‘Redbridge will bring title home,’ says Rank
FOOTBALL SAM Rank is targeting two more victories after Redbridge Jewish Care B boosted their Division One title hopes with a 2-1 victory over Scrabble FC.
Strikes from Brad Gayer and Kane Hopps guided the east Londoners to their 11th win in 13 matches. They trail leaders Lions B by four points, but have three matches in hand.
“This game was the first of three cup finals as our objective is to win the title. Two more victories in the next fortnight will bring the title to Essex,” said Rank.
Elliot Espinoza replied for Scrabble and manager Ray Abrahams conceded Redbridge are now the favourites for the title. He said: “We’re disappointed not to have won this game.”
Nick Grosse ended his reign as manager of Los Blancos in style, beating
NL Raiders B 2-1 with goals from Louie Libbert and Avi Kestenbaum.
Grosse said: “It was an emotional day. I told the players before kick-off it would be my last game in charge, possibly even as a player. Adam Hersh, Joel Kutner, Benjy Israel and Jeff Gross, who were all founding members, also played their final game for the club.
“It has been an honour and a pleasure to manage and play for the team. Throughout its short history there has been a philosophy of comraderie and friendship which has meant that my team-mates have been top quality guys with strong values and good spirits. The youngsters we leave behind to continue the Blancos legend have the ability to take the club all the way to the top. That was my parting message to them and I hope they believe it as much as I do.”
Jason Stein’s “half-time hair-dryer” shocked Oakwood B into life in the 2-2 draw against Finchley City. Jamie Gurvitz and Sam Leader registered for Finchley, with Daniel Seligman and Ben Annis the marksmen for Oakwood.
Oakwood boss Stein said: “Our performance wasn’t good enough in the first half. We were not at the races and that’s what has cost us the win.”
Rob Shooman said it was “good to get everyone firing” after Faithfold A crushed Hendon B 5-1. Adam Littas (2), Jamie Kent (2) and Craig Cole eased them home.
Oscar Wagner (2) and Alex Bloch helped Raiders A inflict a first defeat on Camden Park boss Stirling Kay.
NLR manager Dan Shafron praised his team for “a good and solid display.”
Kay insists “the future looks bright” despite the 3-0 defeat. “We were punished for three mistakes but the lads showed they want to move their game on by the way they adapted to a new formation”.
Simon Linden expressed relief after late goals from Jake Marks and Jordan Sharifian kept Temple Fortune on course for second place in Division Two following a 2-0 triumph over Mill Hill Dons.
Linden said: “I knew Mill Hill would cause us problems and they probably edged the contest, but I’m proud of my team. Like last week, it wasn’t the prettiest performance but we dug in, put in a shift and got the job done.”
Rob Simmons (2), James Mandell and Mark Singer fired newly-crowned champions L’Equipe to a 4-3 win over Boca Jewniors. Oliver Kyte, Jamie Leboff and Sam Simon replied.
Raphael Noe (3), Benny Goldberg (2) and Benni Sluckis (2) helped Real Hendon recover from a goal down to crush Faithfold B 7-1. Real’s Motty Korman commented: “I’m not sure why it has taken us 15 games to finally put in a very good performance.”