Win number 13 may not have been Scrabble FC's finest but boss Ray Abrahams was not complaining after his troops extended their lead at the top of the table to 16 points following a hard-fought win over a battling Boca.
January 17, 2016 21:11MGBSFL DIVISION TWO
SCRABBLE FC 3 BOCA JEWNIORS 0
Win number 13 may not have been Scrabble FC's finest but boss Ray Abrahams was not complaining after his troops extended their lead at the top of the table to 16 points following a hard-fought win over a battling Boca.
Goals from Elliott Espinoza, Jonathan Peters and Danny Sherman inspired Scrabble FC to their 13th consecutive victory of a brilliant season as they took another big step towards the title with a 3-0 success over lowly Boca at Capital City.
Snow last night might have put the game in doubt but with a thin layer of snow on the surface and a heavy broom to clear the lines it was game on at the Capital City Academy.
Scrabble were without their injured midfielder Josh Flax and had Don Nineberg making his first start and were welcoming back recent absentees Jonathan Peters and Adam Pearlman.
On a freezing cold morning both sides found it hard to get a grip with the conditions making it hard for Scrabble to play their usual passing game.
However, a looping header in the penalty area by Anthony Goodmaker was turned into the net by ESPINOZA after 10 minutes to put Scrabble 1-0 up.
With Boca defending well, Scrabble failed to add to the score despite fine efforts from Sherman and Zak McLeod and saves from the Boca goalkeeper and the teams went in at half time 1-0.
With Scrabble starting to take control after the break and Ben Law in the Scrabble goal with very little to do Sherman fired in a great effort on 60 minutes which the Boca keeper parried to PETERS who tapped the ball into the net to make it 2-0 .
After great hold up play all morning SHERMAN grabbed his goal volleying in inside the penalty box on 75 minutes to make it 3-0 and make the game safe for Scrabble to make it 13 wins out of 13 and extend their lead to 16 points at the top of the Division Two table.
Scrabble manager Ray Abrahams told JC Sport: "It was a difficult game for both sides on a tricky pitch and a freezing cold morning. The important thing for us today was to make sure that we secured the three points which we did but some of our play today was a bit sloppy and our finishing not clinical.
"Having said that the lads all gave 100 per cent and with a bit of luck we could have scored a few more but in the end it was job done.
"I'm also glad that we were able to give long term absentee Doron Salomon a few minutes at the end of the game following a horrendous injury.
"We have nine games left now in the league and have set ourselves a few targets for those games. People keep mentioning records to us that we might be setting but we will take each game as it comes and all I know is I've got a great bunch of guys who all play for the club with pride.
"To have a 16-point lead at this stage of the season says so much for the camaraderie, spirit and atmosphere in the squad at the moment and when you're winning like this the games can't come quickly enough."
Boca's Anton Nyman told JC Sport: "We battled well throughout against a standout side in our league. Unfortunately we picked up a couple of injuries, but hopefully those wounds will heal in the next couple of weeks and we'll go again against Bilbaum in two week's time."
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