David Garbacz singled out Zac Lewis and Chaim Korman for special praise as former winners Hendon United Sports Club A came from a goal down to beat FC Team B and book their place in round three of the Cyril Anekstein Cup.
A shock looked on the cards early on as Team opened the scoring, and to make matters worse Hendon captain Ari Last limped off injured after 15 minutes. With Gav Krieger also struggling at right-back with a bad back and Hendon's only substitute already on, they were up against it and the break.
However, after a few half time positional tweaks, Hendon came out after the break on fire and with a far better attitude and pace to their game. The driving force behind the change was the brilliant young Korman who simply took the FC Team full-backs apart and totally defied his age .
Lewis and Chaim Korman ended their hopes in a stunning second half performance from David Garbacz men.
Garbacz told JC Sport: "All credit to FC Team who really had us concerned at half time and showed some good qualities, but I was really proud of the way we turned things around.
"Zac Lewis in only his second game for us scored a fine hat-trick - I predicted he would get some headlines this year and this week should be the first of many.
"All credit to FC Team who really had us concerned at half time and showed some good qualities, but I was really proud of the way we turned things around.
"We have an amazing record in this competition in recent years and there was simply no way we were going out early.
"The signs are great for the season as today really tested our strength in depth and we passed with distinction.
"The boys can enjoy their last couple of days of the festival season still unbeaten so we'll allow them a couple of drinks."
FC Team boss Mitch Young described himself as "extremely disappointed" with the result. He told JC Sport: "We will never have a better chance of beating Hendon and we blew it.
"We should have been at least two goals up at half-time, we hit the post and missed two or three very easy chances. I expect more from my players in the final third and we should have killed the game.
"How can we expect to beat one of the favourites or anyone for that matter if we keep missing chances in the first half. We need to improve and quickly on that front if we are to realise our ambitions.
"Straight after half time we had a goal ruled out when the ball came down off the crossbar to make it 2-0 - both myself and David said it was in but the referee thought otherwise.
"Hendon tore us apart with their extra fitness and pace in the second half. Korman and Zone were too hot to handle and they caught us on the break four times. On their second half display they deserved the victory and even though they were stretched it goes to show their strength in depth to put in a second-half display like that.
"Good luck to them for the remainder of the competition."
