MGBSFL DIVISION TWO
CATFORD & BROMLEY MACCABI 1 MACCABI LONDON LIONS B 1

Jeff Gotch praised his team after Catford & Bromley Maccabi maintained their excellent record against Lions B, denting thier promotion hopes after a thriller in MGBSFL Division Two.

The rain was plummeting out of the skies as Lions faced Catford away on a 3G pitch, far, far from home.

Prior to the game starting, an unfortunate strain to Dom Feldman in the warm-up resulted in Lions being reduced to an 11-man squad for the day.

The game started at a slow pace, with Catford picking up the scraps and making a few neat passes which ultimately had them controlling the opening 10 minutes of the game. The home side had an early chance yet James Harpin was able to tip a rifled shot onto the crossbar.

Lions got their heads down, began to battle hard man-for-man and started to play neat, simple football. The new partnership of Behar and Keller in holding midfield was gelling nicely. Behar, more used to playing as wing-back, and Keller, making his debut for Lions appeared to be on the same wavelength. Alkalay began to have much more joy down the right hand side as the first half progressed.

Lions' biggest chance of the half came from the penalty spot. A neat move combining the skills of Daniel Fattal and Jake Hyman led Josh Bloom to being brought down in the box. Sammy Kingston, who dispatched his last penalty emphatically away at Markyate, stepped up. The penalty was saved low to the keepers left.

Moments later a Kingston whipped free-kick found the head of Brafman who’s header was destined for the goal, but was unluckily blocked by his own team-mate who just couldn’t get out the way in time.

The Cats maintained their excellent record against the Lions and their goal was worth the wait. Manager Jeff Gotch described it as "a great team goal". Goalkeeper Adam Simon cleared upfield, Gotch flicked it on to Stokes on the left and a first-time defence-splitting pass to DANNY YESHUA who didn't break stride and buried with ease.

The half-time whistle went and the lads regrouped. Lions knew kept probing and the equaliser came in the 55th minute, Jake Hyman picked up the ball on the halfway line, beat two men, and released it out wide to Alkalay. He then skipped past one man on the inside and played a left foot cross into the path of Bloom. A small scramble and the ball fell to DANIEL FATTALwho tucked the ball neatly into the corner.

Jamie Kyte had to leave the field with 30 minutes to play and Lions were down to 10 men. They continued to battle hard and the game had opened up with chances at both ends. Both Hyman and Fattal went tumbling in the penalty area but their appeals were turned down.

Catford had a big chance with 10 minutes to go as they broke through the defence, and what appeared to be an open-goal apparently was not as Harpin recovered to make an astonishing save tipping the ball round the post for a corner.

The final whistle went and it ended 1-1. All in all, a fair result. The lads worked extremely hard out there, left nothing on the pitch and it was a solid performance against a strong Catford outfit.

Lions boss Samuel Marchant told JC Sport: “Catford provided a real test for us today and we think the result is a fair one. We had a small squad today and it did show, and being reduced to 10 men for the final 30 minutes due to injury was not ideal.

"The lads battled superbly hard, left nothing out on the pitch and were thoroughly deserving of the point. On another day, Kingston dispatches his penalty, Brafman’s header isn’t blocked by our own man, and we have 11 men for the full 90, and we probably get the three points.

"That’s football though and we now head on to the next fixture where we are expecting at least four players to return to the squad. Of course a win today would’ve been lovely, but we are still poised well for a promotion battle and we stay positive after a solid performance."

Cats player-manager Jeff Gotch told JC Sport: "So 1-1 and that's four from six against Lions and one loss in seven in the league.

"Our position in table doesn't tell the whole story and we can be happy with how we played today. Their keeper was in inspired form and we could have been three or four-up if it wasn't for his heroics.

"We move on and aim to start moving up the table - it's not a coincidence or luck that over 267 minutes against Lions we haven't lost."