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'Sedgley are the real deal,' says Shapiro
Saul Shapiro believes Sedgley Park Celtic’s shock title bid remains on course.
December 12, 2017 17:15
Saul Shapiro believes Sedgley Park Celtic’s shock title bid remains on course.
December 12, 2017 17:15The MJSL new boys have been in red-hot form of late and they kept their cool to beat Reich in an 11-goal thriller.
After Sedgley's game at Frederick Raid beat the big freeze, the latest win moved them into second spot behind defending champions Haroldeans.
The Merseysiders have a two-point avantage and have a game in hand over their rivals.
But with both teams still due to meet, Sedgley's hat-trick hero Shapiro is in confident mood.
The Sedgley skipper said: "It was a tough game with eight of our top players missing, including our goalkeeper Sam Franks.
"A combination of some sloppy defending and giving the ball away in the led to a quick collapse and we trailed early into the second-half.
"But we were dominant for the remaining period and cruised home.
"We showed our strength in depth and our ability to utilise all players in our 30 man squad.
"Some will say that our squad is too big to mount a serious title challenge, with rotation necessary to keep players happy.
"However, we keep proving people wrong and continue our winning streak stretching back 10 weeks.
"All we can do is take it one game at a time and make sure we keep enjoying ourselves."
Sedgley didn't have it all their own way here as Reich - thanks to goals from Dan Feddy, Sam Rottenberg, Adam Rose and Eli Bloom - led 4-3 early into the second-half.
But Shapiro's treble along with strikes from Dan Rabinowitz, Jake Rubens, Jeremy Barr and Avi Libbert saw them home.
Maccabi Manchester Yellow will face Reich in the Tony Cohen Trophy Final.
The Yellows edged out the Blues 9-8 on penalties in a nail biting last-four tie. Nothing could separate the two teams with the scores at 2-2 after 90 minutes.