Goldberg’s head boys
Avi Goldberg believes HMH were rewarded for their effort levels and intensity as they came out on top against Oakwood for the second consecutive week, with their latest triumph helping them leapfrog their rivals into second place in the MGBSFL. Missing key players Adam Abadi, Sam Monjack and Ethan Krell, HMH produced a disciplined performance to win in gusty conditions at the Hive. Top-scorer Oscar Wagner and Clark Norton went close early on, but the home side needed to wait until the second half to open the scoring with left-back Josh Goldstein curling home a delightful free-kick. Jake Doffman preserved a clean sheet with a vital save to deny Dave Woolman and a late second from Ben Winters secured the points as HMH climbed above their rivals. HMH boss Avi Goldberg said: “The whole team were superb, showing great intensity from start to finish. The goals and the win were well deserved and just reward for this. We now look forward to another big game next week against Lions.” Oakwood joint-manager Dan Kristall believes luck deserted his team. “I probably sound like a broken record, but the free-kick awarded against us for the first goal cost us the game. I thought it was the best tackle in the match.” Kristall went on to say: “In three or four of the big games this season, big decisions are going against us at crucial times and it is really costing us. They aren’t even tight 50-50 calls. I must add that I really appreciate the referee stepping in at the last minute, but these are the big decisions and they are really going against us right now. In tight games, these sorts of decisions decide football matches.” Kristall hopes Alex Lee, Tom Cantor and Harvey Kaye return in time for Oakwood’s cup semi-final a week on Sunday, and said: “We now have a fortnight to prepare for a very tough Camden side who we know will be up for it.”
Goals from Daniel Green, Reiss Mogilner and Will Beresford ensured Lions claimed Rowley Lane bragging rights again as Brady moved another step closer to the relegation trap-door. “Brady are always stern opposition and although they’ve been struggling this season, they always give everything they have, and the first half was extremely even, perhaps with Brady having the batter chances,” said MLL’s Sam Marchant. “Jordan Sharifian made three very important saves but the second half was a different prospect as we switched formation and things began to open up. We were able to play more football in the second half, getting the ball down and being clinical. It was a good performance in the second
half and hopefully we can take that into the next big game against HMH.” Brady boss Joel Nathan admitted his team was punished for not taking their chances. He said: “It was the same story, especially from our one-on-one chances.” Nathan insists the scoreline flattered Lions and said: “There’s no way they were three goals better than us, and that was with us fielding three Masters’ players and three under-18’s.”
A late header from Avi Markiewicz ensured Los Camden suffered a cup hangover as they were forced to settle for a point against a Faithfold team scrapping for survival. Faithfold played the first 70 minutes with 10 players due to availability problems, but they forged ahead via a stunning solo effort from Gav Lewis. Camden responded with goals from top-scorer Oli Sade and David Kanzen, before Markiewicz rescued Faithfold with a rare headed goal. Markiewicz said: “It had been a really tough second half of the season but today was something else. We had nine men just hours before the game. I must have asked every Jew I ever knew in order to get 11 players out. I can’t stress enough how proud I am of all those who played. The effort they put in was out of this world and they really deserved this draw.”
The Dons secured their seventh league win courtesy of goals from Isaac Virchis, Adam Isaacs, Zach Cohen and Richard Reback. Virchis opened the scoring with his sixth goal in nine games following good work from Isaacs. Adam Bowman set up the second, finding Isaacs whose shot arrowed into the top corner. Bowman’s corner was headed home by topscorer Cohen before Jamie Nagioff’s cross was turned home by Reback. Dons’ boss Brandon Hamme said: “The boys produced another solid performance and there are lots of positives to take forward. A third clean sheet in four games is an extremely impressive feat and is a real testament to how well we have been defensively since the turn of the year. “We played with lots of freedom and confidence when going forward and stayed disciplined throughout.”
Two goals from Josh Bloom powered Raiders into the second round of the BGT following a comeback win over second division FC Team. Raiders stormed into a 2-0 lead before the home side rallied to lead 3-2 with strikes from Richard Salmon (2) and Connor Perl. Raiders responded to win a game where their scorers were Josh Bloom (2), Matt Warner, Aron Gale and Scott Waissel. NLR’s Gideon Gale said: “We dominated the ball but made sloppy errors, which need to be cut out if we plan on winning this tournament. Credit to FC team who made it difficult for us.” FC Team boss Mitch Young admitted wasteful finishing cost his side. “We missed a hatful of chances to kill the game at 3-3, with a mixture of good keeping and bad finishing”. He went on to say: “Overall, I am proud of the team who fought hard against an NLR team who have obvious quality, particularly in midfield areas”.