North Caulfield wraps up rocky year
NORTH Caulfield Maccabi has lost its final game of the year 1-0 to Old Scotch, leaving the side finishing in ninth spot in the State League 3 South-East division.
NORTH Caulfield Maccabi has lost its final game of the year 1-0 to Old Scotch, leaving the side finishing in ninth spot in the State League 3 South-East division.
It was a disappointing end to a rollercoaster season for Maccabi, which won only six games, drew four and lost 12.
“From a development perspective, we ticked a lot of boxes and the club will benefit in the long run,” director of football Andrew Freund told The AJN.
“This year we hired a development coach, so in terms of the KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) we looked at, I think we achieved them.
“We wanted to stabilise our spot in the league, which we did, and overall at the club, we had more registered payers than any other time in history.”
In the final match of 2013, hosts North Caulfield proved to be a difficult opponent for top-four side Old Scotch, with both sides playing at a frenetic pace.
Maccabi was unable to find a goal in the first half, but did manage to muster some great chances through strikers Elya Davidov and Brad Blumenthal.
Both worked hard and cohesively, while defenders Tal Marom and Declan Keogh were resolute in repelling Old Scotch’s attacking forays.
But the visitors eventually found the net, when a long range shot took a wicked deflection, leaving goalkeeper Daniel Shandler with no chance.
With the side trailing, Maccabi went in search of an equaliser in the second half. Noam Cohney worked tirelessly up front and substitutes Aaron Cohen and Josh Braver breathed new life in to the North Caulfield side.
But the home team was unable to find the coveted goal, and things were made even tougher when midfielder Tim Mather received a second yellow card for an errant tackle.
Though the loss meant the side couldn’t move above ninth spot, Freund said the club is happy to have steered clear of a relegation spot.
Now he is keen to resecure the services of coach Juan Mascuñano, who Freund believes is the right person to lead the side to its seventh consecutive year in the same league.
“Overall, he is a very technical and developmental coach,” Freund said.
“We needed that certain type of coaching to bring the best out of our guys, so not a single person can say they didn’t benefit from him.
“We had the likes of Franklin Ngwa have another stand-out season, [we had] goalkeeper Daniel Shandler come up from the Reserves a couple of times, who is the future of the club, and our two leading goal scorers Josh Sacks and Brad Blumenthal, who are both still at school, which probably won’t be seen at any other state league club in Victoria.”
Meanwhile, the Reserves man- aged to secure second spot on the ladder after a 1-0 win over premiers Old Scotch in their last hit-out of 2013.
Leon Goldbaum and Daniel Distiller were the stand-outs, as the side reeled in the ladder-leaders to finish runner-up with 11 wins, six draws and five losses.
“We tried to fast track some of those guys to the seniors,” Freund said.
“It was a great year. We took four points from the team that won the league and if we take out the plummet in the middle of the year with Maccabiah and guys going away, we started and finished very strongly.”
AJN STAFF
Photo: Jason Blumenthal
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