The Inter-Shul Football League

A close contest as we overcame Adas Yisroel 5-4, with our fourth win from four in the Cup seeing us through to the semi-final with a game to spare.

It did take us a while to settle, perhaps in part due to having not played for a number of weeks, and it was Adas who opened the scoring, via a deflection. We hit back almost immediately, with a good team goal involving Darren, Gary and Ryan, before Yaakov created space to finish.

The game continued to be end-to-end, Aron hitting the bar from a shot on the turn, and Adas going even closer when the ball came back off the inside of the post. We were then fortunate that the ball broke free to Ryan from an Adas corner, giving him time and space to finish well. Adas equalised again before good foot… Read More »

A physical battle in our latest Cup game, against Young Whitefield, in which both goalkeepers deserved praise. Ultimately, we prevailed 3-1 to move to the top of our group. 

Young Whitefield began strongly, pressing from the front, but it was us who took the lead, Gary playing the ball to Yaakov, who waited for the opportune moment before lifting the ball high into the net. Young Whitefield came back quickly, though, capitalising on a loose ball to net the equaliser.  

This set the pattern for the first half, with both defences made to work hard. Yaakov, Aron and Ryan all had good chances, particularly a shot that rolled across the line and hit the post. At the other end, Darren and Gary found themselves in a real battle, with J… Read More »

Fixtures 23rd March 

8:00pm

Ohel Shalom vs Adas Yisroel - Cup

Heaton Park vs LBM - League 

9:00pm

Young Whitefield vs Vine Street - Cup

Young Lubavitch vs Shrubs - League

A solid performance gave us back-to-back 5-1 wins, as we returned to league action.

We started well, holding onto and moving the ball well, and Yaakov set up Ryan, who was unmarked, with a great through-ball, to make it 1-0. Although Shrubs briefly pegged it back to 1-1, our lead was restored when Ryan found Aron, and he controlled the pass brilliantly to give himself time to finish.

Strong defending was required, as Shrubs looked to again get back into the game, but Darren and Gary stood firm and Sruli dealt with anything that did get through, including a stunning one-handed push around the post. Particularly impressive was how quickly we won the ball back, and how we defended as a team.

Ryan made it 3-1, drawing gasps from the crowd, a… Read More »

Cup Fixtures 23^rd February:

8pm

Ohel Shalom vs Young Whitefield

Lubavitch Boys Minyan vs Young Lubavitch 

9pm

Shrubs vs Vine Street

Holy Law vs Windsor Road

We put the disappointment of the previous game behind us, as we recorded a 4-3 win over Adas Yisroel.

We started the stronger, as some neat passing moves led to early chances being created, although it took us until halfway through the first half to take the lead. In the absence of Ryan, Yoni had come into the team, which enabled Darren and Gary to make good forward runs, one of these leading to the opening goal, as Gary finished in off the post.

Yaakov then made it 2, and with Sruli finding Aron with good long balls from the back, it was surely a matter of time before we added to the lead, and indeed Aron did score, with Yaakov then making it 4-1, Adas having pulled a goal back before this.

We perhaps relaxed a bit at this stage, giving… Read More »

A frustrating night saw us slip to third in the table, as Whitefield won 5-0. 

A fairly even start as both sides traded shots but it was Whitefield who took the lead when they won the ball back. 

This set the pattern for the game, Whitefield looking to hit us on the break and allowing us very little breathing room, and a 3 on 2 gave them a 2-0 lead at half-time. 

We started the second half strongly, putting good pressure on Whitefield, but Whitefield stuck to their plan and added further goals, to cement their grip on the game.

Results:

Adas Yisroel 1-4 Lubavitch Boys Minyan

Heaton Park 0-5 Whitefield 

Holy Law 0-4 Young Lubavitch

Windsor Road 7-2 S… Read More »

 Results:

Adas Yisroel 2-1 Shrubs

Whitefield 1-3 Lubavitch Boys Minyan

Windsor Road 4-5 Young Lubavitch

Fixtures 2^nd February:

8pm:

Adas Yisroel vs Lubavitch Boys Minyan

Heaton Park vs Whitefield

9pm:

Holy Law vs Young Lubavitch

Windsor Road vs Shrubs

Results:

Young Lubavitch 6-2 Shrubs

Adas Yisroel 1-11 Whitefield

Lubavitch Boys Minyan 7-2 Vine Street

Fixtures 26^th January 2025:

8pm:

Adas Yisroel vs Shrubs

Whitefield vs Lubavitch Boys Minyan

9pm:

Windsor Road vs Young Lubavitch

A tough game, but ultimately we prevailed 3-2, as we kept our position at the top of the table, heading into the Winter break. 

We created numerous chances in the first half, and really should have gone in at least a few goals up. Some good saves from the Vine Street stand-in goalkeeper, and the post coming to their rescue twice, meant it was 1-1 at half-time. Gary had opened the scoring, after being fed in by Aron, Vine Street equalising after a strong run.  

The second half saw more good work, and a number of saves from Vine Street. We eventually made it 2-1, with a move that started from the back. Gary passed to Sruli from a throw-in, his first-time ball to Aron was chested to Ryan, who returned the ball, and from a narrow an… Read More »

Results:

Vine Street 7- 4 Shrubs

Lubavitch Boys Minyan 4 - 8 Holy Law

Fixtures 15^th December:

8pm

Whitefield vs Shrubs

9pm

Windsor Road vs Lubavitch Boys Minyan

Vine Street vs  Heaton Park

A late withdrawal and a change in personnel did not stop us bouncing back to winning ways, as we beat Lubavitch Boys Minyan 8-5. With Darren unfortunately suffering a hamstring injury before the game, Aron moved back into defence, and Mordy started up front.  

In the wake of last week’s defeat, a team meeting was held to see if there was anything different we needed to do. And it seemed to work, as an early flowing move, starting with Sruli in goal into the defence and up to Yaakov, ended with Ryan making it 1-0. 

Some defending was then required, Sruli pulling off a great save, and Gary getting in the way of shots, before Ryan intercepted a Lubavitch goal-kick, to mak… Read More »

The only positive on a night when our unbeaten record came to an end, as Whitefield won 5-1, was that the Rabbi got to watch only his second ever game of football.  

Whitefield scored early on before Aron equalised, and most of the rest of the first half was fairly even, as both sides looked to add to the score.  

Yaakov hit the post with a great shot, and Aron and Ryan had chances, but two quick goals just before half-time gave Whitefield a grip on the game that they never let go of.  

What was disappointing was the referee allowing a lot of on-the-edge tackles, although he finally took action towards the end of the second half, with Whitefield briefly reduced to 5 men, as one of their players was sin-binned. By this… Read More »