Sport
Safe hands Davies steers South into cup semis
Alex Davies was the penalty shoot-out hero as South Manchester Sports moved into the last four of the Kings Cup following an epic victory over Manchester Maccabi.
March 30, 2015 12:50
Alex Davies was the penalty shoot-out hero as South Manchester Sports moved into the last four of the Kings Cup following an epic victory over Manchester Maccabi.
March 30, 2015 12:50KINGS CUP QUARTER-FINAL
SOUTH MANCHESTER SPORTS CLUB 1st 3 MANCHESTER MACCABI 1st 3 (South won 3-2 on penalties)
Alex Davies was the penalty shoot-out hero as South Manchester Sports moved into the last four of the Kings Cup following an epic victory over Manchester Maccabi.
Questions were raised at Hough End on Sunday morning as ex-South Manchester centre half Adam Jackson missed the deciding spot-kick in the clash of the titans, and was then spotted leaving Johnny Davis' house in Cheadle just hours later with a brown envelope.
Johnny put the rumour to bed by saying: "This is absolute rubbish. In the club's 65 years of existence, we have always played by the rules. We wouldn't need to offer an incentive to Adam for missing a penalty, even I could save his penalty with a dicky knee."
South came out of the blocks first, and took the lead through a cross-shot free-kick from Geo Hanock, drifting over everyone and into the net.
As the half drew to a close, Maccabi grew more and more into the game, working Davies, who stood up to everything that came his way.
The second half, however, was a different story, and all yellow. A bit of luck drew the Maccabi level through a Sam Hatton deflection.
Maccabi had the ball in the net minutes later, only to hear the referee's whistle and a penalty awarded, which Ryan Silvester tucked away.
With South chasing, Silvester made it three, breaking away on the right and slotting passed Davies in the South goal.
With seemingly no way back, South looked beaten and out of ideas. But with 10 minutes remaining, Hancock pulled one back, before Adam Lavin equalised in the dying seconds.
It could have been a victory, but for a Benj Loofe goal-line clearance after Louis Rawlings broke free.
So on to penalties:
Sam Van Gelder (Maccabi) - MISS
Mark 'Stewy' Stewart - SCORED
Ryan Silvester - SCORED
Adam Lavin - SCORED
David Herman - SCORED
Ethan Krell - SAVED
Max Rose - MISS
Toby Levy - SCORED
Fittingly, having left South just a year previously, Adam Jackson/captain marvel/Judas stepped up and....
SAVED!
As South ran to hero Alex Davies between the sticks, Adam had a slight grin on his face, almost like he was saying "see you at pre-season lads!"
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