#MGBSFL: Sunday football round-up: week 20:

by Andrew Sherwood

Ten-man Hendon A through to Cyril Anekstein semi-finals, defeating Redbridge A 4-3 on penalties after sides played out epic 6-6 thriller which will go down as one of the great games of Jewish football…

Get The Jewish News Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign Up

————————–

RESULTS AT A GLANCE (SCROLL DOWN FOR FULL REVIEW):

CYRIL ANEKSTEIN CUP FOURTH ROUND:
Hendon United A 6 Redbridge A 6 (AET) – Hendon won 4-3 on penalties

PREMIER DIVISION:
FC Team A P North London Raiders A P (WATERLOGGED PITCH)
Maccabi London Lions A 4 Harmen 1
Oakwood A 4 Camden Park 1

DIVISION ONE:
Brady Maccabi 4 FC Team B 4
Brixton Old Boys 3 SPEC FC 1
Real Sosobad 6 Faithfold B 0
Redbridge Jewish Care B 5 Los Blancos 1
Woodford Wanderers 4 Oakwood B 2

DIVISION TWO:
Boca Jewniors P Athletic Bilbaum P (WATERLOGGED PITCH)
Catford & Bromley 1 Maccabi London Lions B 1
North London Raiders B 5 Temple Fortune 0
Real Hendon 4 Faithfold C 2
Scrabble 3 L’Equipe 0

————————–

TEAM OF THE WEEK NOMINATIONS:

GOALKEEPERS:
ADAM SIMON (Catford & Bromley)
RUSSELL CORIN (Hendon United A)
DEAN CAPLIN (Oakwood B)
REUBEN RAPSTIEN (Maccabi London Lions A)
JAMES HARPIN (Maccabi London Lions B)
BEN LAW (Scrabble)

DEFENDER:
JOEL ISAACS (Catford & Bromley)
RICH STERNBERG (FC Team B)
BRANDON SASOON (Maccabi London Lions A)
DANIEL BEHAR (Maccabi London Lions B)
ED BRAFMAN (Maccabi London Lions B)
DAVID COHEN (Oakwood A)
JORDAN SHERNE (Oakwood A)
LEE WARNER (Oakwood A)
DAVID COHEN (Redbridge Jewish Care B)
SCOTT MACKENZIE (Redbridge Jewish Care B)
ADAM WATERS (Scrabble)

MIDFIELD:
JORDAN GRANT (Catford & Bromley)
ZAC LEWIS (Hendon United A)
JAMES GOLD (Maccabi London Lions A)
ZAC ROSE (Maccabi London Lions A)
MOTTY KORMAN (Real Hendon)
YOSSI LUBIN (Real Hendon)
SAM MCCARTHY (Real Sosobad)
RICHARD ROSENTHAL (Real Sosobad)
BEN SOLLOSI (Redbridge Jewish Care A)
DANIEL BEAN (Redbridge Jewish Care B)
RICHIE CAPLIN (Redbridge Jewish Care B)
SAM MOSS (Redbridge Jewish Care B)
DAN GREEN (Scrabble)
ELLIOT ESPINOZA (Scrabble)

STRIKER:
DAN KUBER (Brixton Old Boys)
ANDY SHEENA (FC Team B)
BRAD WINE (Oakwood A)
DAVID DOBRIN (Redbridge Jewish Care B)
DAVID FIALKA (Redbridge Jewish Care B)
RA NOE (Real Hendon)
JONATHAN PETERS (Scrabble)
DANNY SHERMAN (Scrabble)
JAMES RYAN (Woodford Wanderers)

————————–

TEAM OF THE WEEK

————————–

GOAL OF THE WEEK NOMINATIONS:

1) GREG CORIN (HENDON UNITED A)
Glenn Hoddle-esque chip from the corner, of the edge of the box, a delicious effort which was clipped over Brad Grant and just under the bar

2) ZAC LEWIS (HENDON UNITED A)
A stunning strike from the edge of the box, hit with the outside of the boot to curl away from the goalkeeper and into the far corner

3) ZAC LEWIS (HENDON UNITED A)
A brilliant free-kick from the edge of the box, goalkeeper was on the right side, but still got no where near it

4) AVI KORMAN (HENDON UNITED A)
A rocket of a strike from 20 yards out, hit in dramatic fashion to not only keep his side in the cup but also how it flew into the far corner of the net

5) DANIEL GARFINKLE (REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE A)
Ran nearly half the length of the pitch, held off challenge of last defender before lashing the ball into the net in emphatic style

————————–

SAVE OF THE WEEK NOMINATIONS:

1) BRAD GRANT (REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE A)
Dived full stretch to turn Ari Last’s stinging 20-yard strike onto the post

2) JAMES HARPIN (MACCABI LONDON LIONS B)
Stopped what appeared to be an open goal as he appeared from nowhere to get his fingers to the ball and tip it round the post

3) BEN LAW (SCRABBLE)
A brilliant double-save with the score at 0-0 from close-range

4) RUSSELL CORIN (HENDON UNITED A)
Superb save in the penalty shoot-out, sticking out a strong hand to push the ball over the bar

————————–

QUOTE OF THE WEEK NOMINATIONS:

1) DAVID GARBACZ (HENDON UNITED A)
“This genuinely was, in my opinion, one of the greatest Sunday league matches of all time and it was an honour and a pleasure to be a part of it even if I was sent off!” VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS ABOVE…

2) DAVID GARBACZ (HENDON UNITED A)
“I simply don’t know where to start with this one – this was without doubt the most amazing game of football I’ve ever been witness to.” VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS ABOVE…

3) DAVID GARBACZ (HENDON UNITED A)
“It was the game no one wanted to win but when we eventually did led to the most exhilarating feeling we have ever felt over the years and believe me we’ve had some good times down the years. If we all retired tomorrow we would retire happy.” VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS ABOVE…

4) JON JACOBS (REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE A)
“I am sure Alan Hansen would be having a sleepless night with the defending but it was great entertainment.” VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS ABOVE…

5) JON JACOBS (REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE A)
“Sometimes, you have to just say the Football Gods aren’t with you. This was the craziest game of Football I have ever been involved with. Neither team wanted to win until the very last kick of the shoot-out.” VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS ABOVE…

6) JASON STEIN (OAKWOOD B)
“We may be eight behind Woodford, but with us having three games in hand I don’t think they’ll be spraying the Palwin just yet. There is a lot of football left to be played before the medals are handed out and I’m sure that my boys will respond to this.”

7) OLIVER LESLIE (HARMEN)
“It’s very upsetting how a bunch of 30-year-olds can turn up on a Sunday morning and throw in the towel before the game had even started.”

————————–

CYRIL ANEKSTEIN CUP QUARTER-FINAL: (number in brackets represents Division in team)

HENDON UNITED A (PREM) 6 REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE A (PREM) 6 (AET) – Hendon won 4-3 on pens
Hendon booked their place in the last four after somehow emerging victorious from one of the greatest games of Jewish football played in living memory.

Finding themselves 2-0 up through stunning strikes from Greg Corin and Zac Lewis, they somehow went into half-time trailing thanks to Steve Summers’ double and Daniel Garfinkle’s strike.

Lewis claimed another two strikes after the break – including a terrific free-kick to seemingly put Hendon through, but an injury-time strike from Sam Sollosi saved Redbridge and took the game into extra-time.

Nathan Sollosi and Garfinkle then put Redbridge 6-4 ahead during the first half of extra-time, a two-goal lead which they didn’t seem as if they’d relinquish.

Dovi Fehler headed one back to Hendon to pull the score back to 6-5, but in the aftermath, Hendon were reduced to ten men. However, showing their never-say-die attitude, Avi Korman struck another sensational effort to make it 6-6 and take the tie to penalties.

Again, Redbridge seemed they had done enough, finding themselves 3-1 up in the shoot-out, however Garfinkle and Summers both missed – the latter being saved by Russell Corin – to seal them the tie.

At sudden death, Nathan Sollosi missed for Redbridgem but this time Hendon couldn’t take advantage. However, when Ben Sollosi saw his effort superbly saved by Corin, Fehler stepped up and made no mistake to wrap up a victory what will go down as one of the greatest ever in the Jewish game.

Hendon manager David Garbacz told jewishnews.co.uk: “I simply don’t know where to start with this one – this was without doubt the most amazing game of football I’ve ever been witness to – not just because of the goals and the drama but the quality from both sides was incredible. It was the game no one wanted to win but when we eventually did led to the most exhilarating feeling we have ever felt over the years and believe me we’ve had some good times down the years. If we all retired tomorrow we would retire happy.

“At 6-4 down, we looked finished and the game did threaten to boil over as I was sent to the stands and then Yoav Kestenbaum was sent off for something he said to the referee. Amazingly, despite having 10 men and at least a couple more hardly able to move we managed to claw out way back again through Dovi and then a momentous Avi Korman finish with three minutes to go.

“It was truly amazing Roy of the Rovers stuff, but still there was more drama to follow as we trailed 3-1 in the shoot-out. Incredibly they missed their last two and we scored ours, Ari Nevies spurned another chance for us to win it before Russell pulled off a remarkable save again to set us up once more. Dovi Fehler made no mistake and his backflip celebration was followed by an amazing bundle of joy never seen before.

“This genuinely was, in my opinion, one of the greatest Sunday league matches of all time and it was an honour and a pleasure to be a part of it even if I was sent off! Redbridge were superb – a fantastic credit to the league who played great attacking football throughout and were very magnanimous in defeat when they must have been absolutely gutted. I think everyone will take quite a while to recover from this one but whatever else happens this year this is a match that will live gloriously forever in the memory.”

Redbridge manager Jon Jacobs told jewishnews.co.uk: “Sometimes, you have to just say the Football Gods aren’t with you. This was the craziest game of football I have ever been involved with. Neither team wanted to win until the very last kick of the shoot-out”

“Hendon could have been 5-0 up in the first 25 minutes, we were lucky to only concede two. The second half of the first half was all us, we scored three and Hendon were lucky when the half-time whistle blew.

“By the time we went 6-4 up in extra-time, the game should have been over. The second half of extra-time saw both teams out on their feet, and then Dovi scores their equaliser on one leg! In between, we lost our substitute to injury, five mins after coming on.

“In the shoot-out, they missed two penalties, we had two chances to seal the tie but four consecutive misses saw them finally triumph.

“I’m sure Alan Hansen would be having a sleepless night with the defending but it was great entertainment, Redbridge and Hendon both had chances to kill the game off but on reflection I’m gutted we have lost this cup tie. But we didn’t go out wondering, we gave it all, it was our first game for six weeks and both teams looked shattered so it really could have been any score.

“6-6 and lose on penalties, five-star entertainment, but we had three chances to kill the game off and didn’t take it. Good luck to Hendon in the semi-final.”

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS TO FOLLOW…

————————–

PREMIER DIVISION:

FIXTURES & RESULTS:
TABLE:

FC TEAM A P NORTH LONDON RAIDERS A P
MATCH POSTPONED – WATERLOGGED PITCH

————————–

MACCABI LONDON LIONS A 4 HARMEN 1
The Lions moved to within a point of second spot as they turned on the style to defeat Harmen.

In control, they found themselves 3-0 up at the break as Max Kyte scored twice from the penalty spot, with James Gold and an own goal – from Zac Rose’s cross – wrapping up the win.

Sam Castle scored for Harmen, for whom joint-manager Oliver Leslie told jewishnews.co.uk: “It’s very upsetting how a bunch of 30-year-olds can turn up on a Sunday morning and throw in the towel before the game had even started. We had a real chance to win a game that would have kept us in the title race, but now it looks over. Well done to David and his kids – let me emphasise kids. The future looks bright for Lions.”

————————–

OAKWOOD A 4 CAMDEN PARK 1
Oakwood moved up into joint-second as goals from Dave Woolman, Simon Davies, Brad Wine and Josh Rose saw them to this ultimately comfortable win.

Manager Daniel Kristall told jewishnews.co.uk: “It was good to be back on at our home ground in St Albans for the first time in three months where we met a competitive Camden side.

“Given the six changes to last weekend’s brave performance against Raiders, we had to dig into the squad. Our two centre-backs both made their first starts of the season for the A’s and it took about 20 minutes for us to settle into the game. At which point, we were lucky to be level.

“We were disappointed to go a goal down from a set-piece, but we hit back almost immediately just before half-time which was the pivotal moment in the match. We re-shuffled the team at half-time and looked a different side in the second half. The pace and power in a 20 minute spell ultimately won us the game along with our fitness levels. Camden looked fairly tired with quite a few of their guys cramping up in the last 20 minutes. Good luck to them for the rest of the season in their quest to remain in the Premier Division.

“Overall, a good win and even more so with the amount of regular first team players missing. It was a true test of our squad and we certainly passed. We are now joint-second and still fighting to finish as high as we possibly can. We now turn our attention to the cups and have two weeks to prepare for our rescheduled trip to Leeds.”

————————–

DIVISION ONE:

FIXTURES & RESULTS
TABLE

BRADY MACCABI 4 FC TEAM B 4
Brady dropped more points in the title race as not even a Reiss Mogilner hat-trick was enough to see them to the points.

Michael Kenley was also on target for the hosts, but goals from Andy Sheena, Richard Salmon, James Korn and Danny Moss earned the visitors a points.

Team player-manager Mitch Young told jewishnews.co.uk: “It was a good game played in difficult conditions and I think a draw is probably a fair result. Both teams had chances and obviously the hill made a big difference in each half to who was on top.

“I am proud of my team for battling hard on a difficult pitch in difficult conditions. Both teams and good teams, good players, good guys and it was a good advert for sunday league. I also thought the referee had a great game and was up with play the whole game meaning he could make sensible decisions.”~

————————–

BRIXTON OLD BOYS 3 SPEC FC 1
Brixton claimed a massive win in the bid to escape the drop – while at the same time denying SPEC the chance to move into second spot.

Dan Kuber scored a hat-trick for Brixton, with Zack Neiman netting SPEC’s consolation. Player-manager Ricky Lawrence told jewishnews.co.uk: “Brixton deserved their victory. They rode their luck in the first half and we should have gone into half-time with a lead, but instead Brixton nicked a goal. The second half they defended very well and hit us on the break too.”

————————–

REAL SOSOBAD 6 FAITHFOLD B 0
Real Sosobad moved up a place into fifth spot as they recorded the most emphatic result of the day.

Dan Lassman and Ashley Stanton scored two each, with James Law and Sam McCarthy also on target.

Manager Dan Shafron told jewishnews.co.uk: “It was good to get back to winning ways. Sometimes a poor streak can have a knock on confidence and a result like this has lifted the mood across the squad. I’m proud of how the boys went about business today. We were clinical, fearless going forward and took no prisoners. The subs made a huge difference in particular Richard Rosenthal who was the key to opening up the Faithfold defence and got three assists. We now look forward to our huge cup game with Oakwood B next week.

————————–

REDBRIDGE B 5 LOS BLANCOS 1
Redbridge put some distance between themselves and bottom spot as they turned in this impressive win.

David Fialka and Sam Moss scored two each, with Richie Caplin also on target.

Simon Moses scored for the Blanco boys.

————————–

WOODFORD WANDERERS 4 OAKWOOD B 2
Woodford increased their lead at the top of the table to six points as they ran out deserved winners.

Adam Poole put them ahead in the 25th minute, latching on to an Alex Aviram free-kick, and within five minutes of the restart were 2-0 up after some brilliant football on the right wing between James Ryan and Tom Alexander, who crossed low for Mitch Hahn to score at the near post from an angle.

Sloppy defending allowed Oakwood back into the game and then more sloppy defending from a corner saw them equalise, but with 15 minutes remaining, the superb James Ryan converted another Aviram free-kick to restore their lead.

Oakwood threw everything in search of an equaliser, but with five minutes to go, Aviram whipped in yet another free-kick which saw Ryan audaciously flick the ball behind him and into the top corner.

Joint-manager Daryl Kay told jewishnews.co.uk: “What a win – and thoroughly deserved. We were superior in every position on the pitch and but for their goalie making three brilliant saves, it would have been more.

“We had a last minute change of pitch due to Fairlop calling our game off, but were determined to play and credit to Oakwood, they were as well. The pitch was still terrible and we said that we couldn’t afford to carry anyone today, and everyone stepped up the plate.

“We were brilliant today and we showed the league today that we are the team to beat. I want to nominate the whole team for TOTW, it was the complete performance in tough conditions. But a special mention to James Ryan who had probably his best 90 mins in a Woodfofd shirt.”

James Abrams scored twice for Oakwood, for whom manager Jason Stein told jewishnews.co.uk: “With Woodford all but securing the title last week in the eyes of some, we knew this was always going to be tough match. And given the conditions I’m reluctant to call it a football match, but 22 people did indeed run after a ball for 90 minutes.

“I don’t feel there was much between the sides but once again we were undone by our own weaknesses from set-pieces with three Woodford goals coming from them. Fair play to Woodford because not much football could be played today.

“We left ourselves an awful lot to do at 2-0 down and we showed terrific character to get it back to 2-2. At 2-2 we really fluffed our lines and missed two terrific chances that would have seen us go ahead including a Carl Peters header being cleared off the line. Unfortunately it didn’t help that going into a match like this we were no where near full strength due to circumstances outside of my control.

“Ultimately I don’t think we deserved to win today and our decision making left a lot to be desired. But I’ll take the positives. We may be eight behind Woodford, but with us having three games in hand I don’t think they’ll be spraying the Palwin just yet. There is a lot of football left to be played before the medals are handed out and I’m sure that my boys will respond to this.”

————————–

DIVISION TWO:

FIXTURES & TABLES
TABLE

BOCA JEWNIORS P ATHLETIC BILBAUM P
MATCH POSTPONED – WATERLOGGED PITCH

————————–

CATFORD & BROMLEY 1 MACCABI LONDON LIONS B 1
Lions saw their title hopes suffer a dent as they were held to a point by a spirited Cats side.

Daniel Fattal scored for the visitors, with manager Samuel Marchant telling jewishnews.co.uk: “Catford provided a real test for us today and we think the result is a fair one. We had a small squad today and it did show, and being reduced to 10 men for the final 30 minutes (due to injury) was not ideal.

“The lads battled superbly hard, left nothing out on the pitch and were thoroughly deserving of the point. On another day, Kingston dispatches his penalty, Brafman’s header isn’t blocked by our own man, and we have 11 men for the full 90, and we probably get the three points. That’s football though and we now head on to the next fixture where we are expecting at least four players to return to the squad.

“Of course a win today would’ve been lovely, but we are still poised well for a promotion battle and we stay positive after a solid performance”.

For the Cats, the point was their fourth from a possible six against the Lions, with their recent run of form now standing at one loss from seven in the League. Danny Yeshua finished off a fine team move to earn them a point, with player-manager Jeff Gotch telling jewishnews.co.uk: “Our position in table doesn’t tell the whole story and we can be happy with how we played today.

“Their goalkeeper was in inspired form and we could have been 3 or 4 up if it wasn’t for his heroics. We move on and aim to start moving up the table, it’s not a coincidence or luck that over 267 minutes against Lions we haven’t lost.”

————————–

NORTH LONDON RAIDERS C 5 TEMPLE FORTUNE 0
Raiders moved up into joint-fourth spot thanks to this comprehensive win over bottom-side Fortune.

Fortune player-manager Jonathan Cohen told jewishnews.co.uk: “The scoreline doesn’t  reflect the effort that was shown by my team at all.  We played for 90 minutes with no recognised keeper and about 60 minutes with just 10 men owing to an injury, but honestly we never ever gave up and the on pitch camaraderie was acknowledged by all.  

“In truth the Raiders should have scored more and they would probably admit that quite often they shot when the better option might have been to pass.  They are a good side and a really nice bunch of lads – their manager made a point of telling me and David Woolf how much respect he had for our team.  We wish them well for the rest of the season.”

————————–

REAL HENDON 4 FAITHFOLD C 2
Real Hendon got to back to winning ways as they consolidated second spot.

RA Noe scored twice, with Motty Korman and Yossi Lubin also on target as the JN-sponsored side fought back from trailing 2-0 at the break.

Player-manager Chaim Gothold told jewishnews.co.uk: “We came out strong in the second half and deservedly got back into the game and went on to win it. Motty Korman was superb in the middle, constantly driving us forward and dictating play. Yossi Lubin came on with 30 minutes to go and changed the game with his direct running, assist for the winner and the fourth goal to end the contest.”

————————–

SCRABBLE 3 L’EQUIPE 0
Scrabble made it 15 wins from 15 as they claimed another comfortable three points.