Jewdinese win top-of-the-table Division Three clash

Jewdinese player-manager said his side knew they had to beat Catford in order to finish in the top two – and his side didn’t disappoint as they beat their fellow promotion-seekers.

MGBSFL Division Three
Jewdinese 5 Catford & Bromley 2
Sunday, 9 March, 2014

A double from Zack Collins, plus goals from Joe Meisel, James Ross and Erlich himself gave them the win which saw them move to within two points of top spot.

He said: “I feel that our players knew what the game meant and it was made clear before the match kicked-off that in order to gain promotion we had to win today. I feel that we wanted the game more and worked for the whole game.”

Delighted with the performance of his side and a win which he said they “100 percent deserved”, he said: “I cannot fault anyone’s performance. It was a real team’s performance in which everyone played together and fought for each other.”

Even happier with the display, given that his lost when the sides met earlier in the season, he said: “We knew after that loss last that we he were a much better side, but even in this game they fought for 90 minutes and gave us a harder game than the scoreline suggests.

“But we pressed well, took our chances and I believe it was our best performance of the whole season.”

The win sees them sitting just two points off top spot, with three games left to play, though Erlich knows their destiny isn’t in their own hands. “Unfortunately the title is not in our hands,” he said.

“Maybe that will benefit us, however as long as we win our games then hopefully it can turn into a trophy at the end of the season.

“This is our first season in the League, with a large bulk of the team having never played with each other. We have grown as a team and have improved on poor performances over the season.”

Ryan Kangisser and Joel Isaacs both scored for the Cats, and captain Adam Luria said: “We gifted them a three-goal lead. They took all five goals well but really every one came from an avoidable mistake from our point of view. We had enough chances to win the game ourselves but were awful in front of goal and in fairness they missed their fair share too. It could have been double figures for both teams, but Jewdinese deserved to win. A poor first half lost it for us.”

Saying his side were nowhere near as good as they were when they beat them in the reverse fixture, he said: “Then we performed to our full potential, this time we were nowhere near it. Jewdinese are a good team and deserved their win and quite simply we didn’t play well enough to match them.”

Now trailing the leaders Norstar by six points, but with a game in hand, he says all they can do now is win their remaining games and see where it takes them. “We’ll go all out in our last four games, try to regain some of our lost pride and see what happens,” he said. “As an unfashionable club without the connections to play a real part in the merry go round of Jewish players, we’re happy to be competing at the right end of the table. Many Catford players (myself included) have only ever played for one club and we struggle year on year for a squad so this season should be seen as a success.”