MGBSFL DIVISION TWO
NORTH LONDON RAIDERS C 3 SCRABBLE FC 4
Ray Abrahams believes MGBSFL football was the winner after Scrabble FC registered their 16th consecutive victory in a seven-goal thriller against promotion rivals North London Raiders C.
The Ark Academy was the setting for one of the MGBSFL's games of the season as NLR tried to halt Scrabble's 100 per cent in Division Two this season.
Scrabble went into the game with a few "last-minute injuries" and with some key players missing, it was Raiders - playing some outstanding football in the first half, easily their best half of football of the season - who raced into a two-goal lead inside the first 25 minutes.
Two superb goals, the first a ridiculous individual effort from Will Ufland (think Joe Cole vs Sweden in 2006), and the second a sublime team move filled with intricate passing and a delightful finish to match from Nick Haringman. Scrabble looked rattled.
Indeed, but for a combination of poor finishing and Ben Law in the Scrabble goal, Raiders could have been 4-0 or 5-0 at half-time - a score which surely would have seen Scrabble off - but a vital goal five minutes before the break completely changed the momentum and both sides' half-time teamtalks. Danny Sherman hauled Scrabble back into the game after he dummied the keeper once then fired in a low shot to make it 2-1.
Raiders couldn't start the second half with the same intensity as the first and Scrabble, now with their tails up, played flowing football and when Elliot Espinoza had a one-on-one with the keeper he made no mistake to make it 2-2 on 65.
A chip from Zak McLeod was then cleared off the line. The game was now an end-to-end affair, and with the Scrabble defence solid and Law making more crucial saves, McLeod fired in a direct free-kick to put Scrabble ahead with 20 minutes remaining.
Scrabble introduced Josh Flax, back from a three-week lay off with injury, to the fold and Epinoza made it 4-2, lashing home a loose ball in the NLR goal-mouth after 80 minutes.
NLR did not let their heads drop and they set up a grandstand finish with a third goal, with Olivier Telvi making it 4-3.
All in all this was another game where Raiders couldn't take their chances, in part to an inspired Scrabble keeper, and they again lost a lead when resilience was required. Despite a couple of the Scrabble goals going down to extremely fortunate onside calls, Raiders' frustrations were more at their own errors and inability to find the back of the net than the decisions of the ref.
But Scrabble held on to maintain their 100 per cent record, much to the delight of Abrahams.
He told JC Sport: "What a fantastic game of football between two fantastic sides who gave everything in a hard-fought battle yet ended the game embracing each other in admiration of each other's determination to win the game.
"We made a slow start but once again my players responded after half time. The resilience and determination in this squad is incredible and all credit to the lads who came through with another win to earn the three points."
Praising NLR, he added: "I must say that the Raiders are a great bunch of lads who do credit to this league and they can play a bit too!
"We've come through two of our toughest games against them this season and not many teams will take six points off of them. I hope that they are there in the mix at the end of the season for a promotion place."
NLR boss Zack Gothelf told JC Sport: "We were gutted at full-time, and that says a lot.
"We pushed Scrabble close last time out and we had one hand on the three points in this one. Unfortunately we couldn't see it through but we've got to take a lot of heart from the performance.
"We know if we play like that for the rest of the season we'll be right up there when it comes to promotion.
"Fair play to Scrabble, they deserve to win this league. We've had two fantastic matches against them, and hopefully we'll play them again at some point."
