Lenchner seals points

SOUTH MANCHESTER SPORTS 2ND MACCABI MANCHESTER BLUE

FOOTBALL JONNY Rose is confident Maccabi Manchester Blue can retain the Shonn Trophy following their emphatic first leg success against South Manchester.

The holders were in ruthless mood in the quarter-finals, with Darren Cohen, Roy Fux, Max Rose, Charlie Simpson and Joey Castle on target.

Blues boss Rose believes his players can defend their crown and said: “I’d like to think we could win it again. Why not? There is no reason, with the way we are playing, that we can’t. We have now won five games in a row and we are sharing the goals around. The tie is not over yet but we are confident. Playing on 4G pitches seems to suit us.”

The home side grabbed a consolation via Phil Gordon but it appears there is no way back for South Manchester Sports 2nd in the tie.

And a bad day got even worse when Mike Herz was given his marching orders after clashing with the influential Castle.

Referee Behnam Sarani was left with little option but to dismiss Herz to add to his side’s woes.

FOOTBALL MACCABI London Lions Vets completed a league double over Garston, but they were made to work hard for this victory against quality opposition.

Brad Lazarus lashed home the opener after 15 minutes following great build-up play involving Matt Kleinman, Danny Daggers and Saul Conway.

Lions secured the points during the second half when Conway ran at the Garston defence and was crudely upended. Lazarus whipped in a freekick to substitute Paul Lenchner who controlled the ball and, despite being pulled by the defender, he managed to crack a shot that came back down off the underside of the bar, finding the net off the back of the goalkeeper.