JC CYRIL ANEKSTEIN CUP ROUND TWO
TEMPLE FORTUNE A 2 LOUGHTON ORIENT 1
Temple Fortune A squeezed past third division Loughton Orient in Pinner thanks to goals from Shai Davidi and Michael Goldberg.
Orient came into the game as underdogs. However, it was clear to see after just a couple of minutes that they fancied their chances of an upset.
The first half flew by and Orient went into the break unfortunate not to be leading after creating some excellent chances that they were unable to convert.
The partnership up front of David Blitz and James Lester was working well and both players looked dangerous throughout.
The second half began with some early Fortune pressure and Orient goalkeeper Marc Jacobs was forced to earn his wages with some superb saves to keep the score at 0-0.
However, Fortune made the breakthrough after an hour when a shot from just outside the box found the bottom corner.
The lead lasted around a minute as straight from the kick-off some good work from Nicky Stone and Lester down the right found Blitz in front of goal to smash home his first Orient goal. 1-1 and Orient were deservedly back in the game.
It turned into an end-to-end affair, but Fortune managed to get their noses in front again with around 15 minutes to go when they struck from close-range.
Orient threw on Barry Green, who returned from injury, in search of a late equaliser and it nearly came as he raced through on goal but was denied by a whisker.
It ended 2-1 and was a well contested game.
Relieved Fortune manager Lee Fegan told JC Sport: "We didn't play well on a nightmare of a pitch. We lost our heads positionwise and didn't do ourselves any favours.
"But we dug in deep and a single-goal win in the cup is the same as a 10-0 win – we're through and that's all that matters. Well played Loughton though – they made us fight for this victory."
Orient player manager Dan Curtis told JC Sport: "I'm proud of every one of my players. They showed commitment, spirit and I believe we will go far with this team.
"On another day we could've won that game; we played really well and I'm happy with the direction we are going in.
"Next week its back to the bread and butter of the league and we need the same performance again to get the three points."
