ByJeremy Silverstone, Jeremy Silverstone
There were victories for defending champions North London Raiders, cup holders Chigwell Athletic, Scrabble, Brady Maccabi, Maccabi London Lions and St John's Wood Tigers on the opening weekend of the Maccabi Masters League.
Now sponsored by Double-O-Seven management Limited – the MMFL kicked off its 17th season with 15 teams demonstrating that age is no barrier to the competitive spirit and the sense of community and the enjoyment of kicking a ball around when we could instead be slumped in front of the television.
Division One champions North London Raiders got off to a winning start with a 3-2 win over Waldaf Town, thanks to goals from Andrew Wolfin, Saul Conway and Lee Cash. Lloyd Becker and Robbie Weber replied for Waldaf.
Scrabble also secured maximum points, with Jeremy Kornhauser, Stefan Simons and Darren Cohen netting to give them a 3-1 win over HMH. Mark Wagman registered for HMH.
Chigwell Athletic were also winners, Daniel Castle, Daniel Sugarman and Adam Stolerman putting them 3-0 up against Faithfold who rallied superbly with strikes from
Boris Simons and Adam Bradley but Chigs did enough to secure the points.
In Division 2, Brady B came from two goals down to beat Hendon Harriers 5-2. Ex-Brady players Paul Shamplina and Ian Sumray had given Harriers a 2-0 lead but Brady scored five times in the last 30 minutes, through Pete Sugarman (2), Trevor Tucker, Gary Field and Daren Nathan to give them a comfortable victory.
Not to be outdone, St John’s Wood Tigers came back from 3-0 down to win 4-3 against Temple Fortune, with Paul Herszaft’s penalty winner coming in injury time. Yali Mamouri (2) and James Ryan had given Fortune a seemingly unassailable lead, but goals from John Perloff, Ilan Cohen (2) and Herszaft’s spot-kick earned Tigers the points.
But the team to beat will be reigning title holders Maccabi London Lions, who made their intentions clear with a thumping 8-0 win over EDRS, courtesy of goals from Marc Morris (4), Michael Abraham (3) and Simon Davidson.
HAT-TRICK HEROES
Division 2 - Marc Morris 4, Michael Abraham (both Maccbai London Lions)
RESULTS
MACCABI MASTERS FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
Faithfold 2 Chigwell 3
North London Raiders 3 Waldaf Town 2
Scrabble 3 HMH 1
MACCABI MASTERS FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION TWO
Brady Maccabi B 5 Hendon Harriers 2
Maccabi London Lions 8 EDRS Stonegrove 0
Temple Fortune 3 St John’s Wood Tigers 4