Jack jump starts Town’s push for top flight
OAKWOOD TOWN produced one of their best performances of the season as they stunned promotion-chasing Hapoel Hampstead to boost their own hopes of going up.
In what was their final game of the season, Hampstead were looking to move into second spot in the Maccabi GB Southern Football League Division One table, but two goals from Jack Myers coupled with Max Lever’s strike saw the visitors come away with a 3-1 win, a result which lifted them into third spot and keeps alive their own hopes of Premier Division football next season.
Delighted with the performance of his team, Town manager Mikey Cohen said: “It was a real battle for both teams. I thought we stuck to our game plan very well and every single man in the squad put in a real shift for each other, which got us over the line. I think we ran out deserved winners in the end.”
Knowing what the victory does for them, he added: “It was a very good determined display which gives us a big opportunity to finish second in the league. If we win our final two matches, we’ll likely finish second in the table. Overall, it’s been a good season, at times we’ve had a shortage of players and results in those games have cost us winning the title.”
Matti Brooks scored for Hampstead. Their manager Jordan Conn said: “We put in a good performance, but Oakwood are good opposition.
“It was well fought, but unfortunately a couple of mistakes took the game away from us.”
Reflecting back on their campaign, he added: “There were some great patches in which we looked like we could challenge for the title and as a team we are hoping to bring this in for next season. We have enjoyed our football this year with some great new players who have joined the team and we can’t wait to see what the future holds.”
Redbridge Jewish Care Purple did close in on the leaders, as their 8-1 win over Temple Fortune sees them move within two points of Mill Hill Dons. Ryan Cole and Max Pincus scored two each, while Jimmy Castle, Brad Gayer, Danny Gold and Jordan Sapler were also on target. Michael Goldberg hit Temple Fortune’s consolation. Redbridge are two points behind the leaders, but also have two games in hand.
It wasn’t a good day for The Dons as they bowed out of the David Wolff Division One Trophy, Real Salt Beef beating them 1-0 to book their place in the semifinals of the competition. Ethan Louis Kessel scored the winner.
Hendon United sit joint-top of the Premier Division thanks to a 6-1 win over NL Raiders. Akiva Restan scored a hat-trick, Gav Lewis chipped in with two goals, and Jono Mizrahi netted their sixth. Hendon’s Alex Rosenthal said: “It was a huge team effort and was also great to have Russell Corin back in goal at such a crucial stage of the season.”
A depleted Raiders squad saw former manager David Isaacs forced into a rare first appearance of the season. Josh Bloom had headed in a Raiders’ equaliser.
Oakwood A, joint leaders with Hendon, were in cup action, booking their place in the final of the David Wolff Premier Trophy with a 2-1 win over Stoke Salmon. Louis Basso and Felix Shalom scored for The O’s, with Nicholas Barnett netting for Salmon.
Redbridge Jewish Care White took a giant step towards the Division Two title as they won the clash of the toptwo, beating Club De Chigwell 3-1 to move four points ahead of their nearest rivals.
Fighting back from a goal down, strikes from Sam Cahill, Bailey Brown and Lewis Jacobs steered them to the win. Manager Brandon Levene said: “It was an incredibly tense title clash against a great side. I’m incredibly proud of the boys, they fought for everything on the pitch and left nothing behind. A well-deserved win. The better side won on the day.”
Millbrook Park Calcio kept alive their promotion hopes as Gabriel Cooke’s strike, minutes before the break, saw them beat Brady 1-0.
Calcio manager Idan Levy said: “It was a great result and a fantastic three points. We’re on a really good unbeaten run since the winter break and are trying as best as we can to extend this.
“I think the boys are starting to believe that if this run carries on, and the teams above us drop points, we can definitely challenge for promotion.”
The other two games in the division saw emphatic wins for Hampstead Ducks and Camden City. Camden consolidated sixth place in the table thanks to a 7-3 win over Beitar Bushey. David Cohen and Zach Shooter scored two each, with Zack Cowan, Josh SarnaStar and Jonathan Roskin also on target. The Ducks are a place below them in seventh, after they won 6-0 at 40 Year Wanderers.
Manchester Maccabi also have silverware in their sights, after they booked their place in the final of the Peter Morrison Trophy, their long trip down south paying dividends as they won 2-1 at London Athletico.
There was a battle of the bottom two sides in the Maccabi Masters Football League, though it proved to be somewhat of a one-sided encounter as second-from-bottom EHRS Stonegrove beat Hendon Harriers 6-0. Martin Seifert bagged a hat-trick, with Ian Leader, Dan Hodes and a Simon Lawrence penalty sealing the rout.
In the League Cup, goals from Scott Ansher and Kevin Lotzof weren’t enough to prevent Brady from losing 4-2 to Scrabble in their Group A clash.
League leaders Maccabi London Lions cruised to victory in their Group B clash against Temple Fortune as six goals from Gideon Barnett saw them on their way to a 14-0 win.
Wayne Davidson and Daniel Sugarman scored hat-tricks, with Michael Abraham claiming their other two goals. Wayne Davison scored Fortune’s consolation.