Hapoel Hyde Park vs Maccabi Selly Oak Jonah Lazarus

Student football teams Maccabi Selly Oak and Hapoel Hyde Park held a rematch on the 27th November 2022, following last year’s successful charity match in aid of World Jewish Relief’s Ukraine appeal.

The rematch this year was in aid of Shalva - a charity empowering people with disabilities, and their families. Team spirits were high, having successfully raised over £3,000 for the charity Shalva before the start of the match.

Despite the success building up to the event, the match was a tough result for Hapoel following a hard-fought game against Birmingham’s Maccabi Selly Oak after sadly losing on penalties.

It had been an incredible achievement raising money for Shalva, and helping to launch the Year of Student Sport project, but the game itself was an unfortunate result for Hyde Park, especially considering the progress the team has tallied up - with 25 goals in six games this season, compared to 22 in the whole of the previous campaign.

The game began after a minute’s worth of applause in memory of Josh Carr, the former Leeds student and co-founder of Hapoel Hyde Park.

Despite strong defensive work from club captain Sam Clarfield and Sam Baker at the back, a first attempt on tar- get from Selly Oak was sent over the bar. Some minutes later, a clash in the midfield led to Joe Salomon receiving Hapoel’s first booking of the match. Following the challenge, the home team managed to take control of the game and shortly scored a goal which was ruled out for offside. The disallowed goal gave Hapoel a wake-up call, as the team’s familiar intensity was kicked back into life. After a booking for Joel Herman, Ben Gur managed to open the scoring for the day after a great assist from strike partner Joel Walters, giving Hapoel the lead going into the break.

The aggression of the first half didn’t stop there, as Dylan Saunders was brought on at the end of the half, only to then have his nose broken in a brutal challenge, meaning he was forced to come back off for the rest of the game. After being ahead at half-time, Hapoel managed to continue their momentum as they created a chance at the beginning of the second half, with Joel

Walters unfortunately sending a shot wide after a cross from Daniel Bowman. The home team quickly found a response then persisted in trying to break down the Hapoel defence, but were kept out by some heroics from Hapoel legend Ethan Isaacs and some fantastic defensive work from Baker and Clarfield. A very controversial decision made by the referee confused both sides, originally allowing Ben Gur’s second goal to stand after going around the keeper only to then rule it out for offside. The aggression from both sides continued as a penalty was given away by Hapoel. After an incredible save by Isaacs denying Selly Oak from the spot, he then followed by making another incredible save, keeping the visitors in the game. However, with just five minutes left on the clock, Maccabi Selly Oak broke down the Hapoel defence and equalised with a rebound, sending the game straight to penalties. It had been a heroic performance from both sides, but sadly it was former Leeds man Elliot Bloom whose decisive final penalty meant that Maccabi Selly Oak emerged victorious, edging out Hapoel by just one penalty.