(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Muscat Storm's hunt for an elusive victory continued - following a five-game streak without a result - as it lost 2-3 at the hands of HMS Daring in a match played recently.
The Storm think-tank had changed the formation this time round in an attempt to break the winless streak. The first half turned out to be an end-to-end affair with both teams creating chances.
The visitors were looking strong and Storm had to defend well to keep them at bay, but when Storm counter-attacked, it looked threatening. Storm fielded a team without any recognised strikers as they were out injured; it was evident from the way the players struggled to retain ball possession up front.
In the 25th minute, Storm took the lead when a well-timed pass by Oli Myhill split the Daring defence, and Lee Ebbutt's timely run allowed him to lob the ball over the keeper to open the scoring. It marked his second goal in as many matches.
The next ten minutes was nip and tuck as both teams looked to score, and the visitors pushed hard to find the equaliser. Daring found its first goal and the second one as well in the closing five minutes of the first half, heading into the break 2-1 up.
Storm's defence was opened up and the visitors took full advantage of it. The second half saw Storm trying to play its football of old.
However, Daring pressed all over the pitch and was able to break down any threats. In the 72nd minute, Marco Bonato pulled of a great save to keep Storm in the game.
However, only minutes later, Joel Thompson executed a good move to make it 3-1 for the visitors. Storm pushed forward, looking to find a way back into the game and it was thrown a lifeline when a shot by Nick Durnin was handled inside the box, resulting in a penalty. The honour of taking the penalty was given to Luis Miguel in his last game for Storm.
The Daring keeper read the shot and easily saved the attempt. The visitors could have extended their lead, and had it not been for a combination of saves and last-ditch tackles from Bonato and Jamie Beddows, Daring could have scored at least another goal. With minutes to go, the ball broke from a corner for Ron Polson to calmly pick his spot from 25 yards and score Storm's second goal.
Storm's manager Lee Ebbutt said, 'We are going through a rough patch at the moment. We are struggling to score goals, which is always tough. We have to keep believing that our playing style will get us back on track. With the players we have, I am confident we won't have to wait too long.'
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