MANCHESTER ACCOUNTANTS LEAGUE HANDICUP
South Manchester Sports 1st 5 Bowler 2
South Manchester Sports 1st completed the first part of a possible treble by lifting the Handicup following a 5-2 success over Bowler.
Marc Yaffe fired home a hat-trick as Darry Lee's men lifted their first piece of silverware in years.
Yaffe put aside his Peter Morrison disappointment of being substituted at half time against Manchester Maccabi, to score a treble and help South Manchester win the Manchester Accountants League Handicup against First Division leaders Bowler.
The Handicup gives teams from the lower division a two-goal start and the early indications were that South were still in a state of shock after last week's amazing comeback.
The opposition pressed the South defence and only three top saves from young keeper Conor Rabbett kept the scores on the day level.
South rarely threatened for the first 20 minutes but eventually found some of their passing game to score from their first chance. Harvey Kaye broke into the box and after pulling it back from the by-line Adam Lavin prodded the ball home.
This seemed to settle South and they started to dominate using the pace of Yaffe and Kaye down either flank to upset their opponents.
A further flowing move saw Lavin back-heel into the net for an equaliser only for the referee to call play back for a penalty after a foul earlier in the move on Toby Levy. Yaffe ended any possible controversy by stroking in the penalty to bring the scores level on the day.
Half time saw the team get a pretty stiff lecture from manager Darryl Lee as he stressed the importance of quality passing and using the width of the pitch.
South used their undoubted fitness and superior passing to break through and Lavin was hauled down by the opposition keeper when clean through on goal. Yaffe stepped up again to send the ball into the opposite corner to his first spot kick to put South into the lead on aggregate for the first time.
South could now scent victory and a five-man move ended with Yaffe ratting in his third goal and South's fourth after the ball was pulled back to him on the edge of the area by Harvey Kaye.
A flurry of substitutions followed as manager Lee rested players for greater challenges ahead, but the tempo did not stop as sub Ben Peppi finished with a cool lob after being put through by Lavin.
The 5-0 scoreline may have been a bit flattering but South lifted their first trophy in this league for many a season much to the delight of manager Darryl Lee.
He said: “It doesn’t matter what level you play at its great to win trophies. The boys have put a lot into this season and to have played 15 games and won every one deserves credit.
"The important thing to Steve Cantor (my assistant) and I is that the boys enjoy the game first and foremost-winning is just the icing on the cake.
"We now have two huge league games followed by the Peter Morrison semi-final, so this period will go a long way to defining our season.
"It’s very exciting but equally a bit nervy!”
