Collins' blast thrusts South into action - The Jewish Chronicle

Neil Collins revealed how an old-fashioned half-time rollicking fired his South Manchester Sports Club 2nd side to a 3-1 victory at Westdene 1st.

The South boss was left frustrated with his team's failure to convert their dominance into goals after spurning a whole host of chances in a one-sided affair.

Goals from Simon Davies, Joey Lazare and Ben Polak eventually wrapped up the win for the visitors, who looked a class above their opponents for the majority of the contest.

Simon Rabinowitz grabbed a consolation for Westdene but Collins was left to reflect on a job well done following his words of wisdom at the interval.

"We should have been three or four goals up at half-time," Collins said. "We wasted so many chances and I gave them a right rollicking at half time but to their credit they came out and did the job.

"We were comfortable throughout and should have won by more but we got the win and that's all that matters."

Westdene 1sts manager Steve Davis was without a number of first-team regulars for the clash but conceded his side were second best on the day.

"South Manchester played very well and really should have been out of sight by half time," he said. "It wasn't one of our better days and although we were missing players, I can't use that as an excuse. They deserved to win and a couple of their lads played extremely well."

Elsewhere, dynamic duo Darren Loofe and Lee Goldwater stepped off the bench to fire Republic of Mancunia to a stunning 3-1 win at reigning champions Haroldeans. Second half strikes from the in-form pair gave the visitors all three points following a hard-fought contest against their Merseyside rivals.

Having led thanks to an unfortunate own-goal, Republic looked set to pull off a third consecutive victory until Anthony Beilin levelled with a spectacular effort just after the interval.

But Republic continued to dominate with Goldwater running clear to slot home before Loofe grabbed a winner from an almost impossible angle with just five minutes left.

"It was a terrific team performance in which we played quick and controlled football," said Republic star Anthony Bloch.

"After conceding the equaliser we had to once again step up the tempo in the second half and find our top gear.

"After our disappointing season opener against South Manchester we now have nine points out of 12 and the league campaign is well on its way.

"We have a fantastic squad of players with quality, commitment and character in every corner and we will relish every opportunity to demonstrate this."

Josh Hayes scored twice as Manchester Maccabi 3rds made it four wins from four with a 5-2 victory at JLGB.

Sam Modlin, Paul Clayton and Marc Magid added further goals for the league leaders, while Josh Taylor scored twice for the home side.

Maccabi manager Paul Simons said:

"Sporting were competitive and the fact that we missed a number of chances made the game closer than it should have been."

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