PETER MORRISON TROPHY FINAL
SOUTH MANCHESTER SC 1st 0
NORTH LONDON RAIDERS A 4
Daniel Shafron saluted his players after North London Raiders lifted the Peter Morrison Trophy for the first time, describing the triumph as a “special achievement”.
Shafron, who took over as manager from Rob Richman last summer, guided last season’s MGBSFL champions to a resounding victory over South Manchester.
Having beaten Lions Masters in the semi-finals, the Raiders started the match as favourites, despite having to make the long journey up the M6 to West Didsbury and Chorlton AFC.
Although they were missing top-scorer Liron Mannie, along with Justin Spiro, Alex Bloch and Ben Ellis, Raiders showed great strength in depth as strikes from Oscar Wagner, Jordan Marks, Jordan Nathan and Nick Lewis sealed a memorable victory.
Shafron said: “I’m delighted we have finally won the only trophy to have eluded us. I’m really proud of the entire squad. This is a special achievement for the club and to make history is an incredible feeling.”
Wagner put Raiders ahead with a speculative effort from 25 yards. The goal sparked a double substitution for Raiders as Shafron called for Marks and Alex Moss to make their imprint on the game.
Maccabiah-bound Marks, last year’s MGBSFL player of the year, was looking to make up for a season interrupted by injury. His tireless running caused South endless problems and he doubled NLR’s advantage, following up an initial effort that had rebounded off the post.
The best was yet to come, however, as Nathan added a third with a moment of pure genius. Excellent build-up play involving Lewis, Jonny Kay, Marks and Matt Stock saw the ball find Nathan who planted an audacious “rabona” into the top left-hand corner.
South were shell-shocked and in the space of 20 second-half minutes Raiders had gone into a 3-0 lead with the fourth following soon after. This time a clever free kick from Marks fell into the path of the onrushing Lewis who fired home.
Reflecting on a perfectly executed game-plan, Shafron commented: “We’ve got a very special group, not just the 16 involved and the players that couldn’t make the journey but also the management, in particular Jonny Adelman and Rob Richman.
“They’ve all played a huge part in this success and all deserve equal praise.
“On a personal note, to win such a prestigious competition my dad won several years ago is a great feeling and a proud moment.”
Paying tribute to NLR’s opponents, Shafron went on to say: “South Manchester are a very good side and it was clear that they fully deserved their place in the final.
“The whole weekend was very special and will be remembered for a long time to come.”
Rob Richman, who is now NLR’s head of logistics, said: “This trophy is a just reward for the tireless work Dan has put in this season.
“It’s a trophy the club has never won before and the players were ever so determined to make sure our captain David Rhodes got his hands on the cup.”
South Manchester joint-manager Neil Collins described the result as “a great shame”.
He said: “Our first-half performance was good, but we didn’t get the all-important first goal.
“Raiders were better in the second half and deserved their victory on balance of play.
“All 16 lads involved, and those who had been involved in previous rounds, did the club proud.”
Victory confirmed Raiders as the first club in Jewish football history to secure the clean sweep of winning every league title and every cup — including Minor and Masters Invitational cups.