Voice of Jewish Sport

AND SO the waiting is nearly over. Hendon United A are 90 minutes from securing an historic second treble. Only a three-goal margin of defeat to London Maccabi Lions Blue would prevent them from securing the Premier League title, to go with the Cyril Anekstein and Peter Morrison cups. And when you consider they haven’t lost a game all season, the odds of Jamie Kyte’s side – even he admits “there’s no chance of winning by that margin” – helping out Norstar is as remote as it gets. Champagne corks at the ready…

WHAT DO Arsenal and Maccabi Tel Aviv’s basketball team have in common? Both were looking for a first cup win since 2005. Okay, so Tel Aviv have won domestic tournaments since then, but Sunday’s Eurobasket win – the Champions League of basketball – was their first in nine years. Unlike Arsenal, they weren’t expected to do much having reached the last four of their competition, but a win against Milan, was followed by a thrilling 98-86 overtime win over Real Madrid. Joyous scenes from around 30,000 Israelis greeted the team on their return, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offering his congratulations, saying how they brought the country “a lot of honour.” Amen to that.

AND SO the curse of Bella Guttman remains intact. Having proclaimed back in 1962 that the side would go 100 years without winning a European title, the Portuguese side were making their eighth attempt to prove him wrong. If losing to Chelsea in injury time last year wasn’t galling enough for them – and pretty much all other football lovers – there was a sense of inevitability as they prepared for their ill-fated penalty shoot-out against Sevilla. Just another 48 years to wait.