Sporting slips up...

Points were dropped this weekend as Sporting fell to Lions 80 3-2. It was really a game of two halves and Sporting only showed up for one of them. The game kicked off and from the start 80 had the upper hand. Sporting came out flat and within the first 10 minutes of the game they found themselves down 1-0 when 80's man of the match, Matt Cooper, put in a rebound from a poor Sporting clearance. Sporting started to regain some possession and off of a corner Chris Thompson had a chance to knot the score at 1 but shot well wide with the keeper stranded.

Sporting would be punished for not finishing its chances in the 1st half as 80 would put two more past Tommy. In the 23rd minute 80 worked the ball down the left hand side of the field and produced a fine save from Tommy but the rebound was slotted home to make it 2-0. Cooper once again pinned Sporting back with a deft chip over Sporting's keeper in the 35th and it seemed as if the rout was on at 3-0 at the interval.

During the break changes were made to Sporting's formation and it began to pay immediate dividends. Opting for 5 in the midfield, Sporting slowly started to gain momentum and boss the game. Chris Green opting for playing wide right in the second half collected the ball outside the box and sent an arrow towards the top corner but 80's keeper was up to the task and somehow got a fingertip to the ball to push it past the post. With a little more pressure on 80's back line Sporting finally got the break through.

Green won a penalty in the 55th when he was brought down from a clumsy knee high challenge. Jonny Rios stepped up and slotted the ball in the bottom right hand corner to make it 3-1. This goal breathed new life into SRFC. In the 75th it was 3-2 when Rios was clean through on goal and was brought down from behind right outside the box. Kyle Lessig using his experience on the field stepped up and took a quick free kick while the keeper was still trying to set up his wall. It was a great heads up play to get Sporting back into the game. Sporting kept pressing for the equalizer but it was not just not going to be found, Green had a point blank header that was tipped over the bar and with the ensuing corner kick Casey Smith rose highest to meet the ball and smashed his header agonizingly just over the crossbar.

As the final whistle blew, Sporting knew it had missed its chance to grab at least a point from this game. They will look forward to tonight's encounter with Partizan Richmond, which sits atop the CVSA with a 2-0 record.