Steve Bentwood has set his sights on cup success after his Manchester Maccabi 3rd side suffered their second league defeat of the season.

The reigning champions went down 3-1 at Oakhill on Sunday and are now ten points behind league leaders Haroldeans.

Maccabi’s form has been patchy in recent weeks with their humbling by Crumpsall sending shockwaves through the MJSL.

But Bentwood says this season can still be a success – despite his team’s failure to challenge Haroldeans at the summit.

“We’re not ever going to give up the ghost but it’s going to be very difficult to catch Haroldeans,” said Bentwood.

“We would need to win all our games and hoped they slipped up a few times and implode in the New Year.

“I think we have to be realistic and say our best chance of winning something is in the cup competitions.

“Hopefully we can do something in those competitions and get our hands on some silverware.”

Sheldon Lee’s solitary strike was the only bright spot for Maccabi as they failed to keep pace with the Manchester University side.

But Bentwood had few complaints about the result and says his players must learn from the defeat.

“Oakhill are a good side and perhaps we were just a bit naïve,” he added.

“We were chasing the game after going two goals down early on and then we conceded a third when they caught us on the break.

“The boys need to learn from these kind of experiences and hopefully they will.”