City's Youngsters Reach Soccer Sevens Last-Eight
With relentless seven-a-side fixtures, lasting 14 minutes, being staged on tight pitches and amid sweltering conditions in Hong Kong, the young Foxes needed to be resilient to book their spot in the last-eight.
Overseen by Development Squad coaches Steve Beaglehole and Ben Petty, City's 10-man squad is notably younger this season compared to past contests in Hong Kong's Happy Valley district.
Saturday began with an early rise in Causeway Bay while fitness work and tactical preparations commenced at 9am HKT (2am BST) ahead of an opening Group B fixture against local side, Singapore Cricket Club.
Sweden U21s goalkeeper Viktor Johansson started in goal behind England U18s star Luke Thomas, midfielders Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Sidnei Tavares and Layton Ndukwu, as well as attackers Ryan Loft and Conor Tee.
Their 2019 campaign got off the the best possible start as Dewsbury-Hall, the Club's 2018/19 Development Squad Player of the Season and Soccer Sevens captain, riffled an unstoppable effort into the net.
That strike came after just three minutes and it got better as Dewsbury-Hall's long-range effort was shepherded into the net by a deft flick from Tee, the 2017/18 Academy Player of the Season, to confirm a 2-0 win.
A potential bump in the road came during City's second outing of the day as Kitchee, another local side based in Kowloon, stifled the two-time Main Cup winners by holding them to a 1-1 draw.
As the temperatures crept towards the 30-degrees mark, Dewsbury-Hall's powerful effort - from outside the area - gave the young Foxes the lead, but a Matthew Orr equaliser meant they had to settle for a point.
City's final fixture saw them line up against Aston Villa, the side they overcame 3-0 in the 2017 final. A fraught opening seven minutes ended goalless, with a very real threat of Main Cup elimination for either side.
Tee clipped the bar for Leicester, while Johansson was also called upon to make an excellent stop to deny Jaden Philogene-Bidace, and it ultimately paid dividends when Loft pounced in the area with five minutes to go.
As a result, it is City who topped Group B at the end of play on Saturday, with Kitchee joining them in the quarter-finals of the Cup. Villa and Singapore Cricket Club, meanwhile, head into the Plate competition.
Following an excellent first day of action, Leicester will face Scottish Premiership side Rangers in the quarter-finals, while all Main Cup matches begin at approximately 10am HKT (3am BST) on Sunday.
Saturday's results
Leicester City 2 Singapore Cricket Club 0
Dewsbury-Hall 3', Tee 5'
Leicester City 1 Kitchee 1
Dewsbury-Hall 8'
Leicester City 1 Aston Villa 0
Loft 9'
Full highlights and reaction will be posted to LCFC.com this weekend, while the Club's official Twitter feed is the place to follow live updates from the HKFC Citi Soccer Sevens!