Dragons claim first Kanga Cup
MACCABI won a Kanga Cup football title for the first time in the club’s history, and it’s no surprise that it came courtesy of a junior girls team.
MACCABI won a Kanga Cup football title for the first time in the club’s history, and it’s no surprise that it came courtesy of a junior girls team.
The club’s under-13 Dragons defeated hometown favourites and defending champions Woden Valley United 1-0 in the final in Canberra last week.
The star for the team was goalkeeper Nicole Gam, who saved the match when she deflected the shot onto the crossbar, and then she was first to the ball when it landed back in the field of play.
Captain Chani Charak said it was a fun, competitive and amazing week of football.
“We were just hoping to make the top four really, and then I was on the bench for the last 10 minutes of the final, so I was just assuming that they were going to score two goals and beat us,” Charak said.
The week got off to a shaky start when the team lost to two of the best teams in the competition before key player Ayelet Rev arrived in Canberra.
But Charak said it only made the competition win more exciting. “I didn’t really believe that we won and it was just awesome,”she said.
“After we lost the first two, I didn’t think we could win, but then everyone lifted and everyone played really well, and we beat the same two teams in the finals that we lost against at the start.”
Maccabi’s work with the junior girls team has been exceptional and they continue to see results.
But it wasn’t only the girls that had a good week in Canberra. The under-10 boys team finished third in its division-one competition.
The team defeated Monaro Panthers and Bonnyrigg in the first round, but then lost to West Ryde in the finals.
In their final match of the tournament, Maccabi defeated the highly fancied Scotts FC 1-0 after captain Ariah Michel scored the winning goal.
Aaron Klimt won the team’s golden boot award by scoring four goals throughout the tournament, including a double against Bonnyrigg.
The Kanga Cup is the biggest youth football tournament in the Southern Hemisphere and included teams from Malaysia, Philippines, New Zealand, Korea and around Australia.
JOSHUA LEVI
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