When London Lions fell behind within the opening seconds of Wednesday’s first home Pitching In Southern League Division One Central game of the season against Rayners Lane, they would have been forgiven for fearing the worst.
Having secured promotion to this level for the first-ever time following play-off success in the Spartan South Midlands League at the end of last term, they were given a sobering introduction to life at Step 4 on the opening day of the season as they went down to a 4-0 loss at Flackwell Heath, who spent much of last season amongst the leading pack.
But first-team coach, Darren Yarlett, a veteran of 14 years with the club and a key component in the journey that has taken them from Step 7, could not have been more proud of the response from the players as they turned the early deficit into a fantastic 5-1 win.
“It’s never ideal to concede after just ten seconds, whatever level of football you play at,” he admitted to us. “After we equalised, I thought we looked comfortable and we managed to turn the scoreline on its head to go in front by the 20th minute.
“The second half was an excellent performance from us; we worked hard and scored some good quality goals against what we know is a very good Rayners Lane side.
“Winning by this margin against such opposition builds our confidence tremendously. It’s just a pity we don’t have a game at the weekend now to be able to build on this.
“We disappointingly exited the FA Cup at the first hurdle with a poor display against Hertford Town where we were also on the wrong end of some key decisions late on.
“The less said about our opening League game at Flackwell Heath, the better! Everything that could have gone wrong, did go wrong, but in football these moments can help you and it taught us all a lesson that we will hopefully learn from to benefit us going forward.
“We have to understand that we are not in Step 5 anymore and we can’t get away with lapses in concentration or not being right at it.
“We’re going to have some productive training and video sessions between now and our next game. This is a learning process for us all at what is a tough level full of quality. We’re relishing the task that stand before us, though and will face it head-on.
“Our main target is to stay in this League and if we can play some good, attractive football whilst doing it, I will be a happy man!”
Yarlett bursts with pride as he talks about the club that he has served so diligently for the past 14 years.
“We’re fortunate to have such a good facility here,” he continues as he talks about the club’s Rowley Lane home, which is set in 54 acres. “We host a lot of professional clubs when they want a pitch to use for training if they are down in these parts.
“It’s an amazing facility that we are extremely proud of and is very much part of the progression that the club has made over the years.
“We’ve had a lot of success in local Cup competitions as well as a fair few promotions, but this is a different kind of challenge for us.
“From the youth section right up to the veterans who represent us on a Sunday, the philosophy here is always the same; to play football the right way because it’s called the beautiful game for a reason.”
Most clubs are looking for volunteers. Find out more on the button below:
www.PitchingInVolunteers.co.ukAll the news and results in one place.
REGISTER