PETER MORRISON TROPHY (NORTHERN SECTION ROUND TWO
LEEDS MACCABI 2nd 3 SOUTH MANCHESTER SPORTS CLUB 1st 5
South Manchester Sports survived a tricky tie on a quagmire of a pitch against opponents who never gave up.
The tie resembled a typical third round FA Cup game as the passing game of South Manchester was eliminated by the pitch and tough tackling opponents.
South had been warned that Leeds would come fast out of the blocks and so it proved as after dominating for 15 minutes Leeds broke upfield and scored with a fine right-footed shot into the bottom corner.
This caused an immediate response and within five minutes South had gone ahead with close-range finishes from Tom Cantor and Anton Feingold put them in charge.
Ten minutes before half time, the in-form Adam Lavin added a third but in doing so pulled his hamstring and he limped off to be replaced by Marc Parry.
Half time came with South leading comfortably but they missed a hatful of chances to finish the tie.
Incredibly South then scored a remarkable own goal, when Toby Levy passed it back and the ball slipped past Jody Marks to make the score 3-2.
For 10 minutes Leeds threw everything at South but they held firm and scored again when Ben Peppi finshed off after a defence splitting pass from Alex Koslover.
Peppi was to score again when he converted a penalty to make it 5-2 after he had been fouled in the box.
There was still time for Leeds to score their own penalty after a South hand strayed in the area. However by then the game was over.
Reflecting on a tricky tie, South Manchester manager Darryl Lee commented: "Whilst the best team won, we had a few anxious moments and Leeds never gave us a moments rest.
"I was actually a bit disappointed by our performance after our league form but perhaps the closeness of the game will be a sharp reminder that you can take no game for granted."
South Manchester take on Mundo in the Handicup next weekend.
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