Dayton, May 25, 2018 - Dayton Dutch Lions FC (2-0-1) earned their first home victory in 2018 with a 5-1 win over the Derby City Rovers (0-3-0). This pushed the Lions to the top of the Great Lakes table with 7 points taken in the first three matches. The Lions once again had to come from behind with Tate Robertson (Springfield, OH/Bowling Green) and Jalim Bayo (Columbus, OH/Wright State) scoring in the first half and second half substitutes Jackson Dietrich (Las Vegas, NV/Wright State) and Justin Barkow (Longmont, CO/South Dakota School) scoring in the second half.
"We did not play great tonight, but we did adjust at halftime and really did some good things the last 45 minutes," said Head Coach Dan Griest. "This was a quick turnaround for us - less than 48 hours from getting home from Michigan in the wee hours of Thursday morning. We struggled in the first 25 minutes and took some time to find our shape. I liked how we grinded and worked for each other. The second half, with some fresh legs, we took over the game and another 3 points were earned."
It was a humid evening in the high 80's at kickoff at the DOC Stadium as Coach Griest gave Alex Popovich (Louisville, KY/Vermont) his first start in goal and brought Jacob Moore (Ashland, MO/Oakland) back into the starting lineup. The other nine starters were the same who won on Wednesday night.
The Lions looked a bit sluggish and were struggling to string passes together. They seemed to be a half a step behind in almost every challenge and this led to an early goal for the visitors. The Rovers attacked down the left side and as one of their forwards dribbled along the endline he was tackled from the side and the referee pointed to the penalty spot. Popovich dove the right way, but the Derby City player hit it much too hard to be able to make the save. The Lions trailed 1-0 for the third straight match with less than 12 minutes gone.
The game see-sawed back and forth the next 15 minutes, but then the Lions started to settle into the match. The backline started to dominate possession and were pushing into the attack. The home team earned three consecutive corner kicks and were starting to find openings in the final third. In the 32 minute, Moore was dribbling outside the box and was tackled from behind. Robertson hit a strong curling shot over the wall and beat the Rovers keeper. The ball hit the cross bar and was coming out, but it caromed off of the back of the goalie and rolled into the goal. A well taken kick with a lucky bounce gave the Lions the equalizer.
The Lions were in complete control at this point and were counter attacking upon every turnover. Robertson battled and won the ball around midfield. He was able to turn and start another counter. Mayo made a nice diagonal run and Robertson played him through. Mayo took a long dribble that took him into the box and one-on-one with the keeper. He calmly slotted the ball to the onrushing keepers left side and the Lions had a 2-1 lead at the 39th minute. This was the scoreline at halftime.
Coach Griest brought on two substitutes at halftime (Dietrich and Brady Lenius Sturgeon Bay, WI/UW Green Bay) and Justin Barkow 10 minutes later. These three had a hand in all three second half goals. The third goal arrived at the 58th minute when David Lianes (Spain/Dayton) overlapped the left midfielder and was played into space. He was able to send a perfect cross into the six where Barkow headed it home. The 3-1 scoreline did not last long as Dietrich got the first of his two goals just three minutes later. His goal was the result of a perfect give-n-go with Robertson that released Dietrich into the box. His low drive gave the Derby City goalie no chance and the Lions led 4-1.
The Lions brought on two substitutes with Mats Wolhuis (VEV 62/Netherlands) getting his first minutes of the season and Sam Deroy (Powell, OH/Cincinnati Dutch Lions) taking spot in the midfield. The Lions controlled the rest of the match and got the final goal in the 89th minute. Dietrich was the finisher of some nice dribbling by Lenius who was able to draw the defenders to him and laid the ball off for Dietrich to hammer home. The final score was 5-1.
This is the best start for the Lions in their five year history in the USL PDL as they took the top spot along with the Lansing United.
The Lions next match is on the road versus the West Virginia Chaos on Friday, June 1st. They will be home again that following Sunday for a 4:00pm kickoff, June 3rd versus the Derby City Rovers again. Tickets are $10 adults and $6 youth, military and veterans at the gate (5 and under free). Specially priced discounted tickets are available for groups of 12 or more by calling the ticket office at 937 530 2123.
To keep up with all the latest news on the Lions, follow us on Facebook @DaytonDutchLionsFC and on Twitter @DaytonDutchLion.
MATCH SUMMARY
Venue: The DOC Stadium, West Carrollton, OH
Referee: Kevin Fikar
Attendance: 218
LINEUPS:
Dayton Dutch Lions FC: Popovich, Schluter (Wothuis 69'), Stovall, Slade, Lianes (Hughes 58'), Hutton (DeRoy 69'), Mowery (Lenius 45'), Moore (Barkow 55'), Bayo (Dietrich 45'), Williams, Robertson. Unused substitutes: Barrios
Michigan Bucks: Muse, Baker, Ymamoto, Marcano, Fofan (Mirand 65') Ibrahimkadic (Red Card 83') Wilk (Kono 80') Paulin (Merzihic 65') Hussein (Hilliard 55') Huerta (Barth 55') Monheimer (Albright 58')
SCORING SUMMARY
DCity – Fofano, 11′ (Penalty Kick)
DDL - Robertson, 33'
DDL - Bayo, 39' (Robertson)
DDL - Barkow, 58' (Lianes)
DDL - Dietrich, 61 (Robertson)
DDL - Dietrich, 89 (Lenius)
DISCIPLINE
DCity - Will (Dangerous Play), 18'
DDL – Mowery (Reckless tackle), 29′
DCity – Huerta (Unsportsman), 44′
DDL - Lianes (Unsportsman), 44'
DDL - DeRoy (reckless tackle), 81'
DCity - Ibrahimkadic (Reckless tackle), 83'
DCity - Ibrahimkadic (Spittin on Player), 84' RED CARD