Lions B outsted in nine-goal thriller

An instant reply came as Dean Rosenthal won a free kick 30 yards out, and Sammy Kingston, playing at centre half for the day, unleashed a Beckham-esque free kick into the top right-hand corner to draw Lions back on level terms.

Harpin, the 16-year-old Lions keeper, had by this point already made two fantastic saves but he could do nothing about Maryate's second, which was a near carbon-copy of the first.

Lions were battling hard but somehow found themselves 4-1 down in quick succession after some neat football from the home side. In the conditions, the game was still open.

The visitors were given a lifeline with five minutes left in the half, Rosenthal received the ball with his back to goal and on the turn, placed the ball in the bottom left corner to give Lions an extra boost heading into half time.

Lions changed formation at the start of the second half, with Benji Weinberger moving up top with Rosenthal to provide some extra fire power in the final third in a 4-4-2.

The visitors dominated the first 10 minutes of the half with both Frank Hyman and Rosenthal having effort just wide of the posts. The breakthrough came shortly after when some fantastic footwork by Hyman enabled him to get to the bye-line and fizz a ball across the six-yard box into the path of the oncoming Alkalay who tapped the ball to make it 4-3.

However the Lions were caught with a sucker punch as Maryake restored their two-goal advantage from a corner. It was again now that Harpin proved his quality keeping out three fantastic chances, one notable save from a one-on-one, where a shot was destined for the top corner.

With 15 minutes to play, Hyman again picked up the ball on the left-hand side of the box, made his way round two defenders before being brought down for the penalty. Kingston stepped up and leathered it home.

Lions were pushing hard to get the equaliser with Dan Fattal going close from a long-range effort. With two minutes to play, the Markyate striker was dismissed for a two-footed challenge on Kingston, which resulted in Kingston being stretchered off but the 10 men held on.

A Lions spokesman said: "The Lions showed their commitment, passion and spirit today in a seriously tough battle in terrible conditions and they should take plenty of positives from the result.

"It’s never a nice feeling to lose, but the boys know they can bounce back next week at the Lane and get the three points in the league before a much needed Christmas break."