Voice of Jewish Sport: It’s Wembley woe for Wycombe hero Joe

THEY SAY it’s a funny old game, but Joe Jacobson definitely wasn’t laughing last weekend. The Wycombe Wanderers defender scored a sensational extra time free-kick (though that will probably be taken away from him too for good measure) to take the Chairboys to the brink of victory in Saturday’s League Two Play-Off final. However, joy was soon turned to despair as he found himself lying prostrate on the Wembley turf when Southend netted an equaliser with barely 30 seconds of the 120 minutes left. The match went to penalties – which incidentally saw him effortlessly dispatch his spot kick – but it wasn’t enough as Southend went on to win the lottery of the shoot-out to deny him not only netting a winning Wembley goal, but also League One football next season. Speaking to him less than 72 hours after the full-time whistle blew, his emotions were a mixture of hurt and pride, a sense of what may have been, but also a realisation that that’s football. Where does he go from here? Holiday for relaxation is the first port of call, before pre-season training and then he and the rest of the squad go again, to hopefully go one step further next season and banish memories of what whould have been – but for 30 odd seconds – one of the happiest days of his life.

THE ISRAELI national judo team may have to have their fighting wits about them both on and off the mat. The 11-member delegation decided to travel to Morocco to take part in the fifth annual World Judo Masters event – despite recommendations from Israel’s national security agency that they should avoid travelling without bodyguards. Moroccan authorities reportedly promised to assign them security having refused to grant permission for an armed Israeli escort to accompany them, while the shin bet security agency advised them to avoid public displays or symbols which could reveal their identity. Is the trip worth it? With qualifying points for the 2016 Rio Olympics are up for grabs, it’s a trip they think is worth making.