SOUTHERN AMATEUR VETS LEAGUE

 MACCABI LONDON LIONS 0 OLD ALOYSIANS 3

The Lions hosted a familiar opponent on Sunday morning, with Old Aloysians making the trip to Rowley Lane in what was to be a very frustrating morning for the home side.

After lost Matt Kleinman and Alex Norman early on, both having to withdraw within the first five minutes of the game, succumbing to hamstring injuries. However the Lions re-shuffled the pack with Ranaan Firmin and Max Radford slotting into the full-back positions.

It was the Lions who had the first meaningful test on goal, a Bradley Lazarus free-kick from 30 yards saw him bend a glorious effort around the wall, however his fantastic strike came crashing back of the upright and flew away to safety.

At the back for the Lions, Andrew Myers and Paul Lenchner were marshalling the Aloysians attacking threat well, blocking and heading away to safety every dangerous ball into the box.

Lions had a glorious chance to take the lead on the stroke of half-time. A throw from Max Radford as flicked on into the path of Gideon Gold who took a first touch inside the six-yard box when a first time shot would have been a better option, and was crowded out trying to make contact with his second touch.

No goals at the break, and with instructions from the bench to work harder to retain the ball, this was surely going to be a case of whoever strikes first would go on and win this game.

Five minutes into the second-half and disaster struck, a blind backpass from Stefan Benfredj, gifted the Aloysians centre forward time and space inside the lions penalty area, and he rifled an unstoppable effort past Brad Lee.

Within three minutes it was 2-0, a neatly taken goal from the Aloysians attacking midfielder saw him control the ball and volley low to Lee’s left hand side after a slip at the heart of Lions defence.

The Lions changed, tact going longer to try to search for a way back into the game. However, good handling from the away team goalkeeper and poor decision-making from the Lions forward players prevented this from happening.

Gold then became the third Lions player to leave the pitch with an injury, suffering an injury to his hip and as the game moved into its final stages Aloysians added a third and final nail in the coffin. Lee spilled a shot and with the goal gaping the Aloysians left winger had a simple tap in to make it 3-0.

A more than competitive match but not the score or the performance that the home side were looking for, and with the first round of cup ties coming up next weekend, the SAL team will welcome a break from league action next time out.

MACCABI: Brad Lee, Matt Kleinman, Paul Lenchner, Andrew Myers, Alex Norman, Sam McCarthy, James Abrams, Hadley Silver, Scott Warren, Gideon Gold, Max Radford. Subs: Ranaan Firmin, Lloyd Nygate, Brad Lazarus, Mark Wagman, Stefan Benfredj