Cahn-do attitude sees Ducks into cup semis
HAMPSTEAD DUCKS moved a step closer to reaching their first cup final after beating Camden City 6-3 in the quarter-finals of the David Wolff Division Two Trophy.
A hat-trick from Adam Cahn, coupled with strikes from Max Johnson, man-of-the-match Shlomo Elijah and Daniel Lewis, saw them set up a semi-final clash against Brady, meaning they’re now just 90 minutes away from a debut appearance at Wingate & Finchley.
Confident they can now go on and seal a place in the final, manager Jacob Summerfield said: “We’re confident. We’ve beaten Brady before this season and know we can do it again. They’re a great side, with great players and a great manager, but we feel that if we’re on top of our game there’s no reason we can’t reach the first final in our history.”
Praising his side’s “absolutely wonderful football’ in Sunday’s win, he added: “We controlled the midfield beautifully, with some really amazing performances from Shlomo, Daniel and Rafi Zamet. Captain Jonathan Stelzer marshalled the defence beautifully and Rayno GreenwallCohen put in a commanding goalkeeping display on his debut.
“They took their goals really well and it went to 3-3 at one point, where we thought it might be one of those days. But the mentality of the team recently has been top-notch and we started playing some really nice football.
“Our season has been stop-start and in honesty we should’ve done more in the league. We’ve got a lot better as the season has gone on and if we can keep this positive momentum going, we’re in line for a really special end to our year. A cup win would more than make up for any finish in the league.”
David Cohen scored twice for City, with Roshan Abtahi netting their other goal. Happy with his side’s performance, City manager Joe Levi said: “We showed great character to get back to 3-3 from being 3-1 down, but they had too much for us on the day and were the better team. We just didn’t get going and were too open.”
Millbrook Park Calcio kept alive their hopes of securing promotion from Division Two as they thrashed Lads on Torah 10-1. Gabe Cook scored six of the goals, Saul Shimoni chipped in with a couple, with Alon Pinhas and Dean Cramer completing the rout. Manager Idan Levy said: “We dominated the game although felt we could have done more.
“We’re marching on, trying to win every game and putting the pressure on Club De Chigwell for that second place.” Jayden Silver scored for the beaten hosts.
Brady FC claimed a vital three points in their bid to end the season in mid-table as they came away from 40 Year Wanderers with a 4-0 win.
Oakwood missed a chance to take a giant step towards retaining their Premier Division title after they were beaten 2-1 at HMHA. Thankfully for the champions, their nearest challengers Hendon United Sports Club also tasted defeat, going down 3-2 at home to Geez Park Rangers. Jack Mattey scored twice for Geez, with Aron Gale netting their third. The win sees them join Hendon in second place. Gav Lewis and Akiva Restan scored for Hendon. Their coach Alex Rosenthal said afterwards: “It was a disappointing result. Some cheap goals in the first half let us down and in spite of a strong second-half performance, we just fell short of getting the point or win we probably deserved.”
The one game in Division One saw both Real Madreidel and Oakwood Town spurn the chance to boost their promotion hopes as they played out a 1-1 draw.
Scrabble and St John’s Wood Tigers booked their cup final places with a mixture of league and cup matches played in the Maccabi Masters League.
Scrabble are into the final of the Maccabi Masters League Cup after beating Glenthorne 4-1. Lev Levenson fired them ahead, only for Gary Adams to draw Glenthorne level with 15 minutes remaining. However, with penalties looming, pressure from Mark Wagman forced an own goal to regain Scrabble’s lead, before Jonny Mack’s header and Jamie Kaye’s late strike sealed the 4-1 win.
Goals from Andrew Brummer and Adam Barton saw St John’s Wood Tigers win 2-0 at EHRS Stonegrove and a place in the final of the Maccabi Masters Football League Jack Morgan Cup.
In the league, Brady moved up to fourth as a hat-trick from Scott Ansher inspired them to a 3-1 win at Temple Fortune after Ben Shooter had fired the hosts in front.
There’s no reason we can’t reach the first final in our history