WATFORD FRIENDLY UNDER 18 LEAGUE CUP SEMI-FINAL
London Maccabi Lions 3 Chorleywood 0

London Maccabi Lions booked their place in the WFL Under 18 cup final after beating Chorleywood.

The boys from Rowley Lane put in an excellent performance against opponents from the fifth division who put in a spirited and competitive performance.

Lions manager Nicky Bloom said: "Our quality took us through and to be fair, we could have won by more. We certainly had the majority of the possession on the day."

The game started very evenly with both sides creating chances, but it was not until midway though the half that Jordan Marks finished superbly to give Lions the lead.

Chorleywood were working hard and creating some chances of their own, but Lions missed two gilt-edged chances and only had a one-goal lead at the break to show for their efforts.

Just as Lions' massed ranks of supporters were returning with their coffees from the half time break and they were up cheering again as Josh Bloom produced a smart near-post finish from a corner.

By now, Lions were really dominating possession and using the width of the top pitch at Rowley Lane well and making Chorleywood work really hard to chase us down.

With 20 minutes to go Charlie Cohen joined the action for his first game in almost a year and with his first touch showed the Lions fans what they had been missing. Cohen controlled the ball from a long-pass cut inside the defender and smashed a shot into the top left corner. This prompted loudest cheer of the day as the crowd celebrated his goal and return to action.

Further chances followed for the Lions which they were unable to convert and with the defence keeping it tight at the back they came off the pitch with a clean sheet.

Man-of-the-match was Dan Green who gave a very controlled and mature display in midfield patrolling just in front of the defence.

Bloom went on to say: "The team celebrated at the end and all could reflect on a superb effort on the day with a final place a rich reward both for our efforts on the day and throughout the season.

"The final will take place on May 9 or 16, which is something to look forward to. In the meantime, we still have another semi-final on the April 1 and our league campaign which still has some way to go."