Another blistering Saturday afternoon at Essinge IP, and a first home victory for Långholmen this season as the stripes ran out 1-0 winners. Skå brought some rather exuberant tackling into the first quarter of the game; and their recklessness warranted a red card for a wild lunge on Chris Allen after 15 minutes. Fair play to the visitors, they did not give up but the game was never really in doubt after that and in reality the stripes could and should have scored more.
The first half was again impressive from LFC, they dominated possession, passed and moved, and looked dangerous every time they held the ball in opposition territory. Chris Allen continued where he left off last weekend with another strong performance and the triangulation play of Burris, Larsson and Harkness is starting to woo the fans.
Indeed, it was a fine flowing move from inside their own half that produced the goal. Kenny and Harkness exchanging passes before threading O’Sullivan through the inside left channel. He unselfishly squared the ball back to the galloping Kenny who rolled the ball into an empty net. Simple.
The stripes were well on top but did not quite hit their stride in the second half, and the longer the second goal eluded them, the more Skå started to believe that they might get something out of the game. They had a little spell with some dangerous set pieces, and even had the ball in the net at one point only for the ref to correctly rule it out for a mindless shove on Mcclelland. The LFC rearguard was rock solid with Sund particularly impressive considering his tender years; while Phillips rolled back the years with a display of timeless composure.
The linesman on the other hand had clearly left his golden retriever at home and made a string of incorrect offside decisions that frustrated the fans and players alike. And when the Stripes did carve out some clear-cut chances, the Skå keeper made a handful of very smart saves to keep his team in the game.
A solid performance at home, a clean sheet and back-to-back victories will please the Långholmen faithful as they start to climb up the table. Next week, a very tasty clash with rivals Ekerö who are sitting pretty at the top of the league.
LFC Squad:
Kelly (GK); Thorell (LB), Mcclelland (D), Sund (D), Phillips (RB), Burris (CM) Harkness© (CM), Larsson (CM), O’Sullivan(LM), Allen (RM), Kenny (CF). Subs: Baydi (30), Flavio (35), Gralla (60), Graham
MOTM – Vilhelm Sund. Head and shoulders above the rest.
Ref Watch – The refo was excellent. The lino got out of bed the wrong side. 4/5.
Långholmen FC’s next league game of the season is on Sunday 15th May at Träkvistavallen against Ekerö IK. KO 19:00.
Hope to see you there.
www.långholmenfootball.com
