‘Never-say-die spirit pulled us through,’ says Kay
Stirling Kay praised the character of his team after Los Camden A continued their surge up the division with a hardearned win over former leaders HMH. George Goldberg had put HMH ahead but strikes from Gav Krieger and Oliver Sade earned Los Camden another impressive victory. Camden boss Stirling Kay commented: “I am so proud of the lads - this is a team with a never-say-die attitude that does not know when they are beaten. We ground out the result I believe we deserved for the way we played.” HMH’s Avi Goldberg reflected on “a disappointing result” and said: “Credit to Stirling’s team who battled away and showed they are a difficult side to beat.”
Sam Rank congratulated Oakwood for “executing their game-plan to perfection” as leaders Redbridge dropped points for only the second time this season. Substitute Alex Paraskeva broke the deadlock in the second half but a tidy finish from Louie Libbert ensured the visi- tors came away with a draw. Oakwood joint-manager Jason Stein commented: “A point in Essex is never to be sniffed at, so while we’re pleased with the point we know we left goals out there and should have won this one.”
James Jaconelli scored four times with “some of the best finishing you will see,” according to team-mate Jake Sanders, as Fairlop maintained their title charge with an impressive win over Raiders. Harrison Grant clinched the points for the east Londoners in a game where Aron Gale (2) and Jake Doffman replied. Sanders said: “We were far from our best today. Some poor defending on set-pieces allowed
Fairlop back into the game, but the second half was much better. From the moment we levelled it at 3-3, there was only going to be one winner.” NLR joint-manager Tyler Smith and substitute Jack Davis fired hat-tricks as Galaxy surged into the top three following their biggest win since joining the league. Luke Lewis, Jonny Daitz and Josh Cohen added the gloss in a game where joint-manager Luke Lewis remarked: “We were gutted not to reach double figures. On the plus side, our new formation worked well and we were ruthless from the start.” Scrabble’s Ray Abrahams described Galaxy as “a good, young footballing side who are without doubt heading for the Premier Division, if not this season then next”. Richard Hayim expressed frustration after Los Camden B suffered a 3-0 defeat at the hands of unbeaten Jewdinese. Zac Collins (2) and Josh Rose steered Jewdinese to their first win. Hayim said: “It’s always tough to take a loss, especially when you know you have a squad more than capable to challenge the top teams in the division.
An early strike from Steve Summers was enough to condemn leaders Faithfold B to their first defeat. RJC boss Richard Bronzite commented: “It was a great response after last week’s defeat. I couldn’t have asked for more.” Faithfold player-manager Martin Smulovitch reflected on “a thoroughly disappointing trip to Essex”. He said: “We struck the bar and there were a few glaring misses. The scoreline could have been very different on another day.”
Scrabble boss Jon Yantin conceded “Faithfold deserved their first point of the season,” following a well-contested draw at the Hive. Faithfold forged ahead after an outstanding solo effort from Avi Garson, who beat five players before netting. Neil Kochane replied for Scrabble.
Ricky Lawrence admitted SPEC FC rode their luck as the promotion rivals finished deadlocked. Jordan Stein’s opener for the Dons was cancelled out by SPEC’s Mark Leader. Lawrence commented: “We were fortunate to only be a goal down at half-time but we improved during the thereafter and deserved our equaliser. MH Dons played some very good stuff and probably should have been out of sight. They’re a very good team.” MHD’s Brandon Hamme remarked: “There were some really good performances throughout the team and the attitude and commitment was first class.”
A last-minute winner from Jacob Kalms ensured Temple Fortune exacted revenge on an FC Team side who had thrashed them 9-1 less than a month ago. The win, capped by goals from Danny Sherman and Mark Singer marked a remarkable turnaround for Simon Linden’s men. “It was an excellent win against tough opposition who destroyed us only last month,” enthused Linden. “I believe we’ve turned the corner over the last two weeks, so credit to the squad for all playing a part and winning two on the bounce.”