ByDanny Caro, Danny Caro
It has been a very promising opening 10 days to the season for so many of Manchester Maccabi’s football teams. Perhaps most noteworthy is that of the 3rd team who have taken the MJSL by storm.
The team, primarily made of the Club’s Under 16s from last season, clearly have vindicated the decision to play in the Tameside League as juniors, by displaying a quality of football not seen in the MJSL for many years from a team where the overwhelming majority of the players are aged just 16. Having swept Crumpsall away on the opening day of the season, they recorded wins against last year’s champions Liverpool Haroldeans and a very strong South Manchester side boasting a number of players who would grace their 1st team.
Maccabi also made it four wins from four games with a comfortable victory over Sporting JLGB. Manager Martin Simons said that “the best performance was against South Manchester. We played with real quality which is not surprising. I expect that a number of these boys will have a run out in our 1st team long before their 18th birthday”.
The other senior teams have also had a positive start to the season. The Vets have played one, won one, whilst the 2nd team conceded two late goals to lose 2-1 in their first match against Barclays. The 1st team in their first season in the Tameside League have won one and drawn one. It would have been two wins from two and an early top of the table berth, had it not been for a disputed penalty in injury time.
Two Maccabi sides sit proudly at the top of their divisions, the under 15 who have a three wins out of three record and the Under 11s Tameside League team who have won both their first two games. The other Under 11 side, playing in the Timperley narrowly lost their first game 4-3, before defeating South Manchester in a goal fest at Cheltenham Crescent.
The Under 12s recorded their first win of the season in the County Cup, and the Under 13s have lost their opening couple of games against teams likely to be at the top of their league.
The Under 14s, playing in the top division after last season’s promotion, started with a 6-1 loss at Avro. But playing against Fletcher Moss, the current County Cup winners, they fought out an enthralling 1-1 draw, and followed it up with a 2-1 win over Chadderton last Sunday. Another one of the promoted Maccabi sides, the Under 16s have only played one game as many of the boys were trialling for the European Games which takes place in Vienna next summer.
Tony Gellman, Maccabi’s chairman at Junior 11-a-side level was delighted with the start the teams have made. “Usually it takes us several months to find our level, but looking at the team’s performances so far, many have recorded fantastic results and judging from the matches I have seen have been a credit to themselves and our Club.”