Braces from Oli Craig, Alex Bowman and captain marvel Yoav Lebens saw London Maccabi Lions A move four points clear at the top of the table after they demolished relegated Southgate Harmen A in the top against bottom clash at Rowley Lane
March 20, 2012 12:17
JC MSFL PREMIER DIVISION
London Maccabi Lions 8 Southgate Harmen A 0
Braces from Oli Craig, Alex Bowman and captain marvel Yoav Lebens saw London Maccabi Lions A move four points clear at the top of the table after they demolished relegated Southgate Harmen A in the top against bottom clash at Rowley Lane.
Further strikes from the evergreen Pete Lazard and Henry Ziff completed the rout as Lions registered their 11th league win of the season.
After an extended good run of form in the league, with eight wins out of their last nine, including three consecutive 3-0 victories, Lions went into the game against Harmen full of confidence, for what would be the visitors final game of the league campaign.
It was the visitors who started brightly in the opening five minutes of the game before Lions were able to dominate possession and really exert their authority.
Lions began to win possession on a regular basis in the midfield area and this allowed them to launch numerous attacks on the Harmen goal.
The deadline wasn’t broken until 15 minutes in, with a goal of real quality. Captain Lebens won possession in a central area before playing a sublime ball into the path of top scorer Ollie Craig, who subsequently swiveled onto his right foot to crash the ball into the top right corner, leaving the goalkeeper firmly rooted to the spot.
One soon became two, and it was Craig again who added to his impressive tally this season, this time rounding the keeper before tapping home after 25 minutes.
The home side was then left frustrated for large parts of the remaining 20 minutes of the period, as they were unable to retain possession and add to their lead further. Jeremy Julius, Lebens and Craig all went close however to extending the lead before the interval.
With just a two-goal lead at the break, Lions knew they would need to add to their lead in the second to ensure they guaranteed the desired result.
The visitors managed to stand firm for the opening 10 minutes of the second half, but they would soon succumb to the increasing pressure being exerted by the Lions.
The third eventually arrived via the head of Lebens from a nicely weighted Aviel Schwarz delivery and the fourth soon followed, again from the captain, as a misplaced through ball to Craig inexplicably found its way into the back of the net to give Lions a four-goal cushion.
Lazard and Leslie were calmness personified at the back, in the absence of vice-captain and new father Jake Lew, although in truth they were rarely troubled.
Not to be outdone by his attacking counterparts, it was Lazard who notched Lions’ fifth, from another Schwartz set play.
Julius then became increasingly influential in the game as the half wore on, providing some creativity to the Lions’ advances.
Six, seven and eight all followed in quick succession, with Bowman notching a brace, the second a fine outside of the left foot finish past the oncoming keeper, before substitute Henry Ziff made himself an instant fans’ favourite with a well-taken goal in his first appearance of the season.
Numerous more opportunities came and went for Lions to add to their tally but they will be pleased to record their fifth straight league win and add an eighth clean sheet of the season in the process.
Lions joint-player-manager Josh Newman told JC Sport: "Like last week, we took some time to settle into the game. In the second half we managed to play some better football."
Next week sees a break in the fixture list for Lions before they entertain current champions Redbridge at Rowley Lane on the April 1.