drive to take the three points. Hope Springs Wellness Center Man on of the Match, N'duma Kemjika's brace led the team to a convincing 3-1 victory
The first real chance to score by Dayton occurred in the first minute as the ball came down the right side and the cross found Kemjika in front of the goal who quickly passed to his left. A waiting Rafael Gamboa hammered his shot, but the ball went over top.
Good passing and quick movement drew Derby City out of position and opened space for Dayton. In the sixth minute, Kemjika was served a ball over top by Eric Lynch and running onto the ball he fired it past an oncoming Rovers keeper, putting the Lions up by one.
In the twenty first minute the Rovers had their first real chance with a corner. The shot was headed out by a Dayton player and possession returned to the Lions.
Dayton’s Eric Lynch served a ball through to Gamboa on the left side in the twenty sixth minute. Cutting in, Gamboa shot hard, but Derby City keeper Brandon Eagle got a hand on it and pushed it to the side. His defender stepped up to kick it out of danger.
In the thirty third minute, the Lions’ Kemjika made a run down the middle, but was taken down by the Rovers defense. Kemjika had another chance in the thirty eighth but as he turned in for the shot, his touch sent the ball to the Rovers’ defense.
The Lions Eric Lynch weaved his way through traffic in the thirty ninth minute and coming across the box, was tackled from behind by the Rovers defense. Lynch stepped up and drilled the penalty kick high right past the Rover’s keeper. Dayton led 2-0.
Dayton’s Gamboa got off two long shots from the left side that headed for the top right corner. One went high right, but the other was saved by a stretched out Rover’s keeper and dropped in front of the goal but was sent out by the Derby defense.
The exciting first half came to an end with a score Dayton Dutch Lions FC 2, Derby City Rovers 0.
The Rovers came out strong in the second half and the Lions were under attack. Several corner kicks left Dayton struggling to clear the ball out of their box.
A chip over the Derby City defense by Dayton’s Lynch landed at the feet of Gamboa who shot into the Derby keeper as he came off his line. The ball deflected off the Rover’s keeper and fell to Kemjika. In the fifty seventh minute, he put the ball into the corner for his second goal of the night. The Lions led 3-0.
Dayton began to gain possession. Eric Lynch again wound his way through traffic in the box and laid it off to Mateus Gama for the quick shot, but the Rover’s Brandon Eagle was there with the save of the night.
William Lokowski of Dayton was called on in the eighty third minute to make a leaping save left, catching the hard shot by Derby City’s Serge Davis.
The Lions’ defense was put to the test in the ninetieth minute. A foul in the box gave the Rovers a penalty kick. Keane Meivor stepped up and put Derby City on the board.
The game ended Dayton Dutch Lions FC 3, Derby City Rovers 1.
Dayton’s Coach Sid van Druenen had these comments after the game. “It was a good solid performance. We’ve struggled the last three or four games with low numbers and heavy schedules and conceding goals in the last few minutes. The message to the guys today was let’s start strong. Let’s prove to them that the result last Saturday was just a bad first half. I think they did. We dominated the first half. They had no shots on goal, we scored two goals. The second half we just played smart. We settled, we played counter attack. We ended up scoring a third goal. So congratulations to the boys. I think today they put on a good, solid performance. It was needed and deserved. ”
The Dayton Dutch Lions FC (4-3-4) play their last home game on Saturday, July 9th at 7:30 against the Kokomo Mantis FC (4-6-1) as part of a double header with Dayton’s women’s team.