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Undermanned La Fiamma fall to fourth straight defeat as Woodvale prove too slick in the rain

Headshot of Jake Santa Maria
Jake Santa MariaMidwest Times
Nicholas Mihura gets the ball away from Jordan Lacey.
Camera IconNicholas Mihura gets the ball away from Jordan Lacey. Credit: Jake Santa Maria

An understrength Ugle Fabrications La Fiamma side fell to a fourth straight defeat on Saturday night as defensive frailties were once again exposed in freezing conditions.

The Reds were coming off one of their worst-ever performances and needed to turn it around but were still without several key players.

They did welcome striker Kumbirai Dzoma for his first senior game this year while young star Ismael Khan made his debut at right back with Ahmad Jamalul Faizal Hastaneee pushed up forward and Athallah Aman taking on a more central role.

Unlike previous encounters, the Reds were not forced on the back foot with a decent chunk of the possession but found it hard to break down Woodvale’s back three.

They threatened on the counter looking for the long ball over the back but it was Woodvale who struck first as they picked the ball up in the midfield and passed through to Nikola Tosevski, who forced a good save from John Wilson only for Jordan Lacey to tap into the open goal.

They soon doubled their advantage when Niolas Mihura lost an aerial challenge with Tosevski, who beat Wilson in the one-on-one to make it 2-0.

Tosevski picked up a yellow card for running through Wilson unnecessarily shortly after as tensions threatened to spill over before the half.

The Reds now had to go on the attack with Faizal Hatsanee looking the most threatening with some runs but it was Tom Mitic who forced the Woodvlae keeper into action on a fast break with his curling effort turned round the corner.

But Woodvale broke fast from the subsequent corner getting the ball up to Dylan Jeffries who fired off from outside of the box to make it 3-0 by half-time.

David Condori came on for Regand Ford to try to stabilise the backline in the second half and they would find success with Faizal Hatsanee finally getting reward for his effort all afternoon with his first goal of the season.

But Woodvale scored two more in the second half to ice the game with the only bright spot for the Reds being Khan scoring on debut after a sterling effort against bigger opponents along the wing.

The loss drops La Fiamma to 11th on the ladder while the Reds also lost 3-2 to Woodvale after Roy Kibet was sent off.

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