Sport
Lewis sparks 'limbs in Essex'
Player-manager Luke Lewis was the hero as North London Galaxy kept up the pressure on table-toppers Raiders with a hard-earned win at Redbridge Jewish Care.
February 24, 2020 10:18
By, Danny Caro
2 min read
Player-manager Luke Lewis was the hero as North London Galaxy kept up the pressure on table-toppers Raiders with a hard-earned win at Redbridge Jewish Care.
February 24, 2020 10:18ByDanny Caro, Danny Caro
MGBSFL DIVISION ONE
REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE 2 NORTH LONDON GALAXY 3
Having been beaten 3-0 by promotion rivals Jewdinese last weekend, Galaxy went into the game knowing only a win would do to keep up the pressure on a North London Raiders team holding a one-point advantage, with a game in hand.
The north Londoners started a man down as the match passed a late pitch inspection and they fell behind to an early goal.
The comeback started when they had their full allocation on the pitch - an excellent counter-attack which saw Daniel Jackson clip a 30-yard ball over the defence for Jayden Tomlinson to run on to and lobbed the keeper with a half volley - the first of 3threeexcellent goals to make it 1-1.
Galaxy forged ahead with some excellent interplay in the air with a calm James Belchak finish. DJ lofted ball into me where Lewis knocked it down to Belchak on the edge of the box with a cushioned header before in ice-cold fashion he side-footed the ball into the bottom corner.
RJC continued to battle and they made it 2-2 to set up a grandstand finish. Galaxy knew a draw would realistic end their title hopes, but they mounted one final attack in the dying embers of the game. Tomlinson had a shot which cannoned off the post, Lewis read where the ball was going to fall and in Chicarito Hernandez-esque fashion have acrobatically semi overhead kicked it into the net. Limbs in Essex!
After the goal celebrations had died down, a delighted Lewis told JC Sport: "The pitch was absolutely atrocious in all honesty and was virtually a swamp - we won this game through belief and determination, giving us a vital three points in our efforts to play Prem division football next year.
"We now have two games left - two wins and we'll be playing where we feel as a club we deserve to be playing."
He went on to say: "It was a tough one as we played the first 20 mins with 10 men - and went a goal down - as the last-minute decision to put the game on meant a few of our boys were late.
"Nonetheless, we dug deep and our togetherness got us the all important three points. Given the Jewdinese defeat to Raiders, anything but 3 points yesterday would've been catastrophic for our promotion push and for the morale of the camp."
Jack Joseph and Matt Niman registered for RJC.
RJC: Matt Kemp, Antony Cope, Sam Cormack, Richard Gold, James Gordon, Josh Joseph, Ben Nathan, Matt Niman, Max Seitler, Ryan Silkman, Daniel Wexler. Subs: Jimmy Castle, Daniel Jacobs
SCORERS: Joseph, Nimna
GALAXY: Zack Nathan, James Belchak, Adam Feldman, Jordan Freeman, Joey Gold, Daniel Jackson, Jamie Murray, Zac Rose, Bailey Snow, Jayden Tomlinson, Luke Lewis. Sub: Josh Burchhardt
SCORERS: Tomlinson, Belchak, Lewis