Geez mark their meteoric rise with a major trophy
GEEZ PARK Rangers manager Ben Leslie says his side are looking to “take over” Jewish football after they won their first major trophy on Sunday.
Leslie believes their 2-1 Maccabi GB Southern Football League Peter Morrison Trophy final win over Manchester Maccabi can catapult them to greater success, with two more trophies still in their sights this season, though the dream of winning the league relies on rivals Oakwood dropping points.
Leslie still believes his side can at least claim a cup double. He said after the cup final victory: “If we play like we did today, then we will be able to win the Cyril Anekstein Cup.
“It will be a difficult game against a really strong and hard-to- breakdown London Athletico side, but we feel confident we can win it.”
Insisting Geez can use their win in the Peter Morrison to breed more success in the future, he added: “Our aim for next season is to try and win every single game and see where it takes us. I put no limit on what this team can achieve. With the experience of this win, getting over the hurdle of winning our first major trophy, our aim is to take over Jewish football.”
Rangers started Sunday’s game brightly and had already hit the post in the fifth minute when Sol Mattatia fired the Mancunians ahead in the 11th minute.
That lead evaporated when Jack Mattey levelled for the Londoners with a great curling effort just before the half-hour mark.
The turnaround was completed in the 37th minute when Aaron Gale volleyed home a left-wing cross from closerange. The normally prolific Aaron Goldman had a quiet game but nearly equalised for Maccabi only to see his effort tipped over the bar by Rangers goalkeeper Jayden Lazarus.
The second half was short of goalmouth action, though Toby Levy’s free-kick ten minutes from time did nearly draw the sides level, but that was as close as the Mancunians came to forcing extra time.
Reflecting back on his team’s performance, Leslie said: “We played brilliantly, especially in the first half where the game could have been out of sight.
“Fighting back from 1-0 down shows the great character we have. However, we were in control of the game from the first minute. We kept playing our football, we caused them problems and got the two goals. In the second half, we dug deep and saw out the win. I think it was the most mature performance we’ve had in our three years as a club. The whole team was outstanding but Mattey, Gale, Josh Shack and the two centre-backs Luke Simpson and Ben Bellman were sensational.
“Our aim was to play our football and be ourselves. We knew if we did, it would cause big problems and hopefully win the game. I knew there would be periods where we would have to suffer, and there were, but we dug deep, saw out the game brilliantly and were deserved winners on the day.”
On what it means to win a trophy of this magnitude, he added: “When we saw the list of winners in the programme before the game, it was all established clubs that have ‘B’ teams or even U12s upwards. We’re a team full of best mates that started three years ago, so to win this trophy is a phenomenal achievement from all of us in such a short space of time.”
Maccabi manager Andrew Hatton said: “Obviously we’re very disappointed we lost, we were missing a number of key players due to family commitments and long-term injury. They were the better team on the day and deserved to win.”
Despite the disappointment, they do have two more league cup finals to look forward and an outside chance of winning their league. Hatton added: “Hopefully we will have some players back for those two divisional cup finals.”
In the David Wolff Premier Division Trophy, Hendon United booked their place in the final, seeing off London Athletico 4-1 in a one-sided semi. Rocky Spitzer scored twice, with Gav Lewis and Alex Randall also on target. Hendon now face Oakwood A in what promises to be a mouthwatering finale. Zacki Doumou scored for Athletico.
Redbridge Jewish Care Purple spurned the chance to be crowned Division One champions as they fell to a surprising 4-2 home defeat against Real Madreidel. In claiming the win the visitors moved up to second in the table. Ryan Cole and Scott Oldstein scored for Purple. Brady Maccabi consolidated second place in Division Two as a hattrick from Sam Raphael helped them to a 7-3 win over Camden City. Bradon Myers, Alex Levin, Zak Lewis and Noah Raphael were also on target.
Elsewhere, 40 Year Wanderers and Beitar Bushey played out a six-goal thriller, Zak Singer’s double and Jamie Smith accounting for Wanderers’ goals in a 3-3 draw. Robbie Metzger scored twice for Bushey, with Lawrence Rosenberg also on target.
Club de Chigwell kept up their hopes of a league and cup double as they won 5-1 at Millbrook Park Calcio to book their place in the final of the David Wolff Division Two trophy.
Scrabble moved back to the top of the Maccabi Masters Football League thanks to a crushing 5-0 win over Glenthorne. Jeremy Teacher and Jonny Summerfield scored two each, with an own goal sealing the rout. Elsewhere, hat-tricks from Michael Abraham and Gavin Sherman helped Brady to an 8-2 win at Hendon Harriers. Braham Hochenberg and Steven Moss claimed their other two goals. Adam Barton’s brace had given Harriers a half-time advantage.
We’re a team full of best mates that started three years ago