ByJames Masters, James Masters
Zack Gothelf has vowed to put his friendship with Hyde Park Rovers boss David Domb on hold when Oakhill face their Yorkshire rivals in Manchester on Wednesday.
The Lions manager revealed he and Domb have been good friends for the past five years and are regularly in contact over their side’s MJSL progress.
But Gothelf insists there will be no room for sentiment when the two student teams go head-to-head at Frederick Road in the hotly anticipated showdown.
“David and I have been good friends for a while now and we’re always talking about football,” he said.
“He’s a great bloke and we’ve spoken this week but once the game starts then our friendship will go out the window.
“We played some really good stuff against Broughton and the likes of David Seligman and Jacob Shapiro impressing.
“Hopefully we can continue that against Hyde Park because it would be great to beat them.”
The MJSL schedule has been hard on Oakhill with the Manchester-based side forced to play five games in two weeks after the start of their campaign coincided with a return to University.
But with four points from their opening three games, Gothelf is hoping his men can cope with the workload and move up the MJSL table.
“It’s been tough and tiring but we’re lucky to have a big squad,” he added.
“We’ve got 25 players and training has gone really so far so I’ve been very encouraged.
“The defence in particular is looking very solid and hopefully that will continue.”