Sport
Conway trebles puts Lions Vets into cup final
Saul Conway fired Maccabi London Lions into the final of the Southern Amateur League Cup final following a 6-1 victory over Hinton.
April 1, 2019 11:58
Saul Conway fired Maccabi London Lions into the final of the Southern Amateur League Cup final following a 6-1 victory over Hinton.
April 1, 2019 11:58SAL CUP SEMI-FINAL
MACCABI LONDON LIONS 6 HINTON 1
This tie was much closer than the final scoreline might suggest. But Lions were decent value for the win that will see them contest the final at the splendid bank of England Ground in Roehampton on the April 27.
A fast start form the hosts saw Conway leading from the front, his energy and dynamism giving Lions a constant outlet and threat. So was thoroughly deserved when, on 15 minutes, Conway cut inside, evaded a challenge and rifled home into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.
Rob Glass and Pete Lazard were superb at the heart of the Lions defence while Daniel Stanton was drifting into spaces to hurt Hinton, but the crucial second goal didn’t come.
Lions became a little scrappy while Hinton clearly upped it, and as the break approached they deservedly equalised, winning the ball high up the pitch their striker drilled home an unstoppable strike into the top corner.
Lions introduced Steve Summers at the break but for 15 minutes struggled to get him and Conway into dangerous situations. But the game turned in the host’s favour just past the hour mark when Stanton clipped a delightful through ball into the path of Conway who outpaced his man before applying the coolest of lobs over the on-rushing keeper to give Lions the lead.
And five minutes later some breathing space, this time Summers found himself with time in the box and his finish was unerring.
Lions were now playing some great stuff, a fabulous move saw Hadley Silver and Craig Pearl combine to lay in Stanton, but he curled his effort an inch wide before he really should have done better with a clear headed chance.
Hinton had their moments, and might have had a penalty on another day as Brad Lee collided with their striker, although he had already got his shot off that went narrowly wide.
However in truth Lions’ back line were in control. Having spurned earlier chances the game was finally put to bed when Conway grabbed a thoroughly deserved hat-trick goal, and with Hinton now knowing the game was up chances came for Lions.
Pearl struck the bar but Summers was on hand to lash home the rebound from close-range. The icing on the cake saw Lions grab a fine sixth after Silver played in Summers who dummied superbly for Stanton to put the keeper on his backside before applying the finish.
LIONS: Brad Lee, Jon Rayner, Tony Gold, Pete Lazard, Rob Glass, Alex Levack, Craig Pearl, Daniel Stanton, Saul Conway, Max Radford, Hadley Silver. Subs: Dan Piler, Steve Summers, Adam Harvey
SCORERS: Conway 3, Summers 2, Stanton