Wagner and Abadi have got the lot

THERE HAVE been some excellent attacking partnerships in the MGBSFL over the years. Maccabi London Lions enjoyed several successful seasons with Michael Pearson and Lee Bibring at the helm and, of course, there was Daryl Phillips and Ben Lewis leading the line for the Faithfold team that was so dominant in the late 1990s and early 2000s. There was also the little and large pairing of Lee Cash and Ryan Sher at North West Neasden, who were managed by Jamie Cole, and also James Gershfield and Cash. I’m sure I’ve missed a few, so I’d be interested to hear about more from earlier.

I braved the cold on Sunday to see a new combination that is making waves in the cup. Although Fairlop FC were missing a couple of key players, it was hard not to be impressed by the pace, power and movement of HMH duo Oscar Wagner and Adam Abadi. It reminded me a little of Shearer and Sutton in their pomp.

They tore Fairlop to shreds in the opening 45 minutes, with both players equally as effective with head and feet. In the end it was an exercise in damage limitation for a Fairlop team whose priorities clearly lie in the league.

The east Londoners were somewhat shell-shocked with the ease at which HMH got through their usually well-drilled defence.

Looking ahead to this weekend, it will be interesting to see how HMH fare on the big stage at Rowley Lane, against a Maccabi London Lions team who have won their last two matches.

Fairlop, meanwhile, are also involved in a crucial match, against title rivals North London Galaxy. Once again, a bumper crowd is expected in a game that won’t be for the faint-hearted. Galaxy have shown great ambition in their first season, drafting in talented young players with first-team experience at London Lions, including Jack Mattey, Tyler Smith and Josh Shack. Manager Luke Lewis added to his pool this week, bringing in Louie Greenham and Nathan Schindler for what promises to be one of the games of the season.

● It appears Michael Klinger may have played his final match in Australia. Klinger, 38, is regarded as one of the country’s finest batsmen in white-ball cricket. But his exclusion from Perth Scorchers’ Big Blast team following a run of low scores is a worry. Team coach Adam Voges said: “It was a really tough decision to leave Maxy out. He’s been a wonderful player for us for a long period of time.”