Trio of Maccabi teams win grand finals
Three Maccabi-Hakoah FC teams won junior ESFA deciders last weekend, and their U18s have a GF this Sunday.
In an action-packed weekend of Eastern Suburbs Football Association junior season grand finals at Hensley Field on August 23 and 24 – with plenty of supporters in the grandstand, four Maccabi-Hakoah boys’ teams gave it their all and did their club proud, and three of them earned championship trophies.
The ladder-topping U13 Maccabi Wolves kicked things off early on Saturday morning with a 1-0 win in their division 3 decider against the Glebe Wanderers, after scores were tied at both the end of the first and second halves.
It took an extra-time goal by Toby Silver to clinch victory, and committed defence when Glebe pressed hard in the final minutes.
Next up, the Jewish club’s third-placed U14 division 2 Lions team faced first-placed Pagewood-Botany in their grand final and earned a huge upset victory in an epic contest that went down to a penalty shootout.
Maccabi took a 1-0 lead through Jesse Friedman but Pagewood equalised just before the break.
The second half was almost a repeat of the first, with Maccabi’s Jonah Meyerson scoring a goal, only for Pagewood to equalise by scoring a goal from a free kick given from the edge of the box.
Maccabi’s keeper Ethan Levy then saved a penalty goal attempt to keep his side in the game, and after two periods of extra-time, the score remained 2-2.
Levy was the hero for Maccabi in this grand final again, when he made two brilliant saves in the penalty shootout.
On Sunday afternoon, Maccabi’s minor premiership-winning U16 division 2 Lions scored in the fourth minute from close range via captain Joshua Sandler’s boot, and controlled possession for most of the first half, but fourth-placed Queens Park were definitely up for the challenge, and they equalised on the counter-attack shortly before half-time.
It was all Maccabi in the second half, especially after Sandler scored his second goal early on, in brilliant fashion.
He dribbled and turned to beat a defender, kicked ahead and turned on the speed to regather, and turned once more to remain in the clear, before finding the back of the net.
The Lions’ passing game was slick and their defence remained rock solid as they coasted to a 2-1 victory.
Sandler said, “It’s been a goal for us to win the premiership-championship double, and I’m just so happy we did it. Scoring two goals was a real honour to do for this team.”
Coach Alec Faulkner said, “They’re a really close-knit group, who play for each other, and that was the key.”
He also heaped praise on keeper Ethan Levine, “the team’s most improved player”, who made two crucial saves.
The day concluded with a loss, but nonetheless one of the most impressive performances of the weekend, in the U15 division 1 decider, when second-placed Maccabi pressed the undefeated minor premiers Maroubra United all the way.
Losing 0-5 to them earlier this season, Maccabi this time held Maroubra to 0-0 until 30 seconds before full-time, when Maroubra finally scored.
One remaining Maccabi-Hakoah team, the U18 boys division 1 minor premiers, will play in a grand final on Sunday, August 31.
The club’s president Steven Cohen said, “It has been an exciting end to the season and we look forward to hopefully winning one more title this weekend, before wrapping up with our end of season event on September 7.”