British team hopes for medals
Team won 16 medals at 2001 Maccabiah; looking for better results in 2005
LONDON - Fans watching the British soccer team in action at the Maccabiah
Games in Israel might be forgiven for thinking they are watching Wingate & Finchley.
Eight players from the Abrahams Stadium are included in the squad. And Wingate manager Adam Lee and coach Michael Stone have again joined forces to lead it.
The soccer competition begins on Saturday, with an official opening ceremony on Sunday. Thirty teams are involved, including the Israeli U21 side.
Denmark, Mexico, Uruguay and Sweden await Great Britain in the group stage of the competition.
The eight from Wingate are Matt Davis, Guy Morris, Adam Stolerman, Sam Sloma, Danny Berg, Jonathan Ellis, Craig Ellis and Aron Barnes.
The squad have been put through an intense training program over the past few weeks.
Borough referee Phil Sharp, who has officiated at a World Cup final, FA Cup final and Olympic Cup final, knows what it is like appearing on an international stage and has been offering tips to the players.
Another former Wingate & Finchley star will also be in action in Israel. Prolific striker Marc Morris, who scored more than 700 goals in 700 games for the Blues, is in the Masters football squad.
Morris is still banging in the goals on Sunday mornings with current club London Maccabi Lions Masters.
Running alongside the soccer tournament, the cricket competition will be played in Ashkelon and involves teams from Britain, Israel, Australia and South Africa.
Among those who have taken part in past competitions are former Australia Test player Ray Phillips, South African Adam Bacher and Ireland captain and current Brondesbury player Jason Mollins.
In the Great Britain squad this time around is Oxford University Blue and Brondesbury opening bowler Darren Gerard, who is currently looking for a contract with either Middlesex, where his grandfather was president, or Leicestershire.
Taking part in the Masters squash will be Maccabiah 2001 gold-medal winner Harry Davies and his wife Rachel Benjamin.
Ten pin bowling is another event in which GB will be looking for a medal. Borough resident Ricky Cohen is the man gunning for gold. Among the borough golfers in with a shot is 19-year-old Robert Jakobi.
Paul Wreyford is a journalist for the Hendon & Finchley Times.
