OLIM LEAGUE
JERUSALEM 8 ATHLETICO 1
Jerusalem boss Danny Newman says tougher challenges lie ahead after new boy Zack Lewis produced a wonder show in an 8-1 demolition of Athletico.
Following last week's poor showing, a near full-strength Jerusalem side kickstarted their campaign with a handsome victory.
Jerusalem were on familiar territory, despite being the away side, as Athletico share the same ground that has proven to be a kind of fortress for the capital side over the past few years.
The visitors were missing their first choice and reserve keepers, a couple of midfielders and one of their star strikers through injury, but they quickly got to grips, putting Athletico firmly on the back foot from the start. The opener came after about 10 minutes, with Amit Dinowitz scoring for the second consecutive week.
After that, Jerusalem never looked back, with new signing Lewis ultimately taking the plaudits scoring four goals on his competitive debut, and having a potential fifth ruled out for offside.
Despite the dominance of Jerusalem, Athletico never let their heads drop, constantly looking to get back into what proved to be a good competitive game, played in the right spirit.
Jerusalem's goals were spread round the front men and wingers, with Dinowitz scoring two, man-of-the-match Lewis scoring and Akiva Zneimer and Eli Warner scoring one apiece.
The only downside for Jerusalem were injuries to Danny Newman and Lollu Hibbert midway through the second half, but with no fixture next week, they hope to be close to full-strength when they host the impressive Ashdod team in two weeks time.
Jerusalem joint-player-manager Newman commented: "It was great seeing such a strong performance from the entire team, with the new boys slotting well into the side.
"Zack was on fire tonight, but special mention must also go to full back Aron Luftig, who put in a commendable display in between the sticks.
"With no disrespect to Athletico, who will get better as the season goes on, we know that we will face tougher challenges in the coming weeks as we take on some of the bigger names in the league.
"It is going to be a tight season, with all the so called big guns from last season having dropped points already."
Jerusalem: Aron Luftig; David Preston, Dan Kosky, Danny Newman, Yoel Finchas; Akiva Zneimer, Lollu Hibbert, Gav Cohen, Amit Dinowitz; Eli Warner, Dan Cohen Subs: Zack Lewis, Calev Ben Dor, Yigal Grayeff, Natan Wiesenberg
Goals: Dinowitz (2), Zneimer, Lewis (4), Warner
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