Sport

SPORTS WEEKLY SPECIAL EURO 2020

England face Germany in Euros

BY DAVID SAFFER

All roads lead to Wembley Stadium as England take on Germany in the last-16 of Euro 2020 on Tuesday (5pm).

Raheem Sterling sent England into the tie of the round with the only goal against Czech Republic to win Group D. Germany crushed Hungarian hearts with a late equaliser in Group F last night.

Jack Grealish set up the 12th minute winner for Sterling against the Czech’s and enjoyed a fine first half at Wembley. England’s talisman Harry Kane went close to scoring but for a third successive game failed to hit the target. The return of central defender Harry Maguire was a plus for Gareth Southgate’s side slated after a drab 0-0 draw against Scotland in the second group game.

England have yet to produce “champagne football” but that did not bother Southgate after his side topped the group and have yet to concede a goal, a first since the 1982 World Cup second group phase and Boys of ’66 endeavours. Southgate is more concerned his side is tough to beat. Performances, he insists, will come.

He told BBC Radio 5 Live, “We are a little bit short in a few areas of match fitness and sharpness, and I thought as the game wore on that started to take its toll a bit. We have hit the woodwork in all three matches and the other thing we have to get better on is our attacking set-play which is normally such a good source of goals for us and our deliveries have been really poor.”

Southgate added, “We are difficult to score against at the moment and although we’re not perhaps flowing as much as we’d like, that solidity is critical for any team doing well.”

Germany scraped into the next stage when substitute Leon Goretzka struck an 84th minute equaliser.

Rank underdogs Hungary twice led the former Euro champions in Group F with goals from Adam Szalai and Andras Schafer only for Kai Havertz and Goretzka to level the scores.

Portugal drew 2-2 with France in the other group game to both qualify for the last 16.

Cristiano Ronaldo equalled the all-time international goalscoring record with two penalties to equal Ali Daei’s all-time record for Iran. Karim Benzema also bagged a brace in an entertaining clash.

France play Switzerland whilst Portugal take on Belgium in another huge clash for the competition.

Croatia’s Luka Modric broke Scottish hearts at Hampden Park in Group D.

Nikola Vlasic silenced a fervent crowd before Callum McGregor fired home just before half-time but Modric struck a sensational goal on the hour prior to Ivan Perisic sealing a 3-1 win with a header.

“Tonight we were against a team that are tournament hardened and they knew how to play the third game in a group and probably we didn’t,” Head coach Steve Clarke told BBC Scotland. “We didn’t get anything out the first game which meant we had to go to Wembley and expend a lot of energy physically and mentally to give ourselves a chance and maybe we suffered for it in the third game. That’s something we can learn for the next tournament, I promise you it won’t be 23 years until the next one.”

In Group A, 10-man Wales dug deep to finish second behind Italy in a 1-0 defeat in Rome.

Matteo Pessina scored the only goal of the game in the first half for the hosts, who claimed three group wins, before Ethan Ampadu was sent off for a challenge on Federico Bernardeschi after an hour of an absorbing contest.

Wales captain Gareth Bale told ITV Sport, “We knew it would be very difficult from the start. A lot of running and defending, I am proud of the boys. We have made it through.” He added, “I didn’t see too much of the red card. It was unfortunate. We had to dig deep and we did that. We have to recover now and take the break and get ready to get going again.”

Switzerland qualified in third place by defeating Turkey 3-1 in Baku.

Haris Seferovic and Xherdan Shaqiri gave the Swiss a 2-0 interval lead. Kahveci pulled a goal back just past the hour before Shaqiri bagged his second of the game.

Belgium completed a third Group B victory with a comfortable win over Finland courtesy of an unfortunate own goal by keeper Lukas Hradecky, who deflected a Thomas Vermaelen header off the woodwork into his goal, and a Romelu Lukaku strike late on in St Petersburg.

Denmark, after global headlines when Christian Eriksen collapsed with a cardiac arrest in the opening game, secured a thrilling 4-1 win against Russia to qualify as one of the four best third-placed teams on an emotional night at a packed Copenhagen.

The Danes had to win and hope Belgium beat Finland, and the hosts made the perfect start when Mikkel Damsgaard fired home from long-range before half time. Yussuf Poulsen doubled the lead only for Artem Dzyuba to pull a goal back for Russia with a penalty. But Denmark, playing on a wave of emotion, re-established a two-goal lead with an Andreas Christensen howitzer before Joakim Maehle sealed an emphatic win with a solo effort on 82 minutes.

Russia began the night in second place, but ended it bottom of the table.

The Danes welcome Wales to Copenhagen in what could be a really entertaining clash.

Netherlands made it three Group C wins with a routine victory against North Macedonia courtesy of Memphis Depay and Georginio Wijnaldum at the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam.

Austria made the knockout stages in an all or nothing win against Ukraine thanks to a Christoph Baumgartner’s close-range finish to set up a meeting with Italy whilst the Netherlands play the Czech Republic next. A terrific clash awaits.

Sweden won a five-goal thriller against Poland to top Group E in St Petersburg.

Emil Forsberg struck twice only for Robert Lewandowski to curl home a superb strike then level the scores with a sharp finish six minutes from time. But the Swedes broke Polish hearts with a goal from substitute Victor Claesson in stoppage time.

Spain after two disappointing draws finally joined the Euro party by thumping Slovakia 5-0 in Seville.

After Alvaro Morata had a VAR-awarded penalty saved well by Martin Dubravka, the Slovak keeper inexplicably punched the ball into his net after Pablo Sarabia’s shot cannoned off the crossbar, Aymeric Laporte nodded the second, Sarabia made it three, Ferran Torres flicked home a fourth from a corner with his first touch of the ball before another Slovakian own goal, this time by Juraj Kucka, completed the scoring.

Spain face Croatia and Sweden take on Ukraine in the other last-16 games.

Whisper it quietly, but should England prevail against the Germans they will meet the winner of Sweden and Ukraine for a place in the semi-finals!

Harry Maguire is back to help England’s EURO 2020 campaign

PHOTO: DAVID SAFFER

O’s on brink of title after blitzing HMH

BY DAVID SAFFER

Oakwood are in pole position to clinch the Premier League title after a stunning 5-0 triumph against HMH at Ark Academy.

The O’s will be crowned champions if they defeat Jewdinese on Sunday.

HMH needed a point to wrap up the title for the first time in their history but had no answer to a rampant Oakwood who can pip Avi Goldberg’s side by a point in a thrilling championship battle.

Ben Peppi and Felix Shalom bagged a brace apiece before Josh Cuby sealed a famous win.

Peppi struck a wondergoal on 20 minutes before a sublime finish for a 2-0 half time lead. Shalom then struck twice and Cuby finished with aplomb late on.

Lewis Blitz’s team produced an astonishing display of attacking football.

“I’m absolutely delighted,” he noted at full time. “We came here with a game plan and have done it to perfection. Everyone knows how good HMH are so this is some result.”

Oakwood made a terrible start to the campaign, drawing their opening encounter and losing the next. They then faced HMH who had just won 38-0 in a cup match.

Blitz commented, “To come from where we were to now winning comfortably is phenomenal. HMH are a great side, we’ve come here and shown them a lot of respect. We looked at how they play and thought how we could go about winning and the boys have done it.”

Regarding the Jewdinese game, Blitz added, “I’m sure HMH will be keeping an eye on the game. We need three points as a draw is not good enough. Jewdinese are a great side. We saw what they did against Hendon recently and they lost narrowly to HMH. Anything can happen but we will be ready.”

Striker Cuby said. “At this level, the standard is very similar so it comes down to mentality. We’ve been working hard in training sessions and our positioning has been strong, we’ve got better throughout the season.” As for his goal, Cuby commented, “Once the keeper comes out there is only one thing in a strikers mind and that is go for goal.”

Oakwood won the league in 2017 and Cuby was a member of the side.

“We have more depth in this squad, that has been part of our success,” he said. “Week in week out we fight for each other on the pitch, you saw that against HMH. It’s taken time to build a style of play. We gelled at the beginning of the season and we are now going for the double.”

Oakwood face Maccabi London FC in the Cyril Anekstein Trophy semifinals.

Goldberg was magnanimous in defeat. He noted, “We had a real off day but all credit to Oakwood who after the first 20 minutes took control of the match, they played the better football, looked fitter and hungrier.”

Maccabi were pacesetters for long periods of the season. Should they defeat defending champions Hendon United Sports on Sunday they will finish level on points with HMH.

In other fixtures, Hendon shared the spoils 2-2 with North London Raiders in a battling performance.

Mordy Weiler scored for the hosts along with an own goal.

London Bears wrapped up the Division One title with a 4-1 triumph against Hertswood Vale.

Zacki Doumou struck a hat-trick and Sam Martin hit the target in a memorable triumph.

Vale needed to win their final two games to lift the title and equalised through Harry Graham on the hour before Bears edged ahead then scored two late goals.

Player boss James Harpin noted, “We saved our best two performances for the biggest games of the season. Every man did their job and I’m proud of everyone. Next season will be a bigger test but maybe we can upset the odds again.”

Vale’s Jacob Emmanual said, “It was a very close game and unfortunately, despite a strong performance in the first half, we couldn’t take our chances.”

Vale need a point at home to Faithfold Green to ratify promotion but it would take a freak result to deny them as they have a 19-goal advantage over third place Borussia Barnet.

Brook Farm Rovers defeated Paris Saint Jewmain 3-1 with an Adam Ellis brace and Adam Goldberg strike in a solid performance. Seb Pell scored PSJ’s goal in the final match as a club.

Manager Dan Cohen commented, “We should have scored more goals but we’ll take the points. That’s seven wins in a row and we still have a chance to finish third which would be brilliant.”

PSJ boss Elio Elia noted, “I thought we played really well and made a great account of ourselves.” He added, “I’m really proud of the boys’ hard effort and commitment over the last two seasons.”

FC Team won a seven-goal thriller against Mill Hill Dons 4-3.

The Division Two title race will be decided when NWL Azurri visit SPEC and Stoke Salmon host Hampstead Ducks on Sunday.

Azurri have a 12-goal advantage over Stoke so are favourites to lift the title.

Both sides secured promotion weeks ago and are 12 points clear of Hampstead who defeated FC East London Bees 3-2 to cement third place. Jono Gaon struck a hat-trick in a terrific win.

Redbridge Jewish Care won 3-1 at Straw Hat Pirates.

Ben Peppi strikes Oakwood’s second goal against HMH

PHOTO: DAVID SAFFER

Oakwood celebrate their 5-0 win against HMH

PHOTO: DAVID SAFFER

Reich stun Haroldeans in final on penalties

Reich Masters defeated treble chasing Haroldeans 3-0 on penalties after a 2-2 draw to retain the Harold Feldman Trophy.

Reich Masters defeated treble chasing Haroldeans 3-0 on penalties after a 2-2 draw to retain the Harold Feldman Trophy.

Reich played as a unit whilst The Merseysiders lacked a cutting edge.

Jake Hadden opened the scoring for the rank outsiders just before half time and nodded home a second before the hour for a 2-0 lead.

Haroldeans had struggled to breach a resolute Reich defence but got back into the match when Max Barnett atoned for an earlier miss to give his team a lifeline on 85 minutes. And the scores were level when Marcus Nezri equalise moments later before six minutes added time ensured spot kicks would decide the winners.

Haroldeans, having won the league and Tony Cohen Cup, looked set to lift more silverware after a sensational comeback. But Reich slotted in three penalties whilst Haroldeans had two saved by Leo Adleman and the final one soared over the crossbar to confirm one of the biggest upsets in the MJSL history.

Hadden was named man of the match after a shock win.

Will Feldman (Maccabi Manchester 3rd) scooped the Ray Mendell Trophy as MJSL Young Player of the Year. The Ronnie Rose Trophy was awarded to Paul Rose.

Haroldeans face Broughton Park Rangers in the Faye and Henry Shonn Trophy final on Sunday at Hyde United.

Reich Masters celebrating their win

Belmont and Edgware Cricket Club defeated Boxmoor Blackbirds by 10 wickets

Belmont and Edgware batsmen during the chase

A maiden five-wicket hall for seamer Jack Mendel helped Belmont and Edgware to a comprehensive victory on Sunday.

After the 1s’ fixture was cancelled due to the weather, a hybrid team including club captain Elliott Mayer and 2s skipper Bension Tilley behind the stumps took to the field with overcast skies. Winning the toss and putting the opposition into bat, Australian fast bowler Jonny Eintracht was miserly, going for just 5 runs in his four opening overs, as batsmen struggled to get it off the square.

Allrounder Josh Reynolds was hostile and moved the ball in the air, while Eintracht was unlucky not to pick up a few wickets with two difficult drops off his bowling.

After eight overs, captain Mayer turned to Jack Mendel, who bowled two maidens to start with, before taking a wicket with the first ball of his third over. Interspersed with a few wides and no balls owing to the state of the run-up and a damp ball, he went on to have two more double-wicket overs, finishing with his best figures for the club, of 5-17.

It wasn’t a one-man-show though. Adam Morris bowled magnificently, picking up two wickets and passing the outside edge more times than he’d care to remember, in what was undeniably one of his best spells for the club. Joel Winston and Joe Saleh also kept it tight and created chances, as Belmont bowled the opposition out for just 87 inside 35 overs. A special mention must go to Reynolds who also took 3 great catches, on top of his two important scalps.

After the return of kosher teas, and with rain in the air, openers Elliott Mayer and Mark Spanjar made light work of the small target, hitting an unbeaten 32* and 33* respectively, before Steven Altmann-Richer came in to help finish off the job. Mayer in particular hit some crunching pull shots in the opening over, while Spanjar looked in sparkling form, punishing anything off length.

Wrapping up the innings in just 13 overs, it was a total victory for Belmont and Edgware.

Club Captain Elliott Mayer said: “This was a really strong performance all round. We were in control of the game from the very first over. All of our bowlers were superb and offered very limited scoring opportunities with tight lines and lengths throughout. They were also ably supported

Jack Mendel after taking 5/17 in the field with some good catching too. It was particularly pleasing to see Jack Mendel take his first 5-fer for the club which was thoroughly deserved. Our openers also took the chance to get some runs under their belts before a big league game next week against Chalfont St Peter’s. An excellent team display which has been coming. We can build on this momentum for the rest of the season!”