Rampant Raiders in seventh heaven
North London Raiders B moved up into second spot in Division One thanks to a comprehensive win over Brixton.
Andrew Sherwood is the Jewish News Sport and Community Editor
With their absentee list reading like a who’s who’s of Raiders goalscoring charts, the men in Orange were with a single recognised striker after Jake Gilbert and Will Ufland had to withdraw from a squad already shorn of Nicky Woolf and Jacob Gold.
MGBSFL Division One:
Brixton Old Boys 0 North London Raiders B 7
Sunday, 13 November, 2016
In their place came three debutants; Or Shmerling, Ziv Berreby and Josh Alswang and they each made a telling contribution in a goal fest in Palmers Green.
Shmerling was the first to make an impression on the game, all be it for the wrong reason, somehow shooting over when clean through and with the keeper stranded. The set back didn’t deter him or Raiders who promptly took the lead after 20 minutes with a fine quick passing move. Midfield dynamo Alex Goodman releasing Alswang whose clever reverse pass was perfectly weighted in to the path of Simon Buchler who swept home the opener.
In truth by that stage it could and perhaps should have been three or four but a combination of Raiders profligacy and some bodies on the line defending meant that with time ebbing away in the first half the gap remained at a solitary goal.
Brixton started to create some half chances towards the end of the first period without ever testing David Simnock. However any chance of a comeback from the Red & Blacks was quashed when Shmerling made up for his earlier miss, taking an Anthony Goodmaker long throw in his stride the tall Israeli forced a great save from the goalkeeper and was alert enough to nod home the rebound to give Raiders a 2-0 half time cushion.
Zack Gothelf and Jonathan Adelman urged more intensity and a clinical edge in their half time team talk and the team responded in style – hammering five further goals in the first 20 minutes of the second half.
First after 49 minutes, Matt Leader’s corner was headed home by skipper Goodmaker before just a minute later, a run from deep from Charles Braunstein released Berreby whose whipped cross was slammed home by Goodman. Within a minute or the restart it was five as Marc Woolfe tee’d up Goodman who fed Alswang for the debutant to open his Raiders account.
Alswang scored his second and Raiders’ sixtth after 63 minutes latching on to a superb Shmerling cross after he’d been set free by a delicious reverse pass inside the full-back by Woolfe.
The seventh and final goal came from the head of Braunstein after another delicious cross from Leader.
Adelman said: “Zack and I were really pleased with the performance today, especially given the number of absentees. All three of the new lads acquitted themselves well and we played some nice stuff and scored some good goals. All in all a good day at the office!
“All credit to Brixton, all of us in Jewish football have been on the end of difficult results over the years – in contrast to some teams, they never stopped battling, their heads never dropped and they didn’t resort to unsportsmanlike behaviour.”
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