Local Football: Muscat Storm starts season on a winning note

Date

8/25/2016 1:16:23 AM

(MENAFN- Muscat Daily)

Muscat Storm returned to action on Saturday, winning its first game of the season against HMS Middleton 7-1 at the British School Muscat (BSM) ground.

Storm started the game strongly with its familiar formation and tried to play flowing football. The new frontline pairing of Mark Lennon and Malchus Hilton was working well, and the Middleton defence was struggling to cope with their pace.

The first couple of chances fizzed across the face of the Middleton goal, but there was no one around to finish the moves. Storm's dominance was soon rewarded when Adrian Brindley found Lennon, who breezed past two defenders and wrong-footed the Middleton keeper to open the scoring.

Storm's second goal came soon after as K G Mangoegape raced down the left and drilled the ball square to see new addition Mark Loughman meet the pass to score.

Storm kept the scoreline at 2-0 at the break. Middleton pressed hard after the break, and with only a few minutes in, it was awarded a penalty, which was confidently scored by Darren Woodhouse.

Leading 2-1, Storm went on the attack and pushed the visitors back into their half for long periods of time. Storm's third goal came when a corner was cleared and Olly Myhill's first touch set up his 35-yard shot, which left the visiting keeper stranded. Storm, up 3-1, looked solid from front to back and started to look more comfortable playing out from the back.

It's fourth goal came when Dave McCurrach found Johnny Murphy. He slotted in Hilton, who's quick pass found Lennon for his second strike of the night. With Storm leading 4-1, the next ten minutes saw the home team extend its lead by two more as Mangoegape netted both, showing good individual skill.

As Middleton tired out, it still tried to get forward, and this left space for Storm to make a push. A smart one-two between Hilton and Lee Ebbutt saw the latter score clinically to finish the game with a dominant 7-1 win.

Ebbutt, Storm's manager, said after the match, 'This was an exceptional performance as this was our first game of the season, and with some new faces that slotted in very well. We kept the ball and worked hard as a team, and thoroughly deserved the win."

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