There were goals galore in the opening round Cyril Anekstein Cup as Paris Saint-Jermaine routed West Hamdillah 12-0 and Faithfold White crushed North West London Bears 10-0.
Zac Summerfield struck four goals for free scoring Paris while Jack Ottman and David May notched a brace apiece.
Louis Relevy, Archie Leigh, Henry Lewis and Joel Citron also scored for the league new boys.
Sharpshooter Avi Markiewicz hit five goals for Premier side Faithfold in a one-sided clash.
Super sub Joe Cohen struck a hat-trick, David Leiwy and Jamie Davila also scored.
Faithfold dominated possession early on and after striking the crossbar Markiewicz jinked his way past Bears goalkeeper to slot into an empty net.
Moments later, Yoav Kestenbaum sent through Markiewicz for his second then combined with this striker who nodded home his hat-trick goal.
Markiewicz made it 4-0 from the penalty spot after Leiwy was clipped for a clear spot kick.
Cohen replaced Kestenbaum at half time and it was from his corner that Leiwy got his goal.
Akiva Solomon then beat several Bears players before unselfishly squaring the ball for Markiewicz to sweep in his fifth goal of the match.
Cohen made it 7-0 with the best goal of the clash following a slick move.
Markiewicz set up Cohen to tuck into the empty net then found Davila who scored from outside the box.
Cohen grabbed his third with the last kick of the game after a superb cross by Davila.
“The Bears are a young team, it’s never easy to go away to an experienced team but they should stick with it,” commented Faithfold co-manager Rob Shooman. “I’m pleased with my lads because it’s very easy to get complacent in the middle of the match but we continued to push on throughout.
“The goal scorers may get the plaudits but this was a team win. Overall, it was a good days work for the green ‘n’ white’s.”
Bears joint-player-manager James Harpin was philosophical at full time.
“Sometimes you have to hold your hands up and say your opponents were better and today was one of those days,” he said. “We will not play this quality of opponent every week so need to keep our heads high. We are still unbeaten in the league.”
In other ties, Joe Levy scored the winning penalty as Camden Park won a penalty shoot-out against FC Team by 4-2 to avoid an shock.
Stand-in goalkeeper Ashley Couque was the shoot-out hero with two saves following a hard fought 1-1 draw after extra time.
Connor Perl gave the underdogs a deserved half time lead before Dan Orgel equalised to take the tie to penalties.
Although Stirling Kay’s team advance, Camden’s boss was relieved to come away with the win.
“This could have been a banana skin tie for us,” he commented. “FC Team are a good side and made life difficult for us particularly in the first half but I am proud of my boys as they had to dig deep with players coming off injured and sin binned.
“Plaudits must go to Ash who stepped up to play in goal.
“Overall, I am happy we managed to get through. With players missing, under the circumstances of the game this was a very good result and we can build on it.”
FC Team’s Jonny Pearl felt his team missed a big opportunity to knock out a Premier team.
“We dominated the first half but lost our momentum and let Camden get back in the game,” he said. “Credit to both sets of players who put in dogged displays and showed commitment right until the 120th minute. It’s a shame to go out but the league remains our top priority.”
Cup favourites Hendon United Sports ran out comfortable 3-0 winners at Club De Chigwell.
Josh Bharier, Dovi Fehler and Yehuda Korman struck the goals in a clinical display.
Hendon boss Jordan Sapler picked out Korman for his all-around display, capping it off with a superb through ball for Fehler’s goal.
“It was a good performance and could’ve been better if we had our shooting boots on,” he said. “Chigwell played well, we were solid and well organised in defence but our finishing in the final third wasn’t to our high standard and is something that we need to rectify moving forward.
“Russ Corin pulled off a couple of great saves to keep his domestic clean sheet record intact.”
Sapler took time to praise the efforts of the lower league outfit.
“All credit to Chigwell, they will take points off teams in their league if they perform like they did today,” he noted.
Dylan Kaye and James Belchack fired home the goals as North London Galaxy defeated Mill Hill Dons 2-0 at home.
Galaxy dominated possession and eventually broke down a resolute Dons outfit.
The opening goal came from a superb 15 pass move, Kaye heading home, Galaxy’s second came when James Belchak fired home a 30-yard wonder goal from a free kick.
“Another game against Dons and another win,” said Galaxy boss Luke Lewis. “I think we have a psychological advantage over them and our quality shone through.
“They had 11 men behind the ball in the first half and their game plan worked but our possession football eventually saw the game open up as we upped the speed of our play.
“It was also lovely getting a clean sheet, we know our offensive capabilities, but it’s time we stop conceding silly goals our performances deserve.
“We are looking to go from strength to strength. A lot of boys got game-time and played well. Our confidence and belief is now sky high, we can’t wait to play. Our squad is in excellent shape.”
“It was another frustrating morning but the boys can keep their heads held high,” said Brandon Hamme, Mill Hill Dons. “It was our best defensive performance of the season, we have been guilty on several occasions gift wrapping goals for the opposition but today was not the case. The way we set up meant we were under pressure throughout the game but handled it superbly. It took a lot to eventually break us down. We got beaten by a solid team who played well.
“There are positives we can take from the game. Our attention turns back to the league, we will be looking to get a string of results going to work our way up the table.”
Brook Farm Rovers made it through the round two draw with a fine 4-1 victory against Faithfold Green.
Joseph Gourgey (2), Yossi Brownson and Ben Levene struck the goals in an impressive home win.
Rovers opened the scoring when Gourgey curled home from the edge of the penalty box just before half time.
The hosts doubled the lead when Brownson was played through, rounded Faithfold’s keeper before slotting into an empty net. Ben Levene then tucked away a Gourgey cross after a sweeping team move.
Faithfold grabbed a consolation from Tony Plaskow before Gourgey capitalised on a defensive error to complete the scoring.
Rovers joint-manager Dan Cohen commented, “In the end it was a comfortable victory. We move into the second round full of confidence.”
Faithfold’s Ben Kfir noted: “I was disappointed with the score, which flattered Brook Farm.”
Benji Gourgey and Simon Cohen struck two goals each as Temple Fortune thumped Bayern Mincha 7-0.
Jacob Kalms, Sammy Kalms and Danny Sherman completed the scoring for Simon Lindon’s team.
“I was pleased with the performance, we have kicked on in the last two weeks. We played really good stuff and could have scored more. We’re looking forward to the last 16 draw.”
Maccabi London Blue ran out 3-0 victors against lower league Scrabble.
North London Raiders made it three consecutive wins as they defeated Maccabi London FC Red 4-1 in Division One.
Aron Gale, Liron Mannie, Josh Bloom and Michael Field scored for the early pacesetters.
“Another impressive performance against a good side,” commented Raiders joint manager Gideon Gale. “Even with a depleted squad, we dominated the possession and chances.
“It’s a fabulous start to the season but we’re still only in first gear.”
SPEC FC have two wins in as many games after James Smaje struck a hat-trick in a 5-0 win against Redbridge Jewish Care.
Showing a clinical edge to record the victory, Ricky Lawrence and Josh Green completed the scoring.
Redbridge were caught on the break a number of times but were unfortunate to lose by a heavy scoreline.
SPEC player-manager Ricky Lawrence commented, “An excellent performance. The result was a bit harsh on Redbridge who had chances but we took ours and deserved the points.”
League favourites Borussia Barnet defeated Hampstead Ducks 3-1 in the sole Division Two clash.
Oliver Hart, Danny Shina and Sam Lipton struck for Barnet as two new league teams clashed.
Borussia bossed the opening half, Hart nodding in a Michael Kenley flick from a long throw in before Shina doubled the advantage before the break.
Lipton made it 3-0 from a corner on the resumption before Jono Gaon fired in a 25-yard strike.
Hampstead had a goal controversially ruled out then Borussia keeper Joe Botchin stopped a penalty to preserve his teams two-goal advantage before his team ran out winners.
“It’s clear the team are improving but we need to start turning good performances into results,” said Hampstead manager Josh Cohen.
Club chairman Daniel Sonn added, “It was a strong performance, which deserved something out of a hotly-contested game against the favourites for the title. If a few decisions had gone our way and great opportunities taken, the result could have been very different.”
By David Saffer
