Haroldeans boss Ivan Gee hailed his side’s first-half performance against Republic of Mancunia 1st as their best of the season so far.
The Merseysiders scored three times inside the opening 45 minutes before claiming a 3-2 win to book their place in the semi-finals of the Harold Feldman Trophy.
Adam Boyars, Bobby Abrams and Bobby Fishel were all on target and Gee was quick to praise his side after they bounced back from last weekend’s Peter Morrison Trophy exit.
“I thought we played some fabulous football in the first-half, “ said Gee.
“The boys were brilliant and that’s probably the best they’ve played all season.
“The final scoreline doesn’t really do the game justice, because it was never that close.
“Perhaps we were a bit too good in the first-half, because in the second we just sat back.
“But it was just nice to get the win and get back to winning ways.”
Boyars opened the scoring with a delightful curling effort as Haroldeans began to assert their authority following last Sunday’s 5-0 defeat by Leeds Maccabi 1st.
The runaway MJSL league leaders added a second when Abrams produced a moment of magic to beat three defenders and chip the ball over the Republic goalkeeper.
Fishel added a third before the interval after rounding off a flowing 20-pass move to kill off Republic’s hopes of a comeback.
Dave Eden did manage to score twice in the final four minutes, but Gee says his players were always in control of the situation.
“I think the lads knew the game was over,” he said.
“Republic’s second was the last kick of the game so the scoreline looks a bit misleading.
“But we’re just pleased to be through to the next round of the cup. We’ve got a tough league game against Manchester Maccabi 3rd next weekend.
“But we’re all really looking forward to what should be a very tough game.”
