By
Richard Jaye
2 min read
PMT Round 4:
London Maccabi Lions A 1 Chigwell Athletic A 2
A stunning injury time winner from marksman Steve Summers saw Chigwell set up a quarter-final clash at North West Neasden A after they came from behind to knock out the fancied Lions at Rowley Lane.
Summers’ strike was exquisite. From 20 yards out he produced an inch-perfect lob over Lions keeper Jack Franks, sparking wild celebrations within the Chigwell camp.
The game started slowly with Lions skipper Daniel Castle trying to get one over his old side with dominating play in midfield although the hosts never looked threatening.
Lions received a scare after 20 minutes when Summers chased down a loose ball and indecision from Franks, who was caught in two minds, not knowing whether to clear his lines and put the ball in row Z or try to dribble the ball back in the area to collect. The young stopper tried the latter but pressure from Summers forced him to do neither and instead deliberately handle outside the area. He got a yellow card for his efforts but Chigwell wasted the free kick.
Summers had a goal ruled out for offside from a Dean Ben Yosef free kick after 30 minutes and the visitors were dealt a further blow when defender Craig Sandford pulled his hamstring and was replaced by Daniel Sugarman.
Lions forged ahead against the run of play when good work from Michael Pearson saw the rep team striker play the ball to an unmarked Max Fieldgrass who slid the ball past Chigs keeper Jay Jaffa and into the corner of the net.
Spurred on by manager Danny Berg and Greg Bookman at the interval, Chigwell started the second half brightly. Dean Nyman had a great chance to equalise when played through by Steve Gevertz but, with too much time, he fired high and wide.
Lions introduced tricky winger Daniel Green and he starting causing problems within the Chigwell defence with his mazy runs but he had no support up top. Green did have a great chance on the hour mark but his trickery looked like deceiving Chigs keeper Jaffa but the ball rolled just wide.
Chigwell levelled the tie 15 minutes from time. Intricate build up play, starting from defender Adam Hakimi, saw the ball find Summers who neatly laid the ball back to midfielder Sam McCarthy who slammed the ball home from 20 yards out.
The Lions looked rattled and if any team was going to get a winner it was going to be Chigwell.
With the game looking likely to extended by an extra half hour, Chigwell never gave up and out of nowhere, Summers produced one of the goals of the season when his lob caught out young Lions keeper Franks to send the visitors wild.
Summers was straight over to his grand-dad Len in the crowd as a testament to all the support he has given him over his footballing career.
A delighted Summers told JC Sport after the game that he "was happy to win for the team and didn’t want to take the plaudits on his own. We battled hard and never gave up. I enjoyed the goal and this team can definitely go onto win this competition."
Lions joint-manager Andy Myers said: "Chigwell were by far the better team and deserved to win. Man for man we didn't deserve it."
Lions: Franks, Helman, Myeroff, Basger, Fieldgrass, Castle, Leslie, Lew (sub: Green), Graham (sub: Schwarz), Pearson, Cheniart (sub: Rose)
Chigwell: Jaffa, Sandford (sub: Sugarman), Green, A. Hakimi, D. Hakimi, Ben Yosef, Lederman, Gevertz (sub: Berg), McCarthy, Nyman, Summers (sub: Smith)