Charity begins at home
► FOOTBALL JORDAN Sapler expressed delight after Hendon United Sports sent out a title warning by crushing cup holders Oakwood A 4-1 in the inaugural MGBSFL Charity Shield.
Hendon were at their ruthless best, with Gav Noe giving them a flying start, opening the scoring with a deft flicked finish over Oakwood goalkeeper Joe Botchin.
Oakwood, who also finished runners-up last season, responded well, with new arrival Ben Haftel equalising soon after. After a good run and cross down the Oakwood left, Haftel took one touch to control the ball before slotting a low drive into the far corner past Russell Corin.
Avi Korman restored Hendon’s advantage with the goal of the game – he unleashed a venomous drive into the top corner from 20 yards.
Recent arrival Jonti Aremband made it 3-1 with a smart finish from an acute angle before former player-manager Greg Corin completed the route with Hendon’s fourth.
Hendon manager Jordan Sapler commented: “The boys did exactly what I asked of them. They worked hard and put what we’ve done in training into the game and it was a great performance.”
Hendon captain Ari Last said: “We’ve started well. We’ve kept most of the title-winning team together and have added three or four exciting young players, so we’re looking forward to the season.”
The win signalled a first trophy for recentlyappointed Hendon boss Sapler. He commented: “The boys did exactly what I asked of them. They worked hard and put what we’ve done in training into the game. It was a great performance.”
His comments were echoed by captain Ari Last, who said: “We’ve kept most of the title-winning team together and have added three or four exciting young players, so we’re looking forward to the season.” Oakwood joint-manager Dan Kristall described the match as “a useful friendly played on a heavy surface”. He said: “We used the game to experiment, both in terms of personnel and system. “We included three triallists and our squad was a mix of around two or three A-team regulars and a good core of B-team players. We tried different players in different positions. A special mention to Joe Botchin. He was outstanding and it wasn’t for him, the score would have been a lot higher.”
Playing down the significance of the result, Kristall went on to say: “When you play against a full-strength Hendon - not just in personnel but also in terms of performance - to beat them as we have many times in recent years, you have to be at your very best and today we gave away some sloppy goals. Combine that with the missing regulars and it was always going to be tough.
“We look forward to doing battle with them this year. We are confident we can get the better of them over the course of the season, as we showed in the cup final. We now look forward to Lions a week on Sunday, where we will welcome back a host of players and look forward to the challenge of what I believe will be a competitive Premier Division, especially with the addition of HMH.”
Hendon begin their MGBSFL title defence at home to new boys HMH at Hadley FC on Sunday morning.
HENDON: Russell Corin, Jonti Aremband, Ari Nevies, Simon Peterman, Mordy Weiler, Ari Last, Jonny Kay, Avi Korman, Zac Lewis, Gav Noe, Greg Corin. Subs: Daniel Garfinkle, Yehuda Korman
Scorers: Noe, Korman, Aremband, G. Corin
OAKWOOD: Joe Botchin, Max Clynes, Tom Cantor, Dale Bradman, Lee Warner, Jordan Sherne, James Frener, Josh Bharier, Rafi Stone, Dan Ash, Edan Dodi. Subs: Ben Haftel, Ben Feingold, Ben Loofe, Max Robin, Josh Cuby, Josh Pugh
Scorer: Haftel