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Benji Magee stars as Larne progress into knockout stages at Hong Kong Soccer Sevens alongside Aston Villa and West Ham United
@Source: newsletter.co.uk
The Inver Reds are featuring at the tournament, which is an annual invitational seven-a-side competition organised and hosted by Hong Kong Football Club since 1999, for the first time. Several high-profile names have previously been involved with former Aston Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor named Player of the Tournament in 2006 while ex-Northern Ireland youth international Omari Kellyman picked up the same award about 12 months before making a £19million move from Villa to Chelsea. Drawn in Group D, Magee scored winning goals in each of Larne’s 1-0 triumphs over Singapore Cricket Club and BC Rangers before January recruit Josh Kee, who is captain for the tournament, sealed a point against the Hammers. It means Larne topped their group and will now progress into a Cup quarter-final showdown against Dutch outfit AZ Alkmaar, which kicks off at 4:33am local time. Aston Villa, Brighton & Hove Albion, Yokohama Marinos, Western United, Hong Kong Football Club and West Ham make up the final-eight. "I feel good,” said Magee on HK Soccer Sevens’ after Larne’s opening win over BC Rangers. “That was a good warm up test for us going into the rest of the tournament so hopefully we can push on and win it. "They were very fit, made it hard for us and didn't stop running all game so fair play to them, but we enjoyed ourselves out there. "We said before the game that we wanted to make it like our league, make it physical and don’t make it easy for them.” Magee returned to parent club Larne at the conclusion of last season having been loaned to former side Loughgall in January, scoring three times for the Villagers in nine Premiership appearances. The 23-year-old will hope to make an impact at Inver Park next term, as will talented midfielder Kee, who got his first taste of playing for Larne after making a move from Championship outfit H&W Welders. Kee joined the Inver Reds alongside team-mate Tiarnan O’Connor in January before being sent back on loan to the Welders. “It’s a fantastic opportunity for the travelling squad,” said Larne coach Josh Robinson. “It gives the young players a chance to go and experience a new country and a new culture while testing themselves against some quality opposition. “We’re extremely grateful to have received an invite to take part alongside some huge clubs from across the world and I have no doubt that the lads taking to the pitch out there will do us proud and showcase what our great club and league is all about.” The Larne squad includes: Daniel Collett, James Simpson, Callum Cowan, Logan Wallace, Josh Kee, Oisin Devlin, Ross Ferguson, Jack Hastings, Benji Magee and Ben Napier. There’s further Irish League representation in Hong Kong as former Linfield youngster Josh Briggs and ex-Cliftonville winger Sean Moore are both in West Ham’s squad.
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