By Danny Caro
Norstar London Raiders A moved into the final of the Cyril Anekstein Cup thanks to a late goal which broke Oakwood hearts, while London Rovers were crowned champions of Division Three in a busy programme in the MGBSFL.
MATCHDAY 24 HEADLINES
CAC - Raiders late show breaks Oakwood hearts
BGT - L'Equipe frustrate Hendon
Prem Div - Hendon go seven points clear
Div 1 - Brilliant Blancos force Redbridge to wait
Div 2 - FC Team B hit legs 11
DIv 3 - Rampaging Rovers crowned champions
JC HAT-TRICK HEROES
BGT - Benni Sluckis (Hendon B)
Div 1 - Reiss Mogilner 4 (Brady Maccabi)
Div 2 - Lorian Madanes, Danny Moss (both FC Team B)
Div 3 - Adam Ellis (Shacharit Donetsk)
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WEEKEND PHOTOS:
ANEKSTEIN SEMI-FINAL - OAKWOOD A vs NL RAIDERS
LOS BLANCOS vs REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE B
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DANNY CARO'S PREMIER DIVISION TEAM OF THE WEEK
DANNY CARO'S DIVISION TWO TEAM OF THE WEEK
DANNY CARO'S DIVISION THREE TEAM OF THE WEEK
DANNY CARO'S GOAL OF THE WEEK - ADAM ELLIS
DANNY CARO'S QUOTE OF THE WEEK - JONATHAN COHEN
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JC TEAM OF THE WEEK: THE CONTENDERS
GK - Gideon Caller (Hendon B), Ricky Zeiderman (London Rovers)
DEFENDERS - Danny Moss (FC Team B), Mark Singer (L'Equipe), Aron Luftig (London Rovers), Ezekiel Jacob (Hendon B), Dave Levy, Elliott Coulton, Josh Cohen (all Real Sosobad), Chaim Korman (Hendon A), Adam Levine, Danny Ailion (both Oakwood A), Eitan Ben Zion, Rob Sanford, Alon Hirshkorn (all FC Team A), Jonny Samuel (NL Raiders C), Jamie Gordon (KS Reunited), Sammy Huberman (AC Whetstone)
MIDFIELDERS - Reiss Mogilner (Brady Maccabi), Jon Breger, Lorian Madanes (both FC Team B), Nick Stern (L'Equipe), Josh Bharier, Adam Kay, Dovi Vogel (all London Rovers), Jono Nesbitt (Hendon B), Richard Rosenthal, James Law (both Real Sosobad), David Seitler (Hendon A), Ben Joseph (NL Raiders A), Rocky Spitzer (FC Team A), Alex Sherr (NL Raiders C), Josh Gordon (KS Reunited)
STRIKERS - Adam Ellis (Shacharit Donetsk), Mitch Young (FC Team B), Adam Ellis (Shacharit Donetsk), Benni Sluckis (Hendon B), Liron Mannie (NL Raiders A), Josh Bloom (NL Raiders C)
MANAGER - Rob Richman (NL Raiders A), Jeremy Brown (London Rovers), Jonathan Ison (Los Blancos), Adam Glekin (Hendon B), Josh Lewis (L'Equipe)
REFEREE - Martin Lavender (Oakwood A vs Raiders A)
Email nominations to dcaro@thejc.com
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JC GOAL OF THE WEEK: THE CONTENDERS
1. ADAM ELLIS (Shacharit Donetsk) - GOAL 2 - of his sixth hat-trick of the season, stunning 35-yard curler into the top corner, from absolutely nothing
2. ADAM ELLIS (Shacharit Donetsk) - GOAL 4 - taking the ball down on his chest, he pushed the ball to his right, and from 30 yards, let rip an amazing shot, across his body, that went like a bullet into the top left hand corner, no goalkeeper could have stopped it.
3. NICK STERN (L'Equipe) - the ball came in from Rich 'Scotty' Alexander, it was only half-cleared by the Camden defence and, as the ball came down from the clearance just inside the box, Stern, with his back to goal, pulled off an absolute worldy bicycle kick to get it back to 1-1
4. TIM HEYNES (Los Blancos) - GOAL 1 - was put through with a sumptuous ball over the top to take him clear of the Redbridge backline. Despite being of his first touches of the game, he calmly lifted the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper to put LB 1-0 up
5. TIM HEYNES (Los Blancos) - GOAL 2 - was again the recipient of another beautiful crossfield pass, this time courtesy of Svi Freedman, before taking a few touches to bring the ball under control. Heynes then dispatched a shot of the highest quality, from outside the area across the goal. The sprawling keeper looked on hopelessly as the ball powered past him, before kissing the far post and pinging across the goal again before nestling in by the near corner
6. BEN JOSEPH (Raiders A) - a free-kick good enough to grace any game
7. DAVID JOSEPH COHEN (FC Team A) - finished confidently after a simply beautiful move of nearly 20 passes
8. ALON HERSHKORN (FC Team A) - ended a galloping run down the wing with a rasping shot fromo the ball on the edge of the area that whistled inton the top left-hand corner
9. DAN POLAK - (NL Raiders C) - Josh Bloom found space 25 yards out and lifted the ball over the Whetstone defence for Daniel Polak, running from deep, to flick the ball first time over the head of the onrushing keeper for the opener at Whetstone
10. JOSH BLOOM picked the ball up just inside the Whetstone half, and carrying the ball towards the goal, to the right of the goal as he looked at it and hit the perfect strike from 30 yards into the top left corner of the Whetstone goal. No keeper would have saved that shot, right on the postage stamp. A goal of pure pure quality, "a shoe-in for goal of the week (if not the season)"
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DANNY CARO'S SAVE OF THE WEEK
RICKY ZEIDERMAN (London Rovers) - made a fantastic diving save low to the bottom corner in the first half to keep it at 0-0
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JC QUOTE OF THE WEEK: THE CONTENDERS
1. DAN SHAFRON (Real Sosobad) - QUOTE 1 - "All of my players showed desire, hunger and grit when we were down to 10 men and I congratulate them all for their professionalism"
2. DAN SHAFRON (Real Sosobad) - QUOTE 2 - "I would lastly like to congratulate Mrs Brown's boys London Rovers for becoming champions today. They have had a fantastic run of games since their only loss of the season when we beat them 6-0 and I hope we are able to meet them again next season"
3. ROB RICHMAN (Raiders A) - "Firstly, I think it's only fair to speak about Oakwood. They played their part in a brilliant game of football between two committed but excellent sides. They will be back next season, I have no doubt about that and I'd be astonished if they aren't pushing on all three fronts"
4. RIC BLANK (Oakwood A) - "Football is a cruel game. No one knows that better than us. We lost the PM final on pens, got knocked out of this year’s competition on pens and conceded a 91st minute goal that dumped us out of the Anekstein. Too cruel some would say"
5. ZACK GOTHELF (NL Raiders C) - "It's a real shame that we may not play Whetstone again, Clive and Anthony have a great group and comfortably the most organised team we've come up against, a credit to Jewish football"
6. JEREMY BROWN (London Rovers) - "I'm just so proud of the boys for what they have achieved. As a manager, the biggest complement you can have is when your players respond to your tactics and game plan and that's exactly what they've done"
7. JONATHAN COHEN (Temple Fortune) - "We deserved a point from the game at the very least, especially when you consider we had a perfectly good goal not given though players from teams felt the ball had crossed the line, especially as it touched the net! That being said the linesman didn’t flag for it which was unusual given he was flagging for corners and fouls at the opposite end of the field during the 90"
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CUP COMPETITIONS: LATEST
CYRIL ANEKSTEIN CUP FINAL
Norstar London Raiders A vs North West Neasden or Hendon United Sports Club A - May 3
PETER MORRISON TROPHY QUARTER-FINAL DRAW
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PHOTOGALLERIES FROM THE SEASON
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE SEASON
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YOUR WEEKEND REVIEW STARTS HERE
CYRIL ANEKSTEIN CUP SEMI-FINAL
RAIDERS REACH WINGATE AGAIN
OAKWOOD A 1 NORSTAR LONDON RAIDERS A 2
Liron Mannie and Ben Joseph helped Norstar London Raiders kept their treble hopes alive with a hard-fought win over Oakwood in St. Albans, winning their semi-final against Oakwood late on.
L'Orange booked their place in the League Cup final for the second year in a row, and they could meet Hendon again, if they can overcome Neasden in the other semi.
NLR boss Rob Richman told JC Sport: "We are elated to be in the cup final again. It was a great team effort and the boys didn't panic even when a goal down."
Oakwood joint-manager Ric Blank told JC Sport: "But this is football. Anything can happen. We were stunned in the changing room after. This was the toughest, cruelest defeat in my time in charge."
FORTHCOMING FIXTURES
OAKWOOD
MGBSFL - FC Team (h)
MGBSFL - Lions (a)
RAIDERS
MGBSFL - Faithfold (a)
PMT - Hendon (h)
DC Prediction: Oakwood 1 Raiders 2
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BARRY GOLDSTEIN TROPHY
GROUP A
Camden Park Pl. 1. Pts. 1
L’Equipe Pl. 1, Pts. 1
London Rovers Pl. 0, Pts. 0
Norstar London Raiders C Pl. 0, Pts. 0
L'EQUIPE MAKE THEIR POINT
CAMDEN PARK 3 L’EQUIPE 3
A double from Nick Stern and one from Mark Singer ensured second division L'Equipe made their mark in the BGT after holding first division Camden Park in a six-goal thriller.
Camden's goals came via Rob Hershkorn and Michael Khalastchi (2).
L'Equipe joint-manager Josh Lewis told JC Sport: "The boys are really up for it and we'll look to press on now against Norstar and London Rovers."
Camden's Max Saunders told JC Sport: "I think it would have been a completely different game if we played on a surface slightly resembling a football pitch."
DC Prediction: Camden 4 L’Equipe 2
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GROUP B
Boca Jewniors (replaced Catford & Bromley Maccabi) Pl. 0, Pts. 0
FC Team B Pl. 0, Pts. 0
Maccabi London Lions Green Pl. 0, Pts. 0
Norstar London Raiders B Pl. 0, Pts. 0
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GROUP C
AC Mill Hill Pl. 0, Pts. 0
Blizzard Storm Pl. 0, Pts. 0
Los Blancos Pl. 0, Pts. 0
SPEC Pl. 0, Pts. 0
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GROUP D
Hendon B Pl. 1, Pts. 1
Jewdinese Pl. 1, Pts. 10
Oakwood B Pl. 0, Pts. 0
Temple Fortune Pl. 0, Pts. 0
BENNI DELIVERS SUCKER PUNCH
HENDON UNITED SPORTS CLUB B 4 JEWDINESE 4
BENNI SLUCKIS (3) helped Hendon B hold their own against higher division opposition after coming away with a creditable point after a 4-4 draw against Jewdinese, with Avi Mocton also registering.
Hendon boss Adam Glekin told JC Sport: "I would normally be disappointed with only taking a point after leading 3-0 and 4-3, but I cannot fault the effort the lads showed. Overall, it was a decent result and leaves us in with a good chance to make it into the knockout stages."
Jewdinese chairman Jake Erlich told JC Sport: "It's clear Hendon are upset, but really they should be proud of getting a point against such superior opponents."
DC Prediction: Hendon 2 Jewdinese 3
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MGBSFL PREMIER DIVISION
DANNY CARO'S PREMIER DIVISION TEAM OF THE WEEK
TOP-SCORERS
20 - James Gershfield (Harmen)
16 - Johnny Haik (Faithfold A - includes one for B team), Dave Woolman (Oakwood A)
HENDON SHOW WANDERERS WHAT FOUR
WOODFORD WANDERERS 0 HENDON UNITED SPORTS CLUB A 4
Hendon put more daylight between themselves and the chasing pack with a convincing 4-0 victory over Woodford at Fairlop, with Gav Noe (2) rolling back the years, and Dovi Fehler chipping in with another.
Victory takes Hendon seven points clear of Redbridge, and eight clear of Raiders who have three games in hand, ahead of a potential title-decider.
Delighted Hendon boss David Garbacz told JC Sport: "Despite being quite heavily depleted this still turned out to be a pretty comfortable win."
FORTHCOMING FIXTURES
HENDON
CAC SF – NWN (a)
MGBSFL – Lions (h)
PMT – Raiders (a)
WOODFORD
MGBSFL – Lions (h)
MGBSFL – Harmen (h)
TOP-SCORERS
Woodford – Harrison Midda 4
Hendon - Avidan Last 9
DC Prediction: Woodford 0 Hendon 2
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FC TEAM ON THE UP
FC TEAM A 3 MACCABI LONDON LIONS BLUE 1
David Cohen, Alon Hershkorn and Rob Sanford eased FC Team's relegation fears with an impressive 3-1 victory over Lions Blue at Rowley Lane.
Team head coach Ben Gilbey told JC Sport: "The victory was a long time coming and as long as we carry on playing like we did on Sunday the rest of the season, I believe you will see FC Team finishing higher than expected."
Will Beresford accounted for the Lions goal and manager Jamie Kyte fears the worst. He told JC Sport: "We've now found ourselves in a relegation battle. Next week's game against Woodford is now huge and us staying in the top flight depends on that result."
FORTHCOMING FIXTURES
TEAM
MGBSFL - Oakwood (a)
MGBSFL - Redbridge (a)
LIONS
MGBSFL - Woodford (a)
MGBSFL - Hendon (a)
MGBSFL - Oakwood (h)
DC Prediction: Team 3 Lions 2
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REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE A P HARMEN P
Match postponed - pitch unplayable
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DIVISION ONE
TOP-SCORERS
24 - Daniel Garfinkle (Redbridge JC B – including 3 for RJC A)
19 - Simon Moses (Blancos – includes two for Brady)
BAUMS SLIP DEEPER INTO TROUBLE
BRADY MACCABI 8 ATHLETIC BILBAUM 3
Bilbaum edged closer to relegation as they were hammered 8-3 by Brady, with REISS MOGILNER helping himself to four goals.
Further strikes from Sam Monjack, Elliot Dagul, Matt Frohlich and an own goal completed the rout.
FORTHCOMING FIXTURES
BRADY
MGBSFL – Brixton (a)
MGBSFL – Camden (h)
BILBAUM
No games scheduled
TOP-SCORERS
Brady - Reiss Mogilner 13
Bilbaum - Julius Judah
DC Prediction: Brady 4 Bilbaum 1
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REDBRIDGE FORCED TO PLAY WAITING GAME
LOS BLANCOS 5 REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE B 4
Redbridge B suffered a case of title jitters as they failed to clinch the title after going down in a nine-goal thriller against Blancos. Joel Kutner fired Blancos's winner, with Tim Heynes and leading scorer Simon Moses adding two apiece.
RJC's goals came via Daniel Garfinkle, Adam Goldman, Matt Niman and Jordan Sapler.
Jubilant Blancos chairman Joel Minsky told JC Sport: "Having played Redbridge twice earlier in the season, and in all honesty getting nowhere near to them, today's performance shows how far we've come since October."
RJC boss Jon Jacobs told JC Sport: "The best team won on the day. We will put it right on March 1 - nothing more, nothing less."
FORTHCOMING FIXTURES
BLANCOS
BGT – SPEC FC (a)
BGT – Mill Hill (a)
REDBRIDGE
MGBSFL – Brixton (a)
DC Prediction: Blancos 2 RJC 3
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BRIXTON OLD BOYS P SPEC FC P
Match postponed
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DIVISION TWO
DANNY CARO'S DIVISION TWO TEAM OF THE WEEK
TOP-SCORERS
16 - Adam Stolerman (FC Team C)
13 - Ben Zloof (AC Mill Hill), Jacob Richler-Kleiman (Oakwood B)
RAIDERS ROLL STONES
AC WHETSTONE 1 NORSTAR LONDON RAIDERS C 2
Dan Polak and Josh Bloom helped Raiders C picked up an impressive away win as they edged home 2-1 against Whetstone.
Alon Pinhas registered for Whetstone.
NLR boss Zack Gothelf told JC Sport: "It's a real shame that we may not play Whetstone again, Clive and Anthony have a great group and comfortably the most organised team we've come up against, a credit to Jewish football."
Whetstone joint-manager Anthony Cohen told JC Sport: "We were gutted again. How many times can you come off a pitch with the other side saying “you deserved more out of that."
FORTHCOMING FIXTURES
WHETSTONE
MGBSFL – FC Team C (a)
RAIDERS
MGBSFL – FC Team C (h)
BGT – L’Equipe (h)
DC Prediction: Whetstone 3 Raiders 3
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TEAM HIT LEGS 11
FC TEAM B 11 CATFORD & BROMLEY MACCABI 0
Table-toppers FC Team B registered their biggest win of the season as they marched towards the title by outclassing the Cats at Gosling Park.
LORIAN MADANES and DANNY MOSS fired hat-tricks with further strikes from player-manager Mitch Young (2), Jon Breger (2) and Dan Breger completing the rout.
Team player-manager Mitch Young told JC Sport: "A professional performance from the team. To score 11 goals in a game of football is an achievement and I am proud of that. Catford kept on going till the final whistle and I hope they can stay together. One more game and the title is ours."
FORTHCOMING FIXTURES
TEAM
BGT – Lions Green
BGT – Catford (a)
CATFORD
BGT – Raiders C (a)
BGT – FC Team B (h)
TOP-SCORERS
Team – Richard Salmon 10
Cat - Jamie Sinai 5
DC Prediction: Team 4 Catford & Bromley 1
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AC MILL HILL P FC TEAM C P
Match postponed
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DIVISION THREE
DANNY CARO'S DIVISION THREE TEAM OF THE WEEK
TOP-SCORERS
22 - Avi Markiweicz (London Rovers), Adam Ellis (Shacharit Donetsk)
13 - Josh Bharier (London Rovers)
ROVERS CROWNED CHAMPIONS
LONDON ROVERS 3 FAITHFOLD B 1
The champagne corks were popping in west Hendon as London Rovers sealed the title with a 3-1 victory over promotion rivals Faithfold.
A double from Josh Bharier and one from Dovi Vogel got celebrations under way.
Rovers boss Jeremy Brown told JC Sport: "They can now call themselves champions but the season isn't over and we still have lots to play for so we won't be relaxing any time soon."
FORTHCOMING FIXTURES
ROVERS
BGT - Raiders C (a)
BGT - L'Equipe (a)
FAITHFOLD
MGBSFL - Lions (h)
DC Prediction: Rovers 3 Faithfold 2
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FOUR-MIDABLE SOSOBAD CAGE LIONS
REAL SOSOBAD 4 MACCABI LONDON LIONS GREEN 1
Barry Green, James Law, Richard Rosenthal and Josh Jacobs found the net as Real Sosobad boosted their promotion hopes with a big win over Lions Green.
Sosobad boss Dan Shafron told JC Sport: "We were excellent today. The big pitch suited our style of play and we were rewarded with three early goals of impeccable quality."
FORTHCOMING FIXTURES
SOSOBAD
MGBSFL - Boca (h)
MGBSFL - Hendon (a)
LIONS
BGT - FC Team B (a)
MGBSFL - Faithfold (a)
BGT - Raiders B (h)
DC Prediction: Sosobad 1 Lions 0
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CROWN BACK TO THEIR BEST
KING CROWN 4 KS REUNITED 2
King Crown ended a run of poor results with an important 4-2 victory over KS that boosted their hopes of clinching second place. Sacha Nussbaum (2), James Karpf and James Koren eased Crown home.
KS's goals came via Jamie Gordon and James Ryan (penalty). KS boss James Lewis told JC Sport: "Despite a depleted squad due to a number of late injuries, we feel as if we could have got something out the game with a bit of luck."
FORTHCOMING FIXTURES
KC
MGBSFL – Shacharit (h)
KS
MGBSFL – Hendon (h)
MGBSFL - Shacharit (a)
DC Prediction: King Crown 1 KS 1
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ELLIS NAILS SIXTH TREBLE
TEMPLE FORTUNE 3 SHACHARIT DONETSK 4
ADAM ELLIS produced yet another master-class, smashing home his sixth hat-trick of the season as Shacharit edged past Fortune in a thriller. Yoram Goodman sealed the win.
Fortune's goals came via a pair of penalties from Zack Rich and Mike Myers.
Shacharit boss Elliot Nussbaum told JC Sport: "We dug deep in difficult conditions, made even more difficult by not playing a competitive game for four weeks."
Fortune manager Jonathan Cohen told JC Sport: "We deserved a point from the game at the very least."
FORTHCOMING FIXTURES
FORTUNE
BGT – Hendon B (h)
MGBSFL – Rovers (h)
BGT – Oakwood B (a)
SHACHARIT
MGBSFL – Sosobad (h)
MGBSFL – King Crown (a)
MGBSFL – KS (h)
DC Prediction: Fortune 2 Shacharit 2