L'Equipe will be looking to become the first MGBSFL champions of season 2016/17 when they go to Faithfold, while Danny Caro also looks ahead to a mouth-watering double-header in the Premier with Raiders hosting leaders Oakwood and title hopefuls Redbridge and Hendon United going head to head.
March 2, 2017 18:02
GOAL OF THE WEEK: Nate Kashket (Redbridge JC C)
SAVE OF THE WEEK: Adam Hakimi (Redbridge JC A)
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Josh Hambling (Redbridge JC C)
-------------------------
CUP DRAWS
PETER MORRISON TROPHY QUARTER-FINAL DRAW (Revised)
MJSL Rep Team vs South Manchester Sports Club 1st
Maccabi London Lions A vs Maccabi London Lions U21s
Maccabi London Lions Masters vs RC UK FC
North London Raiders A vs North London Raiders B
----------------------
CYRIL ANEKSTEIN CUP FINAL SEMI-FINAL DRAW
ML Lions B vs ML Lions A
CUP FINAL DATES
Anekstein - April 23 – Wingate & Finchley FC
Morrison - early May (date and venue TBC)
---------------------------------------
---------------------------------------
YOUR WEEKEND PREVIEW STARTS HERE:
MGBSFL PREMIER DIVISION
TOP 3
1. Oakwood A Pl. 15, W. 12, Pts. 38
2. Hendon Utd SC A Pl. 15, W. , 12. Pts. 37
3. Redbridge JC A Pl. 11, W. 9, Pts. 27
-------------------------
TOP-SCORERS
20 - Zac Lewis (Hendon Utd SC A)
16 - Reiss Mogilner (Brady Maccabi)
-------------------------
BRADY MACCABI vs MACCABI LONDON LIONS A
Rowley Lane bragging rights are up for grabs when Brady host Lions.
Revenge will be the name of the game for Brady ahead of what promises to be a mouth-watering derby on Sunday.
They were beaten 3-0 last months when Adam Arnold, Alex Taylor and Brad Sharp registered.
Lions came away disappointed after managing only a point against SPEC FC but I expect them to come out firing on all cylinders here.
Brady put in a good shift against Hendon last week but ultimately it wasn’t enough as they went down 2-0.
I can see Lions nicking it with a late winner.
POSSIBLE SQUADS:
BRADY (from): Josh Miller, David Cohen, Henry Ziff, Eli Dagul, Ben Kohler, Brad Dryer, Dan Harrod, Jordan Nathan, Reiss Mogilner, Josh Newman, Ricky Rinder, Ben Henry, Scott Benson, Nathan Harrod, Sam Monjack, Mark Rister, Casey Sharpe
LIONS (from): Dec Green, Will Beresford, Harry Marlow, Nick Smith, Elliot Stern, Brad Sharp, Alex Taylor, Cam Most, Max Hassell, Sam Arghebant, James Gold, Richard Gold, Jamie Jackson
Venue – Rowley Lane, Ref – Martin De La Fuente, KO – 10a
JC star man: Jamie Jackson (Lions)
DC Prediction: Brady 1 Lions 2
-------------------------
-------------------------
CAMDEN PARK vs SPEC FC
Ricky Lawrence hopes the JC Manager of the Week curse doesn’t strike when he takes his SPEC FC team to Camden.
SPEC were the coupon busters on Matchday 23 when they claimed a famous point in their match against in-form Lions A. They produced a resilient performance defensively, with Ben Kaye getting the all-important goal. And they will go into Sunday’s game believing three points are there for the taking.
Lawrence told JC Sport: ""It was a close game last time around, hopefully this time we can be on the right side of the scoreline."
Stirling Kay enjoyed his return to the MGBSFL, leading Camden Park to a point at Woodford. He will be looking to make a big statement of intent to the home fans as his players attempt to keep daylight between themselves and the bottom two.
Ahead of kick-off, Kay told JC Sport: “Although we were very disappointed not to get three points against Woodford that our play deserved, I will be looking for greater goal threat this week,
“I'll be looking for the same commitment as last week but more quality throughout the side, especially in the last third.
“We welcome SPEC who we will give total respect to, especially after there excellent draw last week. However, we intend making it a very difficult morning for them where they will have to be prepared to battle and match our endeavour because we want three points nothing else will be good enough.”
Kay went on to confirm “Will Castle has agreed to become part of the management team”.
JC team news: Camden hope to give debuts to Josh Tiano and David Smouha, while Guy Marks and Josh Marks return from illness and alcohol poisoning respectively. Kane Gilbery misses out through suspension. The evergreen Rick Harris faces a late fitness test.
POSSIBLE SQUADS:
CAMDEN: Steve Murad, Max Gordon, Nick Kagan, Will Castle, Michael Khalastchi, Max Saunders, David Khalastchi, Josh Marks, Jake Saunders, Johann Jordi, Rick Harris, Kane Gilbery, Dan Baneth, Guy Marks, David Smouha, Josh Tiano
SPEC (from): Simon Roth, Sam Roth, Simon Bagel, Dan Cohen, Marc Cohen, Jon Kaye, Darren Lawrence, Ricky Lawrence, Rob Murray, Daniel Pike, Nick Wallis, Ryan Fox, Marc Hecht, Ben Kaye, Craig Cohen, Elliot Wallis
Venue – Hadley FC, Ref – Robert Benardout, KO – 10am
JC star man: Josh Tiano (Camden)
DC Prediction: Camden 2 SPEC FC 1
-------------------------
-------------------------
NORTH LONDON RAIDERS A vs OAKWOOD A
Table-toppers Oakwood have seen their lead whittled down to just one point as they return to action following a two-week break.
Unlike Jurgen Klopp, Dan Kristall and Ric Blank chose not to take a warm-weather training camp in Europe, with Kyle Bentwood enjoying a profitable work-out with the B’s last weekend, scoring a goal for Jason Stein’s team.
But it’s back to business for an Oakwood team who are on a brilliant eight-match winning run. But they know they can take nothing for granted and expect no favours from last season’s champions who can still finish in the top three.
Ahead of kick-off, Oakwood joint-manager Dan Kristall told JC Sport: “Raiders may have made a poor start to the season but in reality and on their day, they are as good as any team and arguably the form side in the league.
“They are scoring for fun and have quality all over the park. Our heroics in the return fixture with 10 men was one of our best performances of the season. It showed a different side to our game and we defended superbly.
“After a few weeks off, we must now re-focus and we have three cup finals. As it stands, I would say all three teams are in as good a position as each other and there are no favourites but we can only focus on our own job which is to not get ahead of ourselves and take it one game at a time. It might be a cliché but it is true.
“We expect a very tough test on Sunday.”
RAIDERS vs OAKWOOD - VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS
Raiders also have a big cup quarter-final to look forward to as well as three consecutive home matches.
Boss Dan Shafron told JC Sport: We’re all looking forward to this game.
“Oakwood have had a fantastic league campaign and are looking like most people’s favourites to win the league.
“It’s always a great contest between both sides and I expect more of the same on Sunday.
“There is no pressure on us in the league so we will look to enjoy the game and play with plenty of freedom.”
Sunday is effectively the first of three cup finals for Oakwood. They then have a week off before visiting title rivals Redbridge and couldn’t have asked for a tougher run-in.
Oakwood were excellent in both matches I saw them play against Hendon, but they know Raiders will pose a very different threat.
JC team news: Leor Sidle is away but Sam Cantor and Guy Helman return to the Oakwood side. Tom Prais and Brad Wine face late fitness tests.
POSSIBLE SQUADS:
RAIDERS (from): Jake Doffman, Alex Bloch, Josh Morris, David Rhodes, JJ Spiro, Jonny Kay, Nick Lewis, Oscar Wagner, Joe Cohen, Dave Cohen, Jono Rochwerger, Alex Moss, Ben Ellis, David Dinkin, Matt Stock, Liron Mannie, Nyv Bogaire, Jonathan Green, Adam Joselyn, Adam Gold
OAKWOOD (from): Dean Caplin, Elliot Jackson, Harvey Kaye, Dale Bradman, Lee Warner, Thomas Prais, Kyle Bentwood, Dave Woolman, Rafi Stone, Leor Sidle, Sam Cantor, Dan Cohen, Dan Rose, Zach Collins, Luke Brookner, Jake Norton, Jonny Quinn
Venue – Ark Academy, Ref – Luke Steele, KO – 10am
JC star man: Jonny Kay (Oakwood)
DC Prediction: Raiders 2 Oakwood 2
-------------------------
-------------------------
REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE A vs HENDON UNITED SPORTS CLUB A
Matches between Redbridge and Hendon never disappoint. And Sunday is no different. Jon Jacobs and David Garbacz kissed and made up last season after a bit of spat but I expect their rivalry to be as fierce as ever this weekend.
Redbridge produced their best attacking performance of the season last weekend when they stuck 10 past FC Team. And that was without Steve Summers. But I expect him to return to the squad to rub shoulders against Hendon stalwart Alex Rosenthal.
The east Londoners ticked all the boxes last Sunday, with Dean Nyman maintaining his excellent goal-scoring run, while Jacobs was delighted to see James Berkley pop up with two goals.
It’s important other players step up on the goal-scoring front and his players didn’t let him down.
Hendon have done well to bounce back from two defeats against Oakwood to move to within a point of top spot. Wins over SPEC FC and Brady Maccabi have kept them believing, while there has been a big improvement defensively, with no goals conceded in more than 180 minutes.
However, gaffer Garbacz told me his troops will be up against it on against Redbridge. “We go into Super Sunday absolutely decimated with injuries and unavailabilities,” he told JC Sport.
“It is a situation I have never known before for a game of such importance, but we don’t have time for excuses and whatever team we do eventually put out we still believe will be good enough to get some sort of result.
“All we can do is try our best to take care of business in our game – we can have no influence on the Oakwood match but we did train with Raiders last night and all of a sudden they have become our best mates and seem well up for their match.
“It is a fascinating situation – Redbridge are in brilliant form themselves and with their games in hand and with them still to play Oakwood, they still have their own destiny very much in their own hands.
“No doubt they will give us the usual east end welcome and I am expecting a fully committed match between two teams desperate for the right result.
“We need to patch up at least three players with whatever it takes to get them ready – hopefully they will be. Come Sunday lunchtime we will either be out the title race or favourites. To be the latter we need to play one of the games of our lives but we can do it.”
With so many important players away, Redbridge start as favourites. And it could be a very busy morning for Hendon No. 1 Russell Corin. I'm tipping Redbridge to pinch it in dramatic fashion.
JC team news: Yoav Kestenbaum, Josh Harris, Moses Seitler and Ari Nevies all away for Hendon. They also have “big injury doubts” over Ari Last, Simon Peterman and Greg Corin. Hendon “may be forced into making a couple of very late signings”.
POSSIBLE SQUADS:
REDBRIDGE (from): Jay Jaffa, Dan Lee, Danny Berg, Ryan Cole, Adam Hakimi, James Berkley, Zac Neiman, Darryl Rubin, Ben Sollosi, Sam Sollosi, Dean Nyman, Daniel Garfinkle, Matt Berkley, Danny Hakimi, Nate Kashket
HENDON (from): Russell Corin, Greg Corin, Zac Garbacz, Alex Rosenthal, Ben Kon, Avi Korman, Yehuda Korman, Simon Peterman, Ari Last (capt), Rocky Spitzer, Zac Lewis
Venue – 7 Kings High School 3G, Ref – David Lazarus, KO – 10am
JC star man: James Berkley (Redbridge)
DC Prediction: Redbridge 2 Hendon 1
-------------------------
-------------------------
DIVISION ONE
TOP 3
1. Lions B Pl. 15, W. 11, Pts. 35
2. Redbridge JC B Pl. 12, W. 10, Pts. 31
3. Scrabble FC Pl. 13, W. 9, Pts. 29
-------------------------
TOP-SCORERS
26 - Richard Fogelman (Faithfold B)
23 - Jordan Sharifian (Temple Fortune)
FAITHFOLD A vs REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE B
Bouncebackability is the name of the game for Redbridge B according to manager Sam Rank following last week’s gut-wrenching late defeat against leaders Lions B.
The east Londoners went ahead through Richie Caplin but they struggled to deal with the presence of Michael Kenley in a game where the Lions battled back superbly to steal the points, courtesy of Daniel Fattal’s last-gasp winner.
I expect Redbridge to recover and Rank knows the maths are simple. Win their three games in hand on Lions and they will go top. However, Scrabble FC are still in the mix and it promises to be a thrilling race for the title between now and May.
But Redbridge must take it one game at a time and they know Faithfold will be tough opponents, having drawn 4-4 against them not so long ago.
Looking ahead to the rematch, Rank told JC Sport: “After losing in devastating fashion, this week is about getting back on track.
“We need 14 points from six games to guarantee the title. The boys and I discussed in detail this week, how this will be done.
“Firstly, we have a game against Faithfold, which we will know will be tough. However, the boys have got some extra motivation for this game which is being played at the very same stadium which was the highlight of our 2015/16 campaign and a great day for the club.
“The boys are determined to get back on track and will be coming out all guns blazing on Sunday to ensure the game is dead and buried by half-time.
“We will not under-estimate Faithfold but if the boys play to the ability they can, their will only be one winner.”
Faithfold were involved in a 10-goal thriller against Finchley City on Matchday 23. Marc Charles bagged a brace but they were undone by the division’s most potent strikeforce.
The Greens will certainly be up for this but their leaky defence will be put to the test by an ambitious Redbridge team. Goalkeeper Daniel Kosky is one of the best in the league according to Faithfold joint-manager Rob Shooman, but he will have to earn his corn here.
A high-octane affair is on the cards, but I’m backing Redbridge, as long as they keep their discipline for the full 90 minutes as Faithfold will try to get in their faces and knock them out of their stride.
JC team news: RJC B will once again be missing Dean Ben Yosef, while Richard Stern is suspended for this game. Nate Kashket has been called up from the C team after his impressive performance last week.
POSSIBLE SQUADS:
FAITHFOLD (from): Daniel Kosky, Stuart Haring, Jonny Horwitz, Josh Martin, Ben Portnoi, Dan Yoss, Richard Jaffe, Elliott Kaye, Craig Cole, Jonny Gahan, Michael Field, Dan Kent, Jamie Kent, Marc Charles, Dan Yoss
REDBRIDGE (from): Scott Shear, Adam Noble, Dan Andrews, Daniel Bean, Anthony Cope, Richie Caplin, Adam Goldman, Kane Hopps, Joe Jordan, Scott McKenzie, Adam Noble, David Fialka, Sam Rank, Richard Stern, Sam Marchant
Venue – Silver Jubilee Park Stadium, Ref – Daniel Fox, KO – 9.45am
JC star man: David Fialka (Redbridge)
DC Prediction: Faithfold 1 Redbridge 3
-------------------------
-------------------------
MACCABI LONDON LIONS B vs OAKWOOD B
Sam Marchant’s Lions know Sunday mustn’t be a case of after the Lord Mayor’s Show for the visit of Oakwood.
His players worked their socks off to come from a goal down to beat title rivals Redbridge right at the death. Michael Kenley was the real game-changer, coming off the bench to take the battle to RJC, with Benji Weinberger and super-sub Daniel Fattal, who is featured on the lead sports page in this week’s JC, completing the comeback.
But Marchant and co will need no reminding that Oakwood beat them 2-1 in November. Yes they were up against A-team striker Dave Woolman, but Oakwood were good value for the win that day.
“This week’s game against Oakwood B will be as tough-a-test as any,” Marchant told JC Sport.
“Oakwood beat us away 2-1 earlier in the season and on their day, we know they are a very strong and capable side.
“They’re in a good run of form and I expect Oakwood will be fully prepared for this game.
“With our promotion dream still alive and kicking, nothing other than the three points on Sunday will do if we are to keep that dream alive for a few more weeks.
“We know that if we are to win all three of our remaining games, there is a very strong chance we will be promoted, however any slip-up will take the destiny out of our hands.”
Lions go into the game bang in form, with seven consecutive victories. Marchant added: “We are in a good situation at the moment since the December break and the mood in the camp is very positive.
“Last week’s victory was a huge stepping-stone for our squad for many reasons and we must take the same effort and mentality into the coming weeks.
“All remaining games we have are tough, including a semi final at home to Lions A, but we feel as though we are capable of achieving anything we wish if we put our minds to it.
“In regards to Sunday, we know we are capable and believe we can get the all important three points on the day."
Oakwood boss Jason Stein is on a high after seeing his beloved Manchester United pick up silverware last weekend. The Oaks have won their last two and will fancy rocking the applecart on Sunday, with Stein knowing three points would make him a contender for JC Manager of the Week.
Speaking candidly to JC Sport from his training ground office this week, he told JC Sport: “Morning DC, could this be described as the biggest game in the history of Lions B? Maybe. Maybe not. But they have three cup finals left and that sort of pressure does funny things to a team. We'll see if we can take advantage of that this weekend.
"We played a hard game against them in November. We won but they were unlucky to come up against Dave Woolman.
"I have had lots of texts from Scrabble players this week looking for favours. I'd like to oblige - not for Scrabble, I don't like Scrabble - but for Oakwood.
“We've all underperformed this year in the big games. Can we put that right this weekend? Yes I hope so."
There will be no Woolman in the Oakwood squad this week – he has bigger fish to fry – and I can see the Lions exacting revenge in a thriller.
JC team news: Captain Dan King and veteran midfielder James Abrams are absent for Oakwood. Midfielder Alex Koslover will come in while Dan Seligman, Geey and Selwyn will all start.
POSSIBLE SQUADS:
LIONS (from): James Harpin, Zac Rose, Ben Winters, Adam Lipman, Nathan Schindler, Nick Landesberg, Dan Behar, Ed Brafman, Dom Feldman, Zak Linden, Dean Rosenthal, Benji Weinberger Michael Kenley, Josh Bloom
OAKWOOD (from): Harris Kersh, Danni Dennison, Ben Buck, Max Clynes, Ilan Scorah, Ben Annis, Jonny Beilin, Dan Geey, Ben Loofe, Sam Modlin, Dan Selwyn, Rafi Bloom, James Frener, Alex Koslover, Dan Seligman, Ben Anis
Venue – Rowley Lane, Ref – Martin Lavender, KO – 10am
JC star man: Zac Rose (Lions)
DC Prediction: Lions 3 Oakwood 1
-------------------------
-------------------------
HENDON UNITED SPORTS CLUB B vs SCRABBLE FC
I don’t foresee Scrabble to encounter too many problems when they travel to basement battlers Hendon B.
Yes they will be disappointed to hear Faithfold have forfeited their match against Redbridge B this weekend – thus meaning RJC now need 11 points from their last five matches – but they must focus only on themselves and let everything else take care of itself.
5-0 winners over Hendon as recently as last month, there is a big gulf in class between the teams.
Elliot Espinoza will go into the match buoyed by winning the JC Player of the Month award. He has taken his game to another level this season and manager Ray Abrahams will be tempted to keep him in the No. 10 role in which he was so effective against Faithfold.
Josh Bharier and Danny Sherman will be looking to fill their boots in a contest that could be done and dusted by half-time.
Hendon have only taken three points out of a possible 45 this season. Damage limitation will be their best bet and it wouldn’t surprise me if managers Jono Nesbitt and James Neidle tried to double park the bus.
POSSIBLE SQUADS
HENDON (from): Yehuda Fink, Gideon Barth, Akiva Fink, Gideon Gale, Adam Glekin, Ezekiel Jacob, James Neidle, Jono Nesbitt, Gavriel Nussbaum, Gab Saul, Ronen Weinstein
SCRABBLE (from): Adam Zaidman, Josh Bharier, Rob Blackman, Elliot Espinoza, Dan Green, Adam Newman, Josh Pugh, Brandon Sassoon, Danny Sherman, Dan Stock, Zac Summerfield, Adam Waters, Tom Prevezer
Venue – Chase Lodge, Ref – Martin Fox, KO – 10am
JC star man: Adam Newman (Scrabble)
DC Prediction: Hendon 0 Scrabble 5
-------------------------
-------------------------
DIVISION TWO
TOP 3
1. L'Equipe Pl. 15, W. 13, Pts. 41
2. Redbridge JC C Pl. 16, W. 8, Pts. 28
3. Temple Fortune Pl. 15, W. 7, Pts. 27
-------------------------
TOP-SCORERS
12 - Oliver Sade (Finchley City)
11 - Jono Gaon (Finchley City)
FAITHFOLD B vs L’EQUIPE
The champagne is on ice … months of planning, winning football and blood, sweat and thunder have almost paid off. Now L’Equipe are just 90 minutes away – one win – from clinching the title.
They have five cracks at the cherry, starting with a visit to Faithfold at the Hive this Sunday. They will probably have to starve Richard ‘Schnitzelman’ Fogelman for the duration as he scores for fun at home of Barnet FC. But they have passed every test thus far.
Nick Stern is a contender for JC Manager of the Season. He knows that the club’s first piece of silverware would be the perfect way to celebrate their 10th anniversary. And excitement is building in the L’Equipe camp.
“I think you summarised it perfectly by saying it is a huge day for the club and we are not shying away from it,” Stern told JC Sport.
“All my players are aware of the magnitude of the game but have been told in no uncertain terms while this game means the world and the possible outcome almost too good to be true, we must treat it like we have every other game this season and then we will win.
“This year we may not have always been the prettiest team to watch, but what we have shown is desire, believe and passion and simply put no-one can compete with any of that.
“I have been playing Jewish football for 15 years and the team sprit running throughout my team, the fight for the shirt and each and every one of my squad is the best I have ever seen.
“We deserve to be in the position we are in and know that one more win wins us our first ever league title in our 10th year of existence.
“We still have five more games but we go as we have all season one game at a time. If we win we know it will be the greatest footballing achievement for many of us but for now we just concentrate on the 90 minutes and please god if it all goes well then we can really celebrate.
“Faithfold will of course want to stop us and we have a lot of respect for their B team and know many of their players but if we concentrate on our performance and show everything that we have all season then WOW it could actually happen…”
No-one can argue as and when L'Equipe are crowned champions. They deserve it after an outstanding run of 15 games unbeaten, including 13 victories. And I don't think they'll have to wait too much later before the mother of all celebrations.
JC team news: Max Martin is still suspended but other than that L’Equipe will be bringing 21 players down to the Hive on Sunday, including their mascot, Stern’s daughter, L Equipe’s No. 1 fan!
FAITHFOLD (from): David Garson, Daniel Abrams, Josh Barnett, Ben Kfir, Sam Garson, David Benaim, Avi Garson, JJ Marrache, Michael Patterson, James Stanton, Jeremy Teacher, Tomer Weider, Oliver Weingarten
L’EQUIPE (from): Ian Baron, Grant Bates, James Bell, Marc Glucksman, Josh Lewis, James Mandell, Max Martin, Mark Singer, Andy Smith, Mark Smith, Nick Stern, Jonny Kay, Mark Korn, David Prager, Rob Simons
Venue – The Hive, Ref – Neal Cohen, KO – 10am
JC star man: Grant Bates (L’Equipe)
DC Prediction: Faithfold 2 L’Equipe 3
-------------------------
-------------------------
HERTSWOOD VALE vs MILL HILL DONS
"Nice to be looking down, not up for once". The words from Ashley Hirschberger that echoed around the Hertswood Vale Whatsapp group this week.
Off the bottom of the table, despite sitting eight points off Boca just three weeks ago, “it really has been an incredible effort that has brought about three consecutive wins,” according to JC Manager of the Month Jacob Emanuel (and Jack Shuman).
Emanuel told JC Sport: “The chance to make it four consecutive wins, and a double against MH Dons before we hit a two-week break would be an miraculous turn of events.
“However, I fear are chance of getting four wins on the spin has been hit by mass availability and injury problems this week and as such, we'll be lucky to name a flat 11 this Sunday.
“It’s a real shame as I don't believe we'll be able to give a full account of ourselves in a very winnable game.
“Nonetheless we'll turn up on Sunday and give it a real go, with Josh Cohen in particular keen to add to his tally for the season.”
The Dons were involved in a real ding-dong affair against promotion hopefuls RC UK FC. They led 4-1 before being pegged back to 4-4, but Adam Isaacs sparked scenes of wild celebration with the winner in one of the games of the season.
Brandon Hamme’s men have conceded four goals in each of their last four matches and that is something he is keen to address. However, I find it quite refreshing. He has a bit of the Kevin Keegan’s about him – if you score five, we’ll score six!
With matches against promotion seeing Temple Fortune and Redbridge C coming up, the Dons know the importance of three points on Sunday.
I’m predicting goals aplenty between two of the league’s great entertainers.
JC team news: Hertswood welcome back Theo Gluckstein from his extended holiday in Spain, whilst Elio Elia, Harry Graham, James Millet, Josh Gorb and Josh Wood make up just five of a long list of players unavailable for this week’s game.
POSSIBLE SQUADS
HERTSWOOD (from): Ollie Brill, Josh Cohen, Ben Davis, Jacob Emanuel, Danny Feuer, Josh Goodman, Theo Gluckstein, Adrian Leibovitch, Ben Mandell, Jonty Schogger, Jack Shulman, Simon Englander
DONS (from): Zach Cohen, Adam Isaacs, Sam Kahn, Ryan Kramer, Adam Morrow, Zach Perez, Nick Phillips, Richard Reback, Joe Reece, Jordan Rinsler, Jamie Nagioff, James Segal, Joel Sinclair-Horne, Sam Cicurel, Zach Perez and Ben Bazini, Richard Hayim, Josh Moses
Venue – Tempsford Green, Ref – Robert Caplin, KO – 10am
JC star man: Richard Reback (Dons)
DC Prediction: Hertswood 3 Dons 3
-------------------------
-------------------------
TEMPLE FORTUNE vs CATFORD & BROMLEY MACCABI
Temple Fortune will play the second of four consecutive home fixtures when they host Catford & Bromley at Silver Jubilee Park.
Catford, managed by former Fortune player Jeff Gotch, started the season very well with four consecutive win, but, after drawing 4–4 with Fortune, they began an unexpected string of defeats, sending them spiralling towards the bottom of the table.
Since then they have picked up but Simon Linden will be looking for another victory to keep Fortune in the mix at the top of the table.
Linden told JC Sport: “We’re looking forward to Sunday – Fortune/Catford games have always been pretty close in the past.
“Catford have been unpredictable this season so we just need to be on our game and kick on from last week’s win.”
A Fortune win would see them finish the weekend in second place and with Jordan Sharifian now within three goals of MGBSFL top-scorer Richard Fogelman, I’m going for a home win.
JC team news: Fortune have several players missing; new arrival Ben Isaacs is doubtful with a hamstring niggle but Eshad Rahiv and Gab Stone are hoping to be fit. Michael Goldberg is back in the squad.
POSSIBLE SQUADS
FORTUNE (from): Lee Fegan, Rob Jay, Jordan Jay, Gideon Wetrin, Brett Stead, Gavin Levy, Jake Marks, Adam Speck, Jordan Sharifian, Ollie Squires, Michael Goldberg, Gab Stone, Michael Woolf, Dave Sawyer, Adam Lenz, Zach Rich, Ben Isaacs, Jason Lindsay, Eshad Rahiv
CATFORD (from): Guy Ben-Aroya, Loz Bloom, Tal Cohen, Gavin Fox, Jeff Gotch, Joel Lassman, Callion McGregor, Yarden Sharon, Ashley Stokes, Lioz Tov, Richard Winton, Jamie Sinai
Venue – Silver Jubilee Park, Ref – Steve Russell, KO – 10am
JC star man: Eshad Rahiv (Fortune)
DC Prediction: Fortune 3 Catford 1
-------------------------
-------------------------
REAL HENDON vs BOCA JEWNIORS
There are still plenty of tickets available for Real’s meeting with Boca – a match that has a very continental feel to it.
Boca are now battling to avoid the wooden spoon. With Hertswood Vale having picked up, every point is crucial, although they have tough matches coming up, with two games against Temple Fortune sandwiched in between one against champions-elect L’Equipe.
Sefton Monk’s troops have lost their last three games. They have trailed at half-time and it’s important they keep things tight for the first 20 minutes against a Boca team packed with goals.
Real haven’t won since I saw them against Mill Hill Dons. They’ve leaked 10 goals in the last three games but I believe attack will be the best form of defence against Boca.
Ahead of kick-off, Real player-manager Chaim Gothold told JC Sport: “We have a decent squad available and are hoping for three points.”
A Boca win would take them to within three points of Real with a game in hand, but I think home advantage will be telling.
POSSIBLE SQUADS
REAL (from): Dov Owen, Rafi Addlestone, Ben Cohen, Richard Cohen, Benjamin Goldberg, Chaim Gothold, Yossi Hoffman, Motty Korman, Zvi Noe, Hezzie Raymond, Benni Sluckis, Chaim Strom
BOCA (from): Will Martyn, Joshua Cinna, Oliver Kyte, Jamie Leboff, Joseph Leigh, Michael Myers, Anton Nyman, Ben Retter, Michael Rosenthal, Brett Schuman, Jonathan Winton, Matt Davis, Sam Simon, Benjamin Lederman
Venue – West Hendon, Ref – Barry David, KO – 10am
JC star man: Motty Korman (Real)
DC Prediction: Real 4 Boca 1