Table-topping Norstar London Raiders A dropped points for the first time this season, while FC Team A stunned defending champions Faithfold A and well done to AC Whetstone who claimed their first-ever win on Matchday 5 of the MGBSFL season. Danny Caro reflects on all the action.
MATCHDAY 5 REVIEW
CAC – Three cheers for Camden
Prem Div – Pistol on the mark for Raiders
Div 1 – Four-midable Shirley march on
Div 2 – Blizzard Storm are six-hitters
Div 3 – Five-star Whetstone rattle the Cats
JC HAT-TRICK HEROES
Div 1 - Steve Summers (Chigwell)
Div 3 - Barry Green (Loughton Orient), Dan Gordon (Faithfold C)
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MATCH PHOTOS: OAKWOOD B vs LONDON HAROLDEANS
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DANNY CARO'S PREM DIV TEAM OF THE WEEK
DANNY CARO'S DIVISION 3 TEAM OF THE WEEK
QUOTE OF THE WEEK - CLIVE NATHAN
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GK - Ed Bloom (FC Team A), Avi Markiewicz (Hendon B), Oli Simons (Blizzard Storm), Ben Pollins (AC Whetstone)
DEFENDERS - Josh Greenham, Jake Weiner, James Korn, Jon Toby (FC Team A), Josh Kaye (L'Equipe), Matt Niman (Redbridge B), Rafi Kon (Hendon A), Liam Stein (NL Raiders C), Richard Bloom (NL Raiders B), Josh Kaye (L'Equipe), Adam Poole, Jerome Marks (both Woodford), Alex Bloch (NL Raiders A)
MIDFIELDERS - Jon Breger (FC Team A), Ari Last (Hendon A), Oliver Leslie, Ricky Rinder (both Harmen), Jeremy Julius (FC Team C), Alex Goodman (NL Raiders C), Ben Kfir (London Haroldeans), Darren Hahn, Harrison Midda (both Woodford)
STRIKERS - Steve Summers (Chigwell), Barry Green (Loughton Orient), Dan Gordon (Faithfold C), Samuel Castle (Harmen), Alex Elf (Hendon C), Shim Bensoor (FC Team C)
MANAGER - Mitch Young (FC Team A), Clive Nathan & Anthony Cohen (AC Whetstone), Sam Castle & Joel Alterman (Harmen), Joel Alterman & Ben Adaki (Harmen), Jonathan Adelman (NL Raiders B)
JC REFEREE OF THE WEEK
Adam Lewis (Redbridge JC B vs NL Raiders B)
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JC SAVE OF THE WEEK
Mike Myers (FC Team C) - a superb one-on-one stop with his feet. The assistant-refereee, Edward Benson, was flabbergasted that he pulled it off
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JC SUPER-SUB OF THE WEEK
Lee Greenfield (Southgate Harmen) – was dropped to the bench after going AWOL last week, but game on and showed his class with two assists
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CYRIL ANEKSTEIN ROUND TWO DRAW
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YOUR WEEKEND REVIEW STARTS HERE:
CYRIL ANEKSTEIN CUP ROUND ONE
STROLL IN THE PARK FOR CAMDEN
ATHLETIC BILBAUM 1 CAMDEN PARK 3
Premier Division class told as Camden Park ran out 3-1 winners against Division Two promotion hopefuls Bilbaum.
Rob Hershkorn and Richard Silver were among the scorers for Camden.
Camden boss Josh Marks told JC Sport: "It was good to win in a performance where there were no standout performers. Now we're looking forward to massive game this Sunday."
DC Prediction: Bilbaum 2 Camden 3
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MGBSFL PREMIER DIVISION
TOP-SCORERS
5 – Mike Pearson (Faithfold A), Yishai Last (Hendon A), Richard Salmon (FC Team A)
4 - Greg Corin, Ben Kon (both Hendon A)
DANNY CARO'S PREM DIV TEAM OF THE WEEK
YOUNG GUNS DOWN CHAMPIONS
FC TEAM A 1 FAITHFOLD A 0
Mitch Young popped up with the winner as FC Team condemned defending champions Faithfold to their first defeat of season.
Delighted FC Team player-manager Mitch Young told JC Sport: "It was an incredible Team performance. From goalkeeper to strikers we were superb. Our shape was brilliant and we created a number of opportunities. It was an excellent game of football and as we know Faithfold have some excellent players, but overall we defended as a team brilliantly and got the deserved goal.
"Ed and the back four were superb and we can play our football knowing we have such a strong goalkeeper and back four behind us. We are in tremendous form and we just want the games to keep on coming so we will train hard in preparation for another big test in Hendon next week. "
Disappointed Faithfold boss Zuriel Solomon told JC Sport: "It was a game we lost by a silly defensive error. We should have taken the lead a few times but our final ball and shooting is not clinical enough and Team defended well. Butl rest assured we will pick ourselves up."
DC Prediction: FC Team 2 Faithfold 1
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PISTOL TAKES RAIDERS GO SIX POINTS CLEAR
NORSTAR LONDON RAIDERS A 1 HENDON UNITED SC A 1
Raiders surged six points clear at the top despite failing to win for the first time this season, but Josh Pistol was on the mark to earn them a point against Hendon.
Hendon started well and took a deserved lead through Ben Kon midway through the first half.
Hendon boss David Garbacz told JC Sport: "After they levelled we had to defend deep but we're delighted to take a draw."
DC Prediction: Raiders 2 Hendon 2
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LONDON MACCABI LIONS WHITE A P BRADY MACCABI A P
Match postponed - Lions forfeited as they were unable to field a team
DC Prediction: Lions 1 Brady 2
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DIVISION ONE
TOP-SCORERS
7 - Jamie Kent (Shirley Park)
4 - Ali Aquilina (Brixton), Steve Summers (Chigwell)
WANDERERS EDGE PAST BRIXTON
BRIXTON OLD BOYS 0 WOODFORD WANDERERS 1
Woodford made it two out of two with one goal from Paul Billar settling their match against Brixton at Clowes.
The visitors finished with 10 men after one of their players picked up two cautions.
Brixton player-manager Scott Smith told JC Sport: "Overall we must've had 15 or 16 chances and only have ourselves to blame for not winning the game."
DC Prediction: Brixton 3 Woodford 2
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SUMMERS ON SONG BUT MARKIEWICZ FRUSTRATES CHIGS
CHIGWELL ATHLETIC 3 HENDON UTD SC B 3
Chigwell boss Richard Slater lamented his team's poor defending as they let a lead slip against Hendon who earned a point with an 88th minute equaliser.
STEVE SUMMERS was the hat-trick hero for Chigwell, but it was not enough to earn the points as defensive errors cost them for the second week in a row.
Hendon's goals came through R. A Noe, Gav Noe and Daniel Garfinkel.
Frustrated Chigwell boss Richard Slater told JC Sport: "We were 2-0 up and 3-2 up. We had a great first half but were poor in the second. We can't defend, fact."
Hendon joint-player-manager Chaim Gothold told JC Sport: "Avi Markiewicz helped out the team by playing in goal and made some fantastic saves in what was a good game for the neutral."
DC Prediction: Chigwell 3 Hendon 2
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RINDER LATE SHOW BREAKS NWN'S HEARTS
NORTH WEST NEASDEN 1 SOUTHGATE HARMEN 4
New signing Oliver Leslie netted on debut, but it was a late double from Ricky Rinder that proved decisive as Harmen claimed an impressive big win at Neasden.
Sam Castle scored the goal of the game in an excellent team performance.
NWN's consolation came through Shai Davidi.
Harmen co-managers Joel Alterman and Ben Adaki told JC Sport: “We can’t be happier with the boys today, our squad is very strong with competition in every position but the boys are all working for the same end goal.
"We kept battling for 90 minutes to get all three points and that’s exactly what happened. In Joel’s words, 'we were hunters'."
NWN boss Andrew Goldman told JC Sport: "To be winning the game with 12 minutes to go, losing 4-1 is poor and shows that this team has a long way to go. You should never capitulate the way we did today."
DC Prediction: Neasden 2 Harmen 1
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CLASSY CONWAY LIFTS SHIRLEY
SHIRLEY PARK 4 SPEC FC 1
Shirley Park won 4-1 for the second consecutive week, inspired this time by evergreen striker Saul Conway.
Jamie Kent and Gideon Gold completed the scoring for the Shirley boys.
SPEC's consolation came through Craig Cohen.
Shirley boss Dave Lusman told JC Sport: "It was a solid performance."
SPEC FC's Ricky Lawrence told JC Sport: "It was very simple. They played much better than us on the day and deserved the victory."
DC Prediction: Shirley 2 SPEC 1
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DIVISION TWO
TOP-SCORERS
6 - James Joseph (FC Team C), Ben Zloof (AC Mill Hill)
5 - Dan Simmons (Blizzard)
4 - Jake Gilbert (Bilbaum), Shim Bensoor (FC Team C), Ben Bell (Bilbaum)
BLIZZARD BACK WITH A BANG
BLIZZARD STORM 6 FC TEAM B 2
Simon Linden praised goalkeeper Oli Simons as his heroics kept the Blizzard boys in the game against FC Team B, and six goals in the final 30 minutes helped them complete one of the comebacks of the weekend.
The home side found themselves 2-0 down with half hour remaiing but strikes Daniel Simons (2), Michael Wolfe, Dean Shaw, Louis Taylor and Stuart Muller turn the game on its head..
FC Team's goals came through Jonathan Franks and summer signing Paul Savitz.
Blizzard boss Simon Linden told JC Sport: "Full credit to my team for getting themselves back into this game. We couldn't get into gear until the hour mark when we pulled a goal back. Once we found our feet we ripped apart FC Team.
"The person who won us this game is keeper Oli Simons who pulled off several saves of the highest standard. Man of the match by a mile."
DC Prediction: Blizzard 3 FC Team B 1
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FC TEAM C IN SEVENTH HEAVEN
FC TEAM C 7 FAITHFOLD B 1
Jeremy Julius and Shim Bensoor helped FC Team C heap more misery on Faithfold B.
There were also goals for David Joseph Cohen, Sam Collins and an own goal as Team claimed their fourth straight win.
Matty Kleinman grabbed the consolation for Faithfold, scoring with a header from a Ben Loftus corner.
FC Team joint-manager Michael Myers told JC Sport: "Our link-up play was pleasing and scoring seven goals is always a delight."
Faithfold boss Dan Yoss told JC Sport: "We came up against a good team today who I fancy to go up. We played some decent football today but too many errors cost us. We'll keep working at it and hopefully next week will be different."
DC Prediction: FC Team C 6 Faithfold 0
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OAKWOOD B ARE BLOOM-ING MARVELLOUS
OAKWOOD B 1 LONDON HAROLDEANS 0
A solitary effort from Rafi Bloom was enough to give Oakwood B maximum points over Haroldeans in the big derby at Brunel.
Oaks boss Ian Tussie told JC Sport: "Overall we deserved the win, we were good in possession but lacked the final ball at times. I'm happy with the win though. I've spoken with Dave Epstein who is celebrating his 30th birthday and he confirmed he's ready to return to the squad. I ignored his text!"
Jonathan Abrams told JC Sport: "We put up a good fight in a very even game. While Oakwood saw more possession, LH had more clear cut chance but failed to capitalise."
DC Prediction: Oakwood 3 Haroldeans 1
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RAMPANT RAIDERS EDGE HOME
REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE B 1 NORSTAR LONDON RAIDERS B 2
A “worldy” from Nicky Woolf, his 94th goal for the club, plus one from Sam Isaacs secured a hard fought win for Raiders over Redbridge at Fairlop.
The evergreen Darren Brown pulled one back for RJC.
Raiders boss Jonathan Adelman told JC Sport: "On days like this you just need to get the job done and we showed outstanding resilience to bring the three points back round the North Circular with us."
But RJC boss Jon Jacobs refused to credit L'Orange for what he described as an "effective Smash and Grab performance". He told JC Sport: "Redbridge will be true to their tradition of passing and possession football - win, lose or draw and will not adopt the “ugly” tactics of hoofball so loved by Stoke City."
DC Prediction: Redbridge 2 Raiders 2
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DIVISION THREE
TOP-SCORERS
8 – Richard Fogelman (L’Equipe), Dan Gordon (Faithfold C)
4 – Steven Black (L’Equipe), Ben Berrick (Jewdinese)
DANNY CARO'S DIVISION 3 TEAM OF THE WEEK
FIVE-STAR WHETSTONE CLAIM HISTORIC FIRST WIN
AC WHETSTONE 5 CATFORD & BROMLEY MACCABI 1
AC Whetstone registered their first-ever victory in the MGBSFL after ending Catford's 100 per cent record with a brilliant performance.
Two goals from Jonah Gordon-Boyd and Philippe Auret plus one from Dan Cohen completed a famous win.
Joel Isaacs registered for Catford.
Whetstone joint-manager Clive Nathan told JC Sport: "I was delighted with the boys performance. A team made up entirely of 16-year-old's showed a team spirit; will to win and pure footballing ability way beyond their years."
Manager Lester Jacobs told JC Sport: "All credit to Whetstone. They’re clearly developing into a very good side since we beat them 4-1 just a few weeks ago."
DC Prediction: Whetstone 0 Catford 3
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GORDON'S TREBLE TONIC
HENDON UTD SC C 4 FAITHFOLD C 4
A hat-trick from DAN GORDON was not enough to give Faithfold C maximum points in an eight-goal thriller against Hendon C.
Jeremy Teacher scored the other for David Garson's men in a game they trailed 4-2 with five to go.
Alex Elf (2), David Elf and player-manager Adam Glekin were the goal men for Hendon.
Hendon boss Adam Glekin told JC Sport: "I probably sound like a broken record but I'm gutted again. The story of our season so far has been playing well in patches, but not for the whole game, and we're being punished for mistakes - there were a lot of positives to take out the game despite my frustrations."
Faithfold player-manager David Garson told JC Sport: "We were disappointed to only draw but delighted to keep going and not to give up."
DC Prediction: Hendon 3 Faithfold 2
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TITLE RIVALS FINISH HONOURS EVEN
JEWDINESE 1 L’EQUIPE 1
Jewdinese and L'Equipe drew for the second time this season following another entertaining encounter.
Richard Fogelman was on target again for L'Equipe. Jewdinese equalised soon after as L'Equipe switched off at the back, with super-sub Zac Brin scoring with a well-placed header from a great cross by Barney Rhodes.
L'Equipe joint-manager Dan Cordell told JC Sport: "We will settle with the point and are still unbeaten this year. The team is still gelling and we now have a great platform to build from."
Jewdinese boss Darren Lawrence told JC Sport: "It's frustrating as i know we have the quality to get six points out of six against them, but credit to L'Equipe who gave us a good game both times. We will be keeping a close eye on their results throughout the coming weeks."
DC Prediction: Jewdinese 1 L’Equipe 2
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THREE CHEERS FOR RAIDERS C
NORSTAR LONDON RAIDERS C 3 BOCA JEWNIORS 1
Nick Haringman, Alex Goodman and recent signing Jamie Weinrich were on the mark as Raiders picked up their first three points of the season against a battling Boca.
Kane Alexander was on target for a Boca team who kept things a bit tighter at the back following their 17-1 cup defeat against Hendon A last weekend.
DC Prediction: Raiders 3 Boca 1
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GLORIOUS GREEN HITS THE JACKPOT
TEMPLE FORTUNE 1 LOUGHTON ORIENT 4
A brilliant treble from BARRY GREEN earned Loughton Orient claim their first win as they eased past Temple Fortune in Pinner.
James Lester completed a good morning's work for Dan Curtis' men.
Orient manager Dan Curtis told JC Sport: "It was a solid performance today and we needed it. That should kickstart our season. Next week we have a home game against Hendon and it's important we follow this up with another three points."
DC Prediction: Fortune 2 Loughton 1
