NLR A returned to the top of the MGBSFL after coasting past FC Team A, but Matchday 16 wasn't such a good one for NLR B who were beaten by Division One title rivals Redbridge B. FC Team B and London Rovers finished 2014 in style as well, as Danny Caro reflects on the final action of the year.
Wishes you all a Happy Chanukah and end of year.
MATCHDAY 16 HEADLINES
PMT - Four-midable Neasden storm through
Prem Div - Five-star Raiders back on top
Div 1 - Redbridge win five-goal thriller
Div 2 - Three cheers for FC Team B
Div 3 - Rampant Rovers show off their six packs
JC HAT-TRICK HEROES
PMT - Gideon Barnett (Neasden)
Prem Div - Matt Stock (NL Raiders A)
Div 2 - Andy Smith (L'Equipe), Will Ufland (NL Raiders C)
SEE MATCH PHOTOS - REDBRIDGE B vs RAIDERS B
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SEE DANNY CARO'S TEAM OF THE WEEK
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JC TEAM OF THE WEEK: THE CONTENDERS
GK - Steve Murad (Neasden), Simon Wolfson (Catford), Dan Kosky (Faithfold B), Russ Corin (Hendon A), David Simnock (Raiders B), Jake Doffman (NL Raiders A)
DEFENDERS - Adam Hakimi, Adam Shafron, Sam McCarthy, Danny Berg (all Redbridge A), David Clements (Whetstone), Josh Krewne (Catford), Jonny Gahan (Faithfold B), David Brown (London Rovers), Rob Caplin (Neasden), Jonny Samuel, Liam Stein (both NL Raiders C)
MIDFIELDERS - Adam Arnold, Steve Field, Rick Harris (all Neasden), Leor Harel (Faithfold B), Josh Bharier (London Rovers), Simon Peterman, Ben Lauffer (both Hendon A), Will Ufland (NL Raiders C)
STRIKERS - Richard Salmon (FC Team B), Andy Smith (L'Equipe), Gideon Barnett (Neasden), Josh Bloom (NL Raiders C)
MANAGER - Jon Jacobs (Redbridge B), Josh Lewis (L'Equipe), Rob Shooman (Faithfold B)
REFEREE -
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SEE DANNY CARO'S GOAL OF THE WEEK - ELLIO BLOOM
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JC GOAL OF THE WEEK: THE CONTENDERS
1. ANDY SMITH (L’Equipe) – GOAL 1 - placed a free-kick from the edge of the box into the top left=hand corner, leaving the goalkeeper with no chance
2. ANDY SMITH (L’Equipe) – GOAL 2 - a superb through ball and even better finish from Andy again
3. ELLIOT BLOOM (AC Mill Hill) - picked up the ball 40 yards out and unleashed a stunning strike which looped over the goalkeeper
4. ELLIOTT MOSLAWY (NLR A) - picked up the ball on the left touchline, beat his full-back and then nutmegged the centre back before drilling a right-footed shot into the top corner from the edge of the box. An exceptional first goal for the club
5. WILL UFLAND (NL Raiders C) - Goal 3 - received the ball on the halfway line and ran at the Catford backline. Beat 2 players on his way into the box and faced with a one-on-one, cooly slotted the ball passed the keeper for his hat-trick
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DANNY CARO'S SAVE OF THE WEEK
RUSS CORIN (Hendon A) - produced a superb stop with his outstretched foot to deny Richard Caplin from eight yards out
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DANNY CARO'S QUOTES OF THE WEEK (JOINT-WINNERS)
1. JON JACOBS (Redbridge JC B) - "This was truly a great game played by both sides, not one bad tackle and witnessed by the League chairman to boot so it was a great advert for Maccabi football"
2. JONATHAN ADELMAN (NL Raiders B) - "I'd like to pay tribute to my players for an amazing 21-month unbeaten league run and as I said to Jon Jacobs, all unbeaten runs end and I'm pleased it went to a quality team in a great game played in the right spirit"
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PHOTOGALLERIES FROM THE SEASON
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE SEASON
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PETER MORRISON TROPHY ROUND THREE DRAW
CYRIL ANEKSTEIN CUP QUARTER-FINAL DRAW
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YOUR WEEKEND REVIEW STARTS HERE:
CYRIL ANEKSTEIN CUP ROUND THREE
BRILLIANT BARNETT BLOWS TEAM AWAY
FC TEAM C 1 NORTH WEST NEASDEN 4
GIDEON BARNETT was the hat-trick hero as Neasden over-powered Division Two promotion hopefuls FC Team B to book their place in round four of the Jewish FA Cup.
A shock looked on the cards when Team forged ahead with a stunning 40-yard strike from Adam Stolerman, but parity was restored as Neasden hit back, with Adam Arnold adding the gloss.
NWN boss Stirling Kay told JC Sport: "We have finished the year on a high - we are now in the quarter-finals of both the Morrison and Cyril Anekstein Cup competitions, and have climbed off the foot of the table to give us a very good chance of avoiding relagation."
DC Prediction: Team 2 NWN 3 AET
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MGBSFL PREMIER DIVISION
TOP-SCORERS
17 - James Gershfield (Harmen)
13 - Dave Woolman (Oakwood A)
TITLE RIVALS SHARE SPOILS
HENDON UNITED SPORTS CLUB A 0 REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE A 0
Defences dominated in Hatfield as defending champions Hendon and league leaders Redbridge drew a blank, allowing NLR A to finish the year in top spot.
Hendon manager David Garbacz told JC Sport: "We came off the pitch today disappointed at dropping two valuable points, but to be honest we only had ourselves to blame."
RJC boss Sam Rosenthal told JC Sport: "We're pleased with the away point. We certainly had the better chances, but all in a point was probably a fair result. All the pressure still on Raiders, but we will continue to push them all the way."
DC Prediction: Hendon 1 RJC 1
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FIVE-STAR RAIDERS FINISH YEAR ON TOP
NORSTAR LONDON RAIDERS A 5 FC TEAM A 0
A fab four-goal salvo from MATT STOCK helped NLR A finished 2014 where they have been for much of it; on top.
They proved too strong for FC Team A at the Ark on a memorable day for Rob Richman and co, with Elliot Moslawy completing the rout at the Ark.
NLR boss Rob Richman told JC Sport: "All in all a really pleasing end to the year and we are excited for what already looks like a very important January.”
DC Prediction: NLR 3 Team 2
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DIVISION ONE
TOP-SCORERS
19 - Daniel Garfinkle (Redbridge JC B – including 3 for RJC A)
14 - Jake Gilbert (NL Raiders B)
BRILLIANT BLANCOS HIT HIGH FIVES
BRIXTON OLD BOYS 2 LOS BLANCOS 5
The JC Manager of the Week curse struck at Clowes as Los Blancos returned to winning ways with a stunning 5-2 win, with Benjy Israel, Joel Kutner, Adam Hersh, Simon Moses among the scorers.
Saul Conway and Stefan Benfredj replied for Brixton whose misery was compounded by an own goal.
DC Prediction: Brixton 1 Blancos 2
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RED-HOT REDBRIDGE END RAIDERS RUN
REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE B 3 NORSTAR LONDON RAIDERS B 2
Redbridge B stole a march on Division One leaders Raiders B, as Jon Jacobs' men ended L'Oranges unbeaten record in a five-goal thriller. Scott Oldstein, Daniel Garfinkle and Nathan Sollosi were the marksmen as the east Londoners moved into pole position for the title, with games in hand on NLR.
Dan Grossman and Anthony Goodmaker replied for NLR whose superb 21-month unbeaten run finally came to a halt.
RJC boss Jon Jacobs told JC Sport: "This was truly a great game played by both sides, not one bad tackle and witnessed by the League chairman to boot so it was a great advert for Maccabi football."
NLR boss Jonathan Adelman told JC Sport: "I'd like to pay tribute to my players for an amazing 21-month unbeaten league run and as I said to Jon Jacobs, all unbeaten runs end and I'm pleased it went to a quality team in a great game played in the right spirit."
DC Prediction: RJC 3 NLR 2
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DIVISION TWO
TOP-SCORERS
11 - Adam Stolerman (FC Team C)
9 - Jacob Richler-Kleiman (Oakwood B)
THREE CHEERS FOR TEAM
AC WHETSTONE 0 FC TEAM B 3
Mitch Young's troops finished the year in pole position with a handsome 3-0 win over Whetstone.
A deadly double from Richard Salmon plus one from Richard Sternberg completed a good morning's work for Team.
Team boss Mitch Young told JC Sport: "Overall we deserved the win and are looking forward to the remaining five games."
Whetstone joint-manager Clive Nathan told JC Sport: "The JFS ski trip played havoc with our squad and we had nine players unavailable. Even so we are disappointed not to have got something from the game."
DC Prediction: Whetstone 1 Team 4
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RAIDERS STRIKE WINTER WARMER
CATFORD & BROMLEY MACCABI 2 NORSTAR LONDON RAIDERS C 5
A treble from WILL UFLAND saw Raiders C go into the winter break in style as they over-powered Catford 5-2 in Edmonton.
Jonny Lee and Zack McLeod were the goal men for a depleted Catford team.
NLR boss Zack Gothelf told JC Sport: "Everyone is now playing for the team and for each other and this desire and motivation has been well reflect on the pitch."
DC Prediction: Catford & Bromley 1 NLR 3
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HANDY ANDY LIFT L'EQUIPE
L’EQUIPE 3 AC MILL HILL 3
ANDY SMITH boosted L'Equipe's hopes of avoiding relegation with a hard-earned point denting Mill Hill's promotion hopes.
Elliot Bloom scored the goal of the game for Mill Hill - with a stunning 40-yard effort - while further efforts from Jonny Kaye and Darren Bloom earned them a share of the spoils.
Mill Hill boss Dan Beresford told JC Sport: "We dug deep and came away with a point when it looked like we would get nothing, so credit to my boys for digging deep and we'll played L'Equipe was an entertaining game."
L'Equipe joint-manager Josh Lewis told JC Sport: "We felt we should've taken the three points, but we'll take the positives out it and it's a good way to finish 2014 and end our recent poor form."
DC Prediction: L'Equipe 1 Mill Hill 4
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DIVISION THREE
TOP-SCORERS
18 - Avi Markiweicz (London Rovers)
12 - Phil Braham (King Crown)
FAITH TOPPLE CROWN
KING CROWN 1 FAITHFOLD B 2
Faithfold B returned to winning ways with a stunning win ending King Crown's unbeaten record.
A-team star Jonny Haik and top-scorer Daniel Gordon cemented the points.
DC Prediction: King Crown 2 Faithfold 1
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ROVERS RUN RIOT AGAIN
LONDON ROVERS 6 TEMPLE FORTUNE 0
Table-toppers London Rovers destroyed Temple Fortune 6-0.
Avi Markiewicz returned to the scoresheet, with Parys Hammond, Josh Bharier, Yisroel Lewis, Akiva Zneimer and Dan Ezra putting the icing on the doughnut.
Rovers boss Jeremy Brown told JC Sport: "We've definitely played better this season, but it's good to see that even when we are not at our best, we can still come away with a good result."
DC Prediction: Rovers 5 Fortune 0
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HENDON UNITED SPORTS CLUB B P KS REUNITED P
Match postponed