The man of the match said it best describing Wednesday’s well-fought display against MechEng, praising the incredible communication and fitness of the squad, and “the lack of quality of refereeing also showed”. Although it was a fantastic performance against some tough opposition, disastrous refereeing calls ultimately cost Hapoel what could have been another great win. Hapoel manager Noah Meszarich said before the game that he suspected it would be another slow start to the game, and fortunately he was proven wrong after Daniel Bowman once again opened the scoring for Hapoel after 5 minutes, a continuation of the fast-paced start from last week’s crushing victory over CivSoc. Unfortunately for the pigs, the early lead wasn’t to last and MechEng very quickly equalised after a defensive error down the right-hand side of the game. After the equaliser, the first half established a similar pattern, of Hapoel scoring and then MechEng equalising shortly afterwards. Not long after MechEng’s first goal of the game, star striker Joel Walters took the lead again for Hapoel following a brilliant counter-attack and putting Hapoel back on top. However, the lead wasn’t to last again after club captain Sam Clarfield’s handball led to a penalty for the opposition, which Remy Marsh couldn’t quite get a hand on. Although Clarfield gave away a second handball soon after the first, the Hapoel skipper made up for his earlier mistakes by scoring just before the break, ending a thrilling half to the game. Clarfield’s incredible goal giving Hapoel the lead going into the break was one of many standout performances of the day, along with the man of the match and East London’s finest controlling the midfield with some great defensive work.
Whilst the first half was dominated by goals, the second half was dominated by fouls- lots of them. Following a passionate team talk, the second half quickly turned into a battle, with both sides upping the intensity. Shortly after the half started, Joel Herman was on the receiving end of a savage tackle forcing him to come off the pitch early, with the Jewish Declan Rice also taking a hit from a bad challenge. None of this was handled by the referee, who completely lost control of the game in the second half and even tried to prevent Hapoel from making the vital substitutes needed thanks to the brutality of their opposition, which they gave an immediate response, playing much more aggressively for the rest of the game. A defensive error towards the end of the second half led to MechEng getting their third and final equaliser. Sadly, Hapoel’s chances of a last-minute winner were denied in a shocking display of refereeing incompetence, failing to give a clear and obvious penalty after Walters was brought down in the box following a fould by the MechEng keeper. Whilst it was a disgraceful ending to the game, here’s hoping that the team can take this same level of intensity and aggression into next week’s game with FobSoc. Forza Hapoel!
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