Hakoah secures twin junior football titles

THE Maccabi Hakoah Junior Football Club now boasts two more premiership-winning sides after the under-18 and under-13 boys recorded stellar victories in their respective grand finals.

After the under-18 girls won their decider last week, it was the boys’ turn to achieve the same feat.

Maccabi put in a memorable performance against Queens Park, picking up a 2-0 victory through strikes from skipper James Puterflam and Toby Shabtay.

Puterflam opened the scoring within 10 minutes when he slammed his shot past the goalkeeper into the bottom of the net, before Shabtay then doubled Maccabi’s lead just before half-time.

The remainder of the game was a tussle for possession, but Maccabi was able to hold off Queens Park’s attacks through the defensive combination of Justin Malek, Ryan Miller and goalkeeper Harry Rosen.

The under-13s were equally impressive in their 3-2 victory over Pagewood, edging out their quality opponents in an enthralling encounter.

Saul Morris gave Maccabi an early lead when he finished from the penalty spot, but the celebration was short-lived when the opposition equalised only minutes later.

It went from bad to worse for Maccabi when Pagewood found the net again to hit the lead, before Jordan Spyrides levelled the scores ahead of the break.

Both teams fought hard for a winner in the second half, with Jacob Miller making some incredible saves to keep Pagewood out.

With the game destined for extra time, Spyrides stepped up to hit the winner in the dying stages of play to steal the premiership for Maccabi.

Meanwhile, Maccabi’s under-12 side was pipped in a thrilling grand final, denied the victory in a tense penalty shootout with Olympic Eagles.

After conceding early, Adam Lipschitz and Jake Greenberg both found the net to give Maccabi the lead at the break.

The Eagles pressed hard for an equaliser after half-time, and made no mistake when the opportunity arose.

With the scores locked at 2-2 after both regular time and golden goal, it went down to the penalty shootout. But it wasn’t to be for Maccabi, which missed its sixth penalty to give Olympic the win.

MICHAEL PUTERFLAM

Photo: Rob Rosen