Viking Land News
Vikings keep up pressure with 3rd consecutive win.
The Vikings kept the pressure on the top 3 with a 3rd consecutive league win.
The first 15 minutes were taken up by both teams trying to win the midfield battle. Manfredonia had 5 in midfield and the Vikings 4 with pressure so the ball was tied up here a lot. The first chance came on 18 minutes when Minto fired a low shot just wide for Manfredonia. Manfredonia then had to change their forward with Arellano limping off and Poggi coming on. The games only goal came on 43 minutes, Colin Crouch burst through the middle and the midfielder, full of confidence after his two goals against Pahang cleverly lobbed the keeper to put The Vikings ahead. 0-1 half time of a half that was mostly spent with the ball in the middle of the park.
The second half was a more open affair as both midfields tired and space became available. Poggi came close to equalising for Manfredonia right after the break but found young keeper Sampson on good form. Crouch was again to the fore for the Vikings and planted a header squarely against the bar on 51. Almandis then curled an excellent freekick just over a minute later as the Vikings looked for the second. Manfredonia got a freekick on 55 but Willysson did the same as Almandis and fired just over. Boccaccini was then lucky to get away with a dangerous back pass on 73 for Manfredonia as he had wrong footed the keeper but was relieved to see the ball go outside the post. Maladenis then forced the keeper into a save on 79 as the Vikings did not rest on their 1 goal lead. Poggi then had one last chance to level for Manfredonia but hit his Volley too close to Sampson who dealt with it easily. 0-1 full time and another fine win for the Vikings, the first on the road this season.
The manager was quick to talk about his players straight after the game. "Well the run of results goes down to the players really" said the manager "I'm very pleased with young keeper Sampson, he has now played 3, got his 100% match experience and in that time he has kept 3 consecutive clean sheets, you cant ask more from a young keeper just stepping into the side. Crouch has also proved an inspiration of late, 2 goals against Pahang and 1 today, thats 6 for the season from just 13 games, thats a good ratio for a midfielder who doesn't take freekicks."
"This team just continues to surprise me" continued the manager "we have played beyond my expectations for the season and with 7 games to go we have a 13 point gap to the relegation places which is very pleasing. We have coped with injuries very well but i'm delighted to report that Tassiopoulos will resume full training this week before the next game and will be in contention for selection. Whether he plays or not is a tough one because who would I leave out of that midfield currently?? I guess it's a good dilemma to have!
This dilemma is further complicated with the arrival of Lewis Branston from the youth team. "Branston looks a good prospect" said the manager "17 years old, 4 skilled and looks to be able to head a ball and smack it with great power. We will have to find ways of working him into the line up over the next few games in order to get his match experience up." "The only sad news is we had to sell to make room for him and the unlucky player going out was Toursoundis" "Toursoundis had been a good player for us but had struggled for form this season and had not played many matches, these were the key points in deciding it should be him that went to make space"
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