Five-star England romp home

SPORTS DIRECT OLIM LEAGUE
ENGLAND FC 5 MODIIN 0

Yoni Sidi, Gaby Balulu, Omri Hamama (2) and Marco Laurence fired England to a 5-0 victory over Modiin.

The match this week saw two old rivals, Modiin and England FC, clash at the home pitch of Modiin – a pitch where England won the league two years ago. The winter weather was perfect for football. Valentine’s Day was not going to ruin the fun.

The game started in a measured fashion with both sides playing conservative football. This changed suddenly in the 15th minute when Gaby Balulu crossed from a corner, and England FC’s veteran defender, Yoni Sidi headed home from five yards.

Modiin tried repeatedly to get forward but were blocked by the excellent defending of the England back four. Modiin then found a way through and the ball was sent fizzing across the face of the goal by Modiin striker, Itay Saidoff, after a fantastic save from England’s vocal goalkeeper, Roy Meron. But it was England who struck again in the 32nd minute when Balulu netted a second for the visiting team.

The second half opened with Modiin on the offensive as their no. 10, Omri Encauou, pressed England. But England remained resolute and struck on the counter-attack when Nick Plotnek found Omri Hamama who scored from the edge of the area.

Modiin Manager, Jamie Lazarus who had returned early from his birthday celebrations, changed the formation to 3-5-2 to try to stifle the midfield. But this was not to be as England’s captain and man of match, Tal Stern, dominated the middle of the park.

The fourth goal was only a matter of time. Marco Laurence, who had just come off the substitute’s bench, hit a screamer of a shot from outside the area that curled into the bottom hand corner and beyond the reach of, Iliyah Kovalov, the Modiin Keeper.

England struck again to make it 5-0 as the Iraqi-Yemenite cousins, Gaby Balulu and Omri Hamama, combined and Hamama netted.

England could have had a few more as Modiin’s heads dropped but in the end they settled with five and a clean sheet.

England manager Terry Newman said: "The boys showed real determination tonight. This team is a bunch of winners. We now need to take our renewed form of three wins from four into our next game against Inter."