Sinai reign supreme at biggest ever schools tournament

It was ‘goals and glory’ for Sinai as they beat 34 other teams to claim the title at the latest – and largest ever – Maccabi GB Primary School Boys football tournament.

The tournament, at Mill Hill PowerLeague, saw 35 teams from 14 schools take part, with an incredible 325 young, Jewish footballers donning their boots and shin pads for the event – the most ever to attend an MGB-run School Sports Tournament.

The teams were split into six groups, with each one playing each other once in a round-robin league format. The boys clearly drew inspiration from the recent England internationals as every game was played with a real competitive edge, combining commitment with a little flair. As the groups reached the latter stages, the games became even more exciting as the teams threw caution to the wind in order to do everything they could to top their respective groups.

After the group stages, came the knock-out part of the tournament, with Wolfson Hillel, Kerem, Sinai and North West reaching the Semi-Finals. After two end-to-end matches, including a couple of tough tackles followed by handshakes, Sinai was pitted against Wolfson Hillel in the Final.

With Sinai taking the lead, their opponents knew they had to up their game to end the match victorious. However, they were not able to respond and Sinai took the crown with Brandon Roach scoring the only goal of the game to clinch his side’s tournament title. The afternoon concluded with the medals presentation to the victorious teams.

Maccabi GB’s Head of Sport, Matt Travers, spoke about the latest MGB School Sports Tournament, “Every single School Sports Tournament – whether it’s for males or females, Primary or Secondary Schools – we are hitting way past the 100-person mark for the amount of young people we are engaging. This tournament was especially pleasing to get 325 Jewish, children there – what an achievement! Being able to put on these events is great for MGB and, of course, for the schools involved. The competitive, but friendly, atmosphere we provide is something we aim to continue and we look forward to our next event [Primary School Girls Football on 26th November]”.