London Maccabi Lions under-15’s rounded off the season with a tour to Israel.
Manager Darren Dryer led the 11-player squad into an eight-team tournament at the American School in Even Yehuda.
The competition - organised each year by the Ben Dror family – is played in memory of former Israel national team player Israel Ben Dror.
Players from youth academy teams from a number of Israeli first division clubs including Maccabi Tel Aviv, Maccabi Petach Tikva, Ashdod and Maccabi Haifa, all of whom had qualified from a national competition.
On the second day, after a visit to Kibbutz Misgav-Am on the Lebanon border, the boys played a match at the stadium in Kiryat Shmoneh in front of the local mayor and an enthusiastic crowd close to 200.
"It was a great experience for the boys and they acquitted themselves well with one win, one draw and two defeats, despite the heat," commented Dryer.
"We are very grateful to Ilan Ben Dror and the Ben Dror family for inviting us as the overseas guest team."
Team captain Zak Zamet commented: “It was a fantastic experience to play in Israel and get the chance to meet boys from all backgrounds playing in the Israeli teams.
"Our player of the trip was definitely goalkeeper Reuben Rabstein who pulled off a string of wonderful saves to keep us in the games."
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