MGBSFL DIVISION TWO
SCRABBLE FC 1 CATFORD & BROMLEY MACCABI 3
Jeff Gotch insists his Catford & Bromley team can beat anyone in the division after Scrabble's title hopes suffered a setback as they lost for the first time at home 'Fortress Willesden.
The home side's injury list finally caught up with them and they were missing key players in Elliot Espinoza, Josh Bentley, Adam Waters, Dan Green and Jonathan Peters all of who have played a key role in Scrabble's race for the title this season in a game where the Cats did not let them breath or express themselves.
Scrabble should have put the game out of Catford's reach in the first half as they dominated the game but saw chances go begging as Catford caught them on the break before half-time. The linesman was flagging for offside but the ref continued the game Jamie Sinai buried their chance after an uncharacteristic mistake in the Scrabble defence.
With the score at 1-0 at half-time Scrabble were expected to throw everything at Catford in the second half but they just didn't get going and despite some good chances the Scrabble finishing was wasteful.
The Cats doubled their advantage when man-of-the-match Richard Adams marked his return from LA with a superb header.
Scrabble were desperate for a way back and with under five minutes to play Tom Prevezer scored for the Scrabble boys direct from a corner to give the some hope.
With Scrabble now throwing everything at Catford to try and get the equaliser, including goalkeeper Ben Law going forward for everything, Catford broke away in the dying seconds and put the ball into an empty net with Law racing to get back to score their third.
An unexpected result for the league leaders but the title is still in their hands if they can win their last two games both away from home.
Cats player-manager Jeff Gotch told JC Sport: "So we've beaten Lions 4-1 and now Scrabble 3-1 and were 10th in league just shows what we can do when everyone is on their game.
Scrabble manager Ray Abrahams said: "We just couldn't get our game going today and were too hurried with everything we were trying to do.
"We created a lot of chances and on another day and with the ball running for us we may have been three or four up in the first half.
"But when you go a goal down like we did today against the run of play we were always chasing the game and it just wasn't meant to be for us in this game. But we will learn from it and come back stronger.
"Considering that we had five key players out today, the lads that played gave it their best shot but full credit to Jeff Gotch and the Catford boys who have now beaten us and Lions and drawn with Lions and I can't understand why they have struggled to make an impact on the League themselves this season.
"The title is still there for us to win and it's in our own hands. You can be sure that we will react positively to this result when we next play and I'm so proud of the way everyone has given us all a season to remember whatever the outcome in the final few games."
To get more from Life, click here to sign up for our free Life newsletter.