Camden clear the danger from a Hendon attack

HMH enjoyed a stunning 4-0 win over Maccabi London Lions to reach the Peter Morrison Trophy final for the first time.

Teddie Levenfiche, with a brace, Sam Monjack and Adam Abadi struck the goals at the Hive as Avi Goldberg’s charges kept their double dreams alive in a remarkable debut season in senior football.

Dominating possession, Levenfiche fired HMH a 2-0 within 30 minutes and could have been further ahead by half time.

Thomas Prais, Sammy Kingston and Josh Goldstein went close for Lions but HMH wrapped up a final spot when Monjack hit the third then set up Abadi for the final goal of the contest.

HMH keeper Jake Doffman kept a clean sheet on a memorable day for the club who now look forward to contesting the ‘Jewish FA Cup Final’.

“I’m extremely proud of the whole squad,” said a delighted Goldberg. “They turned up focussed, listened intently to the tactics and executed to perfection.

“With our midfield trio of Moss, Levenfiche and particularly Monjack in dominant form, we were far superior from the off. We’ve dispensed with some top teams on route, to win trophies you have to beat the best and today we did precisely that against Lions.
“Once again a well-deserved win for HMH,” said Lions boss Max Kyte.

“Both sides started poorly but HMH grew into the game and started to play nice football as well as battle for every header and tackle. We wish them the best of luck in the final and I would not be surprised if they don’t go the distance. They are a good group of boys with a mixture of desire to win and play football, and that will always take you far.”

HMH will fancy their chances in the final but they are second favourites in the hunt for the Premier League title as Hendon United Sports came from behind in a hard fought 3-2 win against Los Camden A to top the table again.

Dan Orgel opened the scoring for the hosts with a great finish after 15 minutes.

The defending champions though are determined the stay the course and deservedly equalised when Ari Nevies volleyed in from close range following a corner kick.

Mordy Weiler then fired home a terrific left-footed strike into the bottom corner after half time. But Camden quickly hit back when Orgel slotted in a penalty.

Hendon however took advantage of a man advantage following a Camden sin bin when Jordan Mizrahi and Gav Noe combined for Harris to slot home the winner 10 minutes from time.

“It was a tough, tough game,” commented Hendon boss Jordan Sapler. “People often say Hendon don’t like to play a physical team and can get bullied but we showed that we can give as much as we can take.

“It was a battle and we had to fight hard to come away with a win. Camden we’re mathematically in the title chase and shows how well they’ve done this year so it was vital we didn’t slip up.

“We went down early but got back into it. Their ‘keeper Oli Brooks made a couple of great saves from Harris and Moses Seitler so knew we would have to create something special to beat him, and did, when Mordy split open the defence with quick feet before finishing superbly across the keeper. Camden drew level before Harris finished well to get the win.
“Credit to the Camden boys for a hard-fought game, we look forward to playing them again in a couple of weeks.”

“I can’t fault the way my lads played from start to finish, they executed the game plan, unfortunately ill-discipline cost us,” said Camden’s Stirling Kay.

“We conceded two goals when we had sin binned men off the pitch. This new rule is confusing and is difficult to implement as many players get away with misdemeanours whereas others do not. Even so, credit to Hendon who got over the line, we play them once more and will be looking to win our game against them, they are always tight hard-fought affairs.
“I feel sorry for my lads today as it is difficult to point out a bad performance. Many of them were excellent, we hope to maintain this form until the end of the season.”

Oakwood A enjoyed a solid 3-0 win against Faithfold A but need Hendon and HMH to slip up to lift the title.

Ben Peppi, Josh Cuby and Josh Bharier grabbed the goals for Daniel Kristall’s team.

“A very comfortable win and good performance in the main, although, I felt we lacked that cutting edge and composure in the box,” he said.

“If we’d used the ball better in the final third, the scoreline would have been higher.
“We dominated the ball and played most of the game in their half but credit to Faithfold who never gave up and defended well. Their goalkeeper made some outstanding saves to keep the score down.
“Overall, this was a good workout as our preparation for Wingate continues.”

Mill Hill Dons thumped Faithfold C 7-2 to keep cup double dreams alive with Isaac Virchis striking a hat-trick in the first round of the Barry Goldstein Trophy.

Jamie Nagioff, Adam Bowman, Richard Reback and Sam Stead also hit to target to set up a cracking quarter-final tie against Hertswood Vale.

Dons boss Brandon Hamme was thrilled with the performance.

“We were in in control and disciplined throughout,” he said.

“It was a professional performance and we played some great football on a difficult pitch. The game also showed how much we have improved since our last visit to Tempsford in November.

“I got a chance to try different options, we now move onto the next round and a game away from another semi-final.

“Our league campaign hasn’t gone as well as we would have hoped but if we secure two cup semi-finals that would be a real testament to how much we have improved since the turn of the year.”

In quarter-final clashes, North London Galaxy made the last four with substitutes Josh Cohen and Jacob Leigh both hitting a brace against Temple Fortune in a 4-0 win.

Fortune held firm in the first half before the double substitution opened the floodgates.

Cohen fired home a screamer before slotting home his second when one on one with the ‘keeper.

Leigh grabbed a rebound goal then nodded in following a slick team move to seal the win.
“Into the semis we go and we definitely have a goal of the week nomination with JCs drilled strike into the bottom corner.” said delighted Galaxy player-manager Luke Lewis. “We changed formation at half time, which led us to dominate and score four goals in the second half.”

Signalling out a couple of his stars, Lewis added, “Leigh put in a great display off the bench with another two goals, he’s one of the best superb subs in the business. Dean Benzaken also has an excellent work ethic.

“There was some brilliant combination play and movement. It was a great showing.”

North London Raiders are one game from the final after a 5-2 win against Spec FC.

Aviel Schwarz scored Raiders goal in the first half, which ended 1-1, before braces from top-scorer Aron Gale and Josh Bloom sent North London Raiders into the last four.

“Everyone today was superb,” commented Raiders boss David Isaacs. “The first half was a hard-fought battle but after the break our quality really showed.”

“We didn’t quite have enough overall today,” said Spec boss Ricky Lawrence.

“Raiders kept the ball better and that little bit of quality told. It was a good game but the final score was a tad harsh though good luck to them in the next round.”

Jewdinese overcame second division Scrabble B 3-1 with goals from Joe Meisel, Sam Stern and Arron Goldberg to book a semi-final spot.

By David Saffer