HENRY SWERNER CUP FINAL
NORTH LONDON RAIDERS 1
LONDON MACCABI LIONS 2
London Maccabi Lions boss Mark Jacob praised his team after their historic victory over North London Raiders at Wingate & Finchley's Harry Abrahams Stadium.
Goals from Marc Morris and Darren Coon helped the Lions become the first team from Division Two of the Maccabi Masters League to win the main cup competition following a hard fought tussle on Sunday afternoon.
Regulars at Wingate were delighted to see club legend Marc Morris roll back the years with a vintage performance to steer Lions home.
Morris looked right at home on the pitch he once graced and opened the scoring with a predatory finish to set up his team’s shock win over Raiders. Latching on to a huge clearance from goalkeeper Jeremy Reuben, Morris timed his run to perfection to slip the ball past Raiders keeper Martin Leslie.
Having seen Andy Bloom have a goal ruled out for offside, Raiders drew level in the second half through Gary Cohen, but the Lions won it 15 minutes from time when the impressive Laurence Leigh crossed for Coon to nod home the winner.
Having beaten Division One giants Glenthorne United A, EDRS Stonegrove and holders Brady Maccabi along the way, Jacob praised his team following a superb performance, with Barnett Horwitz named man-of-the-match.
He told JC Sport: "Our experience, professionalism and hard work was the difference.
"We've had a very tough run but deserved the win, It feels incredible to be the first team from Division Two to win the competition given the fact my players are, on average, 10 years older than the opposition."
Raiders boss Richard Sacks said: "As a team I think we played the occasion rather than the type of game we usually play. It was quite frustrating given the excellent performances of late.
"It was quite a new experience for some of our players and I'm sure we will as a group learn from this and move on.
"Fair credit to Lions. They worked hard for the win and experience can make a huge difference in these type of games."
