Sport
Lions Blue progress on penalties against Bayern
James Harpin was the penalty shoot-out hero as Maccabi London Lions Blue avoided a shock cup exit at the hands of Division Two high-flyers Bayern Mincha.
November 19, 2017 16:11
James Harpin was the penalty shoot-out hero as Maccabi London Lions Blue avoided a shock cup exit at the hands of Division Two high-flyers Bayern Mincha.
November 19, 2017 16:11PETER MORRISON TROPHY ROUND TWO
MACCABI LONDON LIONS BLUE 1 BAYERN MINCHA 1 (After extra-time - Lions won 7-6 on penalties)
Premier Division Maccabi London Lions Blue were given a major scare by Mincha but they progressed after coming from a goal down to win on penalties. Thanks in no small part to the inspired Harpin.
Bayern approached the game in a similar manner to their recent cup match against Oakwood which worked to perfection. They packed the midfield and hit them on the counter, with their pace down the middle and on the flanks.
The visitors were almost ahead just three minutes in as danger man Adam Ellis ran through before just slotting wide. However, 10 minutes later Ellis was in again before finessing calmly into the bottom corner. He had two flash shots soon after, one going agonisingly wide while the other was superbly saved as Bayern could and arguably should have put clear daylight between the teams in the first 20.
However, Lions hit back with an extremely scrappy goal and an unreal goalline clearance from Sammy Liebert saw the game go into half time at 1-1.
Lions upped their tempo in the second half and Bayern were under the cosh for long periods. Jono Gaon hit the post from distance while Benji Weinberger's effort was smartly saved from the excellent Joe Nyman.
However, Bayern had chances of their own to nick it before the end as Nicky Cooper dragged his shot just wide, while Ellis ran round the keeper at the end before a superb goalline clearance from Lions kept them in it by the skin of their teeth.
Extra-time came and both teams were tiring due to their substantial effort with Lions gaining in momentum. However, Bayern broke away in the 110th minute with Ellis in on goal and about to win it before he was taken out by the last man who got sent off. Lions played the last 10 minutes with 10 men as the game went to penalties.
Ellis, Pinhas, Dayan , Kanter and Nussbaum all converted their spot-kicks for Bayern but Lions held their nerve to progress, thanks to successful strikes from Ben Winters, Josh Bloom, Benji Weinberger, Charlie Cohen, David Nezri and Josh Burns. Ed Brafman and Joe Bellman failed to find the target..
Lions's Sammy Kingston told JC Sport: "This was a really tough game - credit to Bayern Mincha who came with a game-plan and stuck to it and made it really difficult for us. They put nine men behind the ball and left Adam Ellis up top to break with pace.
"We must have had 75 per cent of the possession in the second half and more than 20 shots on goal. Perhaps on another day we win comfortably but Bayern were incredibly resilient and probably couldn’t believe their luck that they made it to extra-time and penalties.
"But as I said before credit to them, they clearly deserve to be near the top of their division and I wish them luck for their season.
"I am really proud of our boys today though, in a tough game we stayed patient and made it count in the penalty shootout and ensured we are in the hat for the next round!
Bayern boss Daniel Holder told JC Sport: "Overall, I am so proud of my players, all of which were warriors today. We completely matched a team who are competing in the Premier Division over 120 minutes and easily had the better chances to win the game.
"We think Lions would’ve been surprised by our quality being two divisions below them but we wish them the best of luck for the tournament."
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