On the back of last week's hard-fought 2-1 victory, the Raptors went into Saturday's game in 2nd position - just above their opponents.
With Galen Westervelt suspended, Denys Belyaev injured and Ciaran O'Reilly unavailable then Raptors Head Coach Kim Grant called Josh Harris James, Toni Gruner & Leo Lupu into the starting 11. With Grant also unavailable this week it was up to Ismael Ouedraogo to lead from the sidelines.
A match-up which is usually very tight the same was expected again - the opening 15 minutes looked like it was going that way with neither side able to really able to take control of the game.
As the game settled the Raptors started to take control with more attacks into the Zlichov box, one of which resulted in a trip on Harris James in the 20th minute. The half English/Welshman stepped up and made no mistake from the spot in his first game for the Men's A since early October.
The Raptors doubled their lead just 10 minutes later when midfielder Chris O'Dowd made a strong tackle on the halfway line before marauding forward to just outside the Zlichov box and laid it off to Andrea Rizzi who took one touch before striking the ball low and hard past the keeper with his left foot.
The Raptors continued to push forward and look for another before half time, and it finally came in the 45th minute after a long & powerful throw from Justin Howe was met by an unmarked Rizzi on the edge of the 6 yard box and his header was too precise for the keeper to get near.
With a history of letting leads go it was important for the Raptors to come out ready again in the 2nd half and they did just that - after just 2 minutes attacking midfielder Leo Lupu began to weave against the Zlichov backline and was brought down 25 yards out...the resulting free-kick was rocketed into the top corner by O'Dowd and even though the keeper got a hand to it he could not do enough to keep it out.
With the Raptors 4-0 up the quality of the game began to deteriorate with late tackles and misplaced passes becoming a more regular occurrence. On the 69th minute Adam Bem took a knock to his ankle and was replaced by Misha Dykyi.
The match though shot back into life with around 15 minutes to go as the Raptors woke back up and began to exert pressure again. O'Dowd laid the ball off for Harris James who whipped in a quality cross that nobody from each side managed to get control off, it was collected on the left side by Dima Tarasenko who passed it back into Lupu, with one touch on the spin he then volleyed on hist left foot into the bottom corner.
Almost straight from kick-off another misplaced pass from Zlichov was found by Rizzi around 30 yards out, he burst towards the goal and chipped it beyond the keepers reach to claim his hat-trick and the Raptors 6th.
The game was still not done though, and just 1 minute later the opponents pulled one back from the penalty spot following a trip near the edge of the Raptors box.
The Raptors were able to bring on Weeske, Bužík & Pelizza to get some minutes in the final section of the game, which played out without much major action.
Raptors President, Daz Moss' thoughts on the game:
"Zlichov are always a very tough opponent for us & over the years we have had some tremendous duels with both sides getting victories over one another. I was surprised that today did not feel like the same kind of fight from their side but I think a lot of that is to do with how well our boys applied themselves throughout the game.
Not only did we play as a well-drilled & confident team but we also had some individually excellent performances across the pitch; with big mentions to Rizzi, O'Dowd & Lupu who all rightly received plaudits from their fellow players post-game. I was happy to see Josh back on the pitch and for the attitude of the entire squad - especially the guys again limited in minutes.
I'd also like to thank Zlichov for their temperament in regards to the scoreline - I understand that it is frustrating to be on the receiving end (we have had our share of those too) but they continued to play the game in the right manner. In a few weeks they play Radotín (1st position) so hopefully they can do us a favour there.
I believe we are setting a marker down to the rest of the league but the group know they cannot become complacent. Next week we go again and aim for another 3 points".
Re-watch the action on our YouTube Channel.
Goals
Raptors 6 (Harris James 20', Rizzi 30', Rizzi 45', O'Dowd 47', Lupu 75', Rizzi 76')
FK Zlichov 1 (Lukes 77’)
Squads
Raptors: Uzih (GK), Bem (Dykyi 69'), Konadu, Howe, Gruner (Pelizza 89') Takano, O'Dowd (C), Lupu, Harris James (Bužík 79'), Tarasenko (Weeske 79'), Rizzi. Subs not used: Larisis, Chum
FK Zlichov: Žežulka (GK), Selyvonenko (Slabyhoud 61'), Schulz, Chalupa, Šrédl (Nsingani 61'), Beneš, Chochola, Boubín, Lukes, Černohorský (Šálený 88'), Vošta (C). Subs not used: Wolf, Gothard, Kravčík, Bellada
Match Info
Referee: Pavel Chrenko
Yellow Cards: Uzih (Raptors), Lukes (FK Zlichov)
Red Cards: -
Venue: FC Zličín
Attendance: 40
Man of the Match: Andrea Rizzi
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