League

Lions Den
Spectators: 9194 (Terracing: 6897, Seating: 2114, VIP seats: 183) The supporters of Oakham booed when Leicester Lions was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 6 match minutes in a wonderful position. Sebastien Clifford didn't get a good kick on the ball. Grant Blacknell stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Julian Joachim's shot from short distance in the 9th minute. Leicester Lions's Grant Blacknell played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Cody Steel in the 17th minute of play. Oakham's Matthew Watkins got a good chance for a goal in the 18th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. Grant Blacknell came out of the goal in the 20th minute to try and stop a shot by Oakham's Julian Joachim. But to his dismay, Julian Joachim quickly shot the ball in between his legs and into the goal making it 0-1. With a couple of smart ball manuevers Bobby Pirés in the 24th managed to get into a good position. With a left leg George Dudek saved Oakham from getting behind. In the 25th minute Julian Joachim shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Grant Blacknell saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Lucas Darling recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 34th minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. An unexpectedly hard shot by Julian Joachim in the 36th minute of play forced Leicester Lions's goalkeeper Grant Blacknell to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. In the 46th minute Matthew Watkins shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Grant Blacknell saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. After the first half Oakham were leading 0-2. They had played with great self confidence throughout the first half and fully deserved their lead.

When the second half was about to start, both teams quickly lined up and Şükür Hagi made a kick off. Leicester Lions's Grant Blacknell played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Julian Joachim in the 52nd minute of play. Grant Blacknell showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Cody Steel in the 54th minute of the match. In the 61st minute, Benny White hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. The crowd rose to their feet as Oakham's Cody Steel slotted home a wonderful shot that went in to the left of Grant Blacknell. That made the score 0-3 after 62 minutes of play. 65 minutes into the match, Bobby Pirés notched a goal, 1-3, to the right of Oakham's George Dudek. George Dudek was clearly disgusted with the effort of the defense and let the defenders know about it. In the 68th minute of the match, Julian Joachim tried to roll the ball into the goal by the right post, but Grant Blacknell saw his intentions and got control of the ball before it passed the line. Oakham's attacker deliberately struck the ball against an opponent to win a corner for his team. The corner was taken by Gus Swallow in the 70th minute. A nice corner shot did that Gus Swallow got away a dangerous shot. Despite this Grant Blacknell quite easily got ahold of the ball to make the save. Grant Blacknell was out of position in the 74 minute of play, and Matthew Watkins capitalized on the mistake with a soft shot into the goal. Matthew Watkins really showed his touch with that goal: 1-4. Matthew Watkins fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 78th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Grant Blacknell having to interfere. If Bobby Pirés had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 80th minute. The ball went over the crossbar instead. After some fancy dribbling in the 84th minute, Lucas Darling managed to get in a good position for a shot. Leicester Lions's supporters rose to their feet, but Lucas Darling was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. George Dudek breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. Leicester Lions's Alexander Cheetham was substituted for Michal Budzyn. Şükür Hagi's late challenge caught a Oakham's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Şükür Hagi helped the player get up and apologised. After a rather tough play, Leicester Lions's Şükür Hagi got a free kick in the 93rd minute. George Dudek made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Connor Branston in the 95th minute of play. In the 96th minute of the match Leicester Lions got a corner. Oakham's goalie ran out to the linesman to protest the call, but the linesman resolutely pointed his flag at the cornerflag. Sebastien Clifford ran over to the corner to take the kick. Oakham's fans were overjoyed with their teams well-earned victory and stayed in the stadium long after the final whistle to celebrate the win.