Defending champions Faithfold A drew 2-2 in a thriller against Hendon United Sports Club A while new boys Jewdinese completed comeback of the day and L'Equipe claimed the biggest win of the day on the opening weekend of the Maccabi GB Southern Football League.
MSFL MATCHDAY 1 HEADLINES
Prem Div – Pearson late show saves champions
Div One – Super Shirley hit Hendon for six
Div Two – Blizzard off to a flyer
Div Three – Jewdinese come back from the dead
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JC HAT-TRICK HEROES
Div 3 - Richard Fogelman 5, Steven Black 4 (both L'Equipe)
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FAITHFOLD A vs HENDON A PHOTOGALLERY
FAITHFOLD B vs BLIZZARD STORM PHOTOGALLERY
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DANNY CARO'S GOAL OF THE WEEK - GREG CORIN
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JC SAVE OF THE WEEK
Jake Doffman (NL Raiders A) - got down to his right and held on to Ricky Engleman's penalty magnificently
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DANNY CARO'S QUOTE OF THE WEEK - DAVID GARSON
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YOUR WEEKEND REVIEW STARTS HERE:
PREMIER DIVISION
TOP-SCORERS
2 – Mike Pearson (Faithfold A)
PEARSON RESCUES FAITHFOLD
FAITHFOLD A 2 HENDON UNITED SPORTS CLUB A 2
A late strike from Mike Pearson saved 10-man Faithfold as the champions earned a point at Chase Lodge.
Hendon's goals came through Greg Corin and Alex Rosenthal.
Faithfold captain Alex Levack was shown a red card for a professional foul - bringing down Avidan Last, but Pearson's second of the game ensured a point for the Superhoops.
Faithfold boss Zuriel Solomon told JC Sport: "What pleased me today is we were down to the bare bones and had six boys out, but we showed some great belief and played some great football in patches. It was a very exciting game with two great teams playing some good stuff."
Hendon manager David Garbacz told JC Sport: "This game was a tremendous advert for top flight Jewish football between two top teams fighting hard to gain the upper hand. Ultimately we came off disappointed with a draw but that was because we had given so much and on the balance of play had far the better chances and dominated possession especially in midfield."
DC Prediction: Faithfold 1 Hendon 1
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RAIDERS ROMP PAST LIONS
NORSTAR LONDON RAIDERS A 3 LONDON MACCABI LIONS WHITE 0
Raiders put in one of the performances of the day to blow Lions away, with strikes from Matt Stock, Ethan Zone and an own goal.
NLR boss Phil Peters told JC Sport: "Although it's still very early days, there was a huge amount of quality in this performance and the signs are very promising.
"Merging two teams was never going to be easy, but with a full pre-season under our belts we showed today the kind of performance-level and result that I’m going to be expecting every week but there’s still a lot of work to do."
DC Prediction: NLR 2 LML 2
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DIVISION ONE
TOP-SCORERS
2 - Gideon Gold (Shirley Park), Jamie Kent (Shirley Park)
NEASDEN EDGE PAST BRIXTON
NORTH WEST NEASDEN 2 BRIXTON OLD BOYS 1
NWN opened their account for the season with a deserved hard fought 2-1 victories over a competitive and spirited Brixton side at Brickfield Lane.
Dave Ronson capped an impressive debut in the centre of midfield for Brixton with a 35-yard screamer.
NWN boss Andrew Goldman told JC Sport: "The first game of the season is about getting the all important three points. It was the a fair result in the end against a determined and committed Brixton side, who will cause a fair few sides problems this season."
Brixton chairman Rob Silverman told JC Sport: "Considering that we had nine players making their debut, our overall performance was encouraging. It will take us a few weeks to mould the side but I am confident that our new signings will flourish and results will then undoubtedly improve.
"Neasden deserved their victory even though their winner was an own goal."
DC Prediction: NWN 2 Brixton 1
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SUPER SHIRLEY HIT HENDON FOR SIX
SHIRLEY PARK 6 HENDON UNITED SPORTS CLUB B 3
Doubles from Gideon Gold and Jamie Kent helped Shirley hit Hendon for six.
Ben Nassim and Stefan Benfredj finished the job.
Hendon's goals came through Chaim Gothold, RA Noe and Avi Markieweicz.
Park boss Dave Lusman told JC Sport: "Hendon were well-organised and gave as good as they got. As expected they proved to be a really difficult team to play against and break down. They kept up pace throughout the best part of the game, but in the latter stages of the second half we overwhelmed them with wave after wave of attack and our finishing proved to be clinical."
DC Prediction: Shirley 3 Hendon 2
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DEADLY DAVE SINKS BLANCOS
SPEC FC 1 LOS BLANCOS 0
Dave Newman was SPEC FC's match-winner as Laurence Conway's troops made a winning start at home to Blancos.
SPEC FC's James Lesner told JC Sport: "With several players still to come back from injury, bans and holidays, we're delighted to have got off to a strong start."
DC Prediction: SPEC FC 1 Blancos 1
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DIVISION TWO
TOP-SCORERS
1 - Dave Newman (SPEC FC), Ed Bell (Bilbaum), Ben Bell (Bilbaum), Oli Joseph (Haroldeans), Adam Speck, Dan Simmons, Dan Vandermolen (Blizzard)
THREE CHEERS FOR BILBAUM
ATHLETIC BILBAUM 3 LONDON HAROLDEANS 1
There was opening day delight for the Bilbaum boys as they overcame London Haroldeans 3-1.
Bilbaum's strikes came through Ed Bell, Ben Bell and an own goal.
Oli Joseph netted for Haroldeans.
Haroldeans boss Jonathan Abrams told JC Sport: "Credit to AB though as they battled hard, held on and managed to kill the game off in the dying minutes. It's only game one of a long season, so we'll learn from our mistakes and are already focusing in the next game in a few weeks time."
DC Prediction: Bilbaum 1 Haroldeans 1
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BLIZZARD BLOWS FAITHFOLD AWAY
FAITHFOLD B 1 BLIZZARD STORM 3
Adam Speck, Dan Simmons and Dan Vandermolen inspired Blizzard Storm to an impressive 3-1 success over Faithfold B in Mill Hill.
Faithfold's goal came through Doron Hershkorn.
Delighted Blizzard boss Simon Linden told JC Sport: "It's great to open the season with a win. Full credit to Faithfold - they had some good spells in the match where we had to defend well.
"I thought the whole squad worked hard and showed a lot of discipline to get us the three points."
DC Prediction: Faithfold 1 Blizzard 3
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DIVISION THREE
TOP-SCORERS
5 – Richard Fogelman (L’Equipe)
4 – Steven Black (L’Equipe)
POLAK EARNS RAIDERS A POINT
HENDON UNITED SPORTS CLUB SC C 1 NORTH LONDON RAIDERS C 1
A strike from Dan Polak ensured Raiders C came away from their match at Hendon C with a point.
Jonathan Nesbitt registered for Hendon.
With Zack Gothelf away, David Domb took charge of Raiders. He told JC Sport: "It was always going to be a tough game against a side who many expect big things from this season. We had chances in what was a scrappy first half, but they worked their way into the game. It was disappointing to go behind but credit to the boys. They didn't panic, kept playing their normal game and got themselves a deserved equaliser.
"It was good to get four new boys out there today. I thought our new-look back four handled their attacking threat very well. It's a solid start to the season. We've still got a few to come back in the coming weeks and it's an exciting time for the club."
Hendon boss Adam Glekin told JC Sport: "I don't think we were fully at the races today. Our back four, who were all making their debuts were magnificent today, gained us a point. I have no idea what Jonathan Nesbitt was doing up there for his goal, but I'll take it!
"I think we can only improve as the season goes on. I can't begrudge our opponents a draw today, if I'm being honest I thought they were probably the better team."
DC Prediction: Hendon 3 Raiders 3
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BRILLIANT BERRICK HELPS JEWDINESE COME BACK FROM THE DEAD
JEWDINESE 4 FAITHFOLD C 3
Jewdinese completed comeback of the day, coming from 3-0 down to win a seven-goal thriller against Faithold C.
Ben Berrick (2), Zack Collins and Zac Brin were the goal heroes for the new boys.
Faithfold's goals came through Ben Simons, Dan Gordon and Nick Roman.
Jewdinese manager Darren Lawrence told JC Sport: "We were unlucky to be two goals down at half time and after going 3-0 down with only 25 minutes to go the boys plays incredible and have really shown that Jewdinese mean business this season."
Faithfold boss David Garson told JC Sport: "We ran out of puff and somehow managed to give away a three-goal lead in 10 minutes. All credit to our young opposition today who didn't give up when most teams would have crumbled - a welcome addition to the league."
DC Prediction: Jewdinese 1 Faithfold C 3
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EASTERN DELIGHT FOR CATS
LOUGHTON ORIENT 1 CATFORD & BROMLEY MACCABI 2
Catford & Bromley started the season in style with an impressive 2-1 win over title hopefuls Loughton Orient.
The Cats forged ahead through an own goal following a set-piece from Jeff Gotch. Loughton equalised through Dan Shafron, but the visitors battled hard and scored the decisive goal when Yoni Bord completed a great run with a cross for Eli Baraty to fire home.
Loughton boss Dan Curtis told JC Sport: "I'm very disappointed to kick off the campaign with a defeat, especially after our good pre-season form. We never got going and created very little. The boys are gutted but will be looking to put it right next weekend."
DC Prediction: Loughton 3 Catford 1
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FABULOUS FOGELMAN DESTROYS KING CROWN
KINGS CROWN 1 L’EQUIPE 9
New signing Richard Fogelman made a dream start with five goals to steer L'Equipe the biggest win of the day - putting nine past new boys Kings Crown.
Steven Black added four more on a memorable day for the club.
Daniel Elghanian scored on his debut King Crown.
King Crown boss Jacob Kadoch told JC Sport: "Football is a game that can suprise you and that's exactly what it did. The reaction is what matters."
DC Prediction: King Crown 1 L’Equipe 3
