Zion FC recovered from their opening matchday defeat with a resounding 8-3 victory over Premiership newboys Bramble FC. They had to come from behind to win the game, with four goals from Tommy Powell, three from David Jones, and a goal by stand in Toby.
The match started in bizarre fashion with Zion fielding two last ditch loan players. Absences and injuries meant that Zion were given special dispensation by the league to make loan signings that were completed just minutes before kick off. Bramble settled the quicker with their regular players keen to cause a relative upset. They managed to score a goal that set them on their way. Neat combination play set up the opportunity and a firm strike into the corner of the net gave them the lead. Zion responded and after several shots at goal, Jones found Powell, who tucked the ball into the net comfortably to level the scores. Jones then scored when he was fed by Toby, and his jinking run culminated with a left footed strike into the corner of the net. Bramble were down but not out. A swift breakaway led to a scoring opportunity and the finish was accurate as the scores were level again. the closing moments of the first half killed off the game in reality as Zion were unstoppable. Toby powered home from distance after being fed by Jones, then Powell scored the goal of the game. he ran into space brilliantly latching onto David Jones' through ball, with much still to do, he composed himself and neatly dinked the ball over the advancing keeper and into the net. The first half scoring wasn't over just yet. Powell robbed a hesitant Bramble defender and ran through to round the keeper and tuck the ball in for his hat-trick. 5-2 at half time, chaotic is the adjective of choice when it comes to the half.
Zion looked to continue scoring in the second half, and continued to dominate proceedings. At the other end they were defensively resolute, with the loanee's showing great desire to overcome their lack of having played with their new team-mates. Steve Winter was also on good form making several decent saves and distributing the ball nicely. They made it 6-2 when Powell headed forward to Jones, who ran at the defence and curved a shot round a blocking defender an into the corner of the motionless keeper's goal. Jones then returned the compliment to Powell when he laid the ball to Zion's all time top shooter, who tucked the ball home at the second attempt. A fine team move then finished off the Zion scoring when the ball was played from the back and ended with a neat one-two between the irresistable Powell and Jones, with the latter able to tap the ball into an empty net. A late consolation strike allowed Bramble to restore a degree of pride in a game that saw Zion dominate through no fault of their own. The whistle blew with the Lions glad to have grabbed a lifeline in their title challenge.
8-3 was an outstanding result considering the circumstances and Tommy Powell was pleased to have seen his side bounce back especially in such adversity, "We were up against it tonight and we had a nervous wait to see if our loan signings would be approved before the match. Forunately they came in and performed well for us. We looked sharp going forward and fully deserved the win we got. Now we can focus on getting our team back together and hopefully sustaining a big push for the title again." Goalkeeper Steve Winter was also delighted with the team performance, "It was a great response to the defeat last week. I was missing last week as were some of the other lads, and again we had selection problems this week, but we fought hard and made sure that we got the goals and the win to keep us in with a shout. It sends a message to our rivals, underestimate us at your peryll." Zion's next match see's them face another of the promoted sides, Rubber Chicken's and they will be looking to get another vital three points.
