Heading for the title
MGBSFL PREMIER DIVISION HMH 1 MLFC BLUE 2
G MLFC JOINT-MANAGER Max Kyte praised midfield general Ricky Rinder for a commanding performance as HMH’s title hopes received a major blow. Oscar Wagner put HMH ahead, but MLFC rallied to knock them off the top of the division with goals from Max Kyte and Josh Pistol. Kyte said: “Ricky was outstanding in a game where we held our nerves and trusted our game-plan. Ricky produced a terrific performance playing defensive midfield.” Kyte counterpart Avi Goldberg acknowledged MLFC had become HMH’s “bogey team but all credit to them for a gutsy performance”.
FAITHFOLD DOCMM WHITE 3 FAIRLOP FC 1
G AVI MARKIEWICZ praised his Faithfold players for a disciplined performance as they kept their title hopes alive by beating basement battlers Fairlop. Akiva Solomon (2) and Yoav Kestenbaum, with his first for the club, earned Faithfold their fifth win in nine matches. Fairlop’s goal came via a trademark effort from Brad Gayer. “This was a real team performance,” enthused Faithfold player-manager Markiewicz. “We all worked exceptionally hard for one another, both on and off the ball. We won every first and second ball and backed each other up and didn’t rise to any tactics intended to wind my players up.”
DIVISION ONE
NL RAIDERS 6 BROOK FARM ROVERS 0
G RAIDERS CONTINUED their merciless march towards the league title, with Aron Gale (2), Liron Mannie, Jordan Nathan, Matt Warner and Josh Bloom registering in the demolition of Rovers. “It was nice to see us picking up where we left off pre-Chanukah,” said NLR joint-manager Gideon Gale. “Having seen BFR’s previous results, namely taking points off Galaxy and Vale, we knew we were in for a tough game. The boys stepped up and in the end rounded off another impressive display. It was good to rotate a number of players and try some new things in preparation for our title decider against Galaxy next weekend.” Rovers joint-manager Dan Cohen said: “It was a really tough first game back for us after a few weeks off. Raiders are top of the league and unbeaten for a reason. They were simply too good for us today.”
JEWDINESE 1 HERTSWOOD VALE 2
G JAMES MILLET scored his 17th goal of the season as Hertswood Vale boosted their promotion hopes with an impressive win over Jewdinese. Daniel Reuben was their other scorer, with top-scorer Reiss Mogilner replying for the hosts. Jewdinese manager Darren Lawrence reflected on “a morning to forget”. He said: “We were awful today and although we were missing a few key players, that doesn’t excuse our performance.”
NL GALAXY 8 REDBRIDGE JC 0
G GALAXY BOSS Luke Lewis says his team were in “cruise control” as they maintained their unbeaten record with a big win over RJC. Joey Gold (3), Ethan Kessel (2), Dylan Kaye, James
Belchak and Adam Burchell completed the rout. Lewis said: “We dominated the ball from the first minute and got the goals to go with our excellent performance, as well as a clean sheet. We also gave debuts to Kessel and Burchell, who are two of the best Jewish footballers around.”
DIVISION TWO BORUSSIA BARNET 2 FC TEAM 2
● BORUSSIA BARNET showed “great spirit,” according to joint-manager Brad Papier, as they recovered from two goals down to draw with title rivals FC Team. Top-scorer Richard Salmon had given the visitors the upper hand, but Mitchell Gerber and Jack Mattey replied to earn Borussia a point. Papier said: “All things considered, it speaks volumes that we were disappointed to only come away with draw.” FC Team player-manager Mitch Young said: “We are very happy with the point considering the circumstances. We were struggling to field a team halfway through the week and signed Adam Klein, and Jon Breger had to come out of retirement. I felt we were the better team in the first half and arguably could have scored more. Borussia dominated the second half and we did well to hang on.”
PARIS SAINT-JEWMAIN 3 TEMPLE FORTUNE 4
● GARY HYAMS (3) kept Temple Fortune firmly in the promotion mix following a thriller against PSJ. Jonny Kaye had put Fortune ahead, only for Zac Summerfield, Dylan Levi and Joe Cohen to give PSJ the upper hand before the visitors rallied superbly. Fortune boss Simon Linden admitted he “didn’t get the tactics right in the opening 30 minutes but once I changed it around and moved Dan Harrod and Liam Stein into more central position, we got a grip on the game and just about edged it in the second half because we simply wanted it more.” PSJ manager Elio Elia expressed “frustration” with the result, but went on to say: “I’m very encouraged and proud of the boys. We are learning and improving with each game and the team definitely has a lot of potential for the future.”
NW LONDON BEARS 5 CLUB DE CHIGWELL 2
● THE BEARS earned their best result of the season as they made it three games without defeat following a crushing victory over CdC. Sam Morris (2), Zaki Doumou, Sam Shackleton and Rory Carlson steered them to victory. Daniel Garfinkle scored both goals for CdC. Bears’ joint-player-manager James Harpin said: “The result and display shows the massive improvement we have made since the start of the season. Having Morris and Doumou up top helped us today with both of them causing Chigwell major problems.”