January 20, 2008

Four Goal Lazar Sinks Britannia

Richmond Pioneers 7 Britannia 2 (HT 4-1)
(Pioneers: Johnston, Lazar 4, Kushnir, Langlands)

A schedule change brought Britannia to Blundell for the second time this season and, unlike the earlier game, this one was a romp for the Richmond Pioneers, with a comfortable 7-2 victory.

The Pioneers took 15 minutes to get the scoring underway, Ken Johnston capitalized on a defensive mix-up to score with a well-placed left footed shot. It was to be the first of many mistakes by the error-prone Britannia defence on this day, and Danny Lazar added a second goal soon after, again the visitors defence was at sixes and sevens.

Britannia were putting in an earnest effort, but the Pioneers had the cutting edge that the visitors lacked. Britannia simply couldn't contain Danny Lazar, and the Pioneers' leading scorer added two more to complete a first half hat-trick, the latter goal created by a wonderful through ball from Johnston.

Even left-back Bob Heron was getting in on the act, maybe sensing an opportunity to break a goalscoring drought that by now must be into its second or third decade! On an uncharacteristic foray into the opposition half, Heron tried his luck with a shot that wasn't far off the mark. Sadly, it could be years before he gets another shot at the opposition goal!

Before the half was over, Britannia pulled a goal back from a long range shot that moved wickedly in the air to deceive Pioneer keeper Gary Byrne.

But any chance of a comeback was distinguished early in the second half, when Evgeni Kushnir scored to give the Pioneers a 5-1 lead.

The Pioneer back line were enjoying another cohesive performance, with central defenders Eric Stepura and Ken Swanston forging a good understanding. Another player who stood out, for different reasons, was right-back Jim Fitzgerald, who—while claiming to be 'rusty' in his first game back following a hamstring injury—was basically as useful as an ashtray on a motoribike.

A sixth goal came when a Tom Armitage shot was too hot for the Britannia keeper (loanee Dave Valitis) to handle, and Jim Langlands was there for a simple tap-in.

Now cruising, the Pioneers scored a seventh when a pinpoint cross from the right wing by Kushnir was headed home by Lazar, for his fourth of the game.

Britannia did manage to score a second goal right at the end to make the scoreline slightly more respectable, when a long range strike dipped into the top corner.

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