Premier Division title showdown ends in stalemate

Clash of the say saw Redbridge A claim the point they needed against Oakwood A to keep them in the driving seat for the Premier Division title.

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SUNDAY’S RESULTS AT A GLANCE (SCROLL DOWN FOR FULL REVIEW):

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PETER MORRISON TROPHY QUARTER-FINAL:
Maccabi London Lions Masters 8 RC UK FC 0

CYRIL ANEKSTEIN CUP SEMI-FINAL:
Maccabi London Lions B 1 Maccabi London Lions A 1
AET – Lions A won 5-4 on penalties

PREMIER DIVISION:
North London Raiders A 3 Camden Park 0
Redbridge Jewish Care A 1 Oakwood A 1
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

DIVISION ONE:
Faithfold A 5 Hendon United B 1
Los Blancos 2 North London Raiders B 1
Oakwood B 2 Finchley City 2
Scrabble 1 Redbridge Jewish Care B 2

DIVISION TWO:
Boca Jewniors 3 L’Equipe 4
Real Hendon 7 Faithfold B 1
Temple Fortune 2 Mill Hill Dons 0

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UPDATED LEAGUE & CUP GOALSCORERS CHART:

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TEAM OF THE WEEK NOMINATIONS:

GOALKEEPERS:
Reuben Rabstein (Maccabi London Lions A)
Lee Fegan (Temple Fortune)

DEFENCE:
Max Saunders (Camden Park)
Benjy Israel (Los Blancos)
Elliott Moslawy (Los Blancos)
Max Hassell (Maccabi London Lions A)
Josh Morris (North London Raiders A)
Dale Bradman (Oakwood A)
Harvey Kaye (Oakwood A)
Alex Lee (Oakwood A)
Ben Annis (Oakwood B)
Max Clynes (Oakwood B)
Gilad Kestenbaum (Real Hendon)
Hezzie Raymond (Real Hendon)
Zack Neiman (Redbridge Jewish Care A)
Daryl Rubin (Redbridge Jewish Care A)
Dan Andrews (Redbridge Jewish Care B)
Jordan Sapler (Redbridge Jewish Care B)
Dan Stock (Scrabble)
Eshad Rehav (Temple Fortune)
Adam Speck (Temple Fortune)

MIDFIELD:
Rob Simmons (L’Equipe)
Mark Singer (L’Equipe)
Danny Daggers (Maccabi London Lions Masters)
Craig Pearl (Maccabi London Lions Masters)
Sam Sloma (Maccabi London Lions Masters)
Oscar Wagner (North London Raiders A)
Dave Woolman (Oakwood A)
Ben Feingold (Oakwood B)
Ben Sollosi (Redbridge Jewish Care A)
Josh Bharier (Scrabble)
Elliot Espinoza (Scrabble)

STRIKERS:
Richard Silver (Camden Park)
RA Noe (Real Hendon)
Adam Goldman (Redbridge Jewish Care B)
Rob Blackman (Scrabble)

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TEAM OF THE WEEK

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GOALS OF THE WEEK:

1) Daniel Seligman (Oakwood B)
Beautiful curling free-kick into the top corner from the edge of the box

2) Ben Annis (Oakwood B)
Picked the ball up on the right hand channel, nutmegged his full-back before slamming the ball down the throat of the goalkeeper

3) Jamie Leboff (Boca Jewniors)
From 10 yards in the opposition half, scored with a deft free-kick

4) RA Noe (Real Hendon)
Benni Sluckis on the left wing, beat his man and crossed for Noe who scored with a brilliant diving header

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SAVES OF THE WEEK:

1) Will Martyn (Boca Jewniors)
Produced a stunning one-handed reach to tip a bullet header over the bar

2) Ben Law (Scrabble)
A world-class save as he got his hand to a powerful shot to palm the ball over the bar from just five yards out

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QUOTES OF THE WEEK:

1) Jon Jacobs (Redbridge Jewish Care A)
“Dan Kristall (Oakwood manager) is a Sheff Wednesday fan, they lost on Friday night, I’m a Leeds fan and they won on Saturday night so on balance, a better football weekend for me”

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CYRIL ANEKSTEIN CUP SEMI-FINAL DRAW:

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PETER MORRISON TROPHY SEMI-FINAL DRAW:

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

MACCABI LONDON LIONS MASTERS 8 RC UK FC (2) 0
Dan Jacobs’ side gave a masterful performance as they thrashed the Division Two side.

Sam Sloma helped himself to a hat-trick, Adam Stolerman scored twice, with Craig Pearl, Lee Cash and Gideon Gold also all getting on the scoresheet.

Jacobs told jewishnews.co.uk: “It was a good work out against a young and enthusiastic side who never gave up. Unfortunately for them they just couldn’t do quite enough with the ball on the occasions they got it.

“We were pleased with our movement and some of our finishing was excellent. Their goalkeeper and the woodwork – three times – kept the scoreline down.

“It was valuable game time for all and we wish RCUK all the best in their promotion push.”

RCUK FC player-manager Avi Markiewicz told jewishnews.co.uk: “We had a great run in the cup, but it came to an end this week. The first half was unfortunately littered with mistakes and Lions were already out of sight at that point.

“The second half saw us give a much better account of ourselves by pressing much higher, but unfortunately we didn’t make the most of it and they took their chances. I can say that in not a single game have we been outclassed this season but on Sunday we were. We have to hold our hands up and admit we were beaten by the better team. To point out any individual on their team would be a disservice to them as they won because they played so well together.

“None of this takes away from the fact I am extremely proud of my team. We are a brand new club and many of us have not played together before, we have unfortunately had to chop and change week in week out but to get to where we did was magnificent.

“We have a lot of games left to play this season and we will try all we can to achieve promotion, but with Pesach coming up I am very worried that fielding a team never mind a strong team may be come a serious problem.”

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CYRIL ANEKSTEIN CUP – SEMI-FINAL:
(number in brackets represents division of team)

MACCABI LONDON LIONS B (1) 1 MACCABI LONDON LIONS A (Prem) 1 – AET – LIONS A WON 5-4 ON PENALTIES
Lions A took part in their second penalty shoot-out in two weeks – though this week were on the winning side.

Adam Arnold had put the A’s in front, and he also scored in the shoot-out, as did Ben Lampert, Daniel Misrahi, Jonathan Ellis and Elliot Stern.

Joshua Bloom scored for the B’s, with player-manager Samuel Marchant telling jewishnews.co.uk: “This was a well fought game in very tough, windy conditions. The conditions meant that neither side could really play the football they would have liked, but nonetheless the game was a spectacle.

“I feel as though we had the better chances of the two sides, with Kingston hitting the crossbar from a header, which was followed by two goal line clearances, and a terrific save from Rabstein from a Brafman point-blank header.

“The A’s didn’t create too much from open play, however a penalty in the 115th minute was a tough moment for us to take. Although they scored, to react the way we did was truly terrific to equalise in the 118th minute and take it to penalties.

“Once it goes to penalties, it really is a lottery, and it was Rabstein in goal who made the only save in the shootout which proved to be decisive. The A’s had penalty practice last week when they lost in the quarter-finals, and today they made sure that didn’t happen.

“I wish them a big congratulations on making it to the final and I hope they can go on to lift the cup. This cup run was purely a bonus for us, and from the get-go our focus has been on the league. Promotion to the Premier is now within touching distance and we believe we can achieve it. Our heads are held high, it was a strong, passionate and spirited performance. It’s now in the past and we look forward to finishing the season on a high and achieving something great.”

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PREMIER DIVISION:

FIXTURES & RESULTS:
TABLE:

NORTH LONDON RAIDERS A 3 CAMDEN PARK 0
Raiders moved up into fourth spot as two goals from Oscar Wagner, plus Alex Bloch’s strike, saw them to a comfortable win.

Raiders manager Daniel Shafron told jewishnews.co.uk: “It was a good solid performance and a well-deserved three points.”

Camden manager Stirling Kay told jewishnews.co.uk: “We lost 3-0 in a game where we went into it with big hopes of winning three points, I was very disappointed.

“We knew the strengths of Raiders and we set out a particular game plan which on the whole was very effective. But like all good plans they are only as good as the players. And I’m afraid three times in the first half defenders fell asleep and Raiders were handed all three goals. You can not do this against a top team and they took full advantage of this. In between the goals we did well in position and and restricted them to a few half chances. But we never tested their goalkeeper and we were not good enough in the last third to get back into the game.

On the plus side we did not let our heads go down and did not concede in the second half. This is a learning curve and we must learn that we must cut out individual mistakes and work much harder to turn our good approach work into goal attempts. But the lads showed they want to move their game on by the way they adapted to a new format in which they played today the future is bright.”

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REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE A 1 OAKWOOD A 1
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS
Redbridge know the destiny of the title is now in their own hands after they earned a point in Waltham Abbey.

Dave Woolman had fired the O’s in front, but the scores were levelled when Dean Nyman equalised with the last kick of the first half, meaning four wins from their final four games will ensure the championship for Jon Jacobs’ side.

Jacobs told jewishnews.co.uk: “It was a game of two halves – a cliché but a game that was decided by the windy conditions.

“Oakwood came out firing and were much the better team with the wind, their goal came from a cross that should never have been allowed and it ended at the feet of Woolman who finished smartly to give them a deserved lead.

“We weren’t adapting to the conditions, but were still not out of it and equalised out of nothing on the stroke of half-time with a great finish by our top scorer Dean which fizzed into the corner of the net.

“The second half was all us, they looked vulnerable and were defending for their lives. We had two clear chances to win what was turning into a really feisty game, but it ended honours even.

“A game where I think the weather won in the end, the windy conditions didn’t allow us to play their normal game but on reflection, a fair result though we could have shaded it in the second half.

“We’d also like to send our best wishes to Lior Sidle after he was forced off injured, but we also lost star left-back Ryan Cole to a muscle injury midway through the second half, so squad depth coming to the fore for both sides.

“The result probably suits Oakwood more with us needing four wins from four tough games to win the league with them playing a Lions team with eyes on cup glory in their only remaining  fixture.

“Dan Kristall (Oakwood manager) is a Sheff Wednesday fan, they lost on Friday night, I ‘m a Leeds fan and they won on Saturday night so on balance, a better football weekend for me

“The focus now for us turns to the cup and Finchley City in the semi-final of the Anekstein so we’ll be working hard to prepare the walking wounded for that one and put the league to one side just for the one week.

“This keeps the season going into April now and we will be fighting like crazy to see a successful end to the month.”

Joint-Oakwood manager Ric Blank told jewishnews.co.uk: “We were absolutely magnificent in the first half and should have been out of sight.

“They were the better side in the second half and we were on the ropes for the first 15/20 minutes. We stabilised after that but couldn’t create the killer chance. Overall it was a fair result and it’s no surprise both teams profited when playing with the wind. That was a key factor.”

Commenting on Jacobs saying Oakwood are ‘clear favourites” for the title, Blank said: “I found those comments from interesting – especially considering how some of their players were celebrating the draw. I would never celebrate a draw but every team is different. I don’t see their run in as particularly daunting given Hendon’s recent struggles. But it’s totally out of our hands. Our focus is beating Lions – we have to do that otherwise we’ll have no chance, so we remain focused on that.

“I’m immensely proud of my boys and the run they’ve been on. If you’d said to me six weeks ago to win the league you have to beat a full-strength Hendon side twice, plus Raiders, Redbridge and Lions (all away from home bar one) I’d have laughed. To even be in this race is quite something. We have given everything. If it’s not enough then I will applaud Redbridge and move on with my life.”

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DIVISION ONE:

FIXTURES & RESULTS
TABLE

FAITHFOLD A 5 HENDON UNITED B 1
Faithfold moved seven points clear off the bottom two sides – as they handed Hendon a defeat which sends them into Division Two for next season.

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LOS BLANCOS 2 NORTH LONDON RAIDERS B 1
Blancos ended their season on a winning note – as they ended with a win – and without a draw from their 18 league games played.

Goals from Louie Libbert and Avi Kestenbaum ensured the club ended the season on a winning note, with manager Nick Grosse, telling jewishnews.co.uk: “It was an emotional day on Sunday, I told the lads that it would be my last game in charge, possibly even as a player. I have been at Blancos since 2013 which is not nearly as long as Adam Hersh, Joel Kutner, Benjy Israel and Jeff Gross who were all founding members – also playing their final game for the club. It has been an honour and a pleasure to manage and play for the team. Throughout its short history there has been a philosophy of camaraderie and friendship, which has meant that my teammates have been top quality guys with strong values and good spirits. The youngsters we leave behind to continue the Blancos legend have the ability to take the club all the way to the top, that was my parting message to them and I hope they believe it as much as I do.

“Their first task was to ensure that we ended the season on a high against a tough opponent. The game started well for both sides and it was quickly apparent that it was going to be a very competitive afternoon. The wind was in Blancos favour in the first half and Louie took advantage after 20 minutes with a cute finish into the far right corner with a curling shot from a standing start. Blancos continued to press, but were unable to capitalise on two or three very good chances.

“When the second half started the wind seemed to pick up, goal kicks were holding in the air and almost heading back where they came from. Raiders took full advantage and piled on the pressure which eventually paid off through a neat 25-yard free-kick into the top corner.

Blancos showed great character not to collapse under the constant pressure and managed to creep ahead from a corner with an Avi Kestenbaum near post header. Blancos switched to a 4-1-4-1 and successfully to keep Raiders at bay for the final 15 minutes.

“It was a cracking end of season effort from the lads, finally we got what we deserved after a harsh season.COYLB!!!”

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OAKWOOD B 2 FINCHLEY CITY 2
Finchley saw their promotion hopes suffer a further blow as they were held to a point.

Having taken an early – and half-time lead, Daniel Seligman levelled for the O’s with a beautiful free-kick, before Ben Annis put them 2-1 ahead – only to then be denied the points by an incredible equaliser.

O’s manager Jason Stein told jewishnews.co.uk: “Our performance in the first half wasn’t good enough. We were nowhere at the races and really that’s what has cost us the win today because we were superb in the second half.

“The amount of chances we made was positive, but we weren’t clinical enough. The goals we did score were of an unbelievable quality but we passed up too many chances.

“I’m disappointed to have not taken the win today really but pleased with the way we fought back in the second half.”

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SCRABBLE 1 REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE B 2
Redbridge claimed a vital three points in their quest to win the title – while at the same time denting Scrabble’s hopes of a top-two finish.

Elliot Espinoza had given the home side the lead after just 12 seconds, but two strikes before the break from Brad Gayer and Kane Hopps set the visitors up for an impressive win.

Redbridge player-manager Sam Rank told jewishnews.co.uk: “Today, the boys were brilliant, worked extremely to get back into the game after going down 1-0 so early. We were unlucky not to be further in front at half-time, but the defending in the second half was outstanding. Special mention to Jordan Sapler and Dan Andrews who were Vertonghen and Alderweireld today.

“This game was the first of three cup finals for us, with the objective being to win the title. Two more victories in the next two coming weeks will bring the title to Essex. Looking forward to next week’s return game against Scrabble, who are all top boys, even Rob Blackman!!”

Scrabble manager Ray Abrahams told jewishnews.co.uk: “My squad today were absolutely brilliant.The attitude and commitment was spot on and all the boys left nothing on the pitch and gave 100 percent to try and win this game. We always knew it was going to be a battle out there as there was a lot at stake today in terms of the title and the promotion places. The prize of reaching the Premier Division for both teams is a great incentive after a long season for both clubs.

“The wind played a big part in the result today and at half-time with the prospect of the wind behind us in the second half, we were confident that we would come back from 2-1 down.

“We had so many chances as we dominated the second half, but the Redbridge boys defended very well to keep us out and we hit the bar full on and the post in quick succession in the second half.

“A superb free kick from Josh Pugh hit the face of the bar as well and as Rob Blackman was clearly fouled as he went down in the area, we thought we had been denied a nailed on penalty. My lads said that Adam Waters corner had crossed the line as well. Zak McLeod and Dan Stock as well as Elliot Espinoza also went very very close. On another day we would have perhaps had a bit of luck with those efforts but it was sadly just not our day.

“It was also good to see Ben Law back in goal today and a world class save in the first half kept the score at 2-1 as he tipped a point blank shot over the bar.

“Unless there are some real unexpected results in the last few games I believe that Redbridge will now win the title as they have games in hand on us and Lions and we will be looking to win our last two games (one of which is an early chance to put things right when we go to Redbridge next week) and hope that two wins will be enough to secure the runners up place and the promotion that we are all chasing as a club.

“On the face of it today a draw would probably have been a fair result but to be honest we are disappointed not to have won this game and taken all three points.”

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DIVISION TWO:

FIXTURES & TABLES
TABLE

BOCA JEWNIORS 3 L’EQUIPE 4
The champions were made to fight for the win, but two goals from Rob Simmons helped them to the points.

James Mandell and Mark Singer strikes ensured them the points.

Player-manager Nicholas Stern told jewishnews.co.uk: “It was a real battle today, not our best performance at all but champions don’t lose!”

Oli Kyte, Jamie Leboff and Sam Simon scored for Boca, with joint-manager Anton Nyman telling jewishnews.co.uk: “Firstly, congratulations to L’Equipe for winning the league in such stunning unbeaten fashion.

“We hoped that with the title in the bag, we may find a team not really up for it, but it wasn’t to be. Dominating the first 10 minutes, they raced into a 2-0 lead.

“In true Boca fashion the comeback started, one coming from a tap-in from Oli, swiftly followed by a deft free-kick from deep by Jamie, which set our hopes alive.

“We then capitalised from a long throw which saw Sam knock the ball home five minutes before the break to give us a half-time lead and there was still time for a controversial penalty appeal, though the challange on Ben Lederman wasn’t given.

“The second half was an uphill, against the wind battle and L’Equipe got their rewards stealing the win 4-3.”

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REAL HENDON 7 FAITHFOLD B 1
Hendon went goal-crazy as they racked up their most emphatic win of the season.

RA Noe helped himself to a hat-trick, with Benny Goldberg and Benni Sluckis chipping in with two each.

Joint-manager Motty Korman told jewishnews.co.uk: “It was a fantastic team performance especially after going one down early in the game and we were missing two key players in Chaim Gothold and Chaim Strom. 

“Faithfold were excellent in the first 25 minutes and then our boys decided they wanted to play and we dominated. I’m not sure why it has taken us 15 games this season to finally put in a very good performance.”

Richard Fogelman scored for The Greens.

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TEMPLE FORTUNE 2 MILL HILL DONS 0
Fortune moved five points clear in second spot as they claimed their tenth league win of the season – though they left it extremely late.

Jake Marks got their first in the 89th minute, before Jordan Sharifian
made the game safe in the 94th.

Player-manager Simon Linden told jewishnews.co.uk: “The game looked set for a 0-0 draw and it took two cracking late goals to win the game.

“I knew Mill Hill would cause us problems this morning and they probably edged the contest. I’m proud of my team, like last week it wasn’t the prettiest of performance but we dug in, put in a shift and got the job done. We would have lost a game like this earlier on in the season. There’s a real belief that we can get promoted, two more cup finals to go.

“The Dons will feel hard done by. They were very unfortunate to not get something from the game. They have a good young side that peaked too late in the season, but from what I’ve seen they will be right up there next year.

“Lee Fegan has to take credit for a record fourth consecutive clean sheet, credit to the whole team but for Lee it’s a real achievement and he deserves to enjoy the moment.”

Dons manager Brandon Hamme told jewishnews.co.uk: “Credit to Fortune, they didn’t make it easy for us in front of goal, with the final ball often being intercepted. We have no reason to feel disheartened though, both sides will agree that we didn’t deserve to lose and it just wasn’t meant to be.

“We will pick ourselves up for next week’s game as we look to target a top-four finish. Good luck to Temple Fortune for the rest of the season, well managed team with some nice guys in charge.”

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