Yossi signed off in style, ahead of a 6-month absence, as he claimed a hat-trick in a 4-2 win over Holy Law.
The two opening goals were identical as Ryan played a through-ball each time that took the defence out, and Yossi finished well from both to give us a 2-0 lead.
At this point we were creating the majority of the chances, with some good saves from their goalkeeper and a number of shots that were deflected but Holy Law were applying their own pressure, and from a loose ball in the middle of the pitch, they shot and halved the deficit.
We continued to play our own game and fashion opportunities, with some good build-up play from the back, but Holy Law were defending well. Just before the break, Ryan got back well to stop a Holy Law attack, and some quick passing between him and Yossi saw us end the half with a 3-1 lead.
In a nod to the well-known “game of 2 halves” cliché, the second half was a different story as Holy Law came out determined to get back into it. Our defence coped well, with some fine saves from Sruli and some excellent defending from Darren and Gary, but we could not seem to get into a good flow.
Mordy replaced Yossi and added energy and impetus up front, dragging the Holy Law defence around the pitch and opening up space. He then found Yaakov, who moved the ball on to Ryan, to give us breathing space.
Holy Law scored again to set up a slightly nervous finish but in the end a good win, and we extended our lead at the top of the table, ahead of what should be a great clash with Whitefield, who are currently second, in just over a week’s time.
Results:
Heaton Park 4 - 2 Holy Law
Adas Yisroel 2 - 7 Windsor Road
Lubavitch Boys Minyan 3 - 3 Shrubbs
Young Lubavitch 3 - 2 Vine Street
Fixtures 10th November:
8:00pm
Shrubbs vs Adas Yisroel
9:00pm
Lubavitch Boys Minyan vs Young Lubavitch
Vine Street vs Holy Law