Fired up from last weeks injustices following a great performance, The Lions showed no mercy in dispensing with Conn FC in the SSLKL FA Cup second round. A brace courtesy of Shaun Sweeney and a first of the season for home boy 'Heidi' Jafaar saw The Lions roar home 3-1 to the good, leaving Conn FC licking their wounds.

Things looked promising for The Lions 30 minutes before kick off as car after car turned up. As the kits were distributed, it was clear we did not have enough to go around, and doing a quick head count (on someones shoulders because he is only a wee fella), Watt was pleased to see the best turn out of the season so far with 20 Lions turning out.

'It's not going to be easy this one' shared the manager. 'They are in the league above us and it's 37°c on the pitch. We are not going to win this game on fitness, we will win this by playing smart and being well organised'. In fact... We shall go on to the end, we shall fight not prance, We shall fight with overseas and locals, We shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, We shall defend our keeper, whatever the cost may be, We shall fight in The Beach, We shall fight on the football grounds, We shall fight on the fields and down the flanks, We shall fight for the Lions; We shall never surrender!

Deciding to form a well organised 4-4-2 for the early part of the game was the best tactic, a change in personnel saw Grayson replace Blundell in defence, with Blundell moving up to a holding midfield role. The game also saw a debut for new signing Steve Ebsworth who slotted in to right midfield as Horne dropped back into defence.

Predictably, Conn FC started the game the stronger, using their pace well in the first 10 minutes. A hesitant start from the usually brick outhouse McMyler was stabilised by Grayson, who held well and cleared most of the early attempts by Conn.

It was evident early on that the officials were to play this one fair, as well as the opposition, with some good play on decisions and reasonable shouts from both sides being rewarded. So to play against 11 men made a refreshing change.

On 20 minutes, Blundell gave away a free kick 30 yards out on the right. His protestations on the harsh decision quickly receded however, as he soon realised it was embarrasment that made his face red and not the sun as he quietly handed back the jersey he had inadvertantly ripped from the back of the Conn FC striker which was in his hand.

The resulting free kick saw the ball float over the wall and past Wood into The Lions goal to put Conn 1-0 to the good.

The Lions soon settled after the Conn goal and after 25 minutes were back in the game, with White starting to dictate matters in the centre of the park, as the shift in power saw a few efforts on the Conn goal, mostly from the boy Sweeney.

Living up to his new nickname Shaun 'The Goals Machine' Sweeney raced on to a sublime pass from McKinnon to break the Conn defence down, with the mono-browed front man finishing with aplomb with the outside of his right foot to bend it past the keeper to equalise and level the scores at 1-1.

Midway through the second half, the heat was beginning to tell as the pacey Conn wingers tried to break down the Lions defence from both sides, but good defending from Grayson kept the Lions level.

Trying to take the lead, mazy runs from Donnelly down the left and Evans down the right (who both arguably had their best games to date) went unrewarded and the official blew the whistle for half time, and a fair score line.

HALF TIME: The Lions 1 - 1 Conn FC

A few changes after the break saw Raja Kamal replace Blundell in midfield and Ebsworth replace Evans on the right. A good sign this week was strength in depth, with fresh eager subs replacing positions like for like, and it soon showed.

After 50 minutes, a great move down the left played in Kenyon in the box, who passed to Ebsworth who was pushed clean off his feet by the Conn keeper, who also managed to bring down his own centre half who decided to give the ball a tender hug and kiss. So if the penalty was not going to be given for the foul, it would surely be given against the love-starved ball-cupping defender.

Not so. They referree gave a free kick to Conn FC against Ebsworth for diving. On seeing this, Watt pulled on his 'Franny Lee 4ever' t-shirt on and sprinted towards the official Linford Christie style (minus the well endowed lunchbox).

Watt had saw that the linesman had in fact given a penalty, only for the referree to give the decision the other way. After conferring with his comrade (no it wasn't THAT Russian linesman) the referree agreed to the penalty. A quick substitution saw Sweeney slot home his second the game.

(Above) 'Chewbacca ain't no slacker' - Sweeney calmly slots home to put The Lions 2-1 up.

It wasn't long after that The Lions went 3-1 up. Good build up work from midfield sent the ball in to the box, and after a scramble between White, Sweeney, Kenyon and the Conn defence, the ball broke to 'Heidi' Jafar who stepped the ball into the net to send The Lions onlookers into raptures.

For the next 10 minutes, The Lions were rampant. It was clear the Conn heads dropped after the third goal went in, and this showed with some great interchanges from midfield to attack, with Sweeney hungry for his first Lions hat-trick.

After a couple of Conn attacks which were well snuffed out by Bellotti on the left and the beer monster Grayson in the middle (was it his stature or the ale breath that was keeping them strikers at bay?), a counter attack saw what was arguably the worst miss anyone in the history of history, had ever seen.

The game was almost signed, sealed, delivered ('Stevie' still 'Wonders' how he missed) when with 5 minutes left on the clock, new boy Ebsworth was put clean through following a parried shot from Donnelly 3 yards from goal... with no defenders... or keeper. To keep things interesting right up to the final whistle, Steve sliced the ball firing his shot 9 yards wide, from 3 yards out... (Left) Liverpool and New York, Manchester and St Petersburg, London and Moscow. Steve Ebsworth and Ronnie Rozenthaal, now twinned. What a pair of tw@ts. Welcome to The Lions Steve, get the beers in fella...

As The Lions ran down the clock (much to the chagrin of Chewwy up front - howling for his third) organisation was the key and the referree blew the whistle for a great victory against the upper echelons of the SSLKL.

Although The Lions won the game and were all proud as punch with the result, a special note should also go out to Conn FC and especially the officals who played the game in the spirit of how the beautiful game should be played, fair (unlike some of the other games played this year).

So there we have it, 4 points out of 6 in the FA Cup (as it is a league system first) and signs of improvements all over the park.

With The Lions now having a FIFA approved training ground (based at the site of the Commonwealth Games in 1998 and opened by Wet Bladder himself) things are looking good for the improved performances to continue.

Back at The Lions HQ (Finnegans - Malaysia's leading Irish pubs) all that remained was the awards.

Man of the Match - The two contenders for MoM were Donnelly and Grayson, with Grayson being voted in favour for his sterling support of the off-form McMyler, as well as stopping most of the Conn attacks in the first half with his acid-breath.

Tw@t of the Week - The toss of the coin for TotW was for Messrs Bellotti and Ebsworth. Ebsworth for his miss of the century and Bellotti for his non-attendance excuse for training. As some of you may know, Bellotti is the editor of the Expatriate Lifestyle magazine, and as such, needs to know things like events and locations in and around KL.

Training started at 7pm, and at 8.30, Matt was still on his way to the stadium, yes the largest stadium in the country.

Lucky for him, Steve 'couldn't hit a barn door with a banjo' Ebsworth effort wiped out all the memories of Wednesday, so the TofW award went to him.

Drink of the week was Cider and Baileys. Ooph!