MANCHESTER ACCOUNTANTS LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
CHORLTON FC 5 MANCHESTER MACCABI 2nds 5

Ben Gould fired a hat-trick as Manchester Maccabi 2nd shared hte points after an extraordinary 10-goal thriller against Chorlton.

It's been very much a learning curve for Maccabi 2nds since moving into the Accountants first division and on Sunday they faced possibly their biggest challenge so far, in facing unbeaten Chorlton FC at the University Ground in Manchester.

The game was played at a fast pace from the outset, with both team going for it from the off. It was Chorlton who had the majority of the early possession, without really creating any clear cut chances.

Maccabi, though, were the team to break the deadlock though with their first change. Centre back and captain Nick Yardley brought the ball out from the back and delivered a perfect ball into the path of Gould who scrambled the ball home.

The goal gave Maccabi confidence and they double their lead five minutes later when Adam Herman delivered a ball which was met at the back post by Gould to nod in his and Maccabi's second.

Chorlton though were not going to lay down and quickly pulled a goal back to cut the Maccabis lead to just one. With minutes to go before half time Maccabi regained their two-goal lead when Adam Herman cross evaded all of the Chorlton defenders and bounced over the goalkeeper and into the net.

Chorlton started the second half brightly and forced Maccabi's returning goalkeeper Harris Kersh into a string of impressive saves. They couldn't keep them out for long though and Chorlton bagged two goals in quick succession to level the match.

At this point Chorlton looked in control and deflated Maccabi further when they completed the turn around to lead 4-3 with only four minutes of stoppage time to go.

Cue mayhem! Maccabi sparked back into life and were on the attack in search of an equaliser. It came when Daniel Rubenstein's shot was spilled by the Chorlton keeper straight into the path of Gould who completed his hat-trick with a tap-in.

At this point you would of forgiven both teams for settling for a draw with only a minute or so left to play. But no! Chorlton capitalised on a misplaced Maccabi pass to counter and the Chorlton winger fired in what surely would be the winning goal. The Maccabi players were understandably on their knees.

Expecting the whistle, they launched the ball forwards from kick off and the persistent Jason Hamburger who had caused Chrolton problems all game won Maccabi a freekick and a lifeline on the edge of the are. Rubenstein delivered the ball into the six-yard box and it was met by the diving boot of left back Paul Clayton - the ball hitting the net was met with the final whistle from the referee.

An absolute epic played in a great spirit by both teams. All in all a fair result.