Super Solomon helps Jerusalem hit the jackpot

The first 10 minutes were very cagey, with not even a hint of a shot on goal for either side. Slowly, Jerusalem set down into their tempo, and a combination of decent goalkeeping and very poor finishing kept the score goalless.

The breakthrough did however come in the 26th minute, when against the run of play, Noam Siluk saw Daniel Boerstra off his line and lobbed the Jerusalem keeper with a peach of a shot from 35 yards out to give the home side a 1-0 lead with their very first attack of the game.

After a small tactical switch, the away side deservedly drew level just after the half hour, when Zack Lewis rounded the keeper to slot home, earning himself a yellow card for his goal celebration.

The half petered out with Jerusalem in the ascendancy, doing everything but score.

At half time, Jerusalem made some changes, in the hope that the second half would go the same way it did the previous week, when the half timetalk inspired them to accelerate away to victory.

Attacking straight from the restart, Jerusalem won a corner which was swung in for Emeke Eza to slot home at the far post for his first goal in a Jerusalem shirt since joining last year.

A few minutes later, Yehuda Korman almost made it three - his acrobatic scissor kick from the edge of the box just cleared the crossbar.

A minute later though he turned provider for Lewis to prod home his second and Jerusalem's third.

At that point, with Jerusalem dominating with attack after attack, Rainball's heads dropped, and it was a question of how wide the winning margin would be.

Korman again turned provider, this time for Akiva Zneimer to bury the ball into the net to make the score 4-1, before Dan Kosky played a corner back into the path of Solomon for his second of the night.

Mordy Weiler then had a shot cleared off the line before Cohen, seeing the keeper off his line, expertly lobbing from 20 yards to make it 6-1.

As the game approached the final 20 minutes, Jerusalem went in search of more goals. Weiler was brought down in the box, and centre back Solomon stepped up to stroke the ball in the back of the net for a very rare hat trick.

Seven became eight when David Preston capitalised on the poor marking to head in another Jerusalem corner, and with just under 15 minutes to go, Weiler got a deserved first goal of the season to make it 9-1.

Lewis, determined to get a hat-trick, went close a couple times, only to be thwarted by some excellent goalkeeping and the outside of the post.

The 10th came from Moishe Lewis in what was a very close call, being deemed to have beaten the offside trap. He almost got a second two minutes later, this time it was his turn to be denied by the post.

It was left to Cohen to seal a fine performance with another 25-yard screamer to make the final score 11-1.

Jerusalem's joint manager Danny Newman commended the attitude of Rainball Tel Aviv. "Despite us being the better side, Rainball gave us a very frustrating first half.

"This is proving to be a tough first season for them in the Olim League, but they have great attitude and are only a couple of players from being a quality side.

"They should take encouragement from other sides that joined the league over the past few years who struggled in their first season. One only needs to look at Ra'anana, who have gone from a side that has finished bottom of the table to one that is currently odds on favourite to win their first title this year.

"If they stick together, they can develop into a side that should grace the league for years to come, winning plenty of games, but hopefully not at our expense."

Reflecting on the result, Newman added, "With all the goals being shared around, it was pleasing to see the new signings starting to gel with the more established players. All our strikers got on the scoresheet, and it was especially good to see Mordy finally get the monkey off his back and score his first goal since joining us over the summer.

"However, it was a first to see two of our defenders grab the headlines, with Solomon taking home the match ball after his first goals for Jerusalem, let alone his first hat-trick, and my fellow player manager David Preston scoring a rare header.

"Our next game is not for two weeks, when we entertain runaway leaders Ra'anana. For once, I believe our usual rivals; England FC and Jaffa will be hoping that we take the full three points to tighten things up a little at the top.

"Anything other than that and Ra'anana will have all but one hand on their first league title, even at this early stage."

Rainball Tel Aviv: Ron Cohen, Tom Moran, Or Ganism, Lior Sabag, Yehuda Sinvany-BenYoseph, Eran Levy-Zaks, Naor Sibony, Tzvi Shir, Itay Gargir, Noam Siluk, Eri Kavdiel, Ran Nehoray Hen, Idan Ofer

Goal: Noam Siluk (26)

Jerusalem: Daniel Boerstra, Danny Sigal, Dan Kosky, Solomon Emeke Eza, David Preston, Eli Warner, Gav Cohen, Yehuda Korman, Mordy Weiler, Zack Lewis, Moishe Lewis. Subs: Dan Cohen, Akiva Zneimer, Gav Krieger

Goals:
Zack Lewis (32, 50), Solomon Emeke Eza (46, 55, 72 pen), Akiva Zneimer (54), Dan Cohen (60, 85), David Preston (74), Mordy Weiler (76), Moishe Lewis (83)

Yellows: Zack Lewis (32), Yehuda Korman (38)