Two goals from Sam Holden saw 40 Year Wanderers kick-start their Maccabi GB Southern Football League (MGBSFL) campaign as they earned just their second league win of the season and now hope it will propel them up the Division One table.
Sunday morning’s 2-1 win at Mill Hill Minyan, while also providing a morale boost, sees them move to within two points off third spot in the table and Wanderers’ vice-captain Ben Conway is hoping it’s the start of a concerted push up the table. He said: “In my view, our position in the table makes us look worse than our performances have been. We’ve drawn three times, and a couple of those results were affected by unfortunate circumstances like key decisions going against us and frequent rendezvous with the woodwork!
“There’s currently two points between third and sixth, so there’s all to play for, and if we come to games through the rest of the season with the same drive and attitude as today, then we could definitely find ourselves atop that mid-table cluster.”
Holden’s double took him to 11 goals in all competitions this season, which saw Louis Linskell provide both assists. Proud of the performance of the whole team, Conway said: “We had no substitutes today, we had a bare XI, so everyone on the pitch had to really dig in for 90 minutes. I was delighted by our constant running and our commitment to individual battles, we won far more headers and second balls throughout the game, especially in the second half.
“I was also really pleased with how we identified and exploited their weaknesses in defence, it was refreshing to control the game so much in the midfield. It was a shame to concede from a corner, as we do most weeks and that’s something we need to patch up.”
And believing their second league win of the season was well-deserved, he added: “Both goalkeepers made a few good saves, but a lot of the game was played in midfield. Their main threat was from set-pieces, and fortunately we stifled them after conceding early on from one.
“I think the difference on the day in part was the fluidity of our front three, our wingers constantly changing sides and running at their full backs. I think the grit shown by the whole team, especially the back four, going in for tackles and up for headers was also key.”
Further up the table, Sukkotingham Forest maintained their seven-point lead at the top as a hat-trick from Eytan Millan inspired them to an 8-2 win at Bochur Juniors. Toby Anthony, Josh Baum, Dylan Heller, Josh Morris and Nathan Mann netted their other five goals. Dani Rubenstein and Emmanuel Cohen scored for Juniors, for whom manager Joel Ucko didn’t hold back in his assessment of his side. He said: “We were 2-1 up, gifted them an equaliser on half-time and then completely collapsed. The second half was gutless, spineless and nowhere near the standard of this club. We were bullied, outworked, outfought and defended like amateurs. Without our goalkeeper it would have been a cricket score. If we want to call ourselves a football team, the entire mentality must change now. We need to be fitter, nastier and play with real pride in the badge. It was men against boys and a disgrace to what we are trying to build.”
Temple Fortune returned to winning ways as they moved clear in second spot thanks to a 4-1 win at Rapid Viennas. Despite being hit by injuries, a workmanlike performance saw goals from Ben Bowers, Mordy Schrank (who was later sent off), Adam Grossman and debutant Lewis Segal see them to the three points.
Hampstead Ducks and Brady FC shared the points, though it needed a last-minute goal from Daniel Slavid to earn Brady a point. Zak Lewis scored their first goal.
There are new leaders at the top of the Premier Division table as Stoke Salmon opened up a two-point lead. Four goals from Jamie Smaje saw them to a 4-2 win at Stopinsky. HMH moved up into joint-second as they also scored four goals, coming away from Geez Park Rangers with a 4-1 win. Ethan Krell scored twice, with Felix Shalom and Saul Norton claiming their two.
Redbridge Jewish Care B were denied top spot in Division Two as they were held to a thrilling 3-3 draw at Beitar Bushey. Lewis Feldman, Oli Mehlman and Harrison Nathan, with a brilliant free-kick, were on target for Redbridge, with manager Dani Sivan saying: “It was a fight, a real battle from the first whistle to the last. It was a hard-fought match between two strong sides and the rematch this coming weekend promises to be just as intense.” Daniel Mincer, Daniel Salamon and Theo Tobias were on target for Bushey.
Schlepfield Wednesday kept their title challenge on track as they moved to within four points off the leaders, but have two games in hand on them. Jordan Smith, Oliver Rokenson and Joshua Black on target in their 4-1 win over Scrabble. Ethan Kessel scored for Scrabble, with manager Ollie Sugarman saying: “We were better against them last week, but this time round didn’t show up. We lacked control within the game, but with a number of suspensions and injuries, we can’t expect much more and unfortunately didn’t look like winning the game at any stage.”
The clash of the top-two in the Maccabi Masters Football League saw Maccabi London Lions open up a three-point lead at the top of the table as they beat Scrabble 3-1 thanks to two late goals from substitute Johnny Ketterman. Bradley Lazarus gave Lions a first half lead, before Jon Yantin equalized for Scrabble, although ultimately in vain as they saw their 100% unbeaten start to the season ended.
Elsewhere, Brady and St John’s Wood Tigers shared the points in a 1-1 draw, Joel Nathan netting for Brady with Adam Barton replying for Tigers.
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