Foxes Secure Hong Kong Sevens Crown

26 May 2013
1 Minute
Leicester City’s youngsters roared to victory in the Hong Kong Football Club Citibank International Soccer Sevens Final with a 2-0 victory over Newcastle United on Sunday.

In a rematch of their Group B clash, which Newcastle won 2-0, The Foxes locked horns with the Magpies after dumping out another north-east side, Sunderland, with a 1-0 semi-final win.

But it was to be all so different for the triumphant Foxes this time around, as they surged into a 2-0 lead before half-time - Michael Cain's third minute volley making it 1-0 before a nice finish from Harry Panayioutou doubled the advantage.

Newcastle had no answer for City in the second half, as they saw out the 2-0 win to go one better than last year's Shield Final victory, by claiming the overall prize in impressive fashion.

The team had made it out of a tricky Group B as runners-up on goal difference, having beaten Southern 2-0, sharing the points with HKFC Captain’s Select in a 1-1 draw and being edged out by group winners Newcastle 2-0 on Saturday.

That set up a quarter-final tie with one of the tournament favourites, Aston Villa, however City flew out of the blocks to take a stunning 3-0 lead into half-time of the seven-a-side match.

Jak McCourt scored early on with an unstoppable curling effort into the corner to make it 1-0, before fellow Academy prospect Panayiotou added two more strikes to give City a seemingly unassailable lead.

However in keeping with the exciting football played in the world-famous seven-a-side competition, Villa came back strongly after the break to set up a grandstand finish.

Jack Grealish started the fight back with two goals in two minutes, before Jerell Sellars leveled with two minutes left on the clock, sending the game into extra-time, where teams are reduced to just four players each with the ‘golden goal’ rule coming into play.

Fortunately for The Foxes, they took just 30 seconds of extra-time to find that golden goal, and it came through Academy Player of the Season, Cain, whose neat finish sealed a sudden death victory in dramatic fashion.