London Lions made it through to the semi-final of the Division One Cup after a thrilling second half saw 10 goals shared, followed by a penalty shoot-out win for the second game running in this competition.
November 17, 2017 10:06
SPARTAN SOUTH MIDLANDS LEAGUE DIVISION ONE CUP
LONDON LIONS 5 ENFIELD BOROUGH 5 (Lions won 7-6 on penalties)
Adam Bolle was the hero with a second half hat-trick in what was a crazy half of eight goals in 45 minutes.
There was no indication of what was to come after a pedestrian first 45 minutes. Lions went ahead when Mitch Hahn and Austin Lipman combined to free Adam Burchell who slotted home.
Enfield hit back however, punishing Lions for an error to equalise before the interval.
Sam Hamerton made it 2-1 with a scrambled goal from a Lions corner, but Enfield struck back – another Lions corner saw the visitors steal the ball and break at speed to equalise.
No more than 60 seconds had passed before Lions 2-1 lead had turned into a deficit as Enfield scored their third to take the lead for the first time.
This time it was Lions who turned the game on its head however; Bolle began a devastating period, firstly equalising when he bulldozed the Enfield back line to fire home; and then a cheeky backheel from Lipman set up the Lions striker to score his second in quick succession as Lions were now in a 4-3 lead.
This didn’t last long – Enfield took their turn to score two more goals. The first one a 30-yard screamer which left Dan Lipman rooted to the spot; then another from the left wing to leave Lions exasperated and bewildered at 5-4 down.
Enfield were one of the best passing sides seen at Rowley Lane this season, and it’s fair to say Lions were not at their best on the evening; but they found one more goal to take the the game to penalties – and it was Bolle again who completed his hat-trick when sub Josh Shack was brought down and the Lions striker confidently scored from the spot.
The game ended with an amazing 10 goals shared, and that meant penalties. It took a further 16 spot kicks for the teams to finally be separated – Shack missed for Lions, but then Enfield missed two kicks as Kasler scored the decisive penalty as Lions eventually won 7-6 to confirm a place in the semi-final against either Baldock Town or Risborough.
And breath!
LIONS: Dan Lipman, Sam Hamerton, Ollie Craig, Adam Myeroff, Nick Landesberg, Charlie Kasler, Mitch Hahn, Max Kyte, Adam Burchell, Austin Lipman, Adam Bolle. Subs: Tyler Smith, Ben Goldberg, Josh Shack
GOALS: Bolle 3, Burchell, Hamerton,
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