Up and down season ends on a high
NORTH Caulfield Maccabi has ended its 2012 campaign with a stellar 2-0 away victory over Peninsula Strikers, wrapping up its rollercoaster season in seventh position on the ladder.
NORTH Caulfield Maccabi has ended its 2012 campaign with a stellar 2-0 away victory over Peninsula Strikers, wrapping up its rollercoaster season in seventh position on the ladder.
Coach Andrew Freund (pictured) led Maccabi to five wins and two draws from its last eight games of the year to launch the side from 11th spot to seventh.
North Caulfield finished the year just eight points out of the top four with eight wins, three draws and 11 losses, and will now play its sixth consecutive season in the State League Division 3 South-East competition.
“It was a very good achievement and a credit to the guys,” Freund told The AJN. “It was an incredibly strong end to the season, after we had a lot of obstacles with guys injured or unavailable … [but] they just wanted to compete and stay in the league, which is what it came down to.”
The side went out on a high after a superb display against a team that was playing for a top-four spot.
The first chance of the game fell to Peninsula, but the ball sailed well over Famara Djiba and the goals.
Yaron Esterman impressed in one of his few starts for the year, as the side played some of its best football all season.
Maccabi’s best chance for the half fell to Gideon Sweet, who failed to hit the target after great link-up play from midfielders Calum Christie and Jason Tasker.
The visitors came out after the break with more intensity and vigour, and it wasn’t long before Sweet, the side’s leading goalscorer for the year, found himself on the end of a scrappy corner to put the ball in the back of the net.
As the game drew to a close, Maccabi was not only able to deny its opposition an equaliser, but the side went on to add another, when Tasker was played in by Paul Miller to seal the win.
“There’s the saying that you start the season the way you finished the last, so I hope that rings true for us next year,” Freund said.
The reserves team finished its season in fourth position on superior goal difference, after recording its 12th win for the year with a 3-1 victory over Peninsula Strikers.
Tal Marom and Elya Davidov were among the scorers, as Maccabi went on to seal a top-four spot by only two goals.
DANIEL SHANDLER
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