(Jeffersonville, IN 6/17/17) The Dayton Dutch Lions FC (4-4-0) bounced back in wonderful fashion with a 1-0 road win. Cameron Philpott (SC Upstate/New Zealand) provided the winning touch with a superb one-time volley off a cross from Alex Amankwaah (Univ. of Dayton/Ghana). The victory provided a sweep of the host, Derby City Rovers (1-4-1), as the Lions took the home opener back in May, 2-0.
The 7:30 kickoff did little to stop the hot, humid and muggy evening of soccer. With the Lions coming off an exhausting match with the Michigan Bucks just 48 hours earlier, some concern about fatigue and cramping was on the minds of the coaching staff.
"We were really aware of the short recovery period," stated Head Coach Marcus Rixon. "Yesterday, we had a very nice pool session to keep the wear-n-tear off the lads legs. The nature of the Bucks match and us pushing so hard to get an equalizer really took its toll on Wednesday. I wanted to do everything possible to keep the boys fresh."
The Lions made a line-up change as well as a formation change to provide a more balanced attack. The visitors responded very well and controlled the first half. They had several early corner kicks and were able to counter-attack with pace. Each time that they got the ball wide good opportunities were created.
Early in the match, Amass Amankona (Univ. of Dayton/Ghana) was finding pockets of space in the midfield and was creating havoc for the Rovers backline. In the 17th minute, he pushed forward on the dribble and was able to play Amankwaah into the penalty area on the left flank. Amankwaah provided a perfect cross at the edge of the goalie box and Philpot beat his defender and volleyed home. The 1-0 lead was well deserved as the Lions had been pushing from the opening whistle.
The Rovers were struggling to find any offensive rhythm and the Lions backline were able to keep things rather calm. But as the half was coming to an end, the Rovers played a ball over the top and their forward was onsides and one-on-one with Michael Yantz (Fort Hays State/USA). Yantz, as he has done most of the season, quickly closed the space and was able to deflect the shot wide of the post to preserve the 1-0 lead.
As both teams headed to the locker rooms, the Lions looked a bit weary. Coach Rixon made two changes at halftime to freshen up the squad hoping for them to provide some energy, but it was the Rovers who came out with the better effort. They made a tactical change with buildup coming from deep in the middle of the pitch instead of the outside and it was causing issues for the Lions. Derby City were pushing with numbers and had two great chances to equalize. The first came from a 50 yard switch of play to the left flank. The winger had an excellent first touch that allowed him to get into the 18 and unleash a low drive on goal. Yantz was ready and made the save. The second came off of a Rovers corner kick. The initial cross was cleared, but only to the edge of the 18 and Derby fired it right back in. Yantz got a hand on the ball, but the rebound was free sitting right in front of the goal. Wladimir Babaew (Northern KY/Germany) was able to clear at the last moment.
Both sides were utilizing substitutes to bring some change to the match. The Lions could not maintain any possession and were stuck to defend for the majority of the half. After dodging the two earlier chances, the Rovers had one final opportunity that looked to have tied the game. Derby City had earned a free kick at about 24 yards out. The shot cleared the wall and was about head high. Yantz lost sight of it in the lights and was only able to parry the shot. The ball dropped down and a Derby City forward pounced on the rebound and put it in the back of the net. Fortunately, the assistant referee had his flag up as the Rover was offsides.
The Lions worked hard to finish the match strong and were very pleased to hear the final whistle.
Rixon shared after the match, "We were a bit fortunate at the end, but truth be told we played an excellent opening 45 minutes and deserved to be ahead. You could see that the boys were dying a slow death in the second half physically and it caused us some issues. When you tire, you make mistakes and that was quite evident as Derby picked things up and really pushed us to the end. It is very nice to get the win and now we can take a couple days off with smiles on our faces."