Maccabi Manchester 3
Reich Insurance Rangers 2
JONNY ROSE claims Maccabi Manchester Blue’s Shonn Trophy triumph is a reward for their end-of-season rise.
Just a month ago, Rose’s side were propping up the MJL League. But now they are sitting in mid-table and they now have their first trophy.
Their storming end to the campaign culminated with silverware as teenage super-sub Sam Green had the final say to break Reich Insurance Rangers hearts late on.
Moshe Hasid’s double had Maccabi Manchester Blue cruising before Zalmy Lachs and Andy Shaffer pegged them back at Salford FC.
But Green – who had replaced skipper Andy Hatton – rewarded Rose for his managerial gamble.
He said: “I thought the game was drifting and we needed to freshen things up. I took off our captain, which was no easy decision, but we were rewarded when Sam popped up.
“Sometimes you change things and it works and other times it doesn’t. Thankfully it did and I think it was the least we deserved.
“We were struggling a month or so ago but it’s all come together. To finish in mid-table and to win a cup is very satisfying. We would certainly have taken that at the start of the season.”
Maccabi Manchester have done it the hard way having beaten Haroldeans, Leeds Maccabi and MJSL champions Oakhill Lions on the way.
Rose added: “Nobody can say we have had it easy. We’ve had to beat the three best teams in the league just to reach the final. The character from my players has been amazing.
“We have a mix of young and older players. My philosophy is to play at least five Under-17 players from the start of every match. We’ve stuck to our principles throughout and clearly it was the right thing to do.
Rose admits he doesn’t want the season to come to an end and said: “We have three league games remaining and we want to finish as high as possible. The best we can do is fourth and that would be some achievement. We don’t
want the season to come to an end to be honest.”
Reich were left frustrated but do have the consolation of potentially winning another trophy when they face South Manchester Sports 2nd in the Harold Feldman Trophy final on May 5.
Director of football Michael Gaswirth said: “It’s frustrating but it this game has summed up our season. We have got ourselves into contention and then thrown the game away.
“There’s no complains on our part. We are on a poor run of form. We have lost our last six games and we need that to change as we have another big final looming.
“It’s important for us as we don’t want to finish bottom of the league and lose two cup finals. The players
will be focused on their task.”
