World League

Lions Den
Spectators: 7549 (Terracing: 5663, Seating: 1736, VIP seats: 150) The sun was shining, the grass was green and the audience cheered when Şükür Hagi got the match started through his kick off. Leicester Lions's attacker deliberately struck the ball against an opponent to win a corner for his team. The corner was taken by Sebastien Clifford in the 5th minute. Sebastien Clifford made a great header on Leicester Lions's corner, it was just that San Lorenzo 11's Aurelio Astudillo managed to reach the ball for a save. In the 7th minute, Şükür Hagi reached a very good position and smashed the ball with a huge effort into the net, just to the left of Aurelio Astudillo. The goal made the score 1-0. The nice shot from Şükür Hagi in the 11thth minute just in front of the goal should have ended in point on the board, but Aurelio Astudillo had a great feel for the game and superbly saved the ball from getting in by the left post. In the 18th minute of the match Leicester Lions got a corner. San Lorenzo 11'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. Leicester Lions's Will Lemerond was first on the ball when the corner was shot and he dangerously headed the ball towards goal, but Aurelio Astudillo in the goal jumped up to prevent it from getting in. In the last second Aurelio Astudillo throw himself and got hold of the ball when Camron Rhodes in the 24thth minute from his position got away a shot towards the right post. After taking down the ball on Leicester Lions's corner Sebastien Clifford fired away a hard shot, but the defenders efficiently covered the most dangerous angles and Aurelio Astudillo quite easily take care of the ball. In the 26th minute, Quilo Lujarra made a precise shot to the right of Grant Blacknell. Leicester Lions's defense was at fault, and the scoreboard reflected the new score, 1-1. Grant Blacknell showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Boğaç Altuncuoğlu in the 29th minute of the match. 30 minutes into the match, Claudio Bucciarelli notched a goal, 1-2, to the right of Leicester Lions's Grant Blacknell. Grant Blacknell was clearly disgusted with the effort of the defense and let the defenders know about it. Şükür Hagi who was well placed in front of the goal fired away a dangerous shot that in the 36thth minute tested the skills of Aurelio Astudillo when he managed to save the team from getting behind. Şükür Hagi could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 40th minute of the match, but Aurelio Astudillo made a huge save. Şükür Hagi came free with the goalkeeper in the 43rd minute of the match, and shot straight on target. The shot was a little too simple and Aurelio Astudillo could save by the left post. After the first half San Lorenzo 11 were leading 1-2. They had played with great self confidence throughout the first half and fully deserved their lead.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Quilo Lujarra to make the kick off. In the 53rd match minute, Leicester Lions was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Sebastien Clifford to maneuver through the defense. In the 57thth minute of the game Şükür Hagi who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but San Lorenzo 11's Aurelio Astudillo was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. Leicester Lions's Grant Blacknell proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 60th minute of the match, managed to save Leicester Lions from getting a goal against them. The Leicester Lions fans' excitement grew in the 61st match minute when Leicester Lions's Şükür Hagi looked to have a clear shot with the ball near the goal. The shot wasn't hard, but the ball still rolled over the goal line to make it 2-2 before the goalkeeper had a chance to intervene. An unexpectedly hard shot by Camron Rhodes in the 65th minute of play forced San Lorenzo 11's goalkeeper Aurelio Astudillo to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Claudio Bucciarelli charged in rather forcefully in the 67th minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Claudio Bucciarelli the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. Grant Blacknell showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Martin Betadur in the 69th minute of the match. After a rather tough play, Leicester Lions's Will Patton got a free kick in the 70th minute. In the 71st minute, Quilo Lujarra ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Grant Blacknell was frozen by the shot and now it was 2-3. Grant Blacknell showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Quilo Lujarra, who was totally free with the ball in the 78th minute. In the 83rd minute, Şükür Hagi ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Aurelio Astudillo was frozen by the shot and now it was 3-3. 92 minutes into the match, Quilo Lujarra dribbled the ball past the defender and swiftly kicked the ball to the left of Grant Blacknell, 3-4. Aurelio Astudillo didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Camron Rhodes went, in the 95th minute, to the upper right corner, 4-4 was the resulting score. The teams fought very hard right up to the final whistle. Both sets of players were happy to go away with a draw.