Downs A’s Tame (Analogical) Lion

Turning heads in their boxfresh new kit, the Cowboys A’s turned in their best performance of the season to date, seeing off Lion 4-0 on Saturday.

Finally putting their ill-fated Fred Flintstone school of fashion, and blue & white ‘airy’ efforts behind them, the team christened the new threads with the type of performance befitting such high quality apparel.

With a typically gusty Downs wind at their backs in the first half, the team started strong, threatening to break through several times, only thwarted by the offside line and some eccentric goalkeeping by a chap who seemed allergic to his own penalty area at times. Having been denied by a nice point blank save and a penalty area block the Cowboys had to wait to break the deadlock, but patience paid off when Dave Owen spotted the keeper at least a foot off his line and decided to try an audacious, slow, looping volley from the edge of the box, which he executed to devastating effect.

1-0 became 2-0 before half-time, when an inspired piece of refereeing awarded the Cowboys a penalty for a handball inside the Lion area, which Nathan Stokes slotted home.

After the break, the boys weathered something of a comparitive storm from the opposition who now had the breeze with them, and enjoyed a bit more posession, but Easton were well organised and disciplined, and closed down the ball superbly right across the pitch, like rabid greyhounds with a fetish for synthetic leather. Truth be told, the opposition really weren’t allowed to create much at all, bar one shot that was blocked in the box and sent over the bar.

Cowboys then started hitting Lion on the counter attack, and did so really well – with some great passing moves and interplay through the midfield and forwards, and the third goal came on the break; a Nathan Stokes left foot thunderbolt coming back off the keeper, allowing Carmine Notaro to clumsily bumble the ball home like a drunken, vagrant Gorilla.

Truth be told, the 4th goal could have come sooner, had a couple of other breaks or chances been converted, but a deserved fourth did come with Nath’s second goal – a brilliant angled shot into the top corner from 20 yards.

A great performance all round building on last week’s cup win. We looked solid in every position, all the time. Some excellent teamwork, intelligent football, fantastic hustle, and a snazzy new kit.

A top Saturday. Get big.