#MGBSFL: Sunday football round-up: week 29:

GOAL OF THE WEEK NOMINATIONS:1) ARI LAST (HENDON UNITED A)
The ball fell to him on the edge of the six-yard box, and with his back to goal, nonchalantly flicked the ball over his head and goalkeeper into the back of the net.————————–————————–

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SAVE OF THE WEEK NOMINATIONS:

1) GRANT WAISSEL (NORTH LONDON RAIDERS C)
Ball fell kindly to Ari Last, but the goalkeeper spread himself superbly to deny him from a matter of yards out from goal

2) MARK GLUCKSMAN (L’EQUIPE)
A contender for save of the season – tipping away a venemous 20-yard shot which was moving from left to right

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK NOMINATIONS:

1) JON JACOBS (REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE A)
“The possession stats will show virtually 90 percent in favour of Redbridge and it was that easy.”

2) JASON STEIN (OAKWOOD B)
“It’s the most dispiriting moment I’ve experienced in Sunday league and incredibly disheartening.”

3) RICKY LAWRENCE (SPEC)
“Rob Murraydona has hurled himself at the ball heroically and it’s hit his knee, shoulder and then around his armpit. To have given a penalty would have been extremely harsh.”

4) NICK STERN (L’EQUIPE)
“No one gave my team a chance claiming we were too old, too unfit, and probably too fat to beat a younger and healthier Lions team but they couldn’t have been more wrong.”

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PETER MORRISON TROPHY SEMI-FINAL: (number in brackets represents team of division)

NORTH LONDON RAIDERS C (2) 1 HENDON UNITED A (PREM) 5
Hendon booked their place at Wingate thanks to this ultimately comfortable win over a spirited Raiders side.

Dovi Fehler’s strike was the only difference between the sides at the break, but the Premier Division side upped the tempo in the second half, with Ari Last, Avi Korman, Yoav Kestenbaum and Ben Kon’s penalty seeing them through in style.

Hendon manager David Garbacz told jewishnews.co.uk: “This was always going to be a match where it would be hard to reach the heights of the last round against Redbridge. We played well overall, but we did miss a host of chances and were possibly too open for my liking in the last 20 minutes.

“Raiders were exceptionally well organised and I thought did really well, showed great commitment and deserved their goal at the end. They played far better than their league position would suggest and for a while were hard to break down.

“Once we got the first though there was only ever going to be one winner and we topped off our win with some nice goals in the second half plus a funny Ronnie Rosenthal moment from Yoav Kestenbaum, thankfully we were 4-0 up at the time.

“We are thrilled to be in the final for the third consecutive year and we will be going for our third consecutive win in a few weeks time. We know that whoever we play we will be underdogs but with our full strength squad available we can beat anyone. It should be a great occasion and I’ll be making sure the boys don’t eat too many Matzas in the coming weeks so we go into the match at full fitness.”

“It means a lot to us that we have reached this cup final after our indifferent league campaign . We feel as if we have had something to prove in the cups and if we come away with a victory next month we will have proved wrong all those who wrote us off a bit early this season.”

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS TO FOLLOW…

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PREMIER DIVISION:

FIXTURES & RESULTS:
TABLE:

OAKWOOD A P HARMEN P

MATCH POSTPONED – HARMEN FORFEITED MATCH

O’s manager Daniel Kristall told jewishnews.co.uk: “They withdrew on us – two forfeits in two weeks! Nobody seems to want to play us at the moment. Let’s just hope Redbridge travel to Breakspear on Sunday. I have a feeling they will.”

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REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE A 7 BLIZZARD STORM 2
Redbridge kept alive their slim hopes of the title as they thumped Storm in style.

Goals from Sam Sollosi, Nathan Sollosi, plus a debut goal for the A’s from David Fialka saw them to a comfortable 3-0 half-time lead. An own goal saw them claim a fourth, before a Daniel Garfinkle special, together with two penalties, one for Danny Berg and one for the birthday boy, Adam Goldman saw them round off the scoring.

Redbridge manager Jon Jacobs told jewishnews.co.uk: “It was as comfortable a win as we’ve had all season. This was very much a case of after the Lord Mayor’s show. It felt like an end-of-season friendly and with only pride to play for, Blizzard gave it their all but were just not good enough.

“With both Nathan and Sam Sollosi restored to the starting line-up, the game was always going to be one where Blizzard were chasing the game. The possession stats will show virtually 90 percent in favour of Redbridge and it was that easy.”

Jonty Aremband scored twice for Storm, for whom player-manager Simon Linden told jewishnews.co.uk: “Glad to finish what’s been a tough season. My main job now is to keep the group together, bring in a few more players and start fresh next season. We need a good pre-season and a lot more commitment next year in order to bounce back and be in the mix for a return to the Premier Division. We lost 12 players last summer and in hindsight it wasn’t the right time to get promoted, however we have learnt a lot from this year and I do hope we can return to the Premier Division with a lot more about us and a good winning mentality.”

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DIVISION ONE:

FIXTURES & RESULTS
TABLE

FAITHFOLD B 1 BRADY MACCABI 5
Brady produced a performance when they needed it most as they put in a five-star performance which all but guaranteed the Greens’ relegation.

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FC TEAM B 3 NORTH LONDON RAIDERS B 0
Team kept on track for promotion as two goals from Richard Salmon, coupled with Lorian Madanes’ strike saw them to a comfortable three points.

Player-manager Mitch Young told jewishnews.co.uk: “We bossed the game from start to finish and in truth it should have been six or seven. A very pleasing performance.”

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SPEC FC 3 OAKWOOD B 1
SPEC moved to the top of the table as they all but ended the O’s promotion hopes thanks to two stoppage time goals.

Sam Cantor for Oakwood, for whom manager Jason Stein told jewishnews.co.uk: “I’m afraid there is only thing I want to talk about today and that is the handball incident at the very end of this game while at 1-1. It’s the most dispiriting moment I’ve experienced in Sunday league and incredibly disheartening. The SPEC defender has pulled off a brilliant save to deny Johnny Quinn and it’s as simple as that. His hands are far, far above his head and I just wish this was recorded so Andy, and others, can see that. For us to then concede two on the break is not good enough – that’s on us – but the boys just could not believe what had happened. You get that decision against you and I think ‘what’s the point of doing this anymore.’

“For Andy to say the ball hit the player before it hit his hands – thus it’s not an intentional handball – completely ignores the fact that the SPEC defender is an unnatural position with his hands high in the air. The only conclusion I can come to is that he simply switched off and could not honestly make a decision. Had it been seen it properly, no referee could have turned it down. I’d rather Andy said that than find the justification of a deflection off his body.

“I shook hands with Andy after the game. It is what it is. It’s done now. But the effort it takes to put a football team together, the weeks and months of work, training midweek, all the things that go with it, then you turn up on a Sunday and do your best. There is a minimum standard of decision you then hope for and for that to go against us, it’s absolutely brutal.

“Fair play to SPEC, they captialised on our complete astonishment and put us away well in what remained of stoppage time with our heads absolutely gone. I look forward to seeing them next year, but they got away with one today.”

Elliot Wallis’ strike and two own goals saw SPEC to the win, with player-manager Ricky Lawrence telling  jewishnews.co.uk: “We weren’t anywhere near our best this morning but I don’t think there’s many better feelings than a last minute winner. I’ve seen Jason’s comments and whilst I appreciate their frustration at losing so late, I think it’s an incredibly blinkered view. Rob Murraydona has hurled himself at the ball heroically and it’s hit his knee, shoulder and then around his armpit. To have given a penalty would have been extremely harsh. I won’t get into how they behaved after the game, we’ll simply enjoy a fantastic 3 points, a great way to end what’s been a terrific league campaign.”

Giving his version of events, referee Andy Myerson told jewishnews.co.uk: “It is unsurprisingly that my view of the event is fundamentally different to his. To be clear, I was 15 yards away, had a great view and saw the incident perfectly. It wasn’t a deliberate handball and the defender’s arm was not in the position that Jason described it to be.

“Jason doesn’t mention any of the following: He ran on to the pitch at full-time with the sole intention of shouting at me; he stood one foot in front of me, shouting and wagging his finger in my face and refused on several occasions to leave the field when I explained that I would come over and speak to him in a moment; his swearing at the opposition when they told him his behaviour with me was out of order. That, after I explained why I didn’t give his side a penalty, he just turned round and walked off. I called him back and said “Jason, please shake my hand” to which he did. Not quite the way it’s been reported.

“I too wish there was a camera there. I’ve always believed in Sunday League football that the referee should be able to explain his decisions and I hope that after more than 12 seasons and 250 games, I’m not going to be prevented from doing so by one individual.  

“Perhaps as referees we’ll just have to accept that our eyesight for seeing the things Jason wants us to see just isn’t good enough.”

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DIVISION TWO:

FIXTURES & TABLES
TABLE

BOCA JEWNIORS 2 CATFORD & BROMLEY 2
Boca moved off the foot of the table as two goals from Joshua Webber helped them to a battling point.

Boca’s Anton Nyman told jewishnews.co.uk: “We started brightly and got a clear penalty when Josh Webber was brought down, though Catford fought back well and took a 2-1 lead in at half-time. Despite some weary legs of names that have been out for a while, our defensive line stayed strong and we fought back well and when Webber was brought down again, he cooly slotted a second into the bottom corner and a point was a fair result. There was a great team spirit willing to fight out there today which was good to see!”

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FC TEAM C 1 HENDON UNITED B 1
Hendon’s hopes of promotion suffered a blow as they were held to a draw at Team. Adam Glekin scored for Hendon.

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MACCABI LONDON LIONS B 2 L’EQUIPE 2
Lions spurned the chance to close the gap on the leaders, meaning Scrabble now just need one more win to clinch the title.

Josh Bloom and Daniel Fattal scored for the Lions, with Grant Bates and Rob Simons replying for the visitors.

L’Equipe manager Nick Stern told jewishnews.co.uk: “No one gave my team a chance claiming we were too old, too unfit, and probably too fat to beat a younger and healthier Lions team but they couldn’t have been more wrong. We were better prepared, first to every challenge, out smarted and out battled a team that simply didn’t know what to do. This was proven by the in fighting within the Lions team and the fact that if it wasn’t for two late goals and a controversial disallowed goal, we would have ended up with the three points.

“There is no doubt that Lions had the majority of the possession but they didn’t know how to handle the tactics of us, let alone a team who showed passion and desire from minute one. It was men vs kids, old vs young, fat vs thin and most importantly experienced vs inexperience and though a draw, I’m proud to say that the old timers came away the happier and we congratulate Scrabble on inevitably winning the league now.

“We scored two great goals via Rob Simmons and Grant Bates who was extremely unlucky not to have a second to his name when the referee gave an unnecessary foul from a corner. Mark Glucksman pulled off yet another contender for save of the season tipping away a 20-yard shot that was moving from left to right and hit with such venom I thought it would take off his hands! However nothing fazes our 7 foot Northern hero and he outstretched one of his huge claws/fist to turn the ball over the bar. It set the tone for the whole team and we are really pleased with his performances during our five-game unbeaten run.

“Though of course we were disappointed to concede two late goals, I must reiterate how proud I am of the 11 warriors that played today. I would have bitten off your hand for a draw prior to the game and though 2-0 up a draw was a great result and we carry on, on our five game unbeaten streak which we will hope continues till the end of the season.”

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