Friday, May 11, 2012
DAYTON, Ohio -- The Los Angeles Blues took a 1-0 victory against the Dayton Dutch Lions FC on Friday night at Miami Valley South Stadium. Allan Russell scored the only goal for the Blues, redeeming himself after he had earlier missed a penalty kick to extend the Blues undefeated streak to three game.
The Dutch Lions started well, creating two breakaways for Joel DeLass and Eli Garner, who was making his first start for the club, only for the Blues’ defense to recover well and eliminate the danger each time. The Blues looked to put new addition Bright Dike, on loan from the Portland Timbers, to work throughout the first half, and it almost paid off midway through as the quick forward had a good chance denied by Matt Williams, Dayton defender Nixon Dias blocking the rebound before the danger was cleared. Former Dutch Lion forward George Davis IV also had a chance well saved by Williams, keeping the game scoreless at the break.
Dayton came close to opening the scoring early in the second half as Dias’ free kick created an opening for Gibson Bardsley, but Blues goalkeeper Jose Miranda saved well. The Blues then had their chance to take the lead from the penalty spot after Dike was brought down in the penalty area by Mettin Copier, but Russell skied his shot over the crossbar in the 67th minute.
Six minutes later, though, the Blues captain made no mistake, firing home a loose ball after a corner that Williams could only get a hand on as it went into the net. Dayton pushed everything forward the last 10 minutes and almost got the equalizer when DeLass had a shot from 20 yards that Miranda was able to tip onto the left post and out for a corner, but the late pressure that saw the Dutch Lions earn five corners in stoppage time didn’t result in a goal, allowing the Blues to take victory.
“Again we almost did not give anything away but as long as we don’t finish ourselves we will not win," Dutch Lions coach Ivar van Dinteren said. "We have only been scored on five times in five games, but on the other hand we only scored one so we cannot win games if we don’t start scoring.”
The Dutch Lions play the next two games on the road with back to back games against Rochester Rhinos (May 18) and Harrisburg City Islanders (May 19) before returning at home to play the Rochester Rhinos again May 26 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for that contest, andrest of the season can be purchased at www.dutchlionsfc.com.
