ByAnonymous, Anonymous
Maccabi GB Handball returned to the court for the first time in over a month following their 28-6 London Regional Division Two League defeat to Fulham Hawks.
It was one bird of prey to another as they faced Ruislip Eagles – a team who they had also come across in a pre-season friendly.
A strong line-up was initially named by player-manager, Adam Goldsmith. However, he had to replace England Handball veteran Tony Tropp, at Centre after an injury in warm-up. Having spent the previous game devoid of much attacking impetus, Maccabi GB Handball (or the ‘Slingshots’ as they are affectionately known, after King David’s weapon of choice), spent weeks honing their repertoire of offensive plays. This had an almost immediate impact as Dean Caplin and Goldsmith combined to test the Ruislip keeper.
Despite MGB looking more comfortable on the ball, passing it around their opponents area, stringing some promising plays together and creating six one-on-one counter-attacks, their defensive play was a real hindrance and Ruislip’s movement was too much for the boys in white to take.
Had the likes of captain Liam Stein, Alex Elf and Goldsmith hit the back of the net then confidence would have instantly skyrocketed. They did not, and their team was made to pay in kind.
Caplin managed a hat-trick before he came off injured during the second half. Tony Tropp came on to add another before the break and MGB man-of-the-match Alex Elf notched a double – the second with a sublime piece of skill - to show that Maccabi GB had potential.
However, with the Eagles’ Antoine Binet scoring an impressive nine goals and Marc Fayemi running the show, the away side was tearing their opponents apart to go ahead by a 13-goal deficit at the break.
If Maccabi GB Handball were to make any dent in the scoreline, they would have to do so with a man down on two occasions. Winger, Joey Carr, who had been solid in defence all morning, collected a Sin Bin for a foul on Michal Nobrega and, not longer after had he served his sentence, Pivot Daniel Sichel suffered a similar punishment for an illegal foul on Ruislip’s Binet.
With a man down on two occasions, MGB capitulated and let in a barrage of goals, with Binet smashing in another three to take his total to 12 on the day. Despite first goals of the season from Stein and Goldsmith, it was to end another frustrating day for MGB.
MGB vice-captain Alex Elf said: "Although the score suggested a hammering, it was not the case in the first half and any spectator could see how far we’ve come in such a short space of time, since the Club was founded in May.
"We are improving week-on-week and, if we were more ruthless with our chances – and there were plenty – the ‘goals for’ column would look a lot different. Each game is a new learning curve for us and I know that we will get better each match."
Maccabi GB Handball's next outing is a home fixture against Islington Handball at SportHouse on November 16, 2:15pm throw-off.
SCORERS:
Caplin x3
Elf x2
Stein
Tropp
Goldsmith
SQUAD:
Dean Caplin
Alex Elf
Liam Stein (Captain)
Daniel Sichel
Anthony Tropp
Joshua Pinhass
Joey Carr
Yitzchok Mordfield
Adam Berg
Adam Goldsmith