Soccer Sevens Shield Glory For LCFC

- The Foxes beat Kashima Antlers in the semi-final, before a 3-2 win against Eastern sealed the Shield title 

- Darnell Johnson, Hamza Choudhury and Admiral Muskwe were all on target in the final 

- Lead coach Steve Beaglehole spoke of how valuable the experience of Soccer Sevens has been for the Club’s youngsters 

Leicester City beat Hong Kong outfit Eastern 3-2 in the HKFC Citi Soccer Sevens at Hong Kong Stadium on Sunday afternoon to win the Shield Final. 

The Foxes began their second day of action with a narrow 2-1 extra-time defeat to Wellington Pheonix in the Main Cup Quarter-Final, qualifying for the Shield Semi-Final as a result. 

A 6-5 penalty shootout win over Kashima Antlers following a 1-1 draw after extra-time set up a Shield Final fixture against Eastern, who despite going 2-0 down, rallied to make it 2-2 in the second half. 

But City regained possession and dominated the final five minutes, with Admiral Muskwe firing in the winner to seal a 3-2 victory for his side. 

LCFC 1 Wellington Pheonix 2 AET – Main Cup Quarter-Final 

After finishing second in Group D, the Foxes faced New Zealand side Wellington Pheonix in the quarter-finals of the main competition. With the halves now extended to 10 minutes each, it took only 20 seconds for Danny Rowe to register the first effort of the game, as he dragged the ball wide from inside the box. But Pheonix responded well and took the lead after two minutes, before hitting the post shortly after. City stopper Max Bramley made a string of brilliant stops to keep the game at 1-0, while Rowe forced an excellent save out of the Pheonix ‘keeper on the stroke of half-time. A superb start to the second period eventually saw Harvey Barnes haul his side level with a fine solo effort on 14 minutes, and while opportunities fell to Darnell Johnson and Barnes, the game finished 1-1 after normal time. That saw the golden goal rule enforced, with each team allowed only four players on the pitch. Midfielder Hamza Choudhury replaced Bramley in goal, while Elliott Moore, Barnes and Rowe were the outfield players. Choudhury made an excellent stop just a minute into extra-time, but he could do nothing about Hamish Watson’s effort shortly after. That meant City exited the main tournament and entered the Shield Semi-Final, facing Japanese outfit Kashima Antlers in the afternoon. 

Lead coach Steve Beaglehole told LCFC.com after the defeat: “We’re gutted because although it’s red hot, we should have started the game better. We lost the ball and got put under pressure after that and went a goal down shortly after. We wanted to keep a clean sheet but the pressure got to us at times. We’re disappointed not to continue in the main competition, but this is the youngest side we’ve brought out here and there’s plenty of positives to take from the game. There’s plenty of potential and we’ve got to learn from this now – those that do will improve and hopefully come through.” 

Defender Darnell Johnson reflected: “It was a tough game and we looked a little leggy, but it’s hot conditions so we were unfortunate not to win on the game. We looked like we were going to score again because we created a lot of chances, but we were just unlucky. Harvey’s goal was very good – he worked it well and he’s got great feet. He always manages to make a yard for himself and often finishes it well. If we have the mind-set of how we played against Singapore in our group game, we should win, because we’ve got the players to do so.” 

LCFC 1 Kashima Antlers 1 AET (6-5 pens) – Main Shield Semi-Final 

A tense penalty shootout saw the Foxes advance to the Shield Final after coming from 1-0 down to draw 1-1 in normal time. A goalless extra-time period followed, before City edged the Japanese outfit on penalties to make it to the final. Steve Beaglehole’s outfit were behind after four minutes, before Kairo Mitchell and Harvey Barnes were both denied by the Kashima stopper. City rallied and deservedly drew level with four minutes to play after Danny Rowe scored an almost identical goal to the one he netted against Singapore Cricket Club on Saturday, turning and shooting to make it 1-1. After both sides failed to break through in extra-time, the game went to penalties. Hamza Choudhury, Barnes, Mitchell, Admiral Muskwe, Matty Miles and Darnell Johnson all converted their spot kicks to help City reach the Shield Final. 

After the shootout win, Steve Beaglehole said: “We want the lads to learn from this tournament and the game against Kashima provided them with a fantastic experience. So far we’ve had two games of extra-time today in a four-on-four situation, which is unbelievable. We managed that extra-time period against Kashima well defensively and then the penalty shootout put a lot of pressure on our lads. It went to sudden death and we’ve come through it, so I’m really pleased with their response. We’re in a final and that’s another great experience because we want our players to experience that. It’s certainly another learning curve for them.” 

Shot-stopper Max Bramley told LCFC.com after the shootout victory: “We’re very happy because we want to win the Shield after getting knocked out of the main tournament. We’ve got something to prove here – that we’re a good team – so we’re looking to win the final. We managed the extra-time period really well – I thought we might pinch it at the end but it wasn’t meant to be and we’ve won on penalties. The boys have done well to score theirs and they missed two to put us in the final. In the shootout, I tried to guess the right way, but I didn’t get too many, but I made myself big to try to put them off and thankfully they missed two penalties.” 

LCFC 3 Eastern 2 – Main Shield Final 

The Foxes scored twice in two first-half minutes to put themselves into a commanding 2-0 lead, before being pegged back by two quick-fire goals from Eastern. Darnell Johnson slotted in on four minutes to open the scoring, before Hamza Choudhury did brilliantly to win and convert a penalty a minute later. And despite the Hong Kong outfit getting themselves back on level terms in the second period, City showed their mettle and it was Admiral Muskwe who scored the winner with a close-range finish with four minutes to play. 

Steve Beaglehole said after the Shield Final win: “I’m really pleased with the way we finished the tournament. We had ups and downs and we needed to be more consistent and resilient and I always felt that we could score goals and we did. It’s a young side and we had a tough group. West Ham and HKFA U21 both reached finals so it was a difficult group to play in but we managed to qualify from that and eventually tasted success in the Shield Final.” 

Striker Admiral Muskwe said: “We’re pleased to have won the Shield Final and while we still would have wanted to progress in the Main Cup, we’re happy to have won a trophy. When we went 2-0 up against Eastern, I thought we’d go on to win the game by a bigger margin, but they started the second half well and took their chances. I’m happy to have scored the winner and done my part for the team. Personally, and I think all the boys would agree, it’s been a great experience and it’s completely different to what we’re used to.”