3 Goals... 3 Points...

The season was kicked off in style this past Sunday. Sporting Richmond hosted Lions 80 on a crisp and clear Sunday morning at a spotty and poor Bryan Park field C. Roberto whistled for the game to start and Sporting immediately took control. The ball flowed with Ballard and Rios locking down the center of the pitch.

Possession and passing kept Lions 80 on their heels but chances on goal were few and far between for the dominate home team. It was not until the 15th minute that Casey Smith tested the Lions keeper for the first shot on goal.


In the 25th minute Stu Bertsch came to life. SRFC won a corner off of a Smith fast break. Chris Kull stepped up to take the corner and lasered in the prefect ball for Bertsch to nod down to Scott Loesser who flicked in past the stranded keeper. Loesser making his first appearance for SRFC at left back was influential not only with his goal but with his quality on the ball and passing.

Half time came and went with Sporting leading 1-0 and looking to kill the game off. That opportunity came in the 55th minute when Dominic Boadu laid the ball back on the edge of the 18 for Bertsch to coolly slot the ball in the corner. At that point the result was never in doubt. There were a few more exchanges and it looked as if 80, might make a minor come back, but Justin Williams made some space for himself on the left hand side and placed a perfect ball for Boadu to nod home. At 3-0 in the 78th minute the 3 points where in the bag. Lions did happen to pull a goal back through a moment of madness in the back. It would prove only to be a consolation, and only the one true error in a day of a great defensive display by Sporting's back line.

Man of the Match Stu Bertsch had this to say about the game.

"This win gets us off to a great start for the year. Its always an added bonus when you can score 3 goals on a strong team. Now we just need to keep the momentum up."

Sporting will look to build off this result when they travel to play last year's champions Metro Sting.