Reigning Premier Division champions HMH began the defence of their crown with a 2-0 victory over Yallatasary on the opening day of the new Maccabi GB Southern Football League (MGBSFL) season.
Goals from Zac Summerfield and Ethan Krell steered them to the win, praised by joint-manager Jake Norton as “an excellent performance for the first game of the season. On a tough pitch we tried to play good football together with a resolute defence, we showed enough quality to win the game and a clean sheet is very pleasing. We’re very happy to get off to a winning start, but this is just the start.”
Aware other sides will have extra motivation to beat the champions, he added: “We know sides turn up wanting to beat us, they come with energy and fight just like Yalla did today, but we try and use that as added motivation.”
Disappointed with his side’s performance both on and off the ball, Yallatasary manager Buddy Smith said: “I also could have done a lot more tactically especially in the second half which is something I have to reflect on, but we were just not at the standard today. We had some moments where we could have created big opportunities but struggled with the final action.
“There are, though, lessons myself and the players can take from it. We also have new players who will need time to gel together. We showed different aspects of our game and at times looked really threatening, there’s a lot to work on and to build on from this performance.”
And believing his side have a lot more to offer, he added: “There is so much more to come from this group. We’re all going to give everything we’ve got this year. We want to win every competition we compete in, I believe we can do this, but we have a lot of work to do in a short space of time.”
Elsewhere in the top flight, Stopinsky got their campaign off to a winning start by securing three points as they beat Sukkotingham Forest 2-0. A debut goal from Eli Hubbock, along with an own goal, saw them home. Manager Louis Cooper said: “The first game in our second season and it’s good to be back. We’ve had our doubters but there is no messing around this season. We are back.”
In the newly-formed Championship, Hampstead Ducks top the fledgling table on goal difference thanks to a 5-1 win over 40 Year Wanderers. Eli Greenbaum scored twice, with Dan Lewis, Zak Cowan and Moshi Benaim also on target. Manager Jacob Summerfield said: “What a way to start the season. We are very happy with our summer transfer business and now have three points to confirm the ‘feel good factor’”. Alex Brenner scored Wanderers’ consolation.
Redbridge also enjoyed a three-goal winning margin, as they came away from Bochur Juniors with a 4-1 triumph. Ryan Cole scored twice, with Daniel Ryan Gillary and Harrison Nathan also on target. Mikey Selby scored for Bochur, whose manager Joel Ucko said: “We were missing a big part of our core, but I’m not here to make excuses. It was a bad day at the office. Goals change games, and conceding four changed this one quite considerably. Now it’s about showing character, bouncing back and giving 110 per cent to get a result next time out.”
Arguably, the game of the day saw Scrabble edge a seven-goal thriller, coming away from Temple Fortune with a 4-3 win. Max Cohen scored twice, with Milo Wingard and Max Pearson also on target. Scrabble manager Ollie Sugarman said: “I’m really proud of the lads for fighting until the end and showing great character. Noah Graft was outstanding with three assists, Cohen made a huge impact off the bench and Joshy Bentwood was immense at the back with two crucial goal-line clearances. Hopefully more to come throughout the season.” Jake Shindler scored twice for Fortune, with Adam Grossman also on target. Manager Oli Weiner said: “Not the result we were looking for but plenty of positives to take forwards. If we can start to convert our chances, the points will come.”
Another team off to a winning start were Rapid Viennas, who saw Joe Freedman, Jack Warren and Max Aston all find the back of the net in the first 35 minutes to secure a 3-1 victory over Brady. Manager Louis Jays said: “We had a perfect 20 minutes of the first half. We started the game slowly, however once we got all the rust out of our boots, were on top for the whole first half and went into the break 3-0 ahead. We lost our captain Max in the second half and knew we had to defend for most of the game as we had no subs – which we did.” Joel Freedman was on target for Brady, whose manager Ricky Ansher said: “Once again, we were masters of our own downfall. Gifting a team like Viennas three goals early on made the task near impossible. Some encouraging signs in the second half from the boys and we’ll hopefully kick on in our next game.”
A goal from Mark Pearce was enough to see Beitar Bushey claim a 1-0 win at Schlepfield Wednesday, whose manager Joseph Venner said: “It was a disappointing result given how the game went. A really unfortunate goal to concede, but credit to Beitar who defended really well throughout the game giving us very little going forward.”
The only draw of the day was a six-goal thriller as Chopped Villa and Wolverhampstead Wanderers played out a 3-3 draw. Adam Goldberg scored twice for Villa, with Josef Marks netting their third. Sam Kahn, Daniel Bernbaum and Jake Bennett scored for Wanderers.
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