Sport

SPORTS WEEKLY SPECIAL EURO 2020

Bring on the Scots as England make Sterling start!

BY DAVID SAFFER

The Swiss bossed this encounter header shortly afterwards. But Denzel Dumand would have run out comfortable fries grabbed the headlines with a bullet England’s Euro 2020 Championship victors but a number of smart saves header five minutes from time from substicampaign is up and running as Ga- from Welsh keeper Danny Ward. tute Nathan Ake’s cross. reth Southgate’s team made the per- Welsh talisman and skipper Gareth Austria enjoyed a landmark 3-1 win fect start with a win against Croatia in Bale struggled to impact the game. against North Macedonia with substitutes the opening Group D game. Kieffer Moore equalised for Wales Marko Arnautovic and Michael Gregoritsch

Kane and co take on Scotland in a after Breel Embelo nodded in from a striking late goals. highly anticipated clash at Wembley corner. The match was level after Macedonian stadium tomorrow. Romelu Lukaka scored a brace striker Goran Pandev capitalised on a defen-

The opening round of matches as Belgium defeated Russia 3-0 in a sive gaffe to equalise after Stefan Lainer had though was marred by shocking foot- Group B fixture. opened the scoring early on. Austria’s victoage of Denmark and former Totten- Lukaka raced to a TV camera to ry was their first at a Euro Championship. ham Hotspur midfielder Cristian Er- pass on a message of support to Inter Slovakia are the surprise early leaders of ickson receiving CPR treatment after Milan teammate Eriksen after a de- Group E after defeating 10-man Poland 2-1 collapsing the clash against Finland. fensive mistake to open the scoring in St Petersburg.

The match was initially abandoned in the 10th minute. Thomas Meunier Robert Mak’s shot rebounded in off Pobut continued, Finland winning 1-0, doubled the lead when he pounced land goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny for Sloafter news came through Ericsson, on a mistake by Russian keeper An- vakia’s opener only for Karol Linetty to finish 29, had survived a cardiac arrest. He ton Shunin before Lukaka bagged his off a fine move. Poland midfielder Grzegorz is in hospital have tests. second late on. Krychowiak saw red for a second booking

Raheem Sterling justified his se- Finland’s first ever finals win, just past the hour and Milan Skriniar fired lection for England with the only against Denmark, will always be re- home the winner for a shock result. goal in a deserved triumph at a sun-drenched Wembley. Man of the Raheem Sterling scored England’s winner against Croatia PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK membered for the Eriksen incident and swift medical reaction that saved Spain bossed their clash with Sweden in Seville but could not break through a resomatch Kalvin Philips, who got the nod for Sterling, he noted, “He was dangerous all his life. lute defence. an advanced midfield role, set up the 57th game.” After 15 minutes treatment, the Danish Alvaro Morata missed the best opportuminute opportunity which Sterling clinically In the other group clash, Czech Republic’s midfielder was stretchered from the field. nity for the hosts who also went close with a finished. Patrick Schick scored a brace, including a The Finns applauded the Denmark team Dani Olmo header saved by Swedish keeper

Phil Foden enjoyed a fine game, almost wondergoal from halfway, to crush Scot- back on the pitch, after news came through Robin Olsen. opening the scoring on five minutes, when land’s hopes of a dream return to a major that Eriksen was awake in hospital, to fin- Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo rewrote the he cut in from the right only for his left foot tournament. ish the first half, then after a short break, record books in a 3-0 win against Hungary shot to strike the inside of a post. Phillips The Scots went behind to a Schick header the remainder of the game was played to who battled away throughout the Group F forced a save from Croatian keeper Domin- but came out for the second half fired up. completion. clash in Budapest. ick Livakovic before imposing himself on the And they had chances before Schick sensed The hosts enjoyed the better of the match Indeed, the victors’ goals came in the last game culminating with a defence splitting Scots keeper David Marshall was off his line before Joel Pohjanpalo’s nodded home a six minutes of the game. pass for Sterling to score his first ever tour- before executing a once in a lifetime strike. 74th minute winner. Raphael Guerreiro’s deflected shot off denament goal. His goal sits alongside Marco van Basten’s Denmark blew a chance to equalise late fender Willi Orban in the 84th minute set the

Harry Kane, Mason Mount, who put in a stunning volley for Netherlands against So- on when Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s spot-kick defending champions on their way before stellar shift, and Sterling almost grabbed a viet Union in the Euro ‘88 final and Paul Gas- was easily saved by Lucas Hradecky. Ronaldo, who missed a guilt edged chance second for England but the win was all that coigne’s solo effort against the Scots in Euro Denmark head coach Kasper Hjulmand in the first half and had quiet game, slotted mattered as they quickly turned their atten- ’96 as arguably the greatest ever. told reporters, “We tried to win. It was in- in a penalty to pass Michel Platini in the alltion to the Scots. In Group A, Italy were impressive on the credible they managed to go out and try to time finals scoring list then showed his nim-

Southgate told BBC One, “The players opening night of action, easing to a 3-0 win play the second half. Honestly, there were bleness for his second in stoppage time. dealt with the big occasion really well. Right against Turkey in Rome. players out there that were completely Ronaldo is the first player to appear and from the start, incredible heat, they played Roberto Mancini’s side, after bossing the done. Emotionally done and emotionally score in five finals. well and settled early in the game. There first half, came through courtesy of a Merih exhausted.” Pre-tournament favorites France edged were moments where the tempo dropped Demiral own goal from a Domenico Ber- Netherlands secured a dramatic 3-2 victo- past Germany courtesy of a Mats Hummels’ because of the heat but the majority of the nardino cross alongside Ciro Immobile and ry against Ukraine in Amsterdam in Group C. own goal in the last of the opening fixtures. game we were in control and didn’t give Cro- Lorenzo Insigne strikes. All the goals came in sensational second The match in Munich failed to match the atia many opportunities and we looked dan- This was the first time the Italians had half as the hosts built a 2-0 lead with a quick- hype. Kylian Mbappe and Adrian Rabiot gerous.” He added, “Phillips is a player who scored three goals in a Euro finals. fire double from Georginio Wijnaldum and went close to scoring, Mbappe and Karim is so understated. He has had a fantastic start Wales dug deep to earn a share of the Wout Weghorst. Ukraine hit back with a bril- Benzema had goals ruled out for offside to his international career. I thought he was spoils against Switzerland at the Baku Olym- liant 25-yard strike by Andriy Yarmolenko in against the Germans who lacked a cutting immense throughout the game.” Regarding pic Stadium. the 75th minute before a Roman Yaremchuk edge.

HMH on brink of history

HMH look to strike against Jewidinese

PHOTO: DAVID SAFFER

BY DAVID SAFFER

HMH are on the brink of club history as the 2020/21 league Premier League campaign comes to an exciting climax this month.

All three league titles could be decided in the penultimate round of fixtures but nothing will be taken for granted by the teams involved on Sunday.

The Premier League is between HMH and Oakwood who meet in a top of the table clash on Sunday (10am).

HMH picked up a hard fought 1-0 away win against Jewdinese thanks to an Adam Adabi only goal to move closer to the title.

Manager Avi Goldberg was delighted to come through the game with the win. “This had all the hallmarks of a banana skin with the game being played on a small, hard grass pitch and Jewdinese fresh off beating Hendon but we overcame these elements to secure the points,” he said.

‘Nese boss Darren Lawrence said. “It was a tough game. We defended so well for so long but conceded a poor goal.”

Abadi’s second half winner ensures HMH go into the title clash five points clear of the O’s at the top with the opportunity to clinch the crown for the first time in the clubs’ history.

Goldberg is well aware the title is far from being wrapped up, a huge task now awaits. Should HMH avoid defeat with Oakwood they can celebrate. But if Lewis Blitz’ team claim the win they can lift the title against Jewdinese in the final weekend of the season.

London Bears have sealed promotion to the top flight and are a game away from clinching the Division One title after easing to a 4-1 win against Club de Chigwell.

Zacki Doumou, with a brace, Sam Martin and Jack Miller put James Harpin’s side within touching distance of the title.

The Bears lead league pacesetters Hertswood Vale by a point and host them in a huge match on Sunday.

A win seals the title for the Bears but if Vale prevail they will be favourites to take the

All eyes on the ball between HMH and Jewdinese

PHOTO: DAVID SAFFER crown in their final game against Faithfold Green on the same day Bears visit Borussia Barnet. “We are delighted that we are guaranteed top two which means Premier Division football,” noted Harpin. “We have saved our best performance of the season for our biggest game so far. We will be ready and focused for Hertswood.”

NWL Azzuri and Stoke Salmon shared the spoils in an entertaining top of the table Division Two encounter that finished goalless.

Azzuri remain in the box seat with a threepoint advantage and a superior goal difference. But Stoke can level on points with a win against West Hendon Wallabies however they must also go all-out attack to reduce a 12-goal differential.

Stoke’s Jamie Weiner was delighted how his team reacted a 3-0 loss to Azzuri last week. “It was an excellent performance from all the players which only lacked the final product,” he said. “Unlike the reverse fixture, we were very unlucky not to walk away with the points.”

Azzuri boss Ben Rosen noted, “It was not our best game but we got the job done and are looking forward to hopefully finishing the job properly in our last game.”

Azzuri travel to Spec and Stoke host Hampstead Ducks in the final round of games.

In other fixtures, Faithfold Green comfortably won 4-0 at Temple Fortune in Division One.

SPEC defeated Straw Hat Pirates 3-1 with goals from Adam Joselyn, Josh Green and Alex Newman in Division Two. “It was a decent win and it’s nice to get back to winning ways,” commented SPEC boss Ricky Lawrence. “It was a tough game but I think we were good for the victory.”

Elsewhere, FC East London Bees came through a tight match 2-1 at Redbridge Jewish Care whilst West Hendon Wallabies drew 2-2 against Scrabble.

Fairlop and Faithfold White forfeited Premier matches against Maccabi London FC and Hendon United Sports. FC Team and Paris Saint Jewmain forfeited Division One clashes against Borussia Barnet and Brook Farm Rovers.

Away from the league, in the Cyril Anekstein Trophy, Maccabi defeated Oakwood 2-0 in a hard-fought semi-final clash. But the cup tie will be replayed as the victors played an ineligible player.

Maccabi struggled to break Oakwood down in their league encounter a few days earlier and appeared to have gained revenge for losing out on their Premier League challenge with goals from Adam Arnold and Max Kyte but the two sides will do battle again for a place in the final on June 30.

Battle for possession between NWL Azurri and Stoke Salmon

PHOTO: DAVID SAFFER

Haroldeans lifted MJSL title as Maccabi edged champions and Jewventus beat Reich

On the final match day of the league season at Brooklands, Maccabi edged Haroldeans 3-2 in a well matched contest which saw the Merseysiders defeated for the first time. A strengthened home team took full points and started the better team. On 5 minutes, a throughball caused panic in the rearguard of the visitors and a mix up saw a header own goal bounce into an empty net.

Louis Rawlings crashed a 25 yarder against the Haroldeans bar then on 36 mins Sam Hatton raced away and buried the ball in the bottom left corner leaving Jared Clein with no chance. This promoted a mini revival with the Merseysiders creating several chances that normally would have been converted by joint top scorer Adam Shiffman. As it happened, on 40 mins Max Barnett’s header found its way into the net as Maccabi defenders tried to clear their lines and narrowed the gap to 2-1 at the break.

In the second half, a pile driver from Sam Hatton soared into the top left corner on 50 minutes making it 3-1 but this seemed to prompt Haroldeans into a response with more possesssion and meaningful attacks which eventually paid dividends with a Jack Bookey penalty making it 3-2 on 70 minutes. A close finish but the game ended with the first defeat for Haroldeans in their last league match of the campaign.

Neil Collins was on hand to present the Joan Collins Premier Division Trophy to Adam Boyars with Haroldeans deservedly crowned as MJSL Champions. The MJSL Secretary of the Year was also picked up by Trevor Harris from Haroldeans, who received the award from MJSL Chairman Paul Rose.

Elsewhere at Fred Rd, Jewventus finished the season on a high with a 4-1 victory over Reich, Jake Hadden scored the consolation although it actually saw Reich take the half time lead. Shlomo Landes, Yosef Fletcher, Zalman Cohen & Shimmy Guttentag were on the mark for Shalom Treblow’s team as they completed their debut season with a win leaving them in fourth and Reich in fifth place.

Trevor Harris (L) MJSL Secretary of the Year with Paul Rose,MJSL Chairman.

PHOTO: LAWRENCE PURCELL