Sunday football round-up – week two

RC UK FC continued their blistering start to the season as they scored seven goals for the second successive week…

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

PREMIER DIVISION:
Brady Maccabi 6 SPEC 0
Camden Park 0 Maccabi London Lions A 1
North London Raiders A 2 Hendon United A 3
Oakwood A 0 Redbridge Jewish Care A 1
(MATCH REPORT)

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DIVISION ONE:
Brixton Old Boys 1 Maccabi London Lions B 5
Faithfold A 4 Athletic Bilbaum 0
Los Blancos 3 Hendon United B 1
North London Raiders B 2 Scrabble 1
(MATCH REPORT)
Redbridge Jewish Care B 3 Oakwood B 1
(MATCH REPORT)

DIVISION TWO:
Faithfold B 0 RC UK FC 7
(MATCH REPORT) (MATCH PHOTOS)
(VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS)
FC Team B 2 Mill Hill Dons 4
Hertswood Vale 1 Catford & Bromley 4
Real Hendon 0 Redbridge Jewish Care C 2
Temple Fortune 3 North London Raiders C 2

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IS THIS THE GREATEST FREE-KICK EVER SCORED IN JEWISH FOOTBALL?

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LEADING GOALSCORERS

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TEAM OF THE WEEK NOMINATIONS:

GOALKEEPERS:
YEHUDAH FINK (HENDON UNITED B)
SAM CASTLE (MACCABI LONDON LIONS A)
SAM SINGER (MILL HILL DONS)

DEFENCE:
AVI KORMAN (HENDON UNITED A)
ARIEL TAMMAN (MILL HILL DONS)
CHARLES BRAUNSTEIN (NORTH LONDON RAIDERS B)
ANTHONY GOODMAKER (NORTH LONDON RAIDERS B)
ELAD HERTSHTEN (NORTH LONDON RAIDERS B)
DAVID BROWN (RC UK FC)
GIDEON CALLER (RC UK FC)
AARON LUFTIG (RC UK FC)
DANNY HAKIMI (REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE A)
ZACK NEIMAN (REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE A)
DANIEL ANDREWS (REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE B)
RICHIE CAPLIN (REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE B)
JIMMY CASTLE (REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE C)
AMIR NATHAN (REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE C)
MATT ZARTZ (REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE C)
SAM ZARTZ (REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE C)
BRETT STEAD (TEMPLE FORTUNE 

MIDFIELD:
ROCKY SPITZER (HENDON UNITED A)
BENJI WEINBERGER (MACCABI LONDON LIONS B)
RYAN KRAMER (MILL HILL DONS)
DANNY BLOOM (NORTH LONDON RAIDERS B)
SIMON BUCHLER (NORTH LONDON RAIDERS B)
TOBY KATZ (NORTH LONDON RAIDERS B)
JAMES FRENER (OAKWOOD A)
THOMAS PRAIS (OAKWOOD A)
AKIVA ZNEIMER (RC UK FC)
DANIEL BEAN (REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE B)
CARL DOBRIN (REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE B)
ADAM NOBLE (REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE B)
SCOTT JAY (REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE C)
RAFE NEIMAN (REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE C)

STRIKERS:
DEAN NYMAN (REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE A)
OLI HAMBLING (REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE C)
AVI MARKIEWICZ (RC UK FC)

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TEAM OF THE WEEK

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GOAL OF THE WEEK NOMINATIONS:

1) AVI MARKIEWICZ (RC UK FC)
Took the ball down 25 yards out from goal, spun and hit a thunderous shot over the goalkeeper

2) AVI MARKIEWICZ (RC UK FC)
A stunning quickly-taken free-kick from 25 yards out, curled an unstoppable effort into top corner

3) BENJI WEINBERGER (MACCABI LONDON LIONS B)
Scored a glorious goal from 25 yards which was an arrow into the corner and the keeper could not move a muscle.

4) DOM FELDMAN (MACCABI LONDON LIONS B)
Picked the ball up behind the half-way line, dribbled past five opponents before tucking it away with his weak foot.

5) ZAC LEWIS (HENDON UNITED A)
A brilliant 25-yard free-kick which gave the Raiders goalkeeper no chance

6) ROCKY SPITZER (HENDON UNITED A)
Finished off a fabulous team goal, as they spread play from left to right, an intricate pass from Dovi Fehler falling too Spitzer, who burst into the box to finish coolly

7) NICKY WOOLF (NORTH LONDON RAIDERS B)
Picked the ball up 35 yards out, somehow stayed upright riding challenges from two Scrabble midfielders at the same time before hammering a 30-yard screamer into the roof of the net

8) RICHARD HAYIM (MILL HILL DONS)
Made a great tackle in the middle of the park, went down the left wing, beat the left-back and slotted it into the far corner

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SAVE OF THE WEEK NOMINATIONS:

1) JAMES HARPIN (MACCABI LONDON LIONS B)
An outrageous save in a one-on-one situation – got down low and saved a certain goal with his left foot to tip the ball round the post.

2) RUSSELL CORIN HENDON UNITED A)
A fabulous point-blank save from an eight-yard volley on the stroke of half-time to keep his side in front

3) SCOTT SHEAR (REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE B)
Produced a world-class save, tipping a half-volley from the six-yard box around the post

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK NOMINATIONS:

1) JOSH HAMBLING (REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE C):
“Next week’s team selection will be tough but it’s why the Redbridge board pay me the big bucks. There’s also talk of Jon Jacobs buying the jugs of beer this week as the club had a treble of victories!”

2) JEFF GOTCH (CATFORD & BROMLEY):
“We missed a penalty, hit the bar and hit the post, we’ll need to improve in front of goal.”

3) ZACK GOTHELF (NORTH LONDON RAIDERS B):
“that goal from Nicky Woolf – that’s what you get out of bed on a Sunday morning for!”

4) JOSH HAMBLING (REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE C):
“The first of many jugs of beer for all RJC teams winning. A great day for the club.”

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PREMIER DIVISION:

FIXTURES & RESULTS:
TABLE:

BRADY MACCABI 6 SPEC 0
Four goals from Reiss Mogilner helped the Brady boys claim a thumping win in their first game of the season.

Josh Newman and an own goal completed the emphatic win.

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CAMDEN PARK 0 MACCABI LONDON LIONS A 1
James Gershfield’s strike sent the Lions to their second win of the season, while also seeing Camden lose their first of the campaign.

Lions joint-manager Joe Marsh told jewishnews.co.uk: “The game started very positively for us as we dominated the first 20 minutes and should have been clear with a number of glorious chances being wasted after some lovely passages of play. After that you get the feeling it was going to be one of those days that where we couldn’t hit a barn door if we tried.

“But after a silky Lions move which involved a tremendous through ball by youngster Alex Rose, our talisman from last year James Gershfield coolly slotted the ball into the back off the net giving us a deserved lead. But we made things extremely difficult for ourselves by not getting that second goal which would have killed the game off. We let Camden back into the game with a number of glorious chances which they should have converted, but Sam Castle was on a one man mission to secure the three points for Lions, as he pulled off three world class saves which any top goalkeeper would have been proud off, he was truly colossus and you won’t find a better goalkeeper in Sunday league football.

“We have started the season with two wins but have not hit top form or anywhere close. We have slightly struggled, but a win is a win and we look forward to mixing it with the best and it looks like it’s going to be a very good league this year.”

Camden assistant manager Nick Kagan told jewishnews.co.uk: “Despite the result, there are a lot of positives to take out of the game. We look fitter and more organised than usual at this stage of the season, new signings are settling in well and we generally looked solid whilst creating a number of chances.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t take any of them, so shooting practice in training this week! Overall, I thought we deserved a point, but credit to Lions/Harmen for shutting us out (even though they rode their luck a little bit).”

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NORTH LONDON RAIDERS A 2 HENDON UNITED A 3
The champions fell to their second straight win, but it was a second successive victory for Hendon.

Rocky Spitzer, Yoav Kestenbaum and Zac Lewis scored for the victors, while Liron Mannie scored twice for the Raiders.

Hendon manager David Garbacz told jewishnews.co.uk: “We fielded one of the youngest teams in Hendon’s history and thoroughly deserved the three points. It was an extremely satisfying performance against a strong, if not the strongest Raiders team we’ve played in recent years.

“We went one nil down against the run of play to a goal from the excellent Liron Mannie, but our response was brilliant and the football we played towards the end of the first half was some of the best I’ve seen. Zac Lewis scored a super trademark free-kick equalizer and Rocky’s goal to put us 2-1 up before half-time was a fabulous team move.

“Raiders did step it up in the second half and after they equalized early on it was quite tight, but I was always pretty confident we would grab the winner and so it proved when Yoav Kestenbaum produced a cool finish with five minutes to go.

“Overall I was delighted with everyone’s contribution – 17-year-old Zachary Garbacz at right back was not overawed despite being up against one of the leagues best players in Liron and he more than held his own as did all our youngsters and the future really is bright considering we were missing four or five big players as well.

“Raiders will come again this season I’m sure ,and despite their start it would be foolish to write them off, but we are delighted to leave them six points in our wake and two out of two wins is a great start to the season. We will be challenging for this title come next year make no mistake about that.”

Raiders manager Daniel Shafron told jewishnews.co.uk: “Today was almost a carbon copy of the Redbridge game. 1-0 up, 2-1 down, back to 2-2, on top looking like we’d get the winner but got caught on the counter against the run of play.

“I’m gutted for the boys but at the same time proud of them and whilst they’ll be disappointed, they shouldn’t beat themselves up. I think a draw would have been a fair result. I’ll take nothing away from Hendon, they set up well and out battled us in the first half and scored a great goal to go 2-1 up. We were more on the ascendancy in the second half but we got unlucky and these things happen.

“There are plenty of positives to take from this game. These last two weeks haven’t been easy with several injuries and boys away in key positions who have been at the core of this team over the last couple of years, but they’re all nearly back and I can feel that it’s only a matter of time before we turn this around.”

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OAKWOOD A 0 REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE A 1
(MATCH REPORT)
Redbridge continued their impressive start to the season as they beat another one of their title contenders.

Dean Nyman claimed the all-important strike, with manager Jon Jacobs telling jewishnews.co.uk: “This is a game that Redbridge would have lost last season, but there is a Plan B now with players more than happy to mix it when needed.

“The pitch didn’t help either team as it was bobbly, but we will take the win, in the knowledge that you can’t play Champagne football every week.”

O’s joint-manager Daniel Kristall told jewishnews.co.uk: “I felt we probably edged a tight game where chances were few and far between. The game hinged on a five-minute spell in the second half where we missed a very good chance from fiveyards. This was followed by a long ball down field that Blainy unfortunately misread for Dean to tap into the empty net. In fact, it was Redbridge’s only attempt on goal in the 90 minutes. We don’t pick out individuals. Blainy is too good a keeper and he kept us in many games last season and will do so again this time around.

“From a team perspective, we absolutely must begin to be more ruthless in the big games against fellow title contenders. This is the only way that we will have a chance of winning the league which I believe is more open than ever this season. Teams will take points from each other, so we must ensure that next time around we win this sort of game by the odd scrappy goal in the way Redbridge did yesterday.

“In terms of our general performance, I thought we defended superbly and frustrated their passing game. I felt our final ball into the box could have been better and that is something we must improve on. We worked hard to get back into the game at 1-0 down but couldn’t quite find a way through. I don’t think Jon will disagree with me by saying that a draw was the fair result.”

“Credit to Redbridge, they were difficult to break down and took their chance when it came.

“Don’t write us off yet, we will be in the title hunt at the end of the season and we look forward to the return trip to Essex where we will also be able to welcome back six-seven players that were not involved yesterday.”

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DIVISION ONE:

FIXTURES & RESULTS
TABLE

BRIXTON OLD BOYS 1 MACCABI LONDON LIONS B 5
Lions made it two wins from two as goals from Theo Azouz, Benji Weinberger, Michael Kenley, Dom Feldman and an own goal saw them to this comfortable win.

Manager Sam Marchant told jewishnews.co.uk: “This morning I felt like I was watching a totally different side to the one that came out last week. There were minimal changes to the squad, but we had the right attitude from the get-go and played the football that we love to. We pressed high, didn’t let Brixton play at all and when in possession moved the ball swiftly and efficiently.

“We were unlucky not to have broken the deadlock in the first half an hour, but we changed formation and went into half-time 2-0 up. We were in firm control of the game. We were unfortunate to concede a goal at 2-0, but we made a fantastic reply instantly scoring a third to take the wind out of their sails. We now have to focus on next week, a Herts county cup game and we can hopefully get another victory>”

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FAITHFOLD A 4 ATHLETIC BILBAUM 0
Faithfold began their season with a comprehensive win.

Shai Davidi, Jamie Kent, Marc Charles and a Craig Cole penalty saw them to the points, with manager Rob Shooman telling jewishnews.co.uk: “After a fairly even first 20 minutes, we settled down and for the most time controlled the play.

“We’ve signed up six quality players, four of whom played today, who have now given us a very good quality squad.

“The game became very one-sided around 30 minutes into the first half , our defence was never under any pressure, all of the guys were exceptional, our midfield were providing chance after chance and if the forwards had been a little more clinical, double figures would have been reached, our goalkeeper didn’t have to make one save throughout the game.

“I’ve never had a full squad throughout pre season, on the whole a good performance, some quality play and a 4-0 win, not bad for a first game and room for a lot of improvement, looking forward to a successful season.”

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LOS BLANCOS 3 HENDON UNITED B 1
The Blanco boys claimed their first win of the season as Hendon slumped to the second defeat.

Svi Friedman, Avi Kestenbaum and Jamie Kutner all scoring for the victors.

Co-manager Jonathan Nesbitt told jewishnews.co.uk: “Unfortunately we had a lot of players away this week and had no substitutes. I thought we had a good first half and were unlucky to find ourselves 2-0 down from two scrappy goals from corners.

“We were rather fortunate to nick one just before half-time, but pressure from our forwards forced their defender to put the ball in the back of the net.

“The second half was a long and hard struggle for us with a lot of the team finding themselves exhausted, we hit the bar at 2-1 and maybe could’ve come away with a point, but it wasn’t to be and they went on to get a third towards the end of the game.

“Overall I was pleased with the effort from the lads who all ran themselves into the ground against a team that were able to make a lot of changes and rotate things. I’m positive that when we have a full squad it is a game we can easily win.”

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NORTH LONDON RAIDERS B 2 SCRABBLE 1
(MATCH REPORT)
Last season’s Division Two champions began life in Division One with a defeat.

Nicky Woolf and Josh Goldstein netted for the Raiders.

Joint-manager Jonathan Adelman told jewishnews.co.uk: “Scrabble are a good side no question about that. There were so many excuses we could have made today against a team like that, we were short of no less than eight squad members before this morning, we then had to lend our A team Lewis Blitz and Alex Elf was unable to play. As a result we had just 12 players so couldn’t play the high tempo game we wanted to against an opposition we knew would use their rolling substitutions well. But wow, what an effort from our 12, every one of them was superb. It was also very pleasing that despite some questionable decisions in the first half the boys retained their calm and brought home a deserved three points.”

Co-manager Zack Gotelf was especially happy that the team “learned the lessons of last weekend”, saying: “Today we kept the ball well and our defenders won their individual battles. After losing narrowly twice against Scrabble last season with our C’s, I’m delighted to finally get a win over them. Our skipper Goodie was immense against Sherman and that goal from Nicky Woolf – that’s what you get out of bed on a Sunday morning for!”

Scrabble dominated the opening 20 minutes, though having fallen behind to an unstoppable long-range effort, equalised in the 35th minute when Ben Bell’s cross was headed in by Zak McLeod.

The game was ultimately settled by a mix-up between the Scrabble goalkeeper and central defender, as with no danger around, the Raiders striker was presented with a simple tap-in.

Scrabble threw everything at Raiders in the last ten minutes and had several chances to equalise, but it wasn’t to be their day.

Manager Ray Abrahams told jewishnews.co.uk: “It was a cruel way to lose and I’m disappointed not to have got anything from the game, but in terms of effort I cannot fault our lads. In the end a sloppy error at the back and our failure to be a bit more clinical in front of goal cost us the game and I thought a draw would have been a fair result. On another day we might have been awarded a penalty in the second half but I have no complaints.

“This is going to be a very competitive league and we knew that after winning promotion last season, but we will be there in the mix at the end of the season as we’ve got a talented group of players who will give everything for this club.

“All credit to Raiders today and it was a fantastic game of football to watch.

“I will be looking for a positive reaction in our game next week as we look to bounce back quickly from this defeat.”

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REDBRIDGE B 3 OAKWOOD B 1
(MATCH REPORT)
Redbridge made it two wins from two thanks to goals from Richie Caplin, Carl Dobrin and Daniel Bean.

Sam Modlin scored late on for Oakwood, for whom manager Jason Stein told jewishnews.co.uk: “We were very poor today. Abject, out of ideas and below the required standard. Redbridge were every bit the deserved winners.

“It’s been a shocking start to the season and we simply do not expect to lose back-to-back games when we have this calibre of player.

“But now it is up to those great players to show why they are great players. We have to up our game because right now it is not good enough. Whatever you do in life you need to do it to the best of ones ability and right now that is not happening.

“I’ll include myself in that. The away fans were right to boo today.”

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DIVISION TWO:

FIXTURES & TABLES
TABLE

FAITHFOLD B 0 RC UK FC 7
(VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS)
(MATCH PHOTOS)
(MATCH REPORT)
Four goals from player-manager Avi Markiewicz helped the visitors score seven goals for the second consecutive week.

Jonti Aremband scored twice, with Zalmy Cohen also on target.

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FC TEAM B 2 MILL HILL DONS 4
The Dons claimed their first win of the season as Team fell to their second defeat of the season.

Ariel Tamman, Nick Phillips, Zach Cohen and Richard Hayim scored for the Dons, with manager Brandon Hamme telling jewishnews.co.uk: “It was a very solid performance from the boys, resembling a Barcelona style of play. Ariel Tamman reminded of a young Dani Alves.

“We were more organised and structured this week and will continue to improve as the weeks go on. We are a new team so to win a game in our second match is something that we are all really proud and delighted about.”

Nicky Sugarman and Eddie Sternberg scored for Team.

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HERTSWOOD VALE 1 CATFORD & BROMLEY 4
The Cats made it two wins from two thanks in no small part to Jason Shoffman’s double.

Player-manager Jeff Gotch and Tal Cohen were also on target, with Gotch telling jewishnews.co.uk: “It wasn’t a great performance, but it was comfortable enough.

“We missed a penalty, hit the bar and hit the post, we’ll need to improve in front of goal. Anyway onto Mill Hill.”

Josh Cohen headed in Harry Graham’s cross for Vale’s consolation goal. Joint-manager Jacob Emanuel told jewishnews.co.uk: “We went into the game with a host of injuries and unavailability that led us to start the game with a total of eight natural defenders in the starting XI.

“From today’s performance there was absolutely no doubt in the quality of the squad, just a lack of depth on the day.”

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REAL HENDON 0 REDBRIDGE C 2
Redbridge got their season off to a winning start, but it’s two defeats in two games for the hosts.

Oli Hambling and Jimmy Castle scored the goals, with manager Josh Hambling telling jewishnews.co.uk: “It was our first game of the season, we started a bit apprehensively and Hendon were probably the better side for half an hour and had some excellent chances. I switched a few things around and quickly and we tightened up. This was a master stroke and had an immediate effect, allowing us to push forward more with my baby brother slotting a great goal home to put us in the lead at the break.

“In the second half, the boys just carried on from where we left off and we looked great going forward with the ball, moving it around midfield and getting it out wide we finally started enjoying some football.

“Defensively we tightened up and Scott Jay was fantastic in midfield and left-back today, showing great experience. Along with Rafe Neiman’s engine in midfield and some good pace up top, we could have gone on to score a few more. Clean sheet and a win I couldn’t of asked for more from the team today. We kick on with a tough game next week but the boys can’t wait for Sunday already!

“Next week’s team selection will be tough but it’s why the Redbridge board pay me the big bucks. There’s also talk of Jon Jacobs buying the jugs of beer this week as the club had a treble of victories!”

Hendon joint-player-manager Chaim Gothold told jewishnews.co.uk: “We produced a better performance than last week, but they were clinical and we were not.”

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TEMPLE FORTUNE 3 NORTH LONDON RAIDERS C 2
Simon Linden’s reign as Fortune manager continued with another win.

Goals from Zack Rich, Jorden Sharifia and debutant Brett Stead saw them to the points, with Linden telling jewishnews.co.uk: “It’s great to have maximum points from our opening two games. We certainly made hard work of it, but got the job done against a resilient Raiders team.

“I can’t ask more from our opening two games. It’s never easy when you have made lots and lots of signings – we will get better as the weeks go on.

“All eyes on next week against a very strong RCUK team.”

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