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ByAnonymous, Anonymous
JC CYRIL ANEKSTEIN CUP ROUND TWO
OAKWOOD 1 LONDON MACCABI LIONS B 2
London Lions managed to do in the cup what they struggled to do last year in the league, beat a well-organised and talented Oakwood team.
Last year Lions could only manage a draw and a loss against the Os, but this year, with a few fresh faces, they managed to get a convincing win under their belts.
The match started at a fast pace with some fiery exchanges in the midfield. Danny Alexander and Rich Gold breaking up play well and unleashing Lions speed demons Will Beresford and Joey Lazare to go on some super jinky runs down their respective wings.
It was on 20 minutes however when the game changed. An exchange between Alexander and Ben Myers off the ball resulted in Myers getting a straight red, leaving Oakwood with 10 men.
From this point onwards Lions played their possession football, playing across the back, creating little triangles, bringing all the drills that manager Jamie Kyte has been using in training into the game scenario.
It was on 35 minutes when Lions finally broke the deadlock. A stunning deep cross by Springer Snr into the box was greeted by Nick Astaire who directed a bullet of a header into the bottom corner of the goal.
Lions took their lead into half time and continued to dominate possession in the early stages of the second half. This possession then led to Lions' second goal when Beresford played a glorious through ball to James Gold who when one on one with the keeper was only going to result in one outcome. Goal Jimmy Gold.
Once 2-0 up the, Lions started to sit back soaking up the O's pressure, Henry Ziff and Astaire making sure that nothing passed the defence, and the Springers keeping their respective wingers quiet.
The O's then got a late consolation when a long punt into the box got palmed away by Castle before being pounced on by Matt Geey.
After that Lions had the chance to put the game to bed when Lazare unleashed a ferocious strike, however the crossbar saved the O's and five minutes latr the game was over.
After the game Kyte told reporters: "That's the performance we've been looking for. The first half was a pleasure to watch, we played fantastic football and every single player pulled their weight.
"I'm looking forward to carrying on our cup for next week against Blizzard Storm in the Peter Morrison Trophy."
