Bocher Juniors up for cup as they sail into quarter-finals

Bocher Juniors manager Joel Ucko has told his players to go out and win this season’s Maccabi GB Southern Football League Barry Goldstein Trophy – after he saw his side record their first victory in the competition on Sunday morning.

Solly Levy’s hat-trick – including two directly from corners – coupled with Yedidya Solomon’s double and Dubi Dubiner;s strike saw them claim an emphatic 6-2 win over Rapid Viennas, and Ucko hopes they can now use this victory to spur them on to silverware. He said: “I thought the team as a whole played very well and they deserve a lot of credit, but we can’t get carried away. I thought we were excellent today and I’m really pleased with the lads, but if I am being honest there is still more in us. We can play better over the full 90 minutes and we can certainly be more disciplined defensively and avoid the silly individual errors, which meant that after going 4-0 up, we gave them a couple of moments that cost us the clean sheet we really wanted and deserved from this game.”

Believing the final scoreline was a fair reflection on the match overall and delighted with the performance, he continued: “We’ve been ravaged by injuries, exam season and a few other challenges, but over the last few weeks since the start of 2026, there has definitely been a more positive feel about us. We have played with more belief, more tenacity and more energy, and today was probably our most complete attacking performance of the season so far against a superb side.”

Hoping to finish the season on a high – with silverware – he added: “We have to use this momentum properly, stay grounded, and keep trusting each other. We have a quarter-final next in the David Wolff Trophy against Sukkotingham Forest, and we have to be ready for a different challenge against another quality team, who will ask us very different questions from today.

“I think our current sixth position in the league table is a false position and that we should be higher, but we are where we are because we’ve not produced the level of performance we showed today often enough.

“I have now challenged the lads to attack what is still in front of us. We want to win this trophy, want to beat Forest in our quarter-final next and finish the league season strongly. That has to be the mentality now. One game at a time, full focus, no shortcuts.”

Jack Warren scored twice for Viennas, for whom manager Josh Novack said: “It wasn’t our best performance today, but we move on and work on the mistakes from the game. We’ve won four out of the last five games, so even though today wasn’t the best I’m still very proud of the boys and I know we will be back stronger next week.

Bocher Juniors' Judah Yawitch (left) falls under the challenge of Rapid Viennas' Charlie Becker during their match on Sunday morning. Photo Georgia Rosenberg[Missing Credit]

“We’ve still got a few games left in the league and plenty of football in cup competitions, so are staying positive that we can come away with a trophy this season.”

Elsewhere in the competition, five goals from Eytan Millan inspired Sukkotingham Forest to a 7-0 win over Mill Hill Minyan. Dillon Caine and Harry Caplin were also on target, with manager Sam Nagioff saying: “Delighted to be back in the dugout after a short break, returning with a great performance and clean sheet, in a fantastic second half performance.”

Yallatasary scored four times in the last half an hour to came away from 40 Year Wanderers with a 4-0. Buddy Smith, Freddie Land and Archie Steinberg amongst the scorers. Wanderers’ manager Sam Anderson said: “Positives to take from a really strong 60 minutes against a top, top team.” Hampstead Ducks and Brady FC played out a 3-3 draw, Harry Earle, Aaron Diamond and Daniel Slavid scoring for Brady.

Premier Division champions HMH are a step closer to adding more silverware to their trophy cabinet for the season as they booked their place into the final of the Cyril Anekstein Cup after they defeated Geez Park Rangers 5-4 on penalties, after the sides played out a 3-3 draw. Michael Anthony Perkins scored twice for Rangers, with Ben Rafi Bellman also on target. Oscar Wagner hit a brace for HMH, with Charlie Hyman scoring their third. HMH converted all their spot kicks, with George Goldberg saving a vital penalty.

In Division Two, Chopped Villa moved up to third spot in the table after they came away from Scrabble with a 6-4 win. Jayden Groden helped himself to a hat-trick, Oliver Dagul scored twice, with Marc Smith also finding the back of the net. Richie Abramson, Ethan Gold, Elliott Salem and Noa Shapps scored for Scrabble, for whom manager Ollie Sugarman said: “We were the better side for 60 minutes but gifted them too many goals late on. Plenty learned in our first MGBSFL season — we’ll come back stronger and aim to prove ourselves in the cup.”

In the group stages of the David Woolf Division Two Cup, Real Masmid and Schlepfield Wednesday played out a six-goal thriller as the sides drew 3-3, Akiva Solomon scored twice for Masmid, with Joshua Bharier scoring their third. Redbridge Jewish Care B came away from Beitar Bushey with a 1-0 win thanks to a goal from Adam Pereira.

The one game played in the Maccabi Masters League proved to be a remarkable affair as not even four goals from Oli Kenner was enough to prevent Scrabble falling to a 7-5 defeat to EHRS Stonegrove. Ryan Kangisser also got on the scoresheet for them, but two goals each from

James Cartmell, Bradley Lazarus and Jake Masteran, plus Mark Kingston’s strike secured EHRS a stunning win.

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